The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Bid to bring anti-Cong forces under umbrella coalition
Compulsions may force BJP, INLD to sink differences
Sunit Dhawan/TNS

Gurgaon, November 4
Jailed INLD chief and former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala may have exhibited his inclination towards the formation of a third front as a viable political alternative in Haryana, yet his party seems to be inching closer to the BJP-led NDA fold.

Disgruntled Congress MP and former Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh had recently given sufficient indication of the efforts being made to bring all major Opposition parties in the state under an umbrella coalition.

The coming together of several anti-Congress forces, including BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, veteran Congressman Rao Inderjit and former BSP leader and Mewat stalwart Zakir Hussain on a common platform during the recent INLD rally at Kurukshetra cemented the proposition.

Political pundits say the INLD does not have many options in the given situation. Due to the leadership crisis in the family party following the imprisonment of its top leaders, their mass support base seems to be eroding. On top of it, the INLD leadership is well aware that if they lose the coming elections in Haryana, they may not be able to keep their party intact thereafter. Hence, everything is at stake for the green brigade.

The saffron party, on the other hand, may be riding high on the Modi wave, but the BJP think-tank also feels that the party may not be able to translate the people’s craze for Modi into votes due to lack of a sound-base network of grassroots workers.

Nonetheless, a section of the BJP leadership remains adamant on having no truck with the Chautalas after the bitter alliance experience in the past. It feels that if the party repeats the “mistake” of joining hands with the Chautala party yet again, it will not be able to mark its presence on Haryana’s political horizon in the foreseeable future.

It was apparently to mollify this group of BJP leaders that Naqvi was invited to the INLD rally and Punjab Chief Minister and SAD leader Parkash Singh Badal appealed to the leaderships of the BJP and INLD to sink their differences and put up a united front to combat the Congress in the coming elections.

Political observers also point out that the BJP wants at least the tacit support of the INLD as well as SAD in the elections to the Delhi Assembly being held shortly.

In the given circumstances, political air will be clear only after the Delhi elections are over and the court verdict on the Chautalas’ plea is out.

However, till the time a plausible political equation emerges in Haryana, the fate of BJP’s present-day partner and Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) leader Kuldeep Bishnoi will continue to hang in balance.

Haryana leading state in promoting sports, says Governor
BS Malik

Sonepat, November 4
Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia has said that sports were equally important for developing qualities of leadership, hard work, healthy competition, mutual cooperation and team work among the youth.

He was addressing the annual day function of Motilal Nehru School of Sports, Rai, recently. Haryana was one of the leading states in the country which had given equal importance to promoting sports by way of extending infrastructural facilities, cash incentives and reservation in government services, he added.

“The new sports policy of the Haryana Government has helped the state sportspersons to achieve record success in international sports events and it has become popular as a dark horse in the sports arena in the country,” he remarked.

The Governor stressed the need to take care of education and sports at the primary stages particularly in rural areas and praised the Rai sports school for grooming children in these fields.

Haryana Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Sukhbir Kataria and the Principal Secretary and Financial Commissioner of the Sports and Youth Welfare Department, Amit Jha, also spoke on the occasion.

The Principal and Director of the school, VK Verma, presented the annual progress report of the school.

Later, the Governor inaugurated a Rs 7.20-crore girls hostel and laid the foundation stone of the Centre for Sustainable Development at the Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal.

The university’s Vice-Chancellor, HS Chahal, Vice-Chancellor of the newly opened Meerpur university, Mohinder Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, Dr Chander Shekhar, SP Arun Singh and Murthal university’s Registrar RK Arora were also present on the occasion.

VC Chahal said a three-storeyed girls hostel had been constructed in a covered area of 15,000 square feet and the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had provided a financial grant of Rs two crore under its scheme of hostels for the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe girls.

There was a provision of 141 rooms, 83 dorm-treys, residence for hostel warden, dining hall, common room, study centre, indoor facility for basketball and badminton games.

Chahal said that the Centre for Sustainable Development would be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 3.53 crore with the provisions of solar energy system and the rain harvesting in the centre premises.

Besides having accommodation for the centre’s Director and other staff members, the complex would be equipped with the facilities of a seminar hall, a conference hall, a meeting room, an exhibition space for visitors, a lecture theatre and open air theatre, etc, he added.

MODELLING, DANCE COMPETITIONS
Soni crowned Mr North India, Bhavana Ms North India
Our Correspondent

Rewari, November 4
As many as 70 youth ( boys and girls) from Hisar, Rohtak, Panipat, Fatehabad, Sirsa (all districts of Haryana), Jaipur (Rajasthan), Nabha and Ludhiana (Punjab) participated in the finale of the zonal Modelling and Dancing competitions held under the joint auspices of Event Company Meef and Raah Group, both prominent voluntary organisations of Haryana, in the Shiv Om Conference Hall at Hisar, recently.

