|
|
|
|
Losing childhood while making a living
Hisar, September 25 Reports from different parts of the state reveal that boys coming from poor families are engaged both on whole and part time basis. The whole timers are school dropouts who man the 9 am to 5 pm shift and the part timer's work after school hours in a four-hour shift. The most crucial and busiest shift from 6 pm onwards is, however, manned by adults as the vendors consider this shift unsafe for the children as well as for the business. The whole timers get Rs 35 a day for the eight-hour shift. The part timers are paid on hourly basis at the rate of Rs 4 per hour. Jagtar Singh, whose two sons are working at a vend in this district said the wages were very low but since the boys did not have to go out of the village, he accepted the offer. He said he did not own any land and worked as a farm hand. The money brought in by the boys helped him meet family expenditure. A vend owner in a village in Fatehabad district said he saw nothing wrong in engaging children for the job. "They are needy. We give them employment in the village itself", he justified. He said the trend for engaging young boys to man vends caught on because the vend owners were mostly employed elsewhere. "Hiring an adult for the day shift will cost us double the amount we pay to the children. That preposition will make vend a losing venture", he added. Another vendor said children were unlikely to tamper with seals to pilfer liquor for themselves and adding water to the bottles to compensate for the drawn liquor. This is something an adult liquor vend salesman would do all the time. Inquiries from excise officials reveal that not a single vend owner has been booked for engaging children. The officials said whenever they objected the owners claimed that the boys were their sons or nephews. Several social activists and NGOs have woken up to the problem and are planning to move the court if the excise department failed to check the practice.
|
|
DNA Lab
Karnal, September 25 The state-of-the-art laboratory, set up at a cost of Rs 2 crore, received about 36 cases for DNA profiling during the past three months and the disposal of cases is so expeditious that no case is more than one month old. "The disposal depends on the complexity of the case and the cases in which physical evidence is collected immediately after the crime, the report is submitted within 15 days but other cases in which evidence is collected after days and months, take longer time," Dr Pandu Guguloth, DNA specialist, said. The laboratory conducts five-day courses in "documentation, collection, preservation, packing and forwarding of evidences DNA examination" for newly recruited judicial officers, followed by course for prosecution officers and another course for medical officers. It is not a laboratory only for scientists but a nursery for training and education for all concerned with mitigation of crime. Even at the age of infancy, the laboratory has created online facility for knowing the status of the case and the details are available at a click of mouse only by mentioning the FIR number and even the accused has access to this facility. The DNA test of the accused provides clinching evidence regarding involvement or association of any person in the crime and DNA fingerprinting can be used as only conclusive evidence in certain complex cases where all other evidence was lost due to the lapse of time. Most of the cases analysed in the laboratory were rape cases. Besides, the DNA profiling was used as vital input in deciding the disputed parentage and identification of dead bodies. He said in rape cases, the semen of the accused was taken from victim's clothes or crime spot for DNA profiling and matched with DNA of the suspect. However, in cases of gangrape, especially when the identity of the accused was not known a large number of persons were subjected to DNA test which sometime took months. In one particular gangrape case in Andhra Pradesh, DNA test was performed on 102 persons and the accused was identified after six months. Pandu said the famous Madhumita Shukla murder case was solved only after it was established in the report that the DNA of former UP minister Amarmani Tripathi reportedly matched with that of the deceased. The Tandoor murder case in which DNA test established the identity of the victim, Naina Sahni, as also the Priyadarshani Matto case were solved with evidence provided by the DNA test. He informed that blood samples of mother, father and child and suspected biological father were taken in paternity/maternity dispute cases while available blood samples of nearest relatives were taken for the identification of dead bodies. However, the DNA laboratory was facing staff crunch and it was accepting only cases referred by the Haryana police department but in the course of time cases from other quarters would also be accepted, Director FSL, M.K. Goel said.
|
|
Trauma centre to get functional by December
Ambala, September 25 With the begining of this
centre, a long awaited demand of this area would be fulfilled as both Ambala
city and Ambala Cantt are surrounded by five national highways that are highly
prone to accidents. The rate of road accidents in this area is much higher in
comparison to other cities of the state. Till now, most of seriously injured
mishap victims which are taken to the civil hospital are referred to PGI
Chandigarh due to the obvious reason that the local hospital is ill-equipped in
all matters be it medical staff or infrastructure. It takes one hour to reach
Chandigarh and while on the way precious time gets wasted and sometimes proves
fatal for the patients. A limited few, who are financially well off prefer to
avail treatment from private hospitals like Forties, Escort and Apollo, but it
becomes difficult for the poor people to bear the expensive cost of treatment.
