Rohtak, May 19
Dr Baldev Singh , a former Dean of Colleges, Kurukshetra University, today quit the Executive Council of Maharshi Dayanand University and the Court of Chaudhary Devi Lal University.

In a communication to the Chancellor of the two universities , he attributed his resignation to “undemocratic and unprincipled functioning of the Vice-Chancellor of MDU, undue interference of government in the university affairs and apathetic attitude of the Chancellor”.

Dr Singh who is a nominee of the Chancellor on the two universities’ bodies said since he could not follow the rules in letter and spirit and the Chancellor had an "apathetic attitude " towards the universities, his continuation as member of the university bodies would serve no useful purpose.

Accusing the Haryana government of neglecting education, he said in 2005-2006 fiscal the government contribution to the revenue receipts of MDU was only 20 per cent of the university’s budget.Yet, the government continued to hold a legal veto power over all decisions of the university which diluted its autonomous status.

Citing the recent takeover of the local University College by the government as an instance of highhandedness, he said bypassing all university bodies and taking a unilateral decision in the matter was a reminder of illegal actions taken by the then government during Emergency days.

Moreover, by ignoring the plea of the MDU Teachers’ Association, the Vice-Chancellor had simply acquiesced to this illegal dictate of the government. The VC, he added, had publicly admitted that he was not consulted.

The former Dean said the government had imposed a ban on recruitments in universities which was affecting teaching and research adversely. The posts of Registrar had not been filled permanently and the government was posting bureaucrats as Registrars on an ad hoc basis. He said the CDLU continued to be without a regular VC and Registrar and on several occasions the meetings of the university bodies could not be held as scheduled as both the officers were unavailable.

The VCs continued to exercise their emergency powers as a matter of routine and university rules and statutes were being violated vehemently. The meetings of various university bodies were not held regularly and dissent notes by members simply ignored.

He said he had tried to seek an appointment with the Chancellor to discuss these issues but had failed. Such "callous " attitude of the authorities had forced him to quit the two universities’ decision-making bodies, he added.

Yamunanagar, May 19
Thousands of workers of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) held a rally against the alleged implication of its workers in “false” cases by the Hooda government here today.

The workers later submitted a memorandum, addressed to the Haryana Governor, to the Additional Deputy Commissioner at the Civil Secretariat, Jagadhri, and requesting cancellation of “false” cases against party workers.

They also threatened to intensify agitation if the cases were not withdrawn.

The rally started near the Old Kachehri, Jagadhri, and proceeded towards the secretariat. It also led to traffic blockade on the Jagadhri-Sharanpur national highway.

In the memorandum, they alleged that the government had implicated INLD workers in false cases, citing examples of Abhey Chautala and Vinod Arora (Sirsa murder case).

Further, they alleged that houses of former Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala were raided in his absence to defame him.

They said the registration of cases against INLD workers were politically motivated. They urged the Governor to intervene and scrap the cases.

Addressing the party workers, former Parliamentary Secretary Ram Pal Majra said the state government had failed on all fronts and that the state was passing through worst power and water shortage.

Former Kurukshetra MP Kailasho Saini said it was the history of the Congress to indulge in witch-hunt, targeting opposition leaders, while in power.

Various leaders, including Malik Chand Gambhir, Dr B.L. Saini, Sita Ram Narwal and Sahib Singh, called upon the workers to expose the failures of the government before public.

Chandigarh, May 19
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued a notice of motion to the Union Minister of State, Ms Selja, and six others on the plea of a Sirsa resident that her husband and family members were being harassed and humiliated by the police. This, the petitioner said, was happening in the wake of the recent murder of Congress leader Harchand Singh Brar of the same district. The petitioner, Ms Urvashi Godara, wife of Mr Pradeep Godara, of Chautala village, Sirsa, has prayed for the issuance of directions to the Haryana Home Secretary, the DGP and other police officials not to harass, humiliate and torture her and her family members at the behest of Ms Selja and her kin, Mr Jagan Nath, who had unsuccessfully contested the last Vidhan Sabha election as a Congress candidate from the Dabwali (reserved) constituency.

The petitioner's husband is a leader of the Indian National Lok Dal and had opposed Mr Jagan Nath's electoral bid.

The petitioner has alleged that she and her family, including her 65-year-old father-in-law, Mr Rajender Godara, and two minor children were being tortured due to political reasons. She has sought directions to protect her as well as her family's life and liberty as she apprehended serious threat to their lives. She has alleged that her husband has been implicated in the crime.

Ms Urvashi Godara has also claimed that she and the family members are being harassed to make a statement against Mr Abhey Singh Chautala, former MLA and younger son of former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala.

Today, Ms Justice Kiran Anand Lall issued a notice to the respondents for July 17.

Kaithal, May 19
The Haryana Government has earmarked Rs 377 crore for expansion of irrigation facilities in the state during the current financial year, besides a number of steps have been taken for equal and judicious distribution of water.

This was stated by the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, after laying the foundation stone of the Shergarh-Guhna link canal at village Franswala to be constructed at a cost of Rs 15.75 crore, 10 km from here, today.

The Chief Minister revealed that the government had envisaged an ambitious plan of Rs 1,608 crore under the Bharat Nirman Yojna and with the completion of this project 3.43 lakh hectares would get irrigation facilities within the next four years. He said efforts were on to harvest and store of rainwater to meet the requirement of the agriculture sector.

