Rewari, October 5
Till a few months ago, Deepak Yadav, a sales manager with a leading Indian company, was a happy man. On June 11, his wife Rita gave birth to twin sons at a private nursing home in Gurgaon. To double his joys, he was told that his promotion as senior sales manager was being finalised.

However, within a few days, a shattered, jobless Yadav found himself making the rounds of various hospitals and nursing homes in Rewari, Gurgaon and Delhi for the treatment of his newborn son.

What led to the grievous turn of events was an alleged medical “blunder” by a doctor while giving an injection to the newborn. This happened on June 18 and since then, the couple has left no stone unturned to get their little one cured, but to no avail.

This correspondent met the couple at the Mirpur Institute of Medical Sciences, a charitable hospital at Mirpur village in the district, where they narrated their tale of woes.

“Initially, we were told that as Jeet, one of the twins, could not be given the Hepatitis vaccination (injection) as he was underweight. However, after a week of their birth, both infants were given the injection, following which Jeet developed a complication,” maintained Yadav and his wife Rita.

According to the hapless parents, Jeet cried uncontrollably while he was being given the injection. Soon after, he developed a swelling in the left leg, seeing which the parents again took him to the doctor in Gurgaon.

The doctors began the treatment, but there was no improvement. Eventually, they took the child to some other nursing home in Delhi. The child responded to treatment, but could not be fully cured.

His medical investigations revealed that the bone forming the thigh joint was affected. The Yadavs then took their son to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, where a consultant told them that the injection should not have been given as the child was underweight. He said there was also a possibility of the syringe needle having touched the infant’s bone, due to which he developed the complication.

In the meanwhile, Yadav’s company refused to extend his leave despite being explained the dire need. Ultimately, he lost his job. The child’s treatment also cost him a lot of money, putting the family under tremendous financial strain.

Yadav recently heard of the Mirpur charitable hospital and brought his son here. Now, Dr SS Yadav, an eminent orthopaedic surgeon and former director of the Rohtak PGIMS, who is the chairman of the Mirpur medical institute, has assured the couple of treating the child.

Pinning their hopes on his assurance, the Yadavs plan to sue the doctor who they hold responsible for the plight of their son and their own.

Panipat, October 5
Poor quality coal at the Panipat thermal plant has hit the power generation at this 1,350 MW power facility in the district. Coal is supplied to the plant by Indian Coal Mines (ICM). The authorities of the power plant have already sent formal commune to the management of the ICM seeking supply of better quality coal to run the eight units here.

According to sources, the coal, which is being used here, produces less heat and thus affects the efficiency of the plant. The staff has to use oil along with the coal to produce enough heat to run the units. This also increases the generation cost of electricity.

All eight units of the power plant uses coal as fuel, which is procured from coal mines in Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Maximum coal that reaches here comes from Bihar and Jharkhand.

As of today, the first unit of plant which is of 117 MW capacity is generating 108 MW of power, while the second, third and the fourth units, which are of 110 MW each, are generating 8,174 and 74 MW power, respectively, which is far less than the set targets. The fifth and sixth units of the plant are of 210 MW each and the seventh and eighth units are of 250 MW each.

Sources said the sixth and seventh units generally generated up to 220 MW of power while the eighth unit, which at present is under maintenance, generated up to 260 MW of the power.

However, as the quality of coal is poor, the generation in these units was far less than expected, sources said.

The power station had broken all previous records by achieving a record generation of 228.12 lakh units of power at PLF of 103.32 per cent in a single day on November 12 last year, which was the highest ever since it was commissioned. It had bettered its own record of power generation of 226.78 lakh units achieved on November 9, the same year as it had generated around 1,35,000 more units of electricity in a single day.

Sources said good quality coal could definitely improve the performance of the plant and it could again meet the record that was set last year.

Karnal, October 5
The Karna Lake Tourist Resort of the Haryana Tourism Department gradually losing sheen over the years is all set for major expansion and renovation. The department has prepared an elaborate plan to increase the area of the sprawling complex from 32 acres to 65 acres and acquired 23 acres of land adjoining the lake and another 10 acres near Oasis at Uchana.