Thus, this trauma centre would facilitate them. Dr O.P. Arya, principal
medical officer, civil hospital, says the 50-bed trauma centre will get
functional by the end of this year. He says around Rs.1.5 crore has been spent
on its construction. The centre will be equipped with city scan, ultrasound,
digital x-ray machine, specialised trauma beds and mobile vans. Besides,
services of superspecialist doctors like neurosurgeon and cardiologist would
also be made available at this centre, he adds. He claims that 60 to 70 per
cent trauma patients of this area will be able to get proper treatment here.
Only the most serious cases of accidents, burn and other injuries might be
referred to PGI, Chandigarh, he says, adding that besides Ambala, the adjoining
districts like Kurushetra, Kaithal, and Yamunanagar would also be benefited
from this centre.
|
|
|
Officials inspect Gurgaon roads
Gurgaon, September 25 The work on the repair of roads is in process in a time-bound manner on the directions of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh
Hooda. Leading the pack, divisional commissioner D.P.S. Nagal and deputy commissioner Deepti Umashankar must have realised the importance of a reality check as they took stock of the situation. And rightly so, because in many cases work was yet to be started despite the instructions to officers of the departments concerned at high-level meetings held here last
month. Nagal told the officers to respect the deadline, failing which they would have to face action. Earlier, financial commissioners of the urban development and urban local bodies had held meetings with officers of various departments where deadlines were fixed to make the city roads
motorable. On the orders of financial commissioner, urban development, D.S.
Dhesi, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) deputed a chief engineer at Gurgaon for sanctioning the works. Even the principal secretary to Chief Minister
M.L. Tayal convened a meeting here to apprise the officers of the public inconvenience. On top of all this, the Chief Minister had publicly issued six months’ ultimatum to improve the condition of the roads. Majority of the roads are in a pathetic condition. When quizzed about the delay in the repair work, HUDA superintending engineer attributed this to strike by HUDA contractors. Informing that tenders had been invited, the SE explained that the reconstruction of the road from Sector 5 to Bajghera railway crossing via Palam Vihar would be completed in two months at a cost of Rs 9
crore. Similarly, PWD B&R officers informed that the road passing in front of the local bus stand would be re-laid in six months with a provision for drainage at a cost of Rs 8
crore. The repair of new railway road will cost Rs 11 crore. Meanwhile, the commissioner has also issued instructions to beautify the all important roundabouts.
|
|
|
Jhajjar commuters in for a better time
Jhajjar, September 25 On completion of this project, Jhajjar would not only be put on the map of the northern railway but also the decade-long dream of its residents of having a railway station would be
realised. Moreover, travellers from Chandigarh and towns of Haryana located on the NH-1 and headed for Delhi,
Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Mumbai would benefit from it. Besides, industrial houses would also be able to send their produce directly to Rewari and to
Rajasthan. According to sources, construction work is in full swing to complete the project within the stipulated period. Machhroli would be the first railway station of the Jhajjar-Rohtak-Rewari railway track that would be ready within a few months. Apart from a beautified railway station here, 38 residential quarters would also be constructed with a view to provide extra facility to railway officials. The railway authorities have also planned to build railway overbridges at several places in nearby villages of this railway link so that the villagers do not have to face hardships due to the railway track. The construction work of overbridge near Machhroli village is on the verge of completion.