Mr Hooda said that the Dadupur-Shahabad-Nalwi canal was being constructed at a cost of Rs 267 crore and with the completion of this canal, 46,250 hectares in Ambala, Yamunanagar and Kurukshetra districts would get irrigation facilities. Besides, the water level in the area would increase.

The Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of a sewage plant of 10 MLD capacity at Patti Knot to be completed at a cost of Rs 42.15 crore.

Mr Hooda also laid the foundation stone of a super speciality hospital in Sector 18. The 100-bed hospital would have all modern facilities and the people of Kaithal and adjoining areas would get better health facilities at their doorstep. He said the hospital would be constructed at a cost of Rs 8 crore over 15 acres of land. He said the state government had earmarked Rs 80 crore to promote health activities in the state during the current financial year.

The Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of a railway overbridge to be constructed on the Kaithal-Jind road at a cost of Rs 19.50 crore. It would be completed within the next one year.

Mr Hooda said the government had decided to construct judicial complexes at the subdivisional level with a view to providing better facilities to the judiciary. The government had earmarked Rs 162 crore for this purpose.

Mr Naveen Jindal, MP, announced to provide a grant of Rs 10 lakh for the bar room. The president of the Kaithal Bar Association, Mr Om Parkash, demanded chambers for the lawyers.

Karnal, May 19
The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) and the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) have made various schemes involving an investment of Rs 70 crore for improving the distribution and transmission system of electricity in Karnal district.

A spokesman of the nigam said under these schemes, five new sub-stations would be constructed , the capacity of three sub-stations increased, old wires in all villages replaced , new transformers set up , free connections to consumers living below the poverty line given and heavy-load 11 kv feeders converted into small feeders.

Construction work on sub stations of 220 kv in Nilokheri, 132 kv in Nagla Megha, 132kv in Bhadso, 33 kv in Budanpur and in Chor Karsa had already been started. Out of these, construction work at 33 kv sub-stations would be completed during the year whereas the construction of other sub- stations would be completed next year. An amount of Rs 35 crore would be spent on these works.

The spokesman said keeping in view the increased demand of electricity in the agriculture sector, the capacity of the 132 kv sub-station in Neval and 33 kv sub-station in Garhi Birbal would be increased this year.

Besides, 535 new transformers would be set up and free electricity connections to 15861 persons living below the poverty line given at an estimated cost of Rs. 16.5 crore, he added.

Chandigarh, May 19
An Ambala City-based doctor, P.D. Gupta, who claims to have found a cure for thyroid eye disease (TED) in naturopathy, is a sad man. While he continues to get laudatory letters from abroad, he remains an unsung hero within the Indian medical fraternity, which so far has refused to take notice of his claim. Those who have certified the effectiveness of his medicine include not only common men and women, but also doctors.

Dr Michael L. Ham, MD, FACS, Arizona(USA), who had been treating one Mr Bruce Thompson for TED for about two years, wrote that though professionally he could not say that Dr Gupta had discovered a cure for TED, ‘‘but what he has discovered does in fact seem to improve the eye condition of patients with TED.

The results that Mr Thompson has had with this medicine have impressed me enough that I advised another patient of mine who has TED that he may try Dr Gupta and his medicines.’’

Dr Ham further wrote that Mr Thompson was treated with many medicines, including steriods, ‘‘with minimal or no improvement.’’ Mr Thompson had radiation treatment also, but there was no observable difference in the condition of his eyes. After Mr Thompson, Dr Ham wrote, had Dr Gupta's medicines for three months, there was a marked improvement in his condition. The redness was subsiding and his eyeball protrusion seemed to have started receding.

‘‘After six months of taking Dr Gupta's medicines, I noticed that Mr Thompson's eyes were approximately 70 per cent better than they were when he first came to see me. Mr Thompson also stated that the vision in his right eye had improved to the point that he could wear his old glasses,’’ Dr Ham added.

Ms Kathleen Laughlin of Statesville, USA, who took Dr Gupta's treatment for three months, has written that her ophthalmologist, Dr Brent B. Warren, MD, was ‘‘surprised and pleased at my improvement.’’

Mr William Bourland of Arizona, USA, wrote that his optometrist, James A. Parks of Desert-Eye Associates, measured his eyes three times to make sure that he did not make an error when he found that proptosis(eye bulge) in his eyes had reduced from nearly 30 mm to 22 mm after taking Dr Gupta's treatment.

Ms Sceona Tramontana, a Chartered Accountant of Melbourne, Australia, wrote to Dr Gupta that her doctor could not believe the improvement in her eyes after she took naturopathy treatment.

A North Carolina(USA)-based clinical research associate, Ms Susan Pagano, who took Dr Gupta's treatment for five months, said her TSI anti-bodies had been reduced from 750 per cent to 330 per cent.

The eye bulge had also reduced. She came to know about Dr Gupta when she came across his site, www.tedcure.com, on the net.

Mr Narinder Pal Singh Mann, a Mohali-based advocate practising in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, whose wife was suffering from TED, wrote that she had been taking treatment from the PGI, Chandigarh, for the past two years and had been taking 40 mg of Neomercazole.

However, after taking Dr Gupta's treatment, the dose of the medicine had been considerably reduced to 5 mg. Mr Mann had read about Dr Gupta in The Tribune.

Now Dr Gupta has written to the Director-General of the World Health Organisation(WHO), Geneva, to test and certify his medicine so that he could ship it to sufferers in any country. At present, the Customs authorities in certain countries block his medicines on technical grounds.