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HSIIDC ‘forcing closure’ of small enterprises
After buffalo, NDRI aims at pashmina goat cloning
Hisar AIR station making do with just one programme officer
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Industrial waste pollutes Saraswati drain
Horticulture mission launched
in Y'nagar
Sonepat yet to get representation in Cabinet
Speaker forms House committees
Steps to boost mustard, wheat output
Multispeciality hospital likely to open in March '10
Letter
Scheme to rein in infant mortality rate
‘Lack of interaction between media institutes, industry’
‘Legal help must to protect special children’
Vice-chancellor of BPS Mahila Vishwavidyalya
Need to understand science of climate change stressed
Power utility to hold open darbars
BJP keeping an eye on Hooda government
Villagers seek extension of lal dora
An evening of qawwalis and kebabs
Sirsa writer pens book on childhood memories
Revised Pay
Postal dept's negligence proves costly for youth
High Court Issue
Hareda opens solar shops
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HSIIDC ‘forcing closure’ of small enterprises
Gurgaon, December 14 Such serious allegations against the functioning of the HSIIDC were levelled by small-scale industrialists and entrepreneurs of Gurgaon and other districts of the state at a recent meeting held in connection with the revision of the state industrial policy. The meeting, held at Haryana Bhavan in New Delhi, was chaired by YS Malik, financial secretary-cum-principal secretary (Industries), and attended by the HSIIDC managing director, besides representatives from the CII, FICCI, Assocham, PHD Chamber, and other industrial associations from Gurgaon, Faridabad, Rewari, Yamunanagar and Hisar. “We categorically stated at the meeting that the HSIIDC was harassing the small-scale industrialists,” said Col Raj Singla (retd), president of the Chamber of Industries of Udyog Vihar (Gurgaon), adding that while all favours like land at cheap rates were being given to the big units, the SSI units were being forced to close down due to the highhandedness of officials concerned and excessive red tape in the HSIIDC. Talking to The Tribune, Col Singla maintained that a large number of premises were already lying vacant, while the owners of many functional ones had also been left with no option by to shut these down. “Small units in Udyog Vihar are facing unprecedented difficulties and are feeling frightened and trapped. They do not have means to pay because demands being raised on them have gone beyond their means,” he lamented. The industrial captains representing the chamber at the meeting demanded that industrial policies should essentially be micro, small and agro-based industry centric. Voicing the concerns of the small units, they asserted that the licencing/registration procedure for industry should be limited to the simplified filing of laid down memorandum as provided by the MSME Development Act, 2006. They also demanded that industrial plots be allotted at a fixed price, free of subsequent enhancements and other development charges. “The HSIIDC policies with regard to estate management are too harsh and harassing. These should be relaxed. The system of permissions should be minimised and be made instantaneous in keeping pace with the electronic era. Structure of fees, charges, penalties and interest should also be rationalised,” they added. The chamber sought the elimination of the multiple authority regime, the provision for the resumption of allotted plots and according due honour to the freehold status of industrial property by prompt execution of the conveyance of title deed.
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After buffalo, NDRI aims at pashmina goat cloning
Karnal, December 14 The same hand-guided technique, used for buffalo cloning, would be adopted for pashmina goat cloning and the project would go full steam, possibly in March next year, as all laboratories needed under the project had been set up, Dr A.K.Srivastav, Director of the NDRI, said. The Rs 896.5-crore “Value chain on zona-free cloned embryos and quality animal production from elite buffaloes and pashmina goats” project was sanctioned under national agriculture innovation project for three and a half years but the cloning of pashmina goat was relegated to the background as the focus was more on buffalo cloning. Dr Srivastav said work had been suspended as it was not possible to work in farms under snow and the process for pashmina goat cloning by implanting embryo would start after snow melts in March. Expressing confidence that the technique would succeed in the case of pashmina goats also, Dr Srivastav said the objective of the project was optimisation of zona-free cloned embryo production of pashmina goats to be undertaken at the SKUAST. The project also envisaged cloned embryo freezing, thawing and dissemination of “generated technology” to end-users like state governments and animal husbandry nuclear farms through direct sale of cloned embryos to farmers. The project would go a long way in making the protocols available for efficient production of cloned embryos of pashmina goats and multiplication of pashmina bucks. About 1000 zona-free cloned embryos would be produced every year under the project and tissues from at least 30 elite animals would be collected and preserved. Anwar Alam, Vice Chancellor, Sher-E- Kashmir University of Agricultural Science and Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST), said all preparations for the joint project sanctioned this year were in place with the purchase of the necessary equipment. “Cloning is the need of the hour because today we need elite material on a larger scale”, he added. He disclosed Rasheed, a student of the university, who was doing his Ph.D from the NDRI, was a part of the team that produced the first buffalo clone and his contribution in research in cloning of pashmina goat, to be taken up at Leh and Srinagar , would be immensely beneficial.