Naresh Selpar, chairman of the Raah Group, said that Anil Farmana, managing director of Bala Ji Movie Production, Ravikant Sardana, chief of the Advance Cut Saloon, Praveen Tyagi, chairman of Global Advertising, Ramesh Juglan, prominent film producer-cum-director, Sudesh Sangwan, Event Coordinator of the Raah Group, and doyens of other companies graced the function.

Thus while young contestants' fascinating display of modeling on the ramp regaled the spectators, Harsh Soni (Hisar) and Bhavana (Hisar) were crowned as Mr North India and Ms North India respectively.

Besides, the second and third positions went to Sushil Kumar (Hisar), Sachin Arora (Panipat) and Monika (Rohtak), Vandana (Rohtak) respectively.

Similarly Kajal (Hisar), Krantik (Rohtak), Tanisha (Rohtak ) in the sub junior group, Niketa (Rohtak), Deepak (Panipat ), Monika (Hisar) in the junior category and Vikky (Sirsa), Saurabh ( Fatehabad), Lalta ( Hisar) in the senior grade were respectively adjudged as the title holders of the first, second and third positions in the dancing competitions.

Addressing the gathering while Anil Farmana announced that winners of the above contests would be assigned roles in their prospective Haryanvi films, he also urged the Haryana Government to provide adequate encouragement to producers of Haryanvi films, on the pattern of other states to enable local youths to display their artistic competence at the national as well as at the international level.

Gorakhpur N-power plant to destroy region's economy: CPI (M)
Tribune News Service

Hisar, November 4
Urging the people and social organisations to step up their campaign against setting up of the nuclear power plant in Gorakhpur in Fatehabad district, activists of the Parmanu Urja Virodhi Morcha maintained that the power plant would adversely affect around 1.5 lakh acres agricultural land around the plant.

The general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) CPI (ML), K Ramchandran, while speaking at a seminar here recently stated that a nuclear power plant would have a disastrous effect on the economy of the region as it would render large tracts of fertile land barren. “People are being lured in the name of development and opportunities for employment generation. But opposite to this, the plant would render people jobless as they would not only be stripped off the land but would also lose opportunities in other subsidiary sectors in the region,” he maintained.

SUCI leader Comrade Jaikaran termed the nuclear plants as threats to the humanity and stressed on spreading awareness among people to intensify the campaign against the setting up of these plants. Another speaker Dr Anil Panikar said it was impossible to set up and run the power plant due to scarcity of canal water here.

Cong gears up to make Gohana rally a success
Sushil Manav/TNS

Sirsa, November 4
Congress leaders and workers owing allegiance to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda have launched an intensive campaign to mobilise people for the November 10 rally at Gohana. Although the Indian National Lok Dal put up an impressive show at Kurukshetra where leaders like Prakash Singh Badal, Abhay Singh Chautala and others gave a call to oust the Congress, the Chief Minister's supporters are confident that the Gohana rally would pave way for Hooda's victory. Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda claimed that there would be a record gathering at the Shakti rally on November 10.

"Today, Haryana is among the most developed states in India. The state has progressed in every spheres . By adopting welfare policies and programmes under the guidance of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Chief Minister had strengthened the infrastructure in the state," Deepender Singh Hooda claimed. Prof Virender Singh, political adviser to the Chief Minister, maintained that due to the implementation of innovative schemes and new welfare initiatives despite having only 1.3 per cent of the total area of the country, the state contributes 3.4 per cent to the total national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

"The sate is at the top in terms of per capita income, per capita plan budget and mobilisation of resources. Haryana is one of the states that pay the highest minimum wages to labourers and is the first to introduce Health Insurance Scheme for construction workers and provide free water connection to SC households . The state is also emerging as an education hub and sports power," Prof Virender Singh said.

Sunil Parti, additional media adviser to the Chief Minister claimed that the government had witnessed all round development and the Congress would apprise people of this and announce a slew of welfare schemes at the rally.

Parti said the government had launched schemes to benefit the farmers right from sowing to the sale of their produce. "Rate of interest on crop loans has been reduced from 11 to four per cent and stamp duty on agricultural loans has been abolished. The state achieved a record production of 162.25 lakh tonnes of foodgrains during 2012-13. Also, for the crushing season 2013-14, the highest ever rate of Rs 301 per quintal has been fixed for the early variety of sugarcane, Rs 295 per quintal for mid variety and Rs 290 per quintal for late variety," he said. Parti said when Hooda assumed the office of the Chief Minister in 2005 the installed power generation capacity from state's own resources was merely 1587.7 MW. He said the present government had set up new power plants, raising the installed generation capacity to 5300.50 MW. In addition to this, the power generation capacity from other sources was also increased, resulting in total installed generation capacity of 9920.51 MW," he added.

