Chandigarh, April 14
Congress MLA Jai Prakash’s emergence as the frontrunner for the Hisar Lok Sabha constituency has rattled the Haryana BJP.

Though Mr Jai Prakash’s candidature for the Hisar seat is yet to be formally announced by the Congress, it is believed to be a certainty now in view of Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala’s reported decision to quit the post of President of the Indian Youth Congress allegedly in protest against the party’s refusal to approve his candidature from Hisar.

The BJP was working on the presumption that Mr Surjewala would be given the Congress ticket from Hisar and the candidature of Mr Jai Prakash would be rejected. It was widely reported that Mr Jai Prakash would then switch over to the BJP and contest from Hisar.

However, the latest development in the Congress has thrown the saffron party in disarray.

A section of the BJP functionaries is also not hiding its anguish at the party’s decision to wait for the Congress to take a final decision regarding the Hisar seat and then announce its own candidates. The BJP’s Central Parliamentary Board had on March 27 cleared the candidatures of all five aspirants who had represented the party from Haryana in the dissolved Lok Sabha. A decision on the five remaining seats of the state was kept pending in view of the party’s plan on the Hisar seat.

Talking to TNS today, a senior BJP leader of Haryana said instead of Mr Jai Prakash, if they had decided upon some other candidate from Hisar, the announcement regarding the full list of the BJP candidates would not have got delayed. “ We have lost more than 15 days simply waiting for the Congress to take a decision on Hisar candidate. Otherwise, our candidate would have started campaigning in Hisar by this time”, the BJP leader said.

Ganeshi Lal, President of the BJP in Haryana, reportedly played a key role in organising the initiative to field Mr Jai Prakash from Hisar. Some of the BJP functionaries expressed resentment against the President following the goof up which marked the episode. Mr Ganeshi Lal could not contacted for his comment on the issue as his mobile phone was “not reachable”.

The present election is considered crucial for the Haryana BJP as it is fighting the elections in Haryana all alone. An anguished party leader said that the candidate who would be put up from Hisar now would be known as a substitute for Mr Jai Prakash and such a candidate would not be able to impress the voters.

Ambala, April 14
Youth Congress office-bearers today tendered their resignations after they unofficially learnt that Indian Youth Congress president Randeep Surjewala has been denied party ticket.

Chandigarh, April 14
It’s a war that has been going on between members of the family of the Chautalas and close relatives, including a younger brother of Mr Om Prakash. At least once in two months, the case filed by one or the other relative of the Chief Minister against him is listed before some Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court for hearing.

And, the charges that the relatives of Mr Chautala make in their petitions range from land grab to attempts to involve in fake cases.

Among the relatives, who are currently battling Mr Chautala in the legal arena, are his younger brother, Mr Pratap Singh Chautala, his nephew, Mr Ravi Chautala, the Chief Minister’s uncle, Mr Om Prakash Hitler and Mr Hitler’s sons, Sanjay, Sanjeev and Manoj.

In almost all the cases, Mr Chautala’s relatives have alleged victimisation at the hands of the authorities at the behest of the Chief Minister. They have also alleged that the Chautala government has been systematically involving them in fabricated cases so as to get rid of them.

Over half a dozen writs filed by various relatives of the Chief Minister against him are pending in the High Court.

Leading the pack is the younger brother of the Chief Minister, Mr Pratap Singh Chautala. His case makes an interesting reading. He has accused his elder brother of using his influence to get a road to his farmhouse in Teja Khera in Sirsa district built by the PWD. Mr Pratap Singh alleges that in order to settle scores with him, the Chief Minister got the road to pass through his citrus plantation, and that too without the PWD having acquired the land or paying any compensation to him.

Mr Pratap Singh Chautala has also alleged that before the building of the road, he was not informed and the government bulldozed all his objections. The HC had issued notice to the respondents in the matter.

Apart from filing the writ in the High Court, Mr Partap Chautala has also written to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), seeking its intervention in the case. The petitioner is a former MLA.

Mr Pratap Chautala’s son, Ravi Chautala, is also a petitioner in the High Court, seeking anticipatory bail in a case relating to an alleged attack on some police personnel and interferring in government work. His arrest stands stayed.

Interestingly, his uncle’s government has also moved the HC, seeking that the bail granted to him by a lower court in Haryana in a case under the Arms Act be cancelled.