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Hisar AIR station making do with just one programme officer
Hisar, December 14 There is no station director, assistant station director, transmission officer and announcer. The foundation stone of the station was laid by the then Chief Minister Bhajan Lal in 1994 in the presence of the then Information and Broadcasting Minister K. P. Singh Deo. Work began at a snail’s pace and the station complex took five years to be completed. It began broadcasting on Republic Day in 1999. At that time the station had an assistant station director, four programme officers, three transmission officers and two announcers. With the passage of time most of them were transferred but no replacements were sent. The official residence of the director inside the station complex has been lying unoccupied for several years. The last to leave the radio station was an announcer who sought voluntary retirement. Since then the solitary programme officer has been manning the station. The station has engaged two local artistes on contract. The broadcast is based mainly on old recorded programmes. Not only that, the budget for programmes for farmers has been reduced from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh only, it is learnt. There are two other radio stations in Haryana are at Rohtak and Kurukshetra. Initially, the local station availed of the services of students of local universities and colleges for cultural programmes. However, in the absence of proper staff, such programmes have ceased to be broadcast. Several local organisations have been demanding the posting of adequate staff at the station. However, thus far the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has been ignoring such demands.
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Industrial waste pollutes Saraswati drain
Kaithal, December 14 The continuous inflow of untreated polluted water into this river has not only hurt the religious sentiments of the people, but has also become a health hazard for human beings and animal wealth of Polar and other villages. According to reports, some industrial units in the neighbouring Kurukshatra district have been throwing their untreated wastewater in the drain for the past several years. The indifferent attitude of officials of the departments concerned has aggravated the problem. The villagers complain that during the past few years they have brought the matter to the notice of successive deputy commissioners and local political leaders, but the situation has not changed. Pawan Bhatt, president, State Vichar Parikrma Manch, and a resident of Siwan, expressed concern over the failure of the authorities to check the inflow of polluted water into the river. He said: “This place is considered sacred as people believe that this is the ancient Saraswati river and on its banks is situated a temple of Goddess Saraswati. A fair used to be held here on ‘chaudas’ after every six months and people used to take a dip in the river. But now, people are scared of taking a dip in the river which had become polluted after some factories started discharging their effluents and wastewater in it”. Bhatt said if the situation did not improve soon, they would be forced to knock at the doors of the Pollution Control Board and might take recourse to other legal remedies and ensure that the sanctity of the river was restored.
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Horticulture mission launched
in Y'nagar
Yamunanagar, December 14 Besides, other medicinal plants are also in demand following the popularity of herbal medicines. The scheme also aims at promoting diversification of crops so that farmers can be less dependent on the wheat-paddy rotation. "The farmers will be given medicinal plants and are targeting to cover 120 hectares in the district. In the first phase, we would provide aloe vera, amla, stevia and asavgandha plants to the farmers. Aloe vera plants will be grown in 50 hectares, stevia in 10, Amla in 30, tulsi in 20 and asavgandha in 10 hectares," Bhoop Singh, district horticulture officer (DHO), said. Under this scheme, the horticulture department will provide aloe vera plants worth Rs 8,500 per hectare to needy and deserving farmers, stevia plants worth Rs 62,500 per hectare, amla plants worth Rs 13,000 per hectare, tulsi plants worth Rs 6,000 per hectare and asavgandha plants worth Rs 5,000 per hectare would be provided, he added. "The demand of aloe vera and amla has increased tremendously in the past few years," he further said. "The farmers will be able to increase their income by growing medicinal plants. They can approach the department with their plan and can get plants from us,"