Naresh Sardana is new member of handicrafts board
Sushil Manav/TNS

Fatehabad,November 4
Naresh Sardana, a local entrepreneur, philanthropist and president of Fatehabad Industries Association, has been nominated as a member of the All India Handicrafts Board, an advisory body under the Union Ministry of Textiles. The board has been constituted under the chairmanship of the Minister of Textiles with the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) as member secretary.

The board advises the government in matters pertaining to the development of the handicraft sector.

Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar, whose efforts ensured Sardana’s selection to the board, handed over his nomination documents here recently.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Prahlad Singh Gillankhera, Ratia MLA and Haryana Agro Industries Chairman Jarnail Singh and several others were present on this occasion. Tanwar wished that Sardana would provide useful inputs regarding the industry to the board and help local entrepreneur set up handicraft units in the town.

Ratnawali festival concludes at KU
Our Correspondent

Kurukshetra, November 4
Lt General (retd) Dr DDS Sandhu, Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, called upon students to participate in extra-curricular activities besides studies. He said extra-curricular activities were a medium of self-expression.

Sandhu was the chief guest on the prize distribution function of the four-day 'Ratnawali' festival that concluded on the premises of Kurukshetra University recently.

University teaching departments won the overall running trophy. DAV College for Girls, Yamunanagar, was declared the runners-up. Sandhu said KU had been successfully organising the festival since 1985 and it had become an important platform to disseminate the culture and heritage of Haryana. He congratulated the winners and said such programmes were important to inculcate team spirit, discipline and self-motivation among students. KU registrar Dr KC Ralhan welcomed the chief guest and other invitees at the function.

The director of the youth and cultural affairs department of KU, Anoop Lather, said," A couple of decades ago this programme was confined to one stage and was held for a day only, but now, it has been expanded to six stages simultaneously and remains for four days consecutively. New additions such as rasia dance, saang and folk theatre have been added to it," he added.

NIT holds 'Alumni Talks'
Our Correspondent

Kurukshetra, November 4
The 4th edition of the "Alumni Talks", an event that brings eminent alumni of the institute to address and interact with the present students, was organised at National Institute of Technology (NIT), Kurukshetra, here recently.

Brigadier (retd) CBL Sahel (1970-75 batch) was the chief guest while Prof Anand Mohan, Director, NIT, Kurukshetra, presided over the function.

In his inaugural address, Brig Sahel highlighted the importance of properly utilising the four-years that the students get during the B Tech programme. He also advised the students to develop a culture of innovation and excellence.

Prof Mohan, congratulated the Alumni Association for having thought of and organising the the event. He said it was a golden opportunity for the young engineers to know the reality of the corporate world. The chief guest released a newsletter, "Memoir", during the function.

The inaugural session was followed by technical sessions where five alumni presented their ideas and interacted with the students. They detailed the opportunities available to the engineering graduates and shared tips on how to prepare themselves for the future.

Students encouraged to take part in cultural activities
Our Correspondent

Kurukshetra, November 4
Shri Krishan Institute of Engineering and Technology (SKIET), Kurukshetra, organised ‘Aahwan 2013’, a cultural programme. The event was inaugurated by YP Goswami, Controller of Examinations, Kurukshetra University, by lighting the traditional lamp on the institute premises here recently.

In his inaugural address Goswami encouraged students for more participation in cultural activities along with technical education. “They should enjoy life with challenges they face,” he advised. Institute director Brig VK Panday (retd) said such a platform could help students to improve their talent and make them succeed in various fields.

Students performed group dance, solo dance, bhangra, comedy, fashion show along with ramp walk and singing at the function. The programme was organised for freshers by their seniors.

Aradhana, Ashmia and Pooja performed a dance while Sahil Kardar presented a song with guitar. Punjabi singer “Meer” presented a song “Sona mukhda dikha dia karo”. He also launched his new album song “Babe di chori”.

In a keenly contested competition, Zeeshan Aziz was declared ‘Mr fresher’ and Aashima as ‘Miss fresher’. They were presented the symbol of ‘Mr and Miss Fresher’ by chief guest YP Goswami.

The core committee of the function comprised Dr Randhir Singh, Dr DD Sharma, Mrs Vibha Singh and Rishabh. SKIET Principal HV Manchanda delivered a vote of thanks to all committees constituted for the smooth functioning of the Aahwan 2013.

Sanjay Bansal welcomed all guests and parents of students. Teaching and non-teaching staff members as well as students were present at the function.

Best NSS volunteer of MDU

Sonepat, November 4
Pooja, a student of Government College for Women, Murthal, has been adjudged the best NSS girls' volunteer of the Maharishi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, on the basis of her performances in different NSS activities.