Also ranged against the Chief Minister in the courts are his uncle, Mr Om Prakash Hitler, and Mr Hitler’s sons.

While Mr Hitler and his son, Manoj Kumar, are in Bathinda jail in connection with an alleged murder case, the other sons and a gunman, Darbara Singh, are facing trial in a case relating to an alleged murder. Recently, the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued notice on the plea of Mr Hitler to implead Punjab as party to the appeal in the murder case against him. Mr Hitler and Mr Manoj, it may be recalled, had been convicted by a Bathinda court for their involvement in the murder case.

A Division Bench of the High Court had last week issued notice for May 7 on a petition filed by Mr Manoj Kumar seeking bail in the murder case. In his petition, he had stated that since his father is an opponent of the Chief Minister, he is being booked on fake charges. He has also alleged that the case registered by the Sirsa police on May 16, 2000, was cooked up to settle political scores with his family. As of the other case, the sons and the gunman have moved an application in the High Court, seeking shifting of the hearing of the cases against them from Haryana to Punjab or Chandigarh.

They have also alleged that the cases were registered against them only after Mr Chautala came to power.

Fatehabad, April 14
The Haryana Vikas Party today said the parliamentary poll would have an effect on the political scene in the state and father of the person winning from Bhiwani would become the next Chief Minister of the state.

Mr Surender Singh, the HVP secretary general and a son of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal, told mediapersons here today that the voters in Haryana would not vote just to decide the future Prime Minister of the country but they would vote also to decide the future Chief Minister of the state. He claimed that the present Indian National Lok Dal Government led by Mr Om Parkash Chautala would not last for more than 10 days after the declaration of the results of the Parliamentary poll. He claimed that the HVP would win all 10 seats in the state.

Jhajjar, April 14
The leader of the Opposition in the Haryana Assembly and Congress leader, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has accused the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, of “unwarranted delay in the completion of the SYL canal”. Speaking to reporters here today, he said the apex court orders were in tandem with the Rajiv-Longowal pact and Devi Lal and Mr Chautala’s opposition to this pact had led to the project hanging fire.

“The canal is the main political issue in these elections as other development works depend on the availability of water and we will not stop raising this issue”, he said.

He said the Congress had assured cooperation to the state government regarding the completion of the canal after the court order in Haryana’s favour, but Mr Chautala did not take any step in this direction.

Later, addressing party workers, he lambasted the INLD government for neglecting the interests of the farmers and the labour class. He said the implementation of the value added tax had made farmers incur losses to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore.

Gurgaon, April 14
The districts police has issued a handy book for the constabulary consisting of dos and don’ts to ensure free and fair elections to the Lok Sabha.

There are 37 items in the “do” and 18 in the “don’t” columns, the book incorporates a gist of the election-related rules gleaned from the Indian Penal Code and the Representation of the People Act.

While the dos and don’ts are in chaste Hindi the statutory rules relating to election are in English. The guidelines touch on customs, usages and conventions to be respected by the force. The reason for the “dos and don’ts” being printed in Hindi is perhaps the strong persuasion needed to sensitise the constabulary considered adept at the use of rough language.

While the provisions may please the Election Commission, the axe falls on the “pehalwans” and their “akharas” in the region. In the prescriptive columns, there is a directive to keep special vigil on the akharas and pehalwans who have the potential to cause trouble during elections. Also, those with a record of providing illegal muscle power would be checked, along with other anti-social elements.

There are instructions for surprise checks of arms shops and prohibition of public meetings at religious places. Members of the uniformed force have also been asked to keep away from political parties and leaders. They may go to the residence of political persons only on orders from the authorities.

The force has been asked to collect details on tenants to prevent anti-social elements from entering the district.

Karnal, April 14
The Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB), New Delhi, has allegedly ignored a seniormost and highly qualified scientist posted at the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal, for the post of Joint Director (Academic) of the institute even as four scientists posted in the institute have been called for the interview scheduled for tomorrow.

As per details, the post of the Joint Director (Academic) has been lying vacant for the past year. An advertisement to fill this post was published by the ASRB in leading newspapers on June 14, 2003, and interview letters were dispatched only in March this year.

According to sources in the NDRI, six internal candidates had applied for the post. These are Dr Ram Chand, head of the extension division, Dr S.L. Goswami, officer in charge of the animal biotechnology centre, Dr S.P. Agarwala, head of the dairy engineering division, Dr B.K. Joshi, head of the dairy cattle breeding division, Dr B.S. Prakash, head of the dairy cattle physiology division, and Dr G.R. Patil, head of the dairy technology division.