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Sonepat yet to get representation in Cabinet
Sonepat, December 14 No one got an opportunity after the recently concluded state Assembly elections even after electing five Congress MLAs from six constituencies of the district. Last representation the district got was way back in 1996 when three ministers -Krishna Gahlaut, Ramesh Kaushik and Jagbir Singh Malik - were inducted into the Cabinet by the then Chief Minister Bansi Lal. In the 2000 Assembly elections, four INLD candidates - Ramesh Khatak from Baroda (reserve), Ram Kumar Saini from Gohana, Suraj Mal Antil from Rai and Padam Singh Dahiya from Kharkhoda - won the elections, but none of them was inducted into the Cabinet. One seat of Gannaur was won by Congress candidate and remaining one of Sonepat was bagged by independent candidate Dev Raj Dewan. Om Prakash Chautala as Chief Minister did not induct any one from the district into the cabinet. Similarly, Congress candidates Dharam Pal Singh from Gohana, Anil Thakar from Sonepat, Ramesh Kaushik from Rai and Jitender Singh Malik from Gannaur were elected in the 2005 Assembly elections. The other two seats - Kharkhoda and Baroda (reserve) - were captured by Sukhbir Farmana of the NCP and Ram Phal Chidana of the INLD, respectively. The Congress government was formed under the leadership of Bhupinder Singh Hooda, but none of the Congress MLAs got an opportunity to represent the district in the Cabinet. After the delimitation exercise, the Congress improved its performance in the 2009 Assembly elections by bagging five of the six seats. Sri Krishan from de-reserved Kharkhodsa, Jagbir Singh Malik from Gohana, Jaiveer Balmiki from Kharkhoda (reserve), Kuldeep Sharma from Gannaur and Jai Tirth from Rai won the elections. The Sonepat seat went to BJP candidate Kavita Jain. This time also, all hopes of the elected Congress MLAs were dashed to ground with the induction of independent MLAs into the cabinet. Sonepat as a separate district came into being in 1973 and since then the district was represented in the cabinet by Chiranji Lal, Ram Dhari Gaur and Shyam Chand during 1972-1977; Rizak Ram and Shanti Rathi during 1977-82; Rajinder Singh and Jaswant Singh Chauhan during 1982-87; Kripa Ram Punia, Ved Singh Malik and Kishan Singh Sangwan between 1987-91; and Shyam Dass Mukhija, Shanti Rathi and Hukam Singh during 1991-96.
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Speaker forms House committees
Chandigarh, December 14 While Chatha himself will be the ex-officio chairperson of the Rules Committee, the members of the committee will be former Speaker Raghuvir Singh Kadian, Om Parkash Chautala, Ashok Kumar Arora, Venod Kumar Sharma, Kiran Choudhary, Sampat Singh and Kuldeep Bishnoi. The Deputy Speaker will be the ex-officio Chairperson of the House Committee. The members of the committee are Anand Singh Dangi, Bharat Bhushan Batra, Jai Tirath and Saroj. Ram Kishan Gujjar will be the Anand Singh Dangi will be the Chairperson of the Committee on Public Undertakings. The other members of the committee are Devender Kumar Bansal, Krishan Pal Gurjar, Naresh Sharma, Ram Niwas Ghorela, Bishan Lal Saini, Mohammed Illyas, Aftab Ahmed and Hari Chand Middha. Raghuvir Singh Kadian will be the Chairperson of the Committee on Privileges. The members of the committee are Anand Singh Dangi, Rajinder Singh Joon, Rao Dharam Pal, Bharat Bhushan Batra, Kuldeep Sharma, Rajbir Singh Barara, Col. Raghbir Singh (Badhra), Phool Singh Kheri and Prithi Singh. The Committee on Government Assurances will be headed by Ram Pal Majra. The members will be Ram Kishan Gujjar, Pardeep Chaudhary, Vinod Bhayana, Zile Ram Sharma, Anand Kaushik, Raghubir Singh Tewatia, Ganga Ram and Kali Ram Patwari. Col. Raghbir Singh (Badhra) will be the Special
Invitee. Bharat Bhushan Batra will be the Chairperson of the Library Committee. The other members of the committee are Devender Kumar Bansal, Sri Krishan Hooda, Akram Khan, Mamu Ram and Narender Sangwan. Phool Singh Kheri will be Special Invitee. The Committee on Estimates will be headed by Rao Dharam Pal. The other members of the committee are Balbir Pal Shah, Savitri Jindal, Rao Narender Singh, Gian Chand Oadh, Kuldeep Sharma, Sher Singh Barshami, Kavita Jain and Krishan Lal Kamboj. The Committee on the Public Accounts will be headed by Prof. Sampat Singh and the other members will be Ashok Kumar Arora, Anil Vij, Rao Yadavendra Singh, Mrs. Sumita Singh, Sat Pal Sangwan, Krishan Lal Panwar, Jai Tirath and Parminder Singh Dhull.