Monika, another student of the same college, got the third position. Both of them were awarded cash prizes and commendation certificates in a programme held in MDU recently.

College principal RS Baniwal and NSS programme officer of the college Dr Jyoti Raj congratulated the students for this achievement.

According to Dr Jyoti Raj, besides participating in national-level activities, Pooja participated in the 2012 Republic Day parade and attended the Republic Day training camp in 2013. Monika also attended the Republic Day training camp-2013 and participated in the national mega summer camp of NSS volunteers at Vishakhapatnum in Andhra Pradesh.

Geeta Vidya Mandir overall champion at youth festival
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, November 4
Geeta Vidya Mandir Girls College, Sonepat, has emerged overall champion for the sixth consecutive time at the zonal youth festival, which recently concluded at the Satpriya group of Institutions, Rohtak.

The college has won first position in 10 events, second spot in nine events and third position in six events at the festival.

College Principal Jyoti Juneja said as many as 66 students of the college led by coordinators Archana Khurana and Sunita Dhawan participated in the festival and the college won the championship with a big margin as it garnered 89 points.

Vaish College, Rohtak, secured the second position with 48 points.

Students who secured first position are Kaushal in Indian classical music (Instrument) persuasion, Gunjan in classical dance, Lucky, Ritu, Shagun, Jyoti, Gunjan, Nitika, Kajal, Dimple, Neha and Vanshika in group song, Gauri, Nitika, Harmeet Kaur, Divya, Divisha and Ekta in mime, Neha Malik in symposium, Sweta in group discussion, Divya in debate Hindi (pro), Sharishti in on-the-spot painting, Nisha in poster making and Meena in cartoon sketching.

GVM institutions president OP Pruthi congratulated the students on their achievements and hoped that this winning spree would be maintained in inter-zone and inter-university competitions.

Comments invited on power supply code
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 4
The Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) has drafted the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (Electricity Supply Code) Regulations, 2013, which would be applicable to all distribution and retail supply licensees, including deemed licenses and all consumers in Haryana.

While stating this here today, an official spokesman said these draft regulations had been made available on the commission's website www.herc.gov.in. He said the commission had invited written comments and objections on the draft regulations from the public, power utilities, other organisations and stakeholders, which could be submitted by November 18, 2013.

He said after the receipt of the comments or objections, the commission would hold public hearing on December 6 and thereafter these regulations would be finalised and notified.

5 students to act in tele film
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, November 4
Five girls of CMK National Post Graduate College, Sirsa, have been selected by a film and music company for roles in a tele film. Rose Films and Music Company held auditions at a local college recently. Dr Ranjana Grover, Associate Professor and in charge of the art and cultural wing of the college, was the main judge during auditions.

Sushil Rao, director of Rose Films and Music Company, said that the selected girls-Anjali, Gunjan, Chetna, Sudha and Nisha- would be accommodated in the telefilm. Dr Ranjana Grover said that the telefilm would provide the girls an opportunity to showcase their talent.

New students welcomed
Tribune News Service

Fatehabad, November 4
Manohar Memorial College of Education organised a freshers' party recently to welcome new students to the college. Dr Punam Miglani, principal of the college, inaugurated the event by lighting a lamp. The students introduced themselves to their teachers as well as batch mates.

A cultural programme was organised on this occasion. The students danced to Punjabi, Haryanavi and Bollywood tunes. Anil was adjudged Mr Fresher while Vidushi was given the Miss Fresher award. Dr Punam Miglani exhorted the students to excel in all fields.

Power arrears stand at 2,844 crore in state
Tribune News Service

Hisar, November 4
If all defaulter take benefit of the ongoing one-time settlement scheme of the power utilities in Haryana, it can prove bigger than the previous Rs 1,600 crore waiver, which was announced by the state government in 2005 soon after Bhupinder Singh Hooda became the Chief Minister .

The chairman and managing director of the power utilities, Devender Singh, said the current power arrears stood at Rs 2,844 crore with around 10.4 lakh defaulters across the state. The defaulters are are eligible get waiver under the scheme launched a month ago.

“If all defaulters opt for the the scheme, they will have to pay only about Rs. 700 crore and rest of the arrears - to the tune of Rs 2,144 crore- would be waived off. The total number of such consumers up to December 31, 2012, in the state was 10,41,804”, he said.

Under this scheme, a consumer having a load of one kiliwatt will have to pay only Rs 1,430 per year. If the default period is considered from June 17, 2005 to August 31, 2013, a consumer

having one kilowatt load will have to pay only about Rs 11,000.

Singh said under the scheme, the rural domestic consumers could get settled the arrears pertaining to the period from June 16, 2005 to August 31, 2013, by paying off bills at the rate of 40 units per kilowatt load per month at a tariff of 298 paise per unit without any surcharge and fuel surcharge adjustment (FSA).

