Hisar, August 5
The demand for banning same-gotra marriages in Haryana raised vociferously by khap panchayats of the Deshwali belt will have social implications for Jats in the Bagri belt of the state as well as for Punjabis settled in Haryana after Partition.

While Deshwali jats abhor same-gotra marriages and marriages between residents of the same, contiguous and adjoining villages, the situation is otherwise in the Bagri belt comprising Hisar, Sirsa and Fatehabad districts.

The reasons are very practical. In the Bagri belt each village has families from multiple gotras. The number of gotras can be as high as 50 or so. As against this, Deshwali villages have less than six gotras in a village.

For instance, Chautala village from where late Devi Lal hailed, has over 50 gotras. If the satellite villages (khedas) are also included the number goes up to 70. Thus, if the yardstick of same, contiguous and adjoining villages was applied in the Bagri villages, not many Jat youths will be able to get married.

Former MLA Partap Singh Chautala, a son of late Devi Lal, says over the decades there have been hundreds of marriages between residents Chautala itself and no hue and cry was ever raised.

He says the Bagri Jats earlier left out four gotras - their own, that of the mother, and the gotra to which their paternal and maternal grandmothers belonged. However, in doing so they found that they were unable to find matches for their children.

So, over the decades they limited the ban to two gotras - their own (bloodline) and that of the mother (milk line). “We now marry our children in the gotra of our paternal and maternal grandmothers provided none of the two families hail from the ancestral villages of grandmothers. In other villages, our children can marry in the gotra of grandmothers.

Under the circumstances, any ban on intra-gotra marriages will create serious social problems for the Bagri belt which could ultimately leave the Jats divided.

Likewise, traditionally, Aroras comprising mainly migrant Punjabis can marry their children to children of their maternal uncle, maternal aunt and paternal aunt. If the ban was imposed, it will have serious implications for this community also.

Chautala has appealed to Deshwali Jats to think progressively and adopt the marital practices of the Bagris. He says there has not been a single intra-gotra marriage among Bagris. But insistence on “bhaichara” among the same, adjoining or contiguous villages was impractical and undesirable. He says “bhaichara” and gotra issues should not be confused to the detriment of society.

Chandigarh, August 5
The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) has decided to re-introduce its self-execution scheme for agricutural tubewell connections. The applicants, willing to bear the total expenditure for release of connections will benefit from the scheme.

The applicant would be required to arrange the material as per prescribed specifications and the work would got done by him through the duly approved contractor. The nigam would charge 1.5 per cent of the estimated cost of work as inspection charges. The applicant will also deposit the meter and testing fee along with the inspection charges.

The applicant or contractor engaged by the applicant shall procure material from approved firms only. The distribution transformers of 4 star rating having less losses with warranty clause of 72/78 months that is 78 months from the date of supply and 72 months from the date of installation, whichever is later, would be installed for releasing the connection. The transformers would be energised after observing all departmental formalities. After energisation of the new electrical system, this will become the property of the nigam for which the applicant would be required to give an undertaking.

An applicant of agricultural tubewell connection, who has already deposited the money, would also be eligible for self-execution of work under this scheme. In case the applicant opts for the scheme, the non-refundable amount of Rs 7000 per span of high-tension or low-tension (HT/LT) line shall be refunded on receipt of the option.

The nigam has also decided to give overriding priority for releasing the connection in the chronological order on the basis of date and time of option received. A separate seniority list shall be maintained for such connections. If an applicant brings his own distribution transformer along with other complete material for self-execution of work, the nigam would refund Rs. 20,000 already deposited by him. Upkeep and maintenance of the system beyond the warranty period—that is replacement of distribution transformer after six years—shall be carried out by the nigam. The contractor would be required to ensure tech welding of the distribution transformer to its base plate/top plate to avoid its theft.

Executive Engineers (Operation) at random will check the authenticity of bills from the firms. If found fake, action against the contractor will be taken by lodging FIRs and cancellation of his licence. Superintending Engineers would inspect 10 per cent of the tubewell connections released in a month under the scheme and review the applications for release of new connections.

Ambala, August 5
Many roads in the town are in a bad shape and no steps have been taken by the local Municipal Corporation to repair them. The condition of several busy roads has not yet improved.

On the other hand, due to recent floods, constructed roads have started developing cracks and upper surface of several others has become so rough that it has become difficult to drive vehicles on them, especially in the Sabji Mandi and the Halwai Bazaar.