The expansion plan envisaged the construction of a huge air-conditioned multipurpose hall with a seating capacity of more than 1,000 people, huge parking, fast food counter, which would be much bigger than the existing counter, a modern restaurant bar, shopping centre, park and games for children.

“The department is waiting for harvesting of crop on 33 acres of the acquired land and the work will start after the possession of the land was taken over,” KL Verma, manager of the Oasis complex, said.

Presently, the resort located at Uchana, 15 km from Karnal on the NH-1, offers facilities like a motel, family huts, restaurant, bar, conference hall, lake for boating, gift shop, dormitory and sprawling lawns. Out of 32-acre area, a golf course had been developed over 14 acres, 6-acre area was covered under buildings and roads, while the artificial Karna Lake covered more than 1 acre.

Anil Bajaj, in charge, Karna Lake Tourist Complex, said there was a considerable increase in the number of visitors with the complex also being a stoppage for Volvo buses. Possibility of expansion of artificial Karna Lake could not be ruled out, he added. Six acres lying idle had been protected by raising a boundary wall and the blue print for renovation of the old complex was being given final touches.

“Beautifully landscaped with tourist facilities designed along the waterfront, the resort was once considered as the landmark of highway tourism. It is still popular among highway travellers. People of Karnal consider the lawns as an ideal place for picnics. The expansion and renovation plan is aimed at popularising it as a unique resort in the region,” he said.

“Besides installation of a musical fountain to attract the tourists, a multipurpose commercial complex and an ultramodern parking facility is coming up to give the complex a new look,” he added.

Sonepat, October 5
The Haryana Lokayukta in its annual report 2008-09 has observed that many complaints were received alleging misappropriation of panchayat funds by sarpanches and observed that the supervisory staff of the gram panchayats should be held responsible for such lapses.

Complaints were also received regarding encroachments on panchayat land in connivance with sarpanches and other panchayat members, the report states.

It is also observed that in many complaints, the police makes unnecessary delays in the investigation to help the accused. The report suggests that action should be taken against delinquent police officials.

Making observation about the arbitrary release of land from acquisition, the Lokayukta has asked the government to formulate a well defined and transparent policy for the release of land under acquisition in order to avoid allegations of arbitration and favouritism.

It has also been observed that the government should ensure that immediate action is taken on judicial orders and in case of delay, responsibility should be fixed and action be taken against the official for causing delay in pursuing court cases.

The report has pointed out that some departments drag their feet in taking action against delinquent officials and suggested that steps should be taken for streamlining the procedure for departmental enquiry.

Slackness in dealing with public representations by the government machinery is another observation of the Lokayaukta in the report, which also stress on creating awareness among people about the Lokayaukta Act and rules for lodging complaints against public servants or for redressal of their grievances.

The chief secretary has directed all financial commissioners and principal secretaries, heads of departments, commissioners of divisions, deputy commissioners, SDMs, registrars of all universities in Haryana for taking action on the recommendations of the Haryana Lokayukta’s report.

Hisar, October 5
Can the Finance Minister reverse orders of the Chief Minister? About 2000 non-teaching employees of aided affiliated colleges of Haryana are waiting for an answer to this query.

These employees have been denied arrears for more than three years on account of revision of their pay scales. The Chief Minister had approved the revision of pay scales and the payment of arrears from January 1, 2006.

However, the final order issued by the Finance Department made the scales applicable from September, 2009, instead of January 1, 2006, as directed by the Chief Minister.

Documents available with The Tribune show that the Chief Minister had approved new scales and payment of arrears vide noting on Page 32N of the relevant file on July 31.

The file was sent back to the appropriate authorities following which a fresh note was circulated which clearly stated on Page 37 that “the matter has been approved by the Chief Minister vide noting on Page 32 N. As per orders of the CM on Page 32N, the file is to be sent to the Pay Revision Committee (FD)/HBPE for revision of pay scales of non-teaching staff of aided colleges in the state”.

