Jhajjar, August 24
Due to the constant shortage of canal water following the lack of rain in the monsoon , thefts of canal water have become the order of the day in the region.

Farmers don’t hesitate in stealing water from canals passing through villages of the district whenever they require water for farming and other works.

Interestingly, special campaigns are launched by the Irrigation Department from time to time in order to initiate legal action against those found indulging in the thefts, but these warnings fail.Thus, the incidents of the theft continue as usual.

Moreover, the theft of water from canals is not only a headache for the department but also a source of tension in the villages. With power supply remaining erratic or inadequate and due to the decreasing underground water level, farmers rely on canal water to irrigate their fields.

The need increases during the paddy season, when crops require more water than the wheat season. Under these circumstances, every farmer requires water. The department then fixes the time to open the gates of the drains and sub-drains. However, a number of farmers who feel their fields require more water and they could not wait for their turn indulge in the theft of water.

Significantly, these farmers either put pipes in canal or drains and draw water through motors or breach the banks of the drains and the sub-drains. Under this condition, those farmers are the most sufferers whose fields are situated at the tail-end, as due to the lower pressure of the flow, the canal water does not reach their fields.

Taking a serious note of the rising incidents of the theft of canal water, the district administration has recently decided to get tough against the thefts. It has issued order to village panchayats in the district for round-the-clock patrolling in the suspected areas with security personnel. Besides, officials of the department have also been directed to keep surveillance on people of dubious character.

In his order, Jhajjar deputy commissioner Nitin Yadav said stealing of water from any canal was a punishable act in the eye of law. Hence, those found violating the law would be liable to face legal action.

“Due to rising complaints of canal water theft, the district authorities have to take necessary steps to control the theft in the region,” said Yadav, adding that the people should not make efforts of stealing water from the canal.

Hisar, August 24
The bureaucracy appears to be undoing all the goodwill generated by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda before the assembly elections in the state.

The latest instance of bureaucratic bungling concerns the revision of pay scales of college and university teachers who will go on a three-day strike from tomorrow in protest against the “watering down” of pay scales by the Higher Education Department violating notifications issued by the University grants Commission (UGC) and the Union Human Resources Development Ministry.

Significantly, Hooda had accepted the teachers’ demand for the revision of their pay scales earlier this month at a meeting with representatives of teachers’ organisations. He had assured that the recommendations of the UGC and the directive of the HRD Ministry would be implemented in toto.

However, when the notification was issued on August 22, selection grade lecturers and readers were placed in the pay band of Rs 15600-39100. As against this, the UGC and the HRD Ministry had directed that “incumbent Readers and Lecturers (Selection Grade) who had completed three years in the current pay scale of Rs 12000-18300 on January 1, 2006 shall be placed in the Pay Band of Rs. 37400-67000 with AGP Pay of Rs . 9000 and shall be re-designated as Associate Professor”.

This means that teachers falling in this category will be getting Rs 10000 to 15000 month less than what the UGC and the HRD Ministry had notified.

Significantly, 85 per cent of the college and university teachers fall in this category since no appointments have been made in universities and colleges for more than a decade and the incumbents appointed before the ban are supposed to get the scale of Rs 37400-67000.

The Education Department has also not changed the designation as suggested by the UGC and the HRD Ministry. As per their directions, lecturers and readers were to be designated as assistant professor and associate professor. In Haryana, the designations remain unchanged.

Teachers’ leaders point out that the bureaucrats have violated the UGC and HRD ministry directives despite the fact that the UGC is supposed to bear 80 per cent of the additional expenses incurred by state governments on account of revision of teachers’ pay scales.

The states only foot 20 per cent of the expense on this count.

Dr Vazir Nehra, President of Maharshi Dayanand University Teachers Association, said the Education Department had completely distorted the original UGC notification.This had not been done by any other state in the country. “The Haryana Education Department, in fact, has issued a notification which is completely different from what the UGC and the HRD Ministry had issued as if the department was above these institutions”, he added.

Nehra said as per the notification, a new lecturer would be drawing more salary than a reader with significantly longer service.

He said teachers would not accept the notification issued by the government. “We are not asking for something new. All that we ask for is just give us what the UGC and the HRD Ministry has given us. It’s our due”, he said.

The teachers will go on a three-day strike from tomorrow. Teaching and administrative work in colleges and universities will come to a complete halt. Teachers’ organisations have warned of an indefinite strike if the grades are not implemented properly. 