About 40 per cent portion of the road from the Football Chowk to the Kutcha Bazaar passing through the Kabari Bazaar has been lying in a state of neglect with big potholes for the past five years, but no steps have been taken to construct the stretch.

Interestingly, the other portion of the main Sadar Bazaar Road has also developed potholes due to rains. Roads in the main bazaars that have taken a severe beating in the recent rains have become a nightmare for commuters.

“Limited road width is not at all adequate for the free flow of traffic. We witness at least one accident everyday,” says Shyam Sunder, who runs a grocery shop on the Nicholson Road market.

Drizzle is enough to turn the entire area into a pond and it becomes difficult for the city residents to move near the Bus Stand. The roads appear full of pebbles and are in such a bad shape that even commuting in the local buses and other vehicles can leave commuters in agony.

The stretch of the road opposite the wholesale vegetable market near the main Bus Stand and the Church Road is also in a bad shape as the department had failed to make provision for draining out rainwater which accumulates on this part of the road. The concrete road, constructed near the Rai Market, has been partially repaired after it developed potholes causing a lot of inconvenience to the residents.

The public at large has the feeling that the construction works are of poor quality and the supervisory staff has also failed to ensure the good quality of construction work resulting into the fast deterioration in the condition of newly constructed concrete roads of the town. The residents allege that the authorities have not taken any initiative regarding the maintenance despite repeated requests.

Municipal Corporation commissioner Sameer Pal Srow said to make the city clean and for the development of the town, a proposal had been sent to the government for the appointment of senior and junior staff in the corporation, including superintending engineers, assistant engineers, deputy town planner, public relations wing, etc.

He said cleanliness and sanitation work had already been started on a contract basis with private companies. He said after the requisite staff strength, functioning of the corporation would be augmented. Two assistant commissioners would also be appointed for planned development, he added.

Sirsa, August 5
The recent floods, which devastated properties worth several crores and inundated crops on thousands of acres, have left many lessons to be learnt for the authorities as well as the public.

Standing crops on over 60,000 acres have been affected in the district and over 4,300 tubewells have been submerged.

Around 1,70,000 bags of wheat of the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation has rotten due to flooding of their storehouse at Bani village in this district and thousands of families have been uprooted from their houses.

Though these cause a lot of havoc, the floods have left certain lessons too.

The manner in which floods started in the district in the second week of July, it became clear that human errors were more responsible for the breaches in the Ghaggar than the nature’s fury.

The initial deluge happened at Panihari, Faewai, Nejadela and Musahibwala villages situated on the local Barnala Road from the water spilling out of the Ghaggar near Jhandakalan village in Punjab. However, mistakes of the farmers situated on the river banks aggravated the situation.

The irrigation department had constructed bandhs on the Ghaggar from Farwai to Rajasthan border on the left side of the river and from Mallewala to the Rajasthan border on its right side.

The bandhs were constructed after leaving a gap of two to five acres on both sides of the main creek of the Ghaggar so that the river could have additional flowing area during the monsoon.

However, due to bottlenecks created by farmers whose lands were situated between the bandhs and the creek, the ferocity of the Ghaggar increased manifolds during the floods.

A majority of these farmers have set up their own private bandhs on the Ghaggar obstructing the free flow of the River.

To add to the problem, the farmers had put pipes in the Ghaggar in a casual manner to siphon out water for their fields. These pipes became the major causes of breaches.

The CPI recently gave a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner CG Rajini Kaanthan demanding a high-level inquiry in to the floods.

“Over 50,000 cusecs of water crossed Ottu Weir in 1988 and then 30,000 to 35,000 cusecs in 1993 and 1995 and yet there were no floods. However, when the bandhs near Firozabad gave way on July 12 and July 13, the discharge of water at Ottu was merely 13,500 cusecs and 16,000 cusecs, respectively,” said Swaran Singh, district secretary of the CPI.

The CPI leader said it was a matter of inquiry as to how the embankments of the river breached with one third of the total capacity of discharge.

He also demanded strengthening of the embankments and increasing the breadth of the main creek of the Ghaggar by acquisition of land.

GS Mann, a progressive farmer from Kirpalpatti village, said when the capacity of the Ottu Weir was being increased from about 20,000 cusecs to 43,000 cusecs, farmers having their lands on the downstream of Ottu had demanded that the embankments of the Ghaggar should be strengthened to take the extra discharge.