The consumers taking benefit of the scheme will be asked to sign an undertaking that they would have no objection to the installation of pillar boxes. The regular paying consumers in qualifying villages will be given rebate at the rate of 10 per cent on the paid bills of one year. Such consumers in villages having the pillar box system would get additional rebate of 10 per cent.

Seminar discusses improvement of tech education to develop skills
Over 135 delegates from India and abroad attend conference
Our Correspondent

Kurukshetra, November 4
A three-day international conference on “Emerging Trends in Engineering & Technology” (IETET-2013), organised by the Geeta Institute of Management and Technology (GIMT), Kanipla, concluded on its campus, 12 km from here, recently.

The aim of the conference was to provide a platform to technocrats, engineering faculty and students to share their research experiences. The conference was inaugurated by Prof Ashoka Chandra, former Special Secretary to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD), Government of India.

In his inaugural address, Chandra laid stress on the improvement of quality in technical education. He said knowledge economy would create greater share of high-tech industry and services in the market, greater percentage of persons engaged in knowledge-based occupations, increase better educated and skilled population, increase percentage of consumer knowledge. The technical education system in the country would need a lot of improvement to develop learning and problem solving skills in particularly, he added.

During valedictory session, chief guest Dr Ram Prakash, Member Rajya Sabha and Chancellor, Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar, emphasised that the research should be need based and in the interest of mankind and the society. Engineers should find solutions to problems faced by the industry and the community, he added. He also laid stress on moral and ethical values.

Er DK Gupta, Managing Director of the GIMT, said teachers had great responsibility to develop technical human resource to face challenges of economy, particularly of turning India into the world’s largest selling market from the present buying market. He said teachers should equip themselves with appropriate knowledge skills.

Prof Akhtar Kalam from the School of Engineering and Science, Victoria University, Melbourne, Prof Ashok Deshpande from University of Calfornia, USA, Prof DP Kothari, Director Research, MVRS Engineering College, Hyderabad, and Prof Rajan Srivastava from IIM, Rohtak, also gave special presentations.

Gupta welcomed the chief guest and highlighted the salient features of the GIMT.

Prof (Dr) LN Mittal, Director, Quality Improvement Programme of the GIMT said the institute received 450 research papers, including from the USA, Nigeria, South Korea, China, Ethiopia, Oman, Australia, Taiwan, Romania and India. Out of these, 137 papers were selected for publication in proceedings. Over 135 delegates from the country and abroad attended the conference, Mittal added.

Er Amit Manocha, conference organising chair, proposed a formal vote of thanks.

Over 200 students turn up for disaster-management workshop
Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, November 4
Mukand Lal National College, Yamunanagar organised a one-day workshop on disaster management recently. More than 200 students participated in the workshop. The students were apprised of the policies and institutional mechanisms of disaster management in India.

Mock drills were also organised by Red Cross and fire officials. Shashi Khurana, officiating Principal of the college, inaugurated the workshop and vote of thanks was presented by Dr GK Sethi, head of the department of electronics.

Dr Shailesh Kapoor said considering the importance of disaster management, recent floods in Uttarakhand and cyclone in the coastal areas of Orrissa and Andhra Pradesh compelled the authorities to create an awareness about it amongst student community.

20 volunteers selected for state-level NSS camp
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, November 4
As many as 20 National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers of the BPS Women University, Khanpur Kalan, have been selected for participation in the seven-day state-level NSS camp to be held at Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak.

Congratulating the volunteers before their departure for the camp, university Vice-Chancellor Pankaj Mittal said such camps provided a platform to students to bring out their talents. The NSS not only played an important role in shaping students as responsible citizens, but also helped them in associating with social activities, he said, adding that it developed qualities of leadership, goodwill and social service in human being.

The selected volunteers are: Jyoti, Manisha, Pinki, Diksha, Pooja, Nisha, Indu, Reetu, Sangeeta, Priyanka, Saneha, Ravita, Navveta, Anshul, Mamta, Pooja, Reena, Jyoti, Priyanka and Ashima. They are being led by NSS coordinator Shushma Joshi.

'Need to develop progressive tax regime'
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, November 4
While delivering a lecture on the theme “Rule of Law, International Taxation and Global Governance” at the concluding session of the conference on “Cross Border Transactions, Foreign Investment and International Taxation” at Jindal Global University, Harish N Salve, senior advocate, Supreme Court of India, highlighted the importance of establishing a rule of law regime in India and its relationship to international taxation and fairness.

He argued that taxation was indeed a challenge to the sovereignty of the country and India was facing a number of economic challenges. “It is necessary for the legal and regulatory framework to respond to this challenge by developing a progressive tax regime,” he observed.