Rewari, August 24
Anju Bhargava, a member of the US President Barack Obama’s Council on Faith-Based and Neighbourhood Partnerships, and president of the Asian Indian Women in America (AIWA), recently paid a short visit to Rewari, the native town of her mother, Sarla Bhargava.

To make her visit memorable, the Rotary Club of Rewari organised a “save the girl child rally” where Anju championed the cause of women as a celebrated daughter of the Rewari region, while Sudhir Bhargava and Naresh Bhargava, the doyens of the local Bhargava community, facilitated Anju’s nostalgic visit to the “Khushwaqt Villa”, a mansion where her mother was born and brought up.

Simultaneously, the Rewari chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) organised a felicitation function as well as a seminar on the conservation of “intangible heritage” here.

Overwhelmed by the warm welcome accorded by the citizens, Anju called for a revival of the spirit of selfless service to the community which, she said, was seemingly on the decline.

Making a specific mention of social services being rendered by churches and synagogues in the US, she said the Hindu American Seva Charities (HASC), while positively responding to President Obama’s call to the “United We Serve” initiative through service projects, had recently expressed its resolve to accomplish 1,001 seva projects by September 11, 2009.

Asserting that seva was an integral part of Indian culture, she said while a number of Indian-Americans, who lacked financial prosperity, would be benefitted by such service projects, millions of Indians, too, needed such assistance.

Anju said the number of Hindu temples in the US had increased manifold in the past 35 years whereas only one temple of Lord Ganesha existed in New York in 1970s.

Mentioning about her role as a Hindu priestess in New Jersey, she said the Hindu philosophy and rituals were closely interlinked and could not be separated from 
each other.

Prof Bhudev Sharma, a former vice-chancellor of the Hindu University of America, said the work being done by Ajnu Bhargava in the domain of community service in the US was a concrete instance of intangible heritage.

While Sudhir Bhargava, convener of the Rewari chapter of INTACH, conducted the programme, Dr LN Sharma, BD Yadav Naresh Chauhan, Dr Tara Saxena and other members of INTACH presented mementoes to Anju and other guests.

Yamunanagar, August 24
Adi-Badri, known as a place of origin of Bhagwad Puran, and where a temple of Lord Vishnu and Maharishi Ved Vayas Ashram are located, will be developed as a tourism hub.

The administration has proposed a budget of Rs 4.25 crore to the Ministry of Tourism for the development of temples at Adi-Badri. The place is surrounded by the Shivalik hills. Lakhs of pilgrims throng this holy place every year as according to mythology it is believed that Lord Vishnu had resided here.

“This place was the abode of Lord Vishnu and therefore, it is known as Adi-Badri. Besides, there is another temple where Lord Shiva had worshiped at the beginning of Kalyuga,” said head priest of the Vishnu temple Rajesh Shastri.

Besides the temples, a large number of people also visit this place to get natural water flowing out of the Shivalik hills, which is considered to be rich in minerals and beneficial for various diseases, he added.

“Another significance of this place is that Maharshi Ved Vayas had conceived the Bhagwad Puran here,” he said.

Deputy commissioner Amit Kumar Agarwal told The Tribune, “We have made this project with a view to facilitating the pilgrims and promoting tourism. Officials of the tourism ministry after visiting this place have finalised the places required to be developed. These include the construction of a ropeway between Mantra Devi and Adi-Badri temple, construction of an interpretation centre near Adi-Badri temple, renovation of an existing herbal park, construction of a gateway and landscaping of the place”.

Giving details, he said the state government had already developed a rest house, which would be inaugurated soon. A parking lot and boundary walls along the temple would be constructed, besides installing high-power lights at the temples, he added.

Kurukshetra, August 24
Haryana Excise and Taxation Financial commissioner Raminder Jakhu has ordered the district administration to constitute parties to conduct raids on traders’ premises to prevent the hoarding of essential commodities, including wheat, rice, sugar and pulses, as it would help control the rising prices.

Jakhu, who was here to review the situation after the short rainfall, was addressing district officers at the conference hall of the mini-secretariat 
here recently.

He directed deputy commissioner Pankaj Aggarwal to order all traders to fix the prices of essential commodities and vegetables so that the black marketing of these items could be checked. He also advised Food and Civil Supply Department officers not to hesitate in using the Haryana Prevention of Hoarding and Maintenance of Quality Order, 1977.