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Steps to boost mustard, wheat output
Chandigarh, December 14 The work plan, scripted by the Agriculture Department, centers around a sustained campaign aimed at educating farmers, encouraging mechanisation of farming and subsidising production. Haryana had topped the country in 2008-09 with the highest wheat and mustard productivity at 46.14 quintals per hectare and 17.38 quintals per hectare, respectively. Punjab came second in wheat productivity with 44.5 quintals per hectare. But in mustard, Rajasthan stood second with productivity of 13.2 quintals per hectare. Outlining the broad contours of the strategy, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda says that a special drive has been launched to educate the farmers on how to boost productivity. This includes a campaign to make them wise on various ways of seed treatment, and the benefits accruing from it. The farmers will also be told about the importance of timely plantation of the two crops through training camps, kisan goshthis and melas. Adequate quantities of certified seeds of wheat and mustard are being made available to the farmers at subsidised rates. Subsidy on certified seeds has been increased in the current rabi season. It will be Rs 700 instead of Rs 500 per quintal of wheat and for mustard it will be Rs 2,000 instead of Rs 1,200 per quintal. Other inputs are also being subsidised. Besides, mini-kits of latest and high-yielding varieties of wheat and mustard are provided free of cost to the farmers and 50 per cent subsidy is given on the purchase of plant protection equipment. Mechanisation of farm operations has played an important role in completing field work on time, reducing the cost of production, increasing input-use efficiency and improving productivity of wheat and mustard crops. Hooda says Haryana is a pioneer in the adoption of zero tillage technology and more than 25 per cent of the wheat area is generally sown by this technique. Zero-till-seed-drill saves a farmer Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500 per hectare. It also helps in saving water, conserve biomass and improve soil health. The Agriculture Department has so far supplied more than 12,000 seed drills to the farmers at subsidised rates.
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Multispeciality hospital likely to open in March '10
Kaithal, December 14 PWD and Public Health Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala has directed the PWD to expedite the completion of the hospital building at the earliest. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda laid the foundation stone of the building in 2005 during his first official visit to this town as the Chief Minister. Shamsher Singh Surjewala, veteran Congress leader and the then Congress MLA, who had contested his first election from the Kaithal Assembly constituency, had made a promise to the voters of the Kaithal constituency to develop this area. During his election meetings, Surjewala had expressed his surprise over the plight of the town which despite having the biggest grain market in the north India and having rich historical value and had been granted the status of a district headquarters in 1989 lacked civic amenities. He vowed to develop this town and other adjoining areas if elected as MLA. The people gave him the mandate and he left no stone unturned to fulfil his promise and at his initiative a number of projects costing more than Rs 250 crore one after the other began in Kaithal town and adjoining areas. His initiative did not go unrewarded by the people and during the recent Assembly elections his son Randeep Singh Surjewala won the Kaithal seat with a margin of 22,500 votes and now he had promised to carry on the development works. The multispeciality hospital situated on the outskirts of this town on the Chandigarh-Hisar NH-65 will have the facility to treat patients who earlier had to go to nearby big towns for advanced treatment. It will not only cater to the needs of Kaithal, but also it will provide medical facilities to the people of Kalayat, Pundri, Guhla and the population of hundreds of villages in the entire district. This hospital is being constructed in 15 acre at a cost of Rs 15 crore approximately. It will be a three-storeyed building spread over an area of 1.40 lakh square feet. Lifts are being installed for the convenience of patients, doctors and others visiting the hospital. Rs 2.63 crore will be spent on the construction of residential block for doctors and other paramedical staff to be posted here. The building has a scope for further expansion according to future needs. PC Birdi, XEN, provincial division, B&R, Kaithal, told that this building would have provision for rainwater harvesting.
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Why jumbo-sized AG Office?