Salve emphasised on the need of continuing legal education. He said continuing legal education was essential for the future of the Indian legal system. “Our universities and law schools have to play a role in promoting continuing legal education for lawyers and judges,” he suggested.

Salve, however, said, “We do not have clarity on our taxation policies, and there is no certainty and stability in our tax regime.” He was of the opinion that taxation policies should not become a deterrent to foreign investors.

Professor C Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellor, OP Jindal Global University, said the higher education and legal education in India was facing a number of challenges, including the inability of the universities and law schools to attract outstanding faculty members.

He said there was a need to raise the quality of legal education to address the mediocrity that had set in the legal profession.

8 crore get employment under MGNREGA
Tribune News Service

Avantika Maken Tanwar (centre) with DC J Ganesan (left) and ADC Shiv Prashad Sharma (right) release a book on MGNREGA during a convention in Sirsa on Friday. A Tribune photograph

Sirsa, November 4
Over 93,000 families have registered for jobs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA). Out of these, over 52,000 families belonged to Scheduled Castes.

Sirsa Deputy Commissioner J Ganesan stated this while addressing a convention under the MGNREGA at Sirsa on Friday.

Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar was to honour gram panchayats and officials who helped in the implementation of MGNREGA in the district on Friday. However, due to his preoccupation in Rajasthan, where Tanwar as a secretary of the AICC is in charge of the party state affairs, his wife Avantika Maken Tanwar gave away prizes to as many as 58 persons for their extraordinary services.

Those honoured include village panchayats, employment assistants, block and panchayat development officers and even some MGNREGA workers.

Lauding MGNREGA, Avantika Tanwar said the flagship programme of the UPA government had provided employment to over 8 crore people in the country and nearly 47 per cent of them were women.

Ganesan said e-muster rolls and electronic funds management system (EFMS) had been initiated in the city, whereby funds to as many as 29 panchayats were being transferred electronically.

Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendras had been set up under the MGNREGA in 75 villages of Sirsa district. In 50 such kendras, rural e-libraries had been set up.

ADC Shiv Prashad Sharma, District Development and Panchayat Officer Kulbhushan Bansal and city Congress President Bhupesh Mehta were among those present.

Deepender dedicates mega projects to people in Jhajjar
Invites Congress workers for Gohana rally on Nov 10
Ravinder Saini

Jhajjar, November 4
Member of Parliament (MP) Deepender Hooda dedicated mega projects costing over Rs 102 crore to the people in Beri town here recently.

Deepender inaugurated three projects, including a new sabji mandi costing Rs 2 crore, an onion storage centre costing Rs 2.5 crore and a godown for storing grains having a capacity of 4,200 metric tonnes in Beri.

He also laid the foundation stones of five other big projects, including a six-km long bypass costing Rs 47 crore, repair work of the 18.37-km long road between Dubaldhan, Majra, Begowa and Jhajjar-Dadri road, a mini-secretariat costing about Rs 11 crore for Sub Division, PWD Rest House, costing about Rs 5 crore and a pumping station involving an investment of Rs 1.80 crore for drainage of rain water in the town.

While addressing the gathering on the occasion, the MP said Haryana had made tremendous development during the past eight and a half years. With these new projects, Beri town would transform into a city, he added.

Inviting the Congress workers for the Gohana rally to be held on November 10, he said their presence in the rally would exhibit belief and support of the people for the policies and leadership of the Congress government.

Earlier, Deepender laid the foundation stones of two important projects of education and health worth over Rs 6 crore which included a Government Senior Secondary School at Khuddan village and a Primary Health Centre at Barhana village here.

After laying the foundation stones, the MP said the Government Senior Secondary School at Khuddan would prove to be a milestone in the field of education. With the completion of this school, the quality of education would further improve, he added.

"The two-storied building of the school will be constructed on about 30198.31 square feet and a sum of Rs. 342.52 lakh will be incurred on it. The school will have 16 class rooms. Apart from this, it will have a staff room, a Principal's room, a laboratory, an art and craft room, an education room, a library and a computer room," said the MP.

Factionalism in Cong surfaces at CM’s rally
Ravi S Singh
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, November 4
Factional feud in a local unit of the Congress surfaced in a big way in the presence of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at a rally here recently.

The development has left party men baffled as the open feud in the party reared its head in the presence of Hooda at a rally where he was the chief guest. Local Congress MLA Anand Kaushik had organised the rally.

Speaking on the occasion, Congress MP from Faridabad Avtar Singh Bhadana directly addressed Hooda on the podium to complain against some party leaders, without mentioning their names.

Referring to the next Lok Sabha election, he said, “I am most apprehensive of some Congress leaders rather than candidates of opposition parties who would be in the fray against me.”