Keeping in view the changing scenario due to global warming, Jakhu suggested the Agriculture Department to mentally prepare the farmers for shifting to crop diversification from the crop-rotation system because for the last two-three years the monsoon had been reaching here late. Therefore, the farmers should be guided to grow such crops which needed less water.

Referring to the supply of electricity, Jakhu instructed Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam officers to fix the schedule of supply of electricity for tube wells as well as domestic supply.

Later, he visited fields in the Shahbad and Ladwa regions in the district where he reviewed the crop situation.

Pankaj Aggarwal, deputy commissioner, Narender Singh, additional deputy commissioner, Ashok Kumar, subdivisional magistrate, Thanesar, Sushil Kumar, subdivisional magistrate, Pehowa, and district officers drawn from various departments were among those who were present on the occasion.

Panipat, August 24
The Panipat carpet industry is all set to make a mark at the India Carpet Expo, which is scheduled to be held in Varanasi from October 3.

The four-day event would be attended by a large number of carpet manufactures from across the country. Besides, some of the top importers from various Europeans countries would visit the expo which is being held under the aegis of the Carpet Export Promotion Council at the Sampurnanand Sanskrit University grounds.

According to local carpet manufactures, they are hopeful that despite global recession, the largest extravaganza of handmade carpets, rugs and floor coverings will witness a huge participation of foreign buyers.

As many as 100 importers from different countries have already got themselves registered and more than 200 manufacturers and exporters from Bhadohi, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Jaipur and Kashmir along with those from Panipat would take part. The local manufactures would put on display their antique, modern, contemporary and classical products.

The prime motive of the council for holding the expo at Varanasi is to provide an opportunity to the overseas buyers to see all varieties of the carpet and floor coverings under one roof.

Local manufacturers stated that the fair might work wonders for the cottage-based and employment-oriented carpet industry in the present global declining trend.They said the expo would provided them an opportunity to expand their business and form new contacts with traders from other countries which at times gave a much needed impetus to their businesses.

At present, the local industries export to countries like Sweden, Australia, England, Denmark, Belgian and some other European nations.

The local industry, including the carpet manufacturing units, handloom and textile are exporting finished products worth Rs 4,000 crore each year and are making a considerable contribution to the economy.

Chandigarh, August 24
The state government has framed the Haryana Underground Pipelines (Acquisition of Right of User in Land) Rules, 2009, to facilitate the acquisition of right of user in land for laying underground pipelines for carrying water and gas for various projects being implemented in the state.

As per rules, the owner or occupier of the land may object to the laying of a pipeline within 21 days from the date of the notification in the official gazette or publication in newspapers. The competent authority would dispose of these objections within 30 days from the last date of filing of objections.

The period of 30 days may be extended to a further period of 30 days for reasons to be recorded in writing by the competent authority. During the pendency of the objections, no work relating to the laying of pipelines shall be carried out on the land for which acquisition of right of user in the land is sought by the executing agency.

The agency, its servants and workmen are empowered to enter upon the land to lay pipeline or to do survey, to dig or bore into the subsoil, mark levels and to set out the intended line of work, etc., necessary for laying the pipelines in the land after the notification.

Immediately but not later than seven days of completion of the work of laying of the pipelines, the agency shall fill the land. In the event of failure to fill trenchs with proper levelling and reasonable compaction, a 15-day notice shall be served by the competent authority to the agency to do the needful within the stipulated time failing which the bank guarantee/security shall be forfeited.

After the completion of work and during operation period, for any inspection or maintenance work, the agency shall give a notice of seven days to the occupier of the land before entering the land for this purpose. However, the notice can be dispensed with in an emergency for maintaining, examining, repairing, altering or removing any pipeline.

Any damage to the standing crop occurring as a result of such activities shall be paid by the executing agency as determined by the competent authority.

The owner or the occupier of the land shall not construct any structure, excavate any tank, well, reservoir or dam, plant any tree on the land concerned after the notification.

The agency while laying the pipelines shall keep a minimum clear distance of 1.5m on either side of pipes up to the boundary line of the land for which acquisition of right of user in land has been acquired to avoid damage to the adjoining buildings/ structures while future digging for maintenance, etc.

The agency shall be liable to pay compensation as determined by the competent authority to the occupier of the land for any damage, loss or injury by removal of trees, standing crops, temporary severance of land from other land or any injury to any other property.

Sirsa, August 24
Hari Singh Dilbar, an octogenarian Punjabi poet from Sirsa, is a well-known figure amongst the literary circles. Born in 1929 in Lyallpur (Pakistan), Dilbar has been writing and reciting poems since 1943.