Toeing its previous policy, the Hooda government has once again made the office of the state Advocate-General jumbo-sized by inducting 100-odd law officers under various designations such as Additional/Sr. Additional/Deputy/Senior Deputy/Assistant Advocate-Generals. Although some years back their number used to be just over a couple of dozens, their strength in recent times is going on multiplying for the reasons best known to powers that be. The neighbouring state of Punjab is no exception. Much worse, though the nature of their posts is public, their appointment is marred by lack of transparency as well as the absence of due or fair process of selection. Those appointed are often alleged to be close loyalists of the ruling elite and, as such, their appointment is considered to be a kind of "adjustment" which lasts till the tenure of the incumbent government. Unlike the regular cadre of Deputy/Assistant District Attorneys, these are appointed initially for three years with extentions thereafter. It is pertinent to mention that the Supreme Court way back in 2004 ruled that only the post of Advocate-General is constitutional one and all others are just a creation of the state government in exercise of its executive powers. Political compulsions apart, the state ought to consider the necessity of retaining the huge battery of these law officers. Even then the success rate of the government as litigant/prosecutor/ appellant remains to be dismal. Why should the state not mull a policy of preparing a panel of distinguished advocates having eminence/specialisation in relevant fields for arguing its cases and monitoring their conduct and efficiency at periodic intervals. Of course, this may be politically incorrect. Hemant Kumar, Ambala City Readers are invited to write to us. Send your mail, in not more than 200 words, at haryana@tribuneindia.com or write in at: Letters, Haryana Plus, The Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh-160030.
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Scheme to rein in infant mortality rate
Jhajjar, December 14 Informing this, State Minister for Health and Education Geeta Bhukal stated that the government had been trying to bring down the IMR and MMR by taking a number of steps. “With a view to promoting institutional deliveries among SC/ST families, the state government has implemented a novel scheme of providing an assistance of Rs 1,500 to each pregnant women, who deliver their children in health institutions both in the government and private sector irrespective of the number of children provided that the age of the beneficiary is not below 19 years,” said the minister. Giving details of the scheme, she said the assistance under the scheme was given in three installments of Rs 500 each. First installment of Rs 500 was given at the time of registration of 1st trimester, 2nd of Rs 500 on getting check-up done in 3rd trimester and remaining Rs 500 on the day of delivery or maximum within five working days. The beneficiaries would have to produce the SC/ST certificate from the competent authority at the time of availing first installment of Rs 500 under the scheme, said Geeta Bhukkal, adding that the ANM while making the ante-natal registration card would give a mark of identity on the card depicting that beneficiary had submitted SC/ST proof and had enrolled herself under the scheme. She pointed out that initially pregnant women belonging to SC/ST might come for delivery in institutions without having any ante-natal check-up done. It had been decided that full payment of Rs 1,500 be made to such cases at the time of delivery in an institution. “Depending on the SC/ST population of each district, funds have been placed at the disposal of all civil surgeons who in turn pass it on to field institutions ensuring that the benefit is given to the beneficiaries. The ANM will be allowed to use untied funds for making such payments well on time and get it recouped from time to time under this component,” she informed.
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‘Lack of interaction between media institutes, industry’
Sirsa, December 14 The concern of the industry regarding a dearth of talent indicates that there is a lack of interaction between media educationists and the industry. Noted academician and media teacher Prof Manoj Dayal said this while addressing a seminar organised at the Media Centre of Chaudhary Devi Lal University (CDLU). Prof Dayal heads the Communication Management & Technology Department of the Guru Jambheswar University of Science and Technology (GJUST), Hisar. Virender Singh Chauhan, chairperson of the Journalism and Mass Communication Department, CDLU, presided over the seminar. Teachers and students deliberated over various challenges in the media education in detail on the occasion. Addressing CDLU students and faculty members from the GJUST campus using web-conferencing system, Dr Dayal congratulated the host department for its innovative teaching tools and especially the way new media technology was being used here for the training of students. He observed that in UK anybody willing to join as a teacher in mass communication is required to have at least three years of work experience in media industry. In India, too, we need to follow the suit, he added, stating that more and more experienced hands from the industry must be roped into teaching departments to bridge the gap between what we are producing in the university departments and what the media houses are looking for. He called upon the students to be voracious readers if they wanted to excel in the field of journalism. He also stressed upon the need of reorienting the media education scenario. He said the Mass Communication Department of CDLU has been entrusted upon the responsibility of producing “Gaon Ki Aur”, a monthly magazine of the District Rural Development Agency. This new venture shall provide students real life experience of print media production, Chauhan said. He told the participants that web-conferencing and videoconferencing facilities would be used extensively for the training of media students of the department and the ball had already been set in motion. Guest teachers Ankita Bansal, Rachna Saini and Vijeta Chillana, too, spoke on the occasion in which students Sumit Virk, Pawan Rathore, Kavita, Mukul Monga, Aparajita, Pravin and Suraj raised various questions.