However, after scrutinising the applications, the ASRB did not call Dr Ram Chand and Dr S.L. Goswami for the interview. The sources said Dr Ram Chand had been the seniormost head of a divison for over 18 years in various capacities.

He holds a postdoctoral degree from North Carolina State University (USA) in extension education, besides an MBA degree in human resource management. None of the candidates called for the interview from the NDRI hold a postdoctoral degree.

Chandigarh, April 14
A Haryana-based mining company has bagged prestigious the first prize in safety instituted by the Director-General of Mines Safety (DGMS), Dhanbad.

According to official sources, Faridabad-Gurgaon Minerals, Faridabad, which is engaged in extraction of minor minerals at the adjoining Khori Jamalpur and Sirohi quarries in Faridabad district, has been also been awarded five prizes in various aspects of mining, besides the overall first prize in mining safety.

The company, owned by the Sethi group of mines, has been awarded the first prize in the fields of mine working and road maintenance, use of explosives and blasting, air and noise pollution control management, publicity and propaganda about the mining safety and machine maintenance.

Ambala, April 14
Undergraduate students of Kurukshetra University will be able to take additional career-oriented courses from this academic session.

Talking to The Tribune, university Vice-Chancellor A.K. Chawla said a student pursuing a graduation course will be able to get three additional certificates of career-oriented courses when he graduates. “One such course will be offered during each academic year,” he said.

Dr Chawla had a discussion in this regard with University Grants Commission Chairman Arun Nigavekar after the 50th convocation function of the Sohan Lal DAV College of Education, Ambala City.

He said seed money of Rs 1 lakh for each course would be provided to the colleges by the UGC. “The students will be charged about Rs 1,000 for each course,” he added.

The guest faculty for these courses would be drawn from the industry, he said.

“The colleges will be free to propose any course based on demand,” he said.

The Vice-Chancellor said he was also planning to start a school of foreign languages in the university.

Ambala, April 14
The 50th convocation of the Sohan Lal DAV College of Education was held here today.

The Chairman, University Grants Commission, Prof Arun Nigavekar, was the chief guest while Dr A.K. Chawla, Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, presided over the convocation.

Speaking on the occasion, Professor Nigavekar said teaching was a noble profession. “Teacher is a link between the pupil and knowledge. It is an entirely different relationship that crosses the boundaries of human relationship and ventures in the domain of future, as far as students are concerned,” he said.

Professor Nigavekar said the formal mode of training of teachers referred to face-to-face education as was being given in this institution, whereas the distributed education mode took recourse to modern approaches of teaching and learning through e-learning processes under the distance education mode. Hence, when one talks about quality in training, one needs to look into both these modes of education.”

He said the question was how we could assure quality in the training of teachers. “I can define quality, particularly for training of teachers, as a process which when completed creates such humans who can become catalyst for enhancing the teaching and learning process of the student. The National Council of Teacher Education in collaboration with the National Assessment and Accreditation Council has now created an instrument which will be able to check quality in teacher education institutions,” he said.

Professor Nigavekar stated that information communication technologies had taken education across the borders.

Dr Chawla, in his presidential address, called upon the fresh graduates to utilise their resources to the maximum and contribute towards the development of a happier world. Dr Chawla stressed that the students must strive for excellence.

At least 250 B.Ed and M.Ed students were today awarded degrees by the college Principal, Dr D.P. Asija. Dr Chawla awarded medals and merit certificates to the toppers and position holders.

Ambala, April 14
Thieves took away two mobile phones and cash from the residence of the District Public Relation Officer, Ms Vandna Sharma, in Officers Colony, Ambala City, late last evening. Ms Sharma lodged a complaint in this regard today morning.

According to Ms Sharma, her husband noticed in the morning that a widow in the rear of the house was broken. When he went to the drawing room, he found two mobile phones and some cash missing.

It may be mentioned that the colony is located close to the residence of the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police, Ambala.

In another incident, thieves decamped with valuables and cash worth Rs 2 lakh from a 
house in Nirmal Vihar Colony at Ambala City last night. The owner of the house and some members of the family had gone out of station. The son of the owner was sitting on his shop 
when the incident occurred. The matter has been reported to the police.