Dilbar has to his credit over 1,000 poems and couplets and has been reciting his poems on Independence Day and Republic Day functions at the Red Fort in the national capital for the past 53 years.

The programmes are organised every year by the Punjabi Sahit Akademi, Delhi.

Eking out a living by selling eatables on a rehri near Sirsa bus stand, Dilbar has the distinction of performing before two different Presidents of India for five times.

“Giani Zail Singh invited me thrice, while Zakir Hussain gave me an opportunity to recite my poems at the Rasharpati Bhawan on two occasions,” Dilbar says with a sense of pride.

Such is the popularity of this unassuming satirical poet that Punjabi University, Patiala, recently made an announcement to make a documentary on his life and contribution to the field of literature.

Famous for unusual sting in his satirical comedy, Dilbar’s “Chauke and Chhakke” are the hallmark of his poetry.

“Chauke and Chhakke” are in fact four-liners and six-liners, through which the octogenarian hits out sarcastically on social inadequacies.

One of his four-liner on the independence of the country “Azadi tan aai hai par aundi chad gai karan andar, inkalab khara hai aj vi rashan diya kataran andar, ticket lain nun neta aida aunde ne darbaran andar, jidda khusra pagg bann ke bah jave sardaran andar” (independence came but went straight into cars, those who fought for independence are still standing in queues of ration, leaders coming to darbars for seeking party tickets appear as if eunuchs have sit amongst the Sikh by wearing turbans).

Dilbar, whose father, Sardar Mota Singh, was a freedom fighter, came to Sirsa when his parents shifted here from Jalandhar where they had settled after the Partition.

He worked for many years at a sweetshop in Sirsa and now ekes out a living by selling eatables on a rehri.

Having done his schooling up to fifth standard, Dilbar started writing and reciting poems in 1943.

Dilbar has so far performed with almost all noted satirists of the country like Kaka Hathrasi and others.

Sirsa, August 24
Superintending engineers, executive engineers and other senior technical officers, who frequently skip meetings of the district and subdivision level committees due to their tour programmes and other reasons, will now have to ensure their presence in such meetings.

The chief secretary, in a recent communication to all financial commissioners and administrative secretaries, heads of departments, divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners and managing directors of boards and corporations, has taken a strong exception to such irregularities.

“It has been brought to the notice of the government that frequently departmental officers, especially superintending engineers and executive engineers, do not attend district and subdivision level meetings and depute junior officers on their behalf. The practice is highly irregular and undesirable and it should be ensured that there is no recurrence of it and the officers concerned should attend the meetings regularly,” said the circular from the office of the CS.

The letter said, “The meetings of district and subdivision level committees are held according to a schedule, which are fixed in advance and intimated to all concerned and there is no reason why it should not be possible for all officers to adjust their tours or leaves accordingly”.

Head of departments have also been asked to ensure that departmental officers should not be called to Chandigarh or any other place for meetings on dates fixed for district or and subdivision level committee meetings so that there is no clash in that respect.

“In case, however, if any class I officer of the district and the subdivision concerned is not in a position at all to attend any meeting of these committees owing to entirely unavoidable circumstances, he should obtain prior permission of the minister/parliamentary secretary, who is to preside over the meeting.

As regards other officers, they should similarly obtain prior permission of the deputy commissioner/subdivisional officer concerned,” the letter concludes, adding that the government wants that these instructions should be complied with strictly.

Gurgaon, August 24
The joy of Dev’s parents, who had lost all hope of their child’s survival a few days ago, knows no bounds now. Dev, born prematurely at seven months, was diagnosed with a critical health condition of hydrocephalus, which is commonly referred to as “failure to thrive after birth”.

In this condition, the amount of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain increases above the normal limit, leading to the compression of brain and consequently a decrease in brain activity. Thus, his young, immature and poorly built body was unable to grow and develop further. He was even unable to take feed from his mother.

Dev’s parents brought him to Artemis Health Institute, where they were told that a surgical intervention was required to rectify the situation.

On getting their consent for the surgery, Dr Arun Saroha, a consultant in neurosurgery at the institute, surgically inserted a shunt in the child’s body. This connected the baby’s brain with the abdominal cavity, through which excessive CSF was drained into the abdominal cavity where it could be absorbed.

The surgery lasted for approximately 90 minutes, after which the baby was kept in ICU for two days and then shifted to general ward where he was kept for five days before being discharged.