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‘Legal help must to protect special children’
Sonepat, December 14 During the programme, children of RUCHI, Renu Vidya Mandir, Bahalgarh and Kaushish, participated in the events like picnic, fun games, drawing competition, dance competitions, etc. The programme was concluded with a prize distribution function in which as many as 39 children were awarded for their outstanding performance and 16 students of vocational classes were compensated with cash prizes by Virender Singh, District and
Sessions Judge, and Dr Pankaj Mittal, vice-chancellor of BPS Mahila
Vishwavidyalya. Speaking on the occasion, Virender said legal assistance was necessary for protecting the rights of mentally retarded and physically challenged children so that they were not victimised by their families and others. He assured to provide such assistance to all deserving children. Dr Pankaj announced to donate two computers and depute a computer teacher for providing vocational training to 16 children of vocational classes. She also promised to arrange mid-day meal as well as travelling allowance to these vocational class students.
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Need to understand science of climate change stressed
Kurukshetra, December 14 Lieut-Gen DDS Sandhu, vice-chancellor, was the chief guest and Prof Brij Gopal, a former professor of the Department of Environment Sciences, JNU, New Delhi, presently visiting professor of The Energy Research Institute (TERI), New Delhi, was the guest of honour. The keynote address was delivered by Prof KS Rao, Botany Department, University of Delhi. In the morning, students organised an awareness rally on the campus with colorful posters and slogans with the theme of the seminar. Prof Smita Chaudhry, director, Institute of Environmental Studies, and convener of the seminar, welcomed the participants and highlighted India's stand on climate change and stressed on the need to understand the science of climate change and highlighted the steps taken by the institute to combat it. Prof Sharda Gupta, dean, life sciences, talked about the theme of the seminar with recent information on climate change. Prof Gopal described in detail the intricacies of climate change, the science involved and the role of society in combating it through an explicit presentation. He highlighted the retreating of Gangotri glaciers citing NASA's report and also stressed on the study of variability of climate change. He described the ecosystem level changes due to climate change in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Dr Sandhu gave a detailed account of his firsthand experience at Himalayan glaciers and stressed on the need to be environmentally aware and expressed concern over the declining water table and the receding glaciers. He also suggested more effective tree plantations and wildlife conservation strategies. Prof Rao stressed the need of long-term ecological research with accurate statistical database as the most important requirement for understanding climate change. He also stressed on the study on adaptation strategy on climate change and traditional knowledge systems, giving an example of Himalayan ecosystems. A brief presentation was given by Sanjeeta, an M.Sc. student, on climatic indicators which was the first study undertaken at high altitude Alpine Meadows of India and by Indranil, an M.Tech student, who presented his work on renewable energy technology management and role of society in sustainable development through village energy security groups and by Munish, an M.Tech. student, on energy efficiency aAudits and climate change mitigation. This was followed by a poster session in which Varinder Kaur and Manju Kashyap, both M.Tech. students, got 1st prize and Shansahnk Arora and his team got the 2nd prize. In the technical session, papers were presented by Dr Ashok Chauhan, Dr RK Yadav, Priyanka and Shawaz Khan. Indranil was awarded the first prize in the paper presentation and Vandana got the second prize. The highlight of the seminar was keeping the carbon footprint of the event to minimum by the use of earthen cups for tea and use of recycled paper, minimum use of electricity and all other resources to keep the financial budget of the seminar low.
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Power utility to hold open darbars
Hisar, December 14 A spokesman for the DHBVN said senior officers would take up complaints of consumer on the stipulated date on first come first serve basis. All types of complaints, including those relating to meter reading, correction of bills, change of meter, new connection, replacement of electric installations and system improvement, would be entertained on the spot. The deputy general managers of the nigam would remain present throughout the duration of the darbars along with all assistant general managers and their staff. The relevant record would be available for ready reference. The general managers (operations) would also visit some of the darbars. The darbars will be organised at Madhosinghana, Jiwan Nagar and Dabwali in Sirsa district on December 15; Bhattu and Bhuna in Fatehabad district on December 15 and 16 respectively; Customer Care Centre, Rajgarh Road, Hisar, Mondakhera and City Subdivision, Hansi in Hisar, Operation Sub-Urban Division office and Operation City Division, Bhiwani and Operation Division Dadri in Bhiwani district on December 16. Darbars will be held on December 12 at DGM offices at Narnaul, Mahendragarh, Rewari and Dharuhera. Customer Care Centre, New Kadipur Gurgaon, Customer Care Centre, Maruti Gurgaon, subdivisional office, Farukhnagar, subdivisional offices at Taoru and Punahana in Gurgaon and Mewat districts will host darbars on December 15. Besides, 48 darbars will be organised by general manager, deputy general managers and assistant general managers in Faridabad district on various dates during this month for which dates will be announced separately.