Saroj Siwatch, Higher Education Commissioner, appended a note “comply with the orders of the CM, Pl.” on August 8.

The file then went to the Finance Department which issued an order on August 25, stating that “the Finance Department agrees to allow the revision of pay scales in terms of notification No. GSR.44/Const/Art.309/08 dated 30.12.2008 of state govt subject to condition that these (sic) revision shall be applicable w.e.f from 1.9.2009 instead of 1.1.2006.”

The order signed by the Superintendent, FD.II, clearly states that “the FM has seen” (the file). The noting - FM has seen - explicitly means the Finance Minister had directed that the scales be implemented from September, 2009, instead of January 1, 2006.

Significantly, the note approved by the Chief Minister included a table giving financial implications of the revision of pay scales from January 1, 2006, to April 30, 2009. An amount of Rs 9,22,32000 was mentioned as the amount of arrears for the period.

The non-teaching employees of aided affiliated colleges have always been given pay scales given to their counterparts in government colleges and from the same date. This time, while government colleges’ employees have been sanctioned these scales from January, 2006, the same should is applicable to the staff of aided colleges from September, 2009. The Finance Department order states no reason for denying arrears to the non-teaching staff of aided affiliated colleges.

Sirsa, October 5
Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s visit has been able to energise Congress workers and give a fillip to the campaign of Congress candidates in Sirsa and Fatehabad districts.

Sonia Gandhi addressed an election rally at the local HUDA grounds on Sunday and sought votes for the Congress for development.

Sonia Gandhi’s speech, which centered around the alleged “misdeeds of mal-governance” of the erstwhile Chautala government and steps taken by the Bhupinder Singh Government to bring “peace and development” to Haryana, was cheered abundantly by the crowd that waited for over four hours for her arrival.

Several young leaders and workers had their first opportunity to meet their national president, when they were lined up to welcome Sonia Gandhi before she went to the dais.

“I will relish this meeting for the rest of my life,” said Shilpa Verma, district president of the Haryana Pradesh Mahila Congress.

Bhupesh Mehta, block president of the Congress, who was called on the podium to thank Sonia Gandhi for her Sirsa visit, was equally ecstatic.

Indian Youth Congress president Ashok Tanwar, who represents Sirsa in Parliament, gave his own example to the Congress workers during his speech on this occasion.

“I come from a Dalit family with no means to reach anywhere in politics. But, it is because of Sonia Gandhi, who held my hands and made me NSUI secretary 10 years back and then continued to shower her blessings by naming me IYC President and giving the party ticket from Sirsa,” Ashok Tanwar said. Congress candidates Paramvir Singh (Tohana), Jarnail Singh (Ratia), Dura Ram (Fatehabad), Ranjit Singh (Rania), LD Arora (Sirsa), Sushil Indora (Kalanwali), Bharat Singh Beniwal (Ellenabad) and KV Singh (Dabwali) were introduced to the Congress President after her speech.

Ranjit Singh, while being introduced to Sonia Gandhi, was seen pointing towards the section of the pandal, where people brought by him were seated. In fact, a thunderous applause was reserved for Ranjit Singh, when candidates were being introduced to Sonia Gandhi.

Sonia’s hard-hitting speech against the INLD and its leaders in their old bastion has motivated Congress workers and given boost to the election campaign. 

Sirsa, October 5
Five seats of Sirsa district are witnessing a fierce contest in the Assembly elections this time.

Sirsa being the home district of INLD supremo Om Parkash Chautala is important for his party. The party has fielded its candidates from Sirsa, Dabwali, Ellenabad and Rania and it has left the Kalanwali seat for its new alliance partner SAD.

Ellenabad and Rania are two hot seats of the district, where two real brothers are trying their luck, though on the ticket of two different political parties. Om Parkash Chautala has been contesting from Ellenabad, while his younger brother, a former deputy chairman of the State Planning Board, has been contesting on the Congress ticket from neighbouring Rania.

Going looks smooth for both brothers, while tough contests are being witnessed on the other three seats.