Dr Arun said: “Dev’s operation was naturally a high-risk operation. To save his life, we carried out a procedure called ventricular peritoneal shunt. The shunt inserted in the body functions like a pipe with a valve, diverting the excess CSF in the brain to the abdominal cavity.

The survival rate in cases like this, where the baby weighs only 800 grams, is almost zero. And that’s what is most gratifying; that we have been able to save a life”.

According to the doctor, Dev is now doing well. His milk intake has increased and now at two months, he finally weighs over a kilogram.

Faridabad, August 24
The Haryana Progressive Farmers' Forum, a voluntary organisation, has urged farmers of the state to show patience and courage in facing drought.

The forum has hailed the state government's measure of purchasing power at a high price and supplying it to the farmers at a subsidised rate. This, along with other measures taken by the government to bail out the farmers, was laudable, it added.

President of the forum Satbir Daggar, who is also convener of the Kissan Cell, a frontal organisation of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, said the executive committee of the forum met here in the midst of the crisis faced by the farmers on account of poor monsoon.

He said 30-40 per cent of agricultural activities had been affected in the state. With a major portion of the Haryana getting urbanised and further shrinking of farmland, the figure was big enough, he added. He said in the present scenario, the farmers must show grit and determination and face the adversity boldly.

Daggar said the government had been supplying power to the farmers eight hours a day at a subsidised rate for the past two months.

“The government is purchasing power at Rs 12 per unit and supplying it to the farmers at 45 paise per unit. In the past two months, the government had spent additional Rs 1,700 crore to enable the farmers to run their tubewells,” he added.

The forum has also hailed government’s decision of directing banks to mortgage the land of a farmer only to the extent of the price of a tractor that he purchased on loan. 

Kurukshetra, August 24
Petrol and diesel worth lakhs of rupees was pilfered not by thieves but by employees of a filling station, who tampered with machines and drained out oil without breaking the seal.

The employees of Shiva Filling Station of Hindustan Petroleum in Bhawni Khera village in Kurukshetra used a “novel” technique of moving the “Z” line of the machines backward without tinkering with their seal to pilfer oil. Using the improvised technique, the salesmen were able to draw 3,000 litres of oil against 2,500 litres shown by the machines.

Owner of the filling station Sandeep Wadhwa said he was suffering losses due to widening gap in the intake of oil and the net sale, but he was not able to find the reason. He said he changed the seal several times, but the problem did not end and finally, he installed CCTV cameras on the advice of his friends.

However, the salesmen were much smarter and used to cut the power, making the CCTV cameras inoperative, and fell in the net only after the owner quietly put the CCTV cameras on inverter and the culprits were identified and exposed.

He said all four suspects were salesmen at the station and he had already reported the matter to the police.

The Kurukshetra police has registered a case and investigations are in progress. All accused are at large. The incident has alarmed the filling station owners and it was surprising that the accused were able to bypass all security features and managed to pilfer oil without any suspicion on them.

I have got two EDC terminals from HDFC bank bearing Nos. 22001932 and 22001229 installed in my two clinics. The credits pertaining to EDC terminal 22001229 are being credited to my current account No. 12022290000523 and the credit from EDC terminal 22001932 are being credited to my saving account No. 12021570000689. I have been requesting the bank to credit the amount from both EDC terminals to my current account. I regret to write that bank staff has not implemented the same despite repeated requests for the past four months.

It is not unusual to find drivers of the Haryana Roadways or for that matter other roadways, using mobile phones while driving. But what happened during a recent journey beats everything else that I have witnessed. The erring driver was on phone for about 11 minutes while driving on a busy national highway.

It was July 25 and the bus number was HR 61-2641. The bus belonged to the Bhiwani depot of Haryana Roadways and was on its way to Delhi from Rohtak. Approximately from 9.33 am to 9.44 am, while the bus travelled from Asthal Bohar to Kharawar temple, the driver was talking on his mobile phone, which was a handheld device to boot.

To make up for the lost time, the bus was driven recklessly thereafter to reach Sampla by 9.56 am. It may be added that due to ongoing repairs, most of this stretch is one-way. These details should make it possible for Haryana Roadways to locate the driver as well as gather proof of driver having used the phone, if they wish to. To authenticate this story, I have preserved ticket numbers 439382 (for Rs 3) and 843994 (for Rs 10) issued to me for the journey from Rohtak to Sampla.

Rajinder Chaudhary, Professor, Department of Economics, MD University, Rohtak