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BJP keeping an eye on Hooda government
Faridabad, December 14 Krishan Pal Gurjjar, Haryana president of the BJP, said the Opposition in the state was waiting for the honeymoon period of the present government to get over before resorting to agitation on several issues relating to governance. Gurjjar said here that Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda after assuming charge for the second time stated that the state would be self-sufficient on power front in another three months time. Hooda had given the same time frame when he had assumed the charge for the first time about five years ago, he added. The BJP leader said the Congress government must be honest and tell public when the “three-year period” would commence and end. According to him, the ongoing irrigation season for kharif crops was nearing its end. But the government had not got canals and other irrigation channels de-silted. It was now giving floating tenders for de-silting when the sowing season for kharif crops was coming to an end. The BJP alleged that the Congress government always swore in favour of farmers, but it was the farming community which suffered the most. There was not ample supply of seeds and prices of all agricultural implements have gone up. On top of the already existing problems, the facilities of irrigation were also not attended to. The state was facing acute shortage in the supply of electricity. It appears that the Congress government has forgotten to provide ample electricity to all kinds of consumers after the Assembly elections in the state were over. The BJP was also critical of obtaining law and order situation in the state.
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Villagers seek extension of lal dora
Kalka, December 14 The villagers said a notification published in the official gazette of Haryana, under the Haryana Act no. 22 of 2003, provides for the extension. But the Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control Haryana Amendment Act, 2003, has not been implemented so far. They have demanded immediate demarcation of village agricultural land and the extension of lal dora. They also alleged that due to the non-implementation of the Act, the department of town and country planning has demolished residential houses in the area, including Tipra Colony of Kalka, which has created a panic among them. In the past two decades, numerous new colonies have come into existence with more than 20,000 houses constructed beyond lal dora. Notably, Vijay Bansal, a local advocate and politician, in November last year, served a legal notice to the state government and the department of town and country planning in this context. Residents of the area have also written to the chief Minister urging for the demarcation of the village land in Kalka subdivision.
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An evening of qawwalis and kebabs
Gurgaon, December 14 Apart from savouring traditional Awadhi delicacies, residents also enjoyed an evening of qawwalis organised as part of the festival. “The festival was an attempt to reach out to consumers and popularise various rice-based cuisines, apart from bringing chefs to the forefront,” said Rajnish Ohri, director of Tilda India. Tilda has presence in 44 countries and processing facilities in India, Europe and East Africa. Tilda India is also a pioneering rice exporter of the country. Appreciating the initiative, Devashish D’Costa, executive chef, DLF City Club, said such events gave local residents a chance to relish a variety of traditional foods prevalent in different parts of the country, besides providing an opportunity to chefs to try their hands at a wide variety of dishes. Ghazals like “Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom Sharaabi” filled the lawns of the club, summing up the ambience at the food-fest venue.
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Sirsa writer pens book on childhood memories
Sirsa, December 14
The book starts with the poem “Uski Inayat” invoking God for showing the way for success in life. It has poems dedicated to mother titles “Maa”, to father titles as “Papa Kahte The” and maternal grandparents “Nana Nani”. Then there is a thought provoking poem on female foeticide named “Betiyan”. The poem “Utsav” portrays the enthusiasm children generally have in our festivals and describes almost every festival celebrated in this part of the country. There are also poems worth reading for children. All poems are quite educative for children and give an ordinary reader a peep in to a child’s mind. “Childhood is the best part of a person’s life, where there are no responsibilities and one has a lot of fun,” says Nazi Munjal about her idea to pen this book. She says her own childhood has been very good and she has fond memory of her parents, who are no more in this world now. Sadly, the poetess lost her husband Nupender Munjal in a road accident some time ago. “In my long stint as a teacher, I have enjoyed the company of small children and now I am handing this book to them and dedicating this to my late husband and parents,” says Nazi Munjal.