According to Congress leaders, Bhadana, who is known in political circles for putting his foot in the mouth, referred to an incumbent Haryana Minister Mahender Pratap and a former minister Karan Dalal.

What further reeked of factonalism in the party was the conspicuous absence of Mahender Pratap.

While Bhadana is said to be having a longstanding rivalry with Mahender Pratap for supremacy in the Gujjar community, his differences with Dalal is well-known.

While Mahender Pratap represents Badkal seat in this district, Dalal hails from Palwal, which is part of the Faridabad Lok Sabha constituency.

The utterances of Bhadana reminded the Congress camp of the bitter rivalry between him and Dalal during the last Lok Sabha election which nearly cost the party the Faridabad seat.

The open war between him and Dalal, who failed to get party nomination, took an ugly turn during the electioneering.

The then Union Minister of State and AICC in-charge for Haryana, Prithviraj Chavan, tried in vain for a rapprochement between them.

The Congress’ electioneering suffered to the extent that pundits had started predicting a certain defeat of Bhadana.

However, Hooda intervened and campaigned vigorously in Faridabad and in neighbouring Gurgaon for Rao Inderjit Singh, who is now a Congress rebel.

The development during the Lok Sabha election cast long shadow on the Palwal assembly seat during the following Assembly election in the state.

Dalal lost to an INLD candidate in the election. The Gujjars, who form a sizeable chunk, voted in favour of the INLD nominee.

Medical college launches drive to treat patients on doorsteps
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, November 4
The community medicine department of BPS Government Women Medical College, Khanpur Kalan, has launched a special public health campaign to treat patients at their doorsteps and to create health awareness among villagers. The campaign was launched by flagging of teams of doctors and paramedical staff from the medical college by college director RC Siwach recently.

Talking to media persons, Dr Siwach said under the programme, the teams would collect details of the health condition of around two lakh people through a door-to-door survey. The teams would take the help of the social organisations, anganwar workers, ASHA workers, he added.

After issuing health cards to patients, health camps would be organised, Dr Siwach said and added that the patients found suffering from complicated diseases would be referred to the medical college for treatment

He said a free treatment scheme was about to be launched in Haryana and the medical college was prepared for the implementation of the scheme.

Gurgaon Gramin Bank sets up branch in Rewari

Rewari, November 4
Gurgaon Gramin Bank ( GGB), a prominent regional rural bank of Haryana, has set up a new branch at Bas Doodha village, about 30 km from here, in the district.

Thus while the tally of GGB branches in the district has risen to 33, the number of its branches in the seven districts of Rewari, Mahenderagarh, Gurgaon, Mewat, Palwal, Faridabad and Sonepat in the state has touched a salient figure of 235.

Significantly more than 90 per cent of these branches are located in rural areas of the above seven districts.

The Bas Doodha branch was inaugurated by MC Pathak, GGB's general manager, on October 28.

Stating that while this branch would provide banking services to the residents of Bas Doodha and other surrounding villages, Pathak pointed out that with their access to villagers as well as their customer-friendly services, the GGB had earned the reputation of a people's bank in the past 36 years. —OC

Rs 8.45 lakh relief for accident victims
Our Correspondent

Kaithal, November 4
PWD and Industries Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala distributed cheques worth Rs 8.45 lakh on Sunday among accident victims and their kin, who suffered due to agriculture-related operations. The money was paid as per the state government scheme to provide financial assistance to kin of those who died or lost limbs in agriculture related activity.

Ganpati of Khurana and Suraj Bhan of Titram were given cheque for Rs 2 lakh each as their family members lost their lives during agriculture related activity. Balwan of Padla village, Aman Kumar of Patti Afgan, Chandgi Ram of Harshola and Jagdish of Nouch were given cheque for Rs 50,000 each. Dalel Singh, Mange and Labh Singh from Keorak village were given cheques for Rs 30,000 each. Naresh of Keorak, Ramesh of Harsola, Jai Karan of Deoban Satender Mohan of Aryanagar, Kashmir of Budhakhera, Pala Ramof Kathwad, Vishvpal of Guhna were given cheques for Rs 15,000 each.

Surjewala said any person who lost up to two fingers was given a financial assistance of Rs 15,000, while those losing 3 fingers were given Rs 30,000 and those losing one hand were given Rs 50,000. In case of death of any person, his kin were given Rs 2 lakh.

SDM Nar Hari Banger, Kaithal market committee secretary Ravinder Saini, DCC media coordinator Sham Sahni, were among those present on the occasion.

Heritage exhibition fascinates viewers
Our Correspondent

Ambala, November 4
The annual function of Mind Tree Public School enthralled the audience with an unusual exhibition on heritage sites. The heritage club exhibition tried to prove value of heritage sites and its concern about their preservation. It flashed all moments of historical monuments of the city.