Furthermore, culverts have been planned for draining out water especially in rainy season from the villages to avoid any situation that could be caused by stagnant water. As per railway officers, four other new stations on this 73-km long railway track would be established besides
Machhroli. These would be Dighal, Jhajjar, Palawas and Gokulgarh. This track would culminate at
Rewari. The railway ministry has sanctioned Rs 215 crore for laying the Rohtak-Jhajjar-Rewari rail line in which the state government has already agreed to meet half of the cost. “This new link is critical for the development of southern Haryana which is one of the most backward districts of the state,” said
Saini, adding that residents of nearby districts would also get employment opportunities. On the other hand, Jhajjar deputy commissioner Nitin Yadav said MP Deepender Hooda was taking personal interest in the project. He also directs the authorities time to time in the wake of ongoing construction work of the Rohtak-Jhajjar-Rewari railway line.
|
|
|
Gurgaon takes e-disha centres to rural areas
Gurgaon, September 25 Such services were being delivered to the people at the district headquarter so far and an
e-disha centre was functioning for the purpose on the ground floor of mini secretariat. According to deputy commissioner Deepti
Umashankar, 18 CSCs have been operational in Gurgaon covering Manesar, Harsaru,
Daultabad, Kadipur, Kakrola, Wazirabad, Sikanderpur, Dundahera, Sukhrali, Kasan,
Sarhol, Basai, Jharsa, Bal Bhawan Gurgaon, Krishna market Chakarpur, Rajiv
Nagar, Palam Vihar and Sector 56. These CSCs have been opened by the administration in collaboration with Infotech Company on experimental basis from September 1, 2008. They would be connected with the district level
e-disha centre at Gurgaon. Villagers could apply in these centres to obtain their services. The common service centre incharge would give a slip, in which date for collecting the required document would be mentioned and maximum three to four days time is given. The villagers need not come to the district headquarter for availing these services because they can get them in their villages. Later railway booking service would also be introduced. Admitting that these CSCs are facing usual teething problems, as not many people have come forward to avail their services. But the DC hoped that the number of applications would pick up in course of time as more and more people become aware about their functioning. On its part, the administration is trying to publicise their presence through government channels and the media. More such centres would be set up in other blocks of the district after assessing performance of the existing ones. About 60 CSCs are proposed to be set up in Gurgaon and while doing so, care would be taken that a CSC catered to a cluster of about 6 villages.
|
|
|
Traffic marshals to man Ambala roads
Ambala, September 25 These traffic marshals are mostly ex-servicemen or retired professionals. In all, 25 marshals have been appointed. They would undergo a three-day intense training program at the computerised training branch of the Ambala traffic police before getting to work. The marshals would be deployed on PCR vehicles. Among other duties, they would supervise SHOs and traffic constables. They would also check the correctness of the challans issued and address public grievances. The marshals would initially be deployed in Ambala Cantt and Ambala City. Later, they would be introduced in
Naraingarh, followed by other places. SP Sibash Kabiraj informed that some other initiatives would also be taken to streamline traffic in the district. “We will be introducing one-way traffic during peek hours and also improve the parking system.” The Ambala police has also involved civilians in the working of its woman cell. Four women from different walks of lives would help the police in handling cases. On an average, the woman cell receives 15-20 complaints every day. Most of these relate to dowry demands or domestic violence. Last month alone, 96 complaints were lodged with the cell in
Ambala. While 33 complaints were resolved amicably, 23 resulted in a compromise in the form of divorce and nine FIR’s were registered. The civilians are involved to check any act of corruption and to help resolve cases and ascertain the facts before the case is registered. “They will play the role of a watchful third eye,” states the SP.