While Chautala faces main opposition from Congress candidate Bharat Singh Beniwal, who represented the state Assembly from Darba Kalan, the INLD has fielded a new face Krishan Kamboj against Ranjit Singh in Rania.

KV Singh (Congress), a former OSD to state Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is facing a tough challenge from his nephew Ajay Singh Chautala of the INLD, is getting sleepless nights from another nephew Ravi Singh Chautala.

Ravi is son of Om Parkash Chautala’s younger brother Partap Singh Chautala and was aspirant for the Congress ticket.

Kalanwali (reserve) is also witnessing an almost direct contest between Charan Singh of the SAD and Sushil Indora of the Congress.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and several ministers of the Punjab government have been campaigning in Kalanwali for Charan Singh, supporters of both Ranjit Singh and Jagdish Nehra, both of whom have contested from the erstwhile Rori seat in the past, have been working for Indora’s victory. Equations of candidates of all political parties have been disturbed by MDLR Airline chairman Gopal Goyal, alias Gopal Kanda, who is contesting as an independent.

Congress candidate LD Arora has won the seat five times, but the going appears to be quite tough for him this time around.

Veer Bhan Mehta of the HJC is eating into his traditional vote bank comprising Punjabi community and other urbanites. Change in the demography of the Sirsa seat has also created troubles for Arora.

Padam Jain (INLD) is also a very strong contender considering the fact that several new villages, which were earlier part of Darba Kalan, have been added to Sirsa now.

Tough contests are on the cards on all five seats and as the polling date draws nearer, candidates of all political parties would try hard to increase their vote banks.

Karnal, October 5
Multi-cornered contests are on the cards in the five Assembly constituencies in Karnal district with 72 candidates left in the fray after withdrawal. Battle lines have been clearly drawn with the Congress facing the INLD, BJP, HJC and BSP candidates in all five constituencies.

The emergence of the HJC has changed the political equations in the district and its candidates would cut into the traditional congress vote-bank and further divide the dwindling urban vote-bank of the BJP.

The BSP, which fared remarkably well in Karnal district in the recent Lok Sabha poll was posing a threat to the Congress candidates, especially in Nilokheri, Assandh and Gharaunda.

Minister of State for Cooperation Meena Mandal, who has shifted to the Nilokheri (SC) seat after her Jundla (SC) seat was abolished in delimitation was facing a tough challenge from Sher Singh (BSP), Mamu Ram (INLD), Dharam Pal (BJP) and Geeta(HJC) in a 14-cornered contest.

There was great resentment among Congress workers over the grafting of Meena Mandal in Nilokheri, ignoring the claims of local leaders. Further, the sitting Congress member Jai Singh Rana, who had sought the ticket from Gharaunda after his constituency was reserved for SCs, was sore over the denial of ticket. His indifferent attitude was causing anxiety to the Congress and resentment against Meena Mandal was adding to her woes.

In the Assandh constituency, which has been opened after delimitation, the Congress was facing revolt from a section of the workers. Congress candidate Romesh Chawdhary was a greenhorn, pitted against Anil Rana (BSP), Baksheesh Singh Virk (BJP), Prem Singh (INLD) and Zila Ram Chochra (HJC). As many as 16 candidates are in the fray and the going was not smooth for the ruling party.

Sitting Congress MLA Sumita Singh was facing old rival Jai Prakash, contesting on the HJC ticket, former Congress leader Balwinder Singh Kalra, president Karnal Municipal Council, contesting on the BSP ticket, Ashok (INLD) and Chander Prakash Kathuria (BJP) in an 11-cornered contest.

The presence of the BSP, BJP and INLD candidates was dividing the opposition votes, helping the Congress in the process. The picture is not rosy for the Congress in Gharaunda also where party candidate Varinder Singh Rathore is facing a formidable challenge from Narinder Sangwan (INLD) and Harvinder Kalyan (BSP). The BJP has fielded old warhorse Jai Pal Sharma while the HJC has fielded Dharam Pal Rana. A keen contest is on the cards in this constituency as the BSP candidate could make a serious dent into the congress vote-bank.