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Karamchari Sangh threatens protest
Bijendra Ahlawat Tribune News Service
Rohtak, December 14 The pending demands include providing the Sixth Pay Commission benefits from 2006, removal of anomalies, regularisation of adhoc and part-time employees, ending the privatisation process and recruitment against vacant posts in various departments. A spokesperson for the SKS said the employees unions owing allegiance to the Sangh, the largest federation of employees in the state, would meet in Rohtak on December 13 to chalk out strategy regarding the proposed agitation. Claiming that the sangh had deferred its stir in August in view of the Assembly elections and request made by the state government after it announced that the main demands were acceptable to it and had promised to implement them after the formation of the new government. However, nothing had been heard from the government even as the Sangh had served an ultimatum to it, he added. He said the government was expected to release the pay arrears up to 60 percent by the end of the current financial period. He said the government had announced to set up a high-level committee to take a decision regarding the regularisation of part-time employees within three months from August 24, but a recent announcement that a fresh committee would be set up was misleading and an attempt to befool the employees who had been waiting for a positive action. The spokesman said while employees in states like Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir had already received the benefits, the government here had been adopting dilly-dallying tactics without any justification.
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Postal dept's negligence proves costly for youth
Kaithal, December 14 Kashmir Singh, a resident of Khurana village of the district, had applied for the post of assistant in the Food Corporation of India (FCI). The department sent him a letter bearing the stamp of a Delhi post office dated November 13, but Kashmir received the letter on December 2. He was happy to receive the letter, but when he opened it, he got a shock to know that the date of the written examination stipulated for November 29 had already passed. Kashmir told mediapersons here that he had been preparing for the test for the past few months and he expected to get a job after qualifying the examination. But the negligence on the part of Postal Department functionaries dashed all his hopes of a bright carrier for the time being. He said this case proved that claims made by the Postal Department to improve its functioning and efficiency were hoax. He said when he contacted local officials of the department he did not get any satisfactory answer. Now, he was planning to take recourse to the legal action against the department, he added.
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Rewari advocate urges President to intervene
Nawal Kishore Rastogi
Rewari, December 14 Stating that judiciary is the third vital pillar of the edifice of democracy, Chauhan asserted that constitutional and public welfare matters like the division of the Punjab and Haryana High Court should be addressed in a way which should essentially be above party politics. He said the Union government should provide utmost priority to the convenience and interest of the litigants before deciding the issue. Simultaneously, drawing the attention of all concerned to the predicament of lakhs of poor people residing in the far-flung areas of Punjab and Haryana, who always found it something beyond their means to approach the High Court at Chandigarh, Chauhan asked if it was not the consequential responsibility of the successive state governments of Punjab and Haryana to bring high court's services within easy and inexpensive reach of these people. He wondered how much more time our elected representatives would take to comprehend the ground reality and act accordingly in the interest of the people. Regarding the Chief Minister's demand for the bifurcation, he stated though it was politically precise and sound, yet it lacked constitutional tenability as long as Section 29 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, existed in its present form. He further pointed out that when Haryana was fully entitled to have its separate high court in accordance with the provision enshrined in Article 214 of the Constitution, Article 241 of the Constitution also empowered the union territory of Chandigarh to have its separate high court. Stating that when residents of Chandigarh predominantly wished to maintain their status of a union territory irrespective of the claims staked by the Punjab government as well as the Haryana government over the proprietorship of Chandigarh, Chauhan wanted to know that in the circumstances leading to the proposed bifurcation of the high court, if Chandigarh residents too put forward their demand for a separate high court, would it not complicate the matter? Emphasising upon the urgency of avoiding such detrimental complications in the matter, Chauhan asserted that under such circumstances, the most feasible and appropriate option was to seek the creation of two Benches of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, one each in Punjab and Haryana so as to meet the requirements of the people of the far-flung areas of the two states. Stating that a provision exists in Section 36 (2) of the Punjab Reorganisation Act for the establishment of a Bench of the High Court at one or more places in the two states, Chauhan further said it would not only lead to reduction in the hefty burden of lakhs of long-pending cases in the High Court, but also it would make speedy and cheap justice available to the hapless people of those remote areas at their doorstep. Accordingly, Chauhan has now urged the President to facilitate the establishment of one Bench each of the High Court at a suitable place each in Punjab and Haryana and thereby bringing the present controversy over the bifurcation to a balmy conclusion.
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Hareda opens solar shops
Chandigarh, December 14 Sumita Misra, Director, Renewable Energy Department and HAREDA, said that energy conservation devices like solar cookers, solar water heating system, LED-based home lighting systems, LED-based solar lanterns, solar torch, solar streetlighting systems and CFL lamps, T-5 tubelights etc. would be made available in these shops throughout the year. Financial assistance would also be made available on these devices. She pointed that for getting these devices on subsidy, the applicant would have to prove his identification theough his residential address, either by the voter card, ration card or driving licence, and fill in the required forms available in the ADC offices.
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Kaithal, December 14
Kaithal, December 14
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Sirsa, December 14
