IT Chandigarh

Chandigarh: The Haryana tableau at 59th Republic Day Parade in New Delhi will depict the role and participation of Haryana in the First War of Independence in 1857, which is a tribute by the people of the state to the freedom fighters.

The front section of tableau would depict the scene of Rohnat village near Hansi of Hisar district, which was completely destroyed by the British. The scene would also be reminiscent of the tragic and sad episode of Rohnat wherein hundreds of people jumped into the village well and died. The well is a reminder of the great sacrifice of the people of Rohnat village.

In the back portion of the tableau, the revolutionaries will be depicted being killed by the British Army. The statues of four brave warriors of Haryana — Raja Nahar Singh, Rao Tula Ram, Nawab Abdul Rehman and Lala Hukam Chand Jain — have been made for this section. A spokesman said the people of Haryana were in the forefront during the mass revolution of 1857.

The magistrate of Panipat, McBhirter, was killed in the beginning of the revolt. The revolutionaries, especially the soldiers of the British Army from Rohtak, revolted against the government under the leadership of a soldier of British force, Tafjal Hussain, who was an ambassador of Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. They attacked Sampla and set the houses of the British on fire. Hundreds of people were hanged to death from trees near the court in Rohtak. Rao Krishan Gopal and Rao Tula Ram of Rewari fought against the British force near Nasibpur and Rao Kishan Gopal sacrificed his life in this battle.

Source: ENS

Chandigarh: A solemn homage-paying ceremony marked Army Day commemorations in Chandimandir today. Chief of Staff, Western Command, Lt Gen A.N. Aul laid a wreath on behalf of all officers of the command at the Veer Smriti war memorial.

A large number of officers, JCOs and other ranks were present at the ceremony. A ceremonial guard reversed arms as a mark of respect to fallen soldiers, while buglers sounded the Last Post.

Every year, January 15 is commemorated as Army Day. It was on this day in 1949 that Field Marshal K. M. Cariappa took over as the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from Gen Roy Bucher.

The Indian Army has passed through another eventful year and has stepped into 2008 with a vow to successfully execute any assignment entrusted to it, be it on the borders, in counter insurgency, natural calamities or abroad in support of UN missions, according to a statement issued here today.

On this day, the Army has re-dedicated itself to be a part of the ‘War Winning Team’ with resolve to attain a resounding victory against any odds.

Source: TNS

From Colleges

Mohali: Dr I.T. Institute of Management and Technology celebrated National Youth Day in the memory of Swami Vivekanand. J.B. Goyal, vice-chairman of the institute, told the students about the teachings of Swami Ji. Surendra Sharma is a well-known TV and stage artist also mentioned about Swami Vivekananda Ji’s teaching. He inspired the students to be eager learners as Swami Ji.

42 students selected

It was a dream come true for the 42 students who were selected by Honeywell, one of the top Global IT companies, during the mega joint campus recruitment drive at Chandigarh Engineering College, Landran. Students who would be passing their B-Tech and MCA degrees in 2008 with 70 per cent aggregate were eligible to participate in the drive. The selected candidates will undergo six months Industrial Training during which the company will be paying a stipend of Rs 10,250.
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CHANDIGARH: The cold, dark practice of female foeticide in Punjab is about to find resistance in the warm glow of the Lohri bonfire. In Fazilka sub-division of Ferozepur district, a local tabloid, Sarhad Kesri, is going to celebrate this festival for the girl children of the area. Lohri, which marks the last day of Paush month in the Vikrami Samvat calendar, is traditionally celebrated only for newborn boys.

Fazilka is a far-flung, less-developed area of Punjab. But this celebration can bring it to the forefront of spreading awareness against the killing of girl children and female foeticide. The local tabloid with it’s small office here, will hold the celebrations for about 100 newborn girls.

This would be the largest such programme to celebrate Lohri for girls in Punjab. That too without government support.

“I have details of all the 937 girl children born this year in the sub-division, but we had limited resources, so we decided to keep it a low key affair,” says Rajesh Nagpal of Sarhad Kesri. They have asked the families of the newborn girls to register themselves and they will be made part of the celebrations on a first come first serve basis.

“We have already exceeded the 100 mark, but will accommodate the additional entries,” said Rajesh.
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Chandigarh: Lieutenant General V K Singh, General Officer Commanding, Kharga Corps and the erstwhile Corps Commanders laid wreaths at the Vijay Smarak today to pay homage to martyrs on the corps’ Commanders’ Conclave.

A large number of officers and other ranks were present on the occasion along with their families. The memorial service commenced with prayers by religious teachers of different faiths.