Panipat, October 5
In a bid to prevent tampering of electronic voting machines (EVMs), the district administration on the directions of the Election Commission today undertook randomisation of EVMs to avoid pre-programming of any machine in favour of a particular candidate.

Randomisation, a two-stage process, was introduced recently by the EC for the first time.

Deputy commissioner Vijay Singh Dahiya said the belt unit and the control unit of a particular series of voting machines were kept in boxes of a different series. During the process, observers for the four Assembly constituencies of Panipat along with representatives of different political parties were also present.

Dahiya, who is also the district election officer, said a total of 550 EVMs had been made available in all four constituencies in the district, while 110 machines had been kept as spare that could be used in case any machine developed some technical snag.

As per the number of booths in every constituency, 128 machines would be sent to Panipat rural, 137 to Panipat urban, 142 to Israna and 143 machines would be sent to the Samalkha constituency, the DC said.

The first stage of randomisation was completed on September 30 and the second was undertaken on October 2.

The DC said the EVMs, to be used in a particular constituency, would be randomly selected through a computerised process. Further randomisation would be done by the returning officer afterwards to determine which specific EVM would be used at a particular polling station of that constituency.

Rewari, October 5
The sympathy component, now implicitly operating in favour of Congress candidate Rao Yadvender Singh, whose father, Rao Birender Singh, a former Chief Minister of Haryana, died here on September 30, has added a new dimension to the poll contest in Kosli which, after delimitation, is a newly carved constituency of Rewari district.

While strictly adhering to the social convention of observance of a 12-day mourning over, all three sons of Rao Birender Singh, including Yadvender Singh, along with other family members, won’t be able to conduct electioneering till the holding his rasam pagree here on October 11.

Thus, with an appeal circulated through the newspapers here this week (October 4), Yadvender Singh has fully entrusted his election campaign in Kosli to the trusted ones

If the “sympathy wave’gains intensity in the coming few days, it can be instrumental in posing a daunting challenge to Yadvender’s rivals.

Besides Yadvender Singh (Cong), former minister and ex-district INLD chief Jagdish Yadav (Independent), Satish Khola (INLD), Anil Rao (BJP), Rao Kamalbir Singh (BSP), Mohit Yadav son of former minister Dharambir Yadav (HJC) and nine others are in the poll fray in Kosli.

While Yadvender and Jagdish are old rivals, Satish Khola, Anil Rao, Kamalbir, Mohit Yadav and most others are greenhorns.

Besides Kamalbir, Anil Rao, Mohit and several others are ‘outsiders” as well.

Similarly, while all others are targeting Congress nominee Yadvender Singh, Jagdish Yadav (Independent) seems to have made a notable advancement over his other compeers for obvious reasons.

In the 2005 Assembly elections, Jagdish Yadav, who contested the poll as an INLD candidate, had secured a lead over winning Congress candidate Yadvender Singh in those 88 villages of the now abolished Jatusana constituency, which had now been merged with the newly created Kosli segment.

The entry of Jagdish Yadav into the Congress, who was the Rewari district INLD chief and who made a bid to join the party after quitting the INLD recently, could not materialise owing to objections reportedly raised by Yadvender’s elder brother and senior Congress leader, Rao Inderjit Singh, MP.

Insiders opine that Jagdish Yadav has now the covert blessings of some Congress bosses , who are overtly and covertly proving conducive to his election campaign.

Recently when MP Deepender Singh Hooda addressed election meetings in various villages of the Kosli segment to canvass for Yadvender Singh, he took pains to tell the villagers that Yadvender Singh alone was the official Congress candidate in Kosli.

Be it so, a likely emergence of a battle royal between Yadvender Singh (Cong) and his bete noire, Jagdish Yadav (Ind), is being keenly awaited.

Faridabad, October 5
The demise of former Haryana Chief Minister Rao Birender Singh is likely to change the existing political equations and poll agenda of parties in south Haryana especially in the Ahirwal belt.