But nothing was done, he alleged. Farmers alleged that soil taken out of the Ottu Lake during its excavation was sold out to make fortunes by certain influential persons rather than strengthening the embankments of the Ghaggar.

Gurgaon, August 5
Drawing the attention of the local municipal corporation towards the alarming depletion of water table in Gurgaon, a joint front of residents’ organisations have urged the local municipal authorities to take some effective measures in this regard.

“The water table has gone down to 200 ft, which is a big issue. If the present trend of falling water table is not arrested, Gurgaon will soon become a desert belt,” states the joint front’s letter addressed to the local municipal commissioner.

The letter, signed by Dharma Sagar and RS Rathee on behalf of the Federation of Residents Welfare Associations (FORWA) and the Gurgaon Citizens Council (GCC), respectively, asserts that the need of the day was to reverse the decline in the level of underground water.

“One way to prevent the water table from falling further is to stop or, at least, minimise extracting water from the Earth through tubewells...the next step would be to restore water table to a reasonable level of 50 ft by optimal harvesting of rainwater and ensuring zero-level discharge from the city into the drainage system,” the front’s letter notes.

The RWAs maintains that water harvesting is the need of the day and comprises quite simple steps like digging of ponds and pits to recharge groundwater and installation of rainwater-harvesting mechanism, but still it is not being done.

The residents’ bodies point out that if the municipal authorities get water-harvesting mechanism implemented effectively and efficiently, the runoff rainwater, which inundates agricultural fields, destroys crops and damages roads and other things, can be channelised to recharge groundwater, the level of which is going down alarmingly.

Rewari, August 5
Pramila Devi and Sushma Devi, both owing allegiance to the Congress camp supported by local minister Ajay Singh Yadav, were unanimously elected president and vice-president ,respectively, of the Rewari Zila Parishad here.

While nine of the 16 Zila Parishad councillors participated in the poll, the remaining seven, including the two INLD activists, stayed away from the election meeting.

Describing the victory of the Congress-supported incumbents as a befitting reply to his critics , Capt Yadav reiterated that he would continue adhering to the politics of development.

Jhajjar, August 5
With a view to checking crime against women in Rohtak police range comprising Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat, Panipat and Karnal districts, Inspector General of Police V Kamaraja has decided to form a group of skilled women in all villages of the districts.

These groups will not only make people aware of preventing women-related crimes in their villages, but also constantly be in touch with the police to give a vital tip-off regarding crime against women.

Disclosing this here recently, Kamaraja said five educated women of every village would be inducted in a group. These women would work in the direction of spreading awareness among rustic women about their legal rights in this regard, besides lending a hand to make them self-dependent economically and socially. Moreover, the group would also inform the police immediately in case any incident of women-related crime take place in their village so that police action could be taken in time.

“The women groups will also be associated with police investigation to get vital information in crime cases,” said the IGP, adding that a special toll free number would be made available to these groups so that they could inform the police well in time.

Kamaraja said a woman advocate, doctor and psychologist would also be associated with the police at the district level, who would provide free of cost legal and medical aid to the victim, besides giving them psychological counselling to boost their self-confidence to fight against atrocities.

“The SSPs of all districts have been directed to send the name of at least five educated women from every village of their area at the earliest,” said the IGP.

Yamunanagar, August 5
Famous Rajasthani folk singer Roze Khan Manganiar won the hearts of people by giving an enchanting performance during a cultural programme organised by the DAV College for Girls in collaboration with the Yamunanagar chapter of SPIC MACAY here recently.

While explaining the importance of Manganair folk, Roze Khan said manganair performance traditionally invoked the Hindu god Krishna and they sought his blessings before beginning the recital.

“The Mangnair communities are famous for their folk music and these are professional musicians,” he added.

He along with other his family members have been making efforts to spread this form of folk by performing at various places in the country. “SPIC MACAY has been providing a platform to exhibit our folk before the audience all over the country,” he further said.

Faridabad, August 5
The Faridabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) has started an exercise to boost the confidence of entrepreneurs and owners of units associated with it to take measures to rev up their bottom line.

It organised an interactive session with its members and HSBC bank officials here to get a few tips on the available sources of finance from the bank to boost its business venture. The FCCI organised the session keeping in mind the needs of people from import and export business. According to former president of FCCI JP Malhotra, the attendance of a good number of participants suggested the success of the programme.