|
|
|
Panchkula lends a helping hand to elders
Panchkula, September 25 Under the scheme, senior citizens, especially doctors, engineers and educational experts would be provided a platform so that they could guide the people with their rich experiences, said Panchkula deputy commissioner Rajinder Kataria. Kataria said normally a kind of vacuum was created after retirement from service or active work, leading to frustration and loneliness that has damaging effects not only on the health but also on the psychology of the senior citizens as well as the family. The administration would help in contacting non-government as well as government organisations where their services would be required. Various government departments and local bodies often require voluntary helping hands in serving the general public. A study of technical group on population projections suggests that by 2018, there would be 100 million people above the age of 60 years in the country. Another study by UN indicates that this number would be doubled by 2030. And majority of these people would be in the age group of 60-69 years. Keeping in view all this, the administration would launch a daycare centre for senior citizens at Red Cross building in Sector 15 on October 1. The centre would involve senior citizens in four major components, education, recreation, health and platform to interact with eachother, so that they get a sense of belongingness with the institution. Arrangements had been made for indoor and outdoor games that include volleyball, badminton, table tennis, chess, carom and playing cards. In addition to it, a music system at the centre, gym, library and a physiotherapy centre would also be available to them while physicians would visit the place frequently to solve their health problems, he added. Along with these facilities, counselling would also be provided to those who were neglected by their families.
|
|
Discussion on global financial crisis
Sirsa, September 25 M.S. Turan, additional director, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), New Delhi, and B.S. Bodla, director, Institute of Management Studies, Kurukshetra University, shared their views and opinions on a diverse range of issues of national and international relevance. Turan discussed the recent failure of global financial institutions like Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch and its impact on Indian banks and insurance joint-venture companies like Tata-AIG. He advised students how to groom their personality and how to prepare for interviews. He discussed 20 frequently asked questions in interviews and how to prepare it for better results. Bodla presented a detailed analysis of stock market seasonal anomalies and gave important tips on security analysis and portfolio management. Sultan Singh, chairman of the department, discussed the importance of extension lectures as an extension to classroom teaching and thanked both speakers on behalf of the university.
|
|
Managing natural resources
Chandigarh, September 25 Officials in the forest department informed that the project aimed to develop the natural environment of the state through sustainable management of rural resources as well as reduce green house gases from the atmosphere to mitigate “This project will benefit the primary users of biomass – women, households dependent on degraded land/Scheduled Castes, landless, small and marginal farmers, those who use the village common properties, as well as communities living in the degraded and drought-prone areas”. Additional principal chief conservator of forests S.K. Dhar informred that uncontrolled grazing and over-cutting of vegetation had contributed to the poverty and unemployment in the state. “We have witnessed depletion of vegetation, soil erosion and diminished yield of fodder grass and fuel wood in nearly 11,000 sq km area in the state. As part of this project, we will try and establish plantations for fuel, fodder, timber and fruits on panchayat land, village common lands and sand dunes. Farm forestry will be encouraged on agricultural land and we will raise tree groves and kitchen gardens, besides adopting soil and water conservation measures to improve irrigation water supplies,” he said. He added that these activities will be carried out in 500b villages across 11 districts of Haryana. The state government has proposed that the project will be implemented by the project management unit drawn from amongst the officials of the forest department. “The villagers in all 500 villages will be actively involved in all phases for the implantation of the above mentioned activities – from appraisal, micro planning and micro project formulation to planting, implementation and maintenance. These villagers will constitute a Village Resource Management Committee with representation from all community groups to take decisions. Link workers will be chosen from amongst the educated village youth to act as intermediaries between the project staff and villagers,” said Dhar. Under this project, women self-help groups will be promoted and people will be taught to use improved cooking stoves to promote energy conservation. The project will also undertake all necessary steps to generate Kyoto compliant carbon credits for afforestation/ reforestation and adoption of energy efficient activities under clean development mechanism. These carbon credits earned will represent an additional income for local communities.