Though Rao Birender Singh had been politically inactive for the past more than five years, the political discourse, equations and mobilisations in south Haryana, especially in part of Gurgaon, Rewari and Mahendragarh, were either pro or anti-Rao Birender Singh.

In essence, he was the focal point of politics in south Haryana. Though he and his clan had made a number of opponents in the Ahir community during the patriarch’s political innings, he was still a popularly revered figure, who had also given an identity to the Ahirwal belt.

In the past one decade, there was a clear polarisation between supporters of Rao Birender Singh and those who were against his clan.

However, many feel that his demise will materially not change the face of politics in South Haryana as his clout had been on the wane of late.

They said in the last assembly elections, all nominees of the Congress, except one in the Ahirwal belt, whom Rao Birender Singh and his clan opposed, won. Also, nominees considered to be propped up by Birender Singh’s clan in the Bawal seat (reserved) in Rewari district and Narnaul in Mahendragarh district lost the elections.

His critics say that the reason why the young generation of politicians virtually revolted against him was his “feudal tendencies and arrogance” laced with his “vested interests” in promoting only the political interests of his family members and acolytes.

A significant point is that Rao Birender Singh a few days before his death had reportedly stated that he did not belong to any political party. However, his son and former Union Minister Rao Inderjeet Singh is a Congress MP from Gurgaon and another son Yadvender Singh was a Congress MLA and seeking reelection as a Congress nominee. His another son Ajit Singh is contesting from the Ateli assembly seat as INLD nominee. In such a situation, none of the political parties can own his image or legacy in south Haryana.

However, the wide-ranging opinion in south Haryana is that considering the towering political personality, that he was straddling the Ahirwal politics for several decades, the political discourse and moves here would still have his shadow, though not the way things were run from his ancestral “Rampura House” in Rewari, considered to be the nerve centre of Ahirwal politics.

Gurgaon, October 5
“I am not like Sid in real life but I am happy to be part of the film,” says Ranbir Kapur, who along with his co-star Konkana Sen Sharma and debutant director Ayan Mukherji recently visited the city for the promotion of their film “Wake Up Sid”.

Talking to The Tribune, Ranbir said he was not at all lazy in his real life as compared to Sid in the movie. “Sid is a lazy unmotivated slacker who takes his father's hard earned money for granted and spends his time attending parties and sleeping till late in the morning. He (Sid) is a person who was harassed by society because he does not know what he wants to do in life,” Ranbir said.

Despite their contrasting personalities, Sid becomes Aisha’s (Konkona Sen Sharma) first friend in Mumbai. As Aisha sets up her life in the city with the help of Sid and his gang, Sid allows the time to fly by over long drives, parties that stretch well into dawn, and endless hours doing absolutely nothing.

The two-time National Award winner Konkona Sen Sharma said Ayan had done a wonderful job as a debutant director. “We all have worked hard and the rest is now in the hands of audience,” she said.

“Our film is based on today's youth and depicts their life with full of fun and frolic,” says Ayan. “Ranbir has the power to hold a scene, which very few actors can boast of. He has done a remarkable job,” Ayan added.

Gurgaon, October 5
The city-based MDI School of Energy Management has recently launched a new course on ‘smart grids’. The course has been developed in close collaboration with companies like Infosys, Areva Group, Crompton Greaves and BHEL actively working in this field.

The Ministry of Power has highlighted the application of smart grids for efficient power generation and distribution in the country. The course will help the power sector in tackling various issues like energy efficiency and pricing structures.

The new course will also cover information technology, network management

solutions, bulk generation, high voltage transmission, distribution systems, rural electrification, etc.. The pedagogy of the course is based on case studies on smart utilities.

Dr Atmanand, Dean, MDI, said, “The term smart grid encompasses various components of the entire electricity supply chain which can be empowered by intelligence, like smart sensors, smart devices, smart meters, smart everything. A smart grid is the existing electricity supply chain - generation, transmission and distribution on which digital technology is superimposed to make it more communicative and interactive. This makes the system more responsive, adaptive, and efficient.”