Addressing industrialists on the occasion, FCCI’s president Ramesh Jhawar underlined the effective role banks and financial institutions could play at the present juncture where the industrial sector was trying to lift itself in the wake of the recession. He added that their role assumed a greater task in the midst of the cutthroat competition, especially when the domestic industry was trying to prove its competitiveness in the global market.

Referring to industrial scene in Faridabad, Jhawar stated that it had always played a major role in the modernisation and development of the city.

General secretary of FCCI RC Khandewal said bad spell of the recession was now over and the mindset of banks towards industry had also undergone a sea change for the better.

Kaithal, August 5
A former Haryana Minister Tejinder Pal Singh Mann was unanimously elected president of the District Congress Committee (DCC) in a meeting held at the local Congress Bhawan here recently. Party’s district returning officer Attar Singh Saini and observer Jai Singh Bishnoi were present during the election in which delegates for the HPCC and presidents of all urban and rural blocks were also elected.

Later, senior minister and local MLA Randeep Singh Surjewala briefed mediapersons about the elected office-bearers for the DCC, the HPCC and blocks. Surjewala revealed that former DCC president Kavi Raj Sharma had been elected delegate for the HPCC from Kaithal urban and Shiv Kumar had been elected the block president. From Kaithal rural, former MLA Tejvir Singh had been elected as the HPCC delegate and Roshan Lal Padla had been elected the block president.

From Pundri, Som Datt Sharma had been elected as the HPCC delegate and Romesh Chand had been elected the president block Congress Committee. From Guhla, former MLA Dillu Ram Bajigar had been elected the HPCC delegate and Gian Singh Rana as the block Congress president. In Cheeka Urban, Rajinder Singh Chahal had been elected the HPCC delegate and Zile Singh Prajapat as the block president. From Kalayat rural, Rattan Lal Sharma had been elected the HPCC delegate and Gurdev Singh as the block president. From Kalayat urban, Balwan Singh Kurar had been elected the HPCC delegate and Ram Singh had been elected the block president. From Rajound block, Surjit Singh Beniwal had been elected the HPCC delegate and Shish Pal Songal as the block president. From Siwan block, Ram Kumar Mann had been elected the HPCC delegate and Arjan Dev Raheja as the block president.

Randeep further disclosed that a former Kalayat MLA Jogi Ram had been elected senior vice-president, DCC, and Dr AL Kwatra as the vice-president. Dharam Veer Saini, Surinder Kaur, Sukhdev Singh Nouch had been elected to the DCC executive, Naresh Dhanda Kithana had been elected the general secretary and Paryag Raj Balu as the DCC treasurer.

Sirsa, August 5
The Central Government is seriously considering implementation of water recharging scheme of the Ghaggar to save people from the havoc of floods caused by the river.

This was revealed by commissioner (Agriculture) of Union Agriculture Ministry, Dr Gurbhajan Singh, who was interacting with farmers during his visit to flood-hit areas of Nakoda village in the district recently.

He said the Central Government was contemplating to find a permanent solution to the problem of recurring floods due to the Ghaggar.

Detailing about the water recharging scheme of the Ghaggar water and also of rains, he said it was deliberated that the water of the concerned village be recharged underground in the same village. Under the scheme, the flow of water would also be recharged at the same place.

The scheme would show wide-scale impact in the near future and people would be saved from flood fury.

He assured the farmers that they would be provided all possible help by the Central Agriculture Ministry.

Dr Gurbhajan said the Central government was serious in providing compensation to the farmers affected by the recent flood fury. The visit of the team of the Union Agriculture Department was a step towards this direction.

The Central team that visited the area for assessing the flood damage had submitted its report to the department and now the Government would soon finalise the decision on compensation.

He would also be submitting his detailed report about the loss of farmers so that they could be compensated appropriately.

The team visited Nakoda, Thehri Fakira Wali, Dhani Santa Singh and several other villages. Deputy commissioner CG Rajini Kaanthan and several senior officers accompanied Dr Singh.

Rewari, August 5
The Haryana government has released a sum of Rs 7 crore for construction works to be carried out in Postgraduate Regional Centre (PGRC) of MDU, Rohtak, at Mirpur village, 10 km from Rewari, during the second phase.

This was stated by Finance Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav while presiding over a high-level meeting held to review the progress of the ongoing developmental works of the PGRC at Chandigarh recently.