Kharga Corps Commanders’ Conclave had started on December 21. The guests at the conclave included 11 former Corps Commanders: Lt Gen H Kaul (retd), N Puri, B C Nanda, S P M Tripathi, S K Sharma, S K Jetley, S S Mehta, S S Sihota, Kapil Vij, G D Singh, and Lt Gen K D S Shekhawat, Director General Mechanised Forces. The event included a grand musical evening, a round of golf and a formal dinner. The three day conclave will conclude on Sunday.

Kharga Corps was raised on October 6, 1971 at Krishnanagar in West Bengal. Lt Gen (later Gen, COAS) T N Raina, was the first Corps Commander of this elite Corps. Kharga Corps played an important role in securing victory in the 1971 Indo-Pak War.

Source: ENS

The silver jubilee celebrations of the 18 Mechanised Infantry Battalion, Hisar, in November, took one’s mind back to the origin of the mechanised infantry in the Army.

It was felt during the 1965 war that the infantry battalions operating with the armour should have greater mobility. A decision was, therefore, taken in the late 60s to have mechanised infantry in the Army.

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A few decades ago, the Punjab government had taken a decision to allot 10 acres to widows/orphaned children of soldiers and parents of unmarried soldiers who were killed in wars against Pakistan and China. The provisions for an earlier letter on the subject for submission of applications for this were extended up to September 15, 1974.

Of the 800 affected cases, 229 widows were not allotted land as most of them being uneducated did not know about this provision. Their cases came to light only in 1987. The Director Sainik Welfare, Punjab, had submitted a district-wise list of these widows to the secretary, defence services welfare, Punjab, in May 1996.

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Fauji Beat:

DURING the British regime, the Commander-in-Chief was number two in the warrant of precedence. After Independence, his status continued to fall and today the service chiefs are at the 13th position and equivalent in status to the cabinet secretary. Even this downgraded status of the service chiefs is irking politicians and bureaucrats.

Recently, the parliamentary standing committee on defence had recommended that the defence secretary, who is one step lower than the service chiefs, should be upgraded to the rank of cabinet secretary so that he is no longer lower than the chiefs in the warrant of precedence. The political hierarchy also wants that the service chiefs should attend meetings convened by the defence secretary. It has also been recommended by the parliamentary committee that the defence secretary’s functional status should be raised to the level of “principal defence adviser”.

Since Partition of the country, status of the defence officers has kept on plummeting while the bureaucrats have been rising to the higher rungs in the precedence. This game is part of the ongoing exercise to reduce the “importance” of the Army, if any left.

Source:-TNS

Chandigarh: A wreath laying ceremony to pay homage to martyrs and release of a special first day cover and commemorative stamp were among the events organised to mark the sesquicentennial celebrations of the First Battalion of the Fourth Gorkha Rifles (1/4 GR) at Chandimandir today.

The GOC-in-chief Western Command, Lt Gen T.K. Sapru, who is also the Colonel of 4 GR, along with serving and retired officers and JCOs laid wreaths at the unit’s quarter guard.

A number of British officers were also present.

Addressing a sainik sammelan, General Sapru appreciated the achievements of the battalion and said the unit had distinguished itself in both world wars as well as the Indo-Pak wars, winning a number of battle honours and gallantry awards.

The Gorkhas, he added, had also proved their mettle by successfully conducting various operations against militants in Jammu and Kashmir and the North East.

The sammelan was also addressed by Brig Y.P. Sethi (retd), senior-most CO of the unit, Lt Gen Vijay Madan, senior-most retired officer and Maj Dicky Day, president of the British chapter of 4 GR Officers Association, who had flown in especially for the occasion.

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CHANDIGARH: Punjab government is finding itself in a fix over determining the price of sugarcane for the coming season.

A number of meetings have been held between the millers and the Punjab Sugarcane Control Board in the last one month but the deadlock between the millers and the sugarcane farmers continues. Such a meeting was also held on Monday under the chairmanship of agriculture minister Sucha Singh Langah but again the government failed to revise the price and it has been learnt that chief minister Parkash Singh Badal’s intervention has been sought in the matter.

The government’s indecisiveness stems from the fact that while on one hand farmers and Punjab Agricultural University are demanding a higher rate from the last year, on the other hand the millers’ lobby is opposed to it.

While PAU, following government directions to work out the price, has recommended Rs 149 per quintal, farmers want Rs 195 per quintal. Last year, the government had fixed Rs 132 per quintal as the sugarcane price.

Sugarcane farmers are of the opinion that Rs 132 per quintal was too low a price to meet the cost of production and that the rate should be increased, but the private millers are opposing the revision tooth and nail on grounds that fixing a “higher” rate would herald the end of sugar industry in Punjab.
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