|
|
BSP set to make its mark
Chandigarh, September 25 Immediately after the success of its social engineering experiment in Uttar
Pradesh, where the BSP formed the government on its own, defying predictions by all poll analysts, the party thought of emulating the similar experiment in
Haryana, which shares its boundaries with UP. The party appointed its When the BSP announced its candidates for five Lok Sabha seats, only one SC candidate was nominated for the reserved constituency of
Ambala. The other four belonged to different non-SC communities. Dev Raj Diwan, a Punjabi, has been nominated from
Sonepat; Gurdial Singh, a Saini, from Kurukshetra; Raj Sharma, a Brahmin, from
Rohtak; and Zakir Hussein, a Muslim, from Gurgaon. It was expected that the BSP would announce its candidates for the remaining five seats soon after it had nominated the candidates for five seats. But the BSP is keeping its opponents guessing. Many feel that the first announcement was a strategy chalked out by the party to send a message to other parties, which might be interested in having an alliance with the
BSP. The message was that the BSP would not agree to contest less than five Lok Sabha seats in Haryana in case of any alliance. On the other hand, Manhera has categorically stated that the BSP would contest the elections in the state on its own. Sources close to him say there are strong reasons for the party to go alone. Since the BSP has raised the
non-Jat plank, it cannot go with the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), the leader of which is a
Jat. The BSP can also not go with the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) of Kuldeep Bishnoi because SCs were categorised into “A” and “B” categories for the purpose of sharing the fruits of reservation when his father Bhajan Lal was the Chief Minister. The categorisation had not gone well with the some members of the community, who constituted “B” category. Interestingly, these members constitute the mainstay of the
BSP. The party leadership would never like to antagonize the major group of its supporters by joining hands with Bhajan Lal and his son. The sources say the party has kept five Lok Sabha seats vacant for the possible rebels of their opponent political parties. They say once these parties announce their candidates, there are bound to be desertions from their ranks. The BSP would definitely like to fish in the troubled waters of its opponents. Some of the rebels could be potential winners. The BSP would not hesitate to give tickets to such leaders. The BSP is also in search of a Brahmin face, who can be projected by the party as its Chief Minister candidate before the elections to woo
non-Jats to its fold. When Arvind Sharma, Congress MP from Karnal, had announced his support to Mayawati during the trust motion moved by the Manmohan Singh government, it was felt that the Haryana BSP would get its Brahmin face in him. But after the flip-flop by him, the BSP has renewed its search.
|
|
|
Real estate firm woos elders
Chandigarh, September 25 These companies come out with new ideas and gimmicks to lure customers. The latest to join the real estate race is CHD Developers Ltd. It has announced its plans to build four townships across North India under the name “active senior lifestyle townships” comprising homes and villas targeted towards senior citizens, with an investment outlay of Rs 1,700 crore. One of these townships is slated to come up in Karnal with 2,500 residential units spread across 100 acre. The uniqueness of the project would be that the construction would be only on the ground floor and only those of or above 55 years of age would be allowed to own a property in the township. Chairman and MD of the company R.K. Mittal says, “The retirement villas are aimed to provide stress-free and stimulating life for elderly people who want comfort around them”. “These retirement villas will offer safe and secure environment with the best amenities,” he added.
|
|
Born to act
Sirsa, September 25 Sheeba has been playing roles in Punjabi films since her childhood. Born in a family of filmmakers, her father Subhash Bhakri and grandfather Lekh Raj Bhakri have been in the film business for long. Old-timers still remember the film “Bhangra” by Lekh Raj
Bhakri. Sheeba was born in Jalandhar, but has been brought up and educated in
Mumbai. During her childhood, Sheeba played several roles in the films made by her family. After completing her studies, Sheeba started taking her career in the tinsel town seriously. She started with modelling and was able to make a mark in it. After that she worked in several music albums of noted Punjabi singers like Harbhajan Mann and Jasbir Jassi. Her first big assignment was Punjabi film “Pind Di Kudi”, which also featured Sarabjit Cheema and Pakistani actress Veena
Malik. The film, jointly brought by the artistes of India and Pakistan, was very different from the run-of-the-mill films. Sheeba has also worked in “Yeh Kaisi Mohabat”, a film shot in Pakistan, and “Tadap”, a film shot in Dubai. She says remix songs have helped younger generations listen the old golden songs but at the same time vulgarity and obscenity is also being served under the garb of remix. She is all praise of reality shows and says these shows have been providing a big platform to youngsters from villages and small cities, who do not have godfathers in the film world. She says success in the film industry depends much on the hard work and to some extent on luck. Sheeba has a word of advice for the young girls aspiring to try their luck in the film world. “There are good as well as bad people in the industry, just like in any other profession. Always keep your ethics in mind and never compromise.”
|
|
|
||
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