Storey-telling club showcased its best composition. Photography club displayed its captures and made a documentary of preparations. Art and Design club depicted different phases of sea through symbolic curtains of different colours from black to grey and finally blue which is contamination to purification.

Decoration, puppetry everything supported the theme of Salman Rushdie's play ‘Haroun and the Sea of the Stories’. The entire school was divided into three groups. The first group included directors, assistants directors and some designers. The second group consisted of various clubs, which presented the exhibition and staged a play.

NGO honours go-getters
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Kanta Duhan, who scaled the Mount Everest, gives autographs to girls at a function in Fatehabad. A Tribune photograph

Fatehabad, November 4
Zindagi, an NGO working for welfare activities, organised a Pratibha Samman Samaroh on Thursday to honour individuals from the district, who had carved a niche for themselves by hard work, dedication and determination.

Among those honoured were Kanta Duhan, a Head Constable of the Fatehabad police, who scaled Mount Everest this year, Deepesh Rahi, the winner of Voice of Punjab, Shehnaz Akhtar, a runner up in Zee TV programme SaReGaMaPa, Nirmala Ramsara, who impressed Amitabh Bacchan through her answers in Kaun Banega Crorepati, Vansh Bajaj, a 10-year-old child from the town, who made it to the finals of Junior Master Chef on Star TV and Ajit Singh, a deaf and dumb youth, who represented the World Cup winning Indian team.Local singer couple Rajnish and Anil Sharma and musician Tulsi Anupam, who works in Gurdas Mann’s orchestra, were also honoured.

Rahul Yadav, who is currently participating in World Karate Championship, could not come while Punjabi singer Gurtej Akhtar’s younger sister Jasmine Akhtar represented her in the programme.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Prahlad Singh Gillankhera, who honoured the achievers, announced Rs 1 lakh for Zindagi. Gillankhera lauded Zindagi president Hardeep Singh’s efforts to promote artistes and sportspersons.RK Sharma, Principal of the Government College for Women, Bhodia Khera, where the function was organised, Naresh Sardana, a philanthropist, Bunty Sehdewra and Satyawan Chauhan were also present on the occasion.

SA Jain College celebrates Raktadan Utsav
Tribune News Service

Ambala, November 4
The NSS unit of the SA Jain (PG) College celebrated Raktadan Utsav to promote voluntary blood donation. Banners and posters promoting blood donation dotted the college campus as students enthusiastically participated in the event.

Students were given literature to enhance their involvement in blood donation. A number of songs, poems were sung and a short play was also enacted to inspire students. All possible dimensions were discussed by college principal Dr Pradeep Sharma Snehi on the first day of the event. The aim of the programme was to make the youth realise the need and significance of voluntary blood donation.

State Bank of India manager Upesh Bansal was the chief guest on the occasion. He said youth could play important role in shaping the country as a better society. All positive transformation in the existing system was possible through the affirmative support of youth, he added.

As many as 13 NSS volunteers were awarded merit certificates by the Kurukshetra University. Eight prizes were given to students who won positions in poster and slogan writing competition on the theme of blood donation. Slogans of Jai Raktdata were raised at the conclusion of function.

A joint blood donation camp was organised on the second day by the NSS unit of SA Jain College and the SBI. The camp was inaugurated by Ambala Division Commissioner Neelam Pradeep Kasni. She encouraged young donors especially those who were donating blood for the first time.

The chief guest honoured Principal Dr Pradeep Sharma and Rajender Garg for their contribution in voluntary blood donation. The commissioner also released the platinum jubilee issue of the college magazine ‘Atmanand’. College principal Pradeep Sharma ‘Snehi’, SBI manager Upesh Bansal, Rotary Club president RC Jindal and secretary Dr Sumit Mittal also donated blood in the camp.

Among the staff members Dr Abha Bansal, Prof Rajesh Chauhan, Dr Suman Luthra, Dr Suresh Dhanda, Dr Kavita Singla, Prof Jasneet Kaur, Prof Varun, Prof Gaurav, Vijay Kumar, Lalit Jain and Jawahar also donated blood.

Around 170 units of blood were collected during the camp. College principal Pradeep Sharma expressed thanks to the team of doctors from PGI, Chandigarh, staff members and all visitors who donated blood in the camp. Sharma has donated blood for more than 107 times.

73 cops promoted

Kaithal, November 4
Seventy-three police personnel have been promoted by the Inspector General of Police, Karnal Range. A spokesperson of the police said 11 ASIs have beenmade Sub-Inspectors. Forty-eight head constables and 11 female head constables have been made Assistant Sub-Inspector.

Three EHCs have been made E.ASIs. IGP Balbir Singh expressed his pleasure over the overall police performance and role played by all ranks in maintaining the law and order in the Range. —OC