Among others, the meeting was attended by Financial Commissioner-cum-Principal Secretary (FC-cum-PS), Higher Education, SS Prasad, FC-cum-PS, Finance Department, Ajit M. Saran, FC-cum-PS, PWD (B&R), SS Dhillon, Director of Higher Education, Dheera Khandelwal, Engineer-in-Chief, PDW (B&R), Mahesh Kumar, and Director of PGRC, Mirpur, Dr SK Sharma.

Capt Yadav directed SS Prasad that vacant posts of teaching as well non-teaching staff at the PGRC should be filled up on a priority basis so that teaching work of students did not suffer.

The minister said while five new courses namely MBA, MCA, MA (economics), M.Com (five years) and PG Diploma in retail management were being commenced from the current academic session, four courses - MA (English), MA (history), M.Com and M.Sc (mathematics) were already being run at the centre. Simultaneously, he also asked SK Sharma to explore the possibilities of starting more job-oriented courses at the centre.

The minister further said while a sum of Rs 19 crore had already been spent on various development works at the centre, an additional amount of about Rs 25 crore would be incurred in the second phase on various other developmental works comprising administrative block, teaching block, campus school and other allied public health works.

He went on to say that an amount of Rs 7 crore out of Rs 25 crore had now been released for the purpose.

Stating that while execution of the prospective developmental works would not be allowed to suffer owing to any paucity of funds, he asserted that the state government, under the stewardship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, was providing a special thrust for the promotion of higher education in south Haryana in particular.

Chandigarh, August 5
The Haryana Government has decided to implement some of the tourism projects through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Mode for the promotion of tourism and prominently project the state on international tourism map.

Haryana’s Tourism Minister Om Parkash Jain said the projects which were to be implemented under the PPP Mode included integrated tourism resort at Kalesar, integrated tourism resort and spa at Mallah, Madhogarh, shopping mall or multiplex at Dharuhera, setting up of amusement or theme parks at Karna Lake and Kurukshetra (Pipli), amusement park at Tilyar Lake, Rohtak, and development of adventure camping sites at Surajkund, Damdama, Hodal and Dharuhera.

He said the Tourism Council under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had also been constituted under the Tourism Policy for comprehensive planned development. Under the policy, the tourism and hotel projects had been declared as an industry so that these could get same concessions or incentives as are available to the industries in the state, he added.

Gurgaon, August 5
The Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon, at the juncture of completing 10 years of the fellow programme, organised a national seminar on “Frontiers of management research in India”.

The doctoral students graduating from the fellow programme over the decade attended the event. The seminar saw eminent personalities from academia and industry reflecting on management research, knowledge creation and entrepreneurship during the panel discussions.

Addressing the participants, Prof MP Jaiswal, dean (Research), MDI, said: “In this era of knowledge economy, a moot question being faced by our strategists is when and how would the Indian economy transit from transaction-based to IPR-based? As an institution of higher learning, we have the responsibility of generation and dissemination of knowledge for the benefit of the wider sections of society”.

The chief guest at the event was renowned scientist and educator Prof Yash Pal, while Prof Prof SS Mantha, the acting chairman of the AICTE, was the guest of honour.

MDI Director Prof BS Sahay said: “In the contemporary knowledge economy, research constitutes a key attribute in the knowledge value chain of any academic institution”.

He urged the doctoral scholars to pursue quality research, which, he said, benefited the society, nation and world at large.

Pritam Singh, Professor of Eminence, MDI, in his address said, “As professors, we belong to the ‘Brahmanical’ profession and should strive to create the equivalent of the Vedas that is we should create knowledge. I strongly believe that we have a lot to offer to the world in the domain of knowledge and higher learning. It is high time we developed our management paradigms from the rich pool of business and managerial experiments abounding around us”.

Prof SS Mantha explained about different forms of research, and added that researchers needed to look at the validity of the theories they promote.

Prof Yash Pal lauded the institute’s initiative of giving research its due importance and enlightened the audience as he stated that the first thing for a researcher was curiosity, going through data and manipulation would not be able to give an outcome if one does not have the understanding of the research problem. One had to be passionate and deeply involved to have a means to research.

The first panel discussion was on “Frontiers of management research in India’’ moderated by Prof Rajen Gupta, MDI, and the panel members were Dr Siddhartha Roy, chief economic adviser - TATA Group, Professor Ishwar Dayal, former director IIM Lucknow and KK Gupta, executive director, IOC.