Ambala, January 27
The general bus stand at Ambala Cantonment is in a state of neglect. Overflowing sewage, garbage and stinking toilets greet passengers at this important bus terminal.

Besides insanitary conditions inside the bus stand premises, there is a mess in its surroundings. Traffic chaos, filth and wrong parking of vehicles have caused a complete anarchy around one of the busiest areas of the city.

The bus terminal is located just opposite the Ambala Cantt railway junction. Despite the fact that thousands of people visit the place and hundreds of buses halt here daily, the condition of the bus stand remains chaotic, signifying the apathy of the local authorities.

Leela Vati and Vishnu Dutt, both daily passengers, said the faulty drainage system never caught the attention of the administration. “The local authorities which are supposed to check the pollution here hardly pay any visit to the place,” they added.

An official of the Haryana Roadways said, “Maintenance is a continuous process and we are after it, but people should also help the authorities in keeping the bus stand clean”.

Incidentally, while the conditions within the bus stand complex are pathetic, the administration is keen on brightening up nightlife in Ambala with a proposed night food street near the bus stand.

Sources say the move will be beneficial as the location for the food street, which would provide hygienic food at reasonable price, is both near the bus stand and railway station.

Travelling public as well as local residents insist that the administration should first focus on improving the conditions within the bus stand complex.

She said female foeticide could be checked if girls stood against it and resisted any move to eliminate their girls in their foetus. She also urged male members of society to contribute towards removing this evil, adding that whether it was a drive against sati system, dowry system or child marriage, men had played a vital role in these campaigns.

Sweera Ralhan, a senior lecturer of the college, said female foeticide was a social evil that needed the attention of all.

She said the girls should become economically independent by attaining education to change the mindset of society towards them.

Shilpa Verma, president of the Parivartan Social Welfare Society, said the NGO had been working in the fields of female foeticide and HIV/AIDS, besides others.

Anshu Uppal, in charge of the NSS wing of the college, Sangeeta Nanda and Babita Malhotra, both lecturers were present. In the declamation contest, Tammana, Neha and Mamta secured the first three positions, respectively. Lalita and Anamika were given consolation prizes.

Fatehabad, January 27
Adoption of new techniques in agriculture and horticulture has helped farmers of this area earn good profits.

Several farmers have taken up modern techniques of irrigation and sown better quality hybrid seeds to save water as well as improve returns from their crops. Various government schemes have also helped these farmers to improve their plight.

Dr Vinod Batra, a pediatrician, is one among these progressive farmers of this area, who has adopted modern agriculture techniques on his farms spread in Noorki Ahli and Chughe Ahli villages here.

By planting guava and kinnow in some of his fields and traditional wheat, cotton and paddy crops in the rest, he has added good variety to his crops.

Besides, by intercropping his guava and kinnow crops with vegetables like onions, brinjals, peas, carrots, cabbage and cauliflowers, Dr Batra has been able to make optimum use of his land.

Under the National Horticulture Mission, Dr Vinod Batra has installed two big water tanks on his fields, one on his own fields and the other on fields owned by Dr Rohit and Dr Rahul.

He stores the canal water received as his share in these tanks to be used later for irrigating his plants through drip irrigation process.

“I was among the first in Haryana to have set up tanks in my fields five years back,” he says and adds that the drip irrigation has solved the problem of water shortage. He has sown DH 2967 variety of wheat which provides better yield of 25 quintals or above per acre of land.

He says he has been taking advice of the agriculture and horticulture experts for farming and has been able to earn better profits in farming.

Besides Dr Batra, several other farmers of the area have also used these techniques and benefited by improving their income.

Ambala, January 27
In what may come as a big relief to the residents of Ambala City, the railway overpass on the Ambala-Ludhiana rail section here will soon be constructed at a cost of Rs 28 crore.

A confirmation to this effect was sent by engineer-in-chief, B&R department, Haryana, Mahesh Kumar to union minister and local MP Kumari Selja in a letter recently. The construction of the proposed two-lane railway overpass on the Ambala-Ludhiana line at Ambala City has been approved by the government and the work will be taken up shortly.

Six years ago, the railway ministry had decided to construct a railway underpass at the site. On the initiation of Ambala City MLA and former PWD minister Venod Sharma, Rs 1.72 crore was deposited with the Ambala railway division by the sate government.

After three years, the railway authorities informed that the underpass was not technically feasible.

Later, a decision to construct an overpass for light vehicles was taken. However, the construction cost of the new project rose to Rs 28 crore.

The state government will bear the entire expenditure of the project. The railway will construct a minor span over the railway track, while the remaining part of the overpass will be constructed by the PWD department. The department will pay around Rs 8 crore to the Ambala railway division for the construction of the span.

Last year, Kumari Selja had sent a letter to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in this regard in which she had said that the construction of the overpass was urgently needed. As such, it was also her election promise to the people of her constituency. Selja said she had already taken up the matter with the ministry of railways and the Haryana government. She had requested Hooda to examine the proposal and issue necessary orders for its sanction.

Kalka, January 27
The Shiwalik Vikas Manch has sent a letter to Central Minister of Forest and Environment Jairam Ramesh in connection with the violation of the Indian Forest Act, 1927, the National Forest Policy, by HUDA and the Haryana Town Planner in setting up of sectors in the Pinjore area.

Informing this, VK Bansal, president of the Manch, said the letter interpreted that the above said departments had even allotted licences to some private builders in this context despite the fact that the Forest and Environment departments had not granted any permission in this regard under the Environment Protection Act, 2006, the Indian Forest Act, 1927, and the Forest Preservation Act, 1980.

Notably, Bansal had filed a PIL in the High Court challenging the process of the state government in context with the land acquisition of 11,000 acres for setting up of 31 sectors in the Pinjore area. The proposed land acquisition in Pinjore by HUDA to set up residential housing sectors is a threat to the forests of the Pinjore range of the Morni division and is a violation of the Land Preservation Act, IFA 1927 and the National Forest Policy.

Vide notification dated November 28, 1997, the state government had notified the entire revenue tehsil of Kalka as preserved land, which prohibits fiddling with the agricultural forestland in anyway by any authority or for the matter even by the owner.

Bansal said under the notification of January 29, 1993, of the Haryana government under the provision of the Punjab Land Act, 1900, Kalka tehsil had been reserved for 30 years which prohibits the cutting and felling of trees. The land proposed to be acquired (Pinjore and its adjacent areas) falls under the purview of Section 4 of the Land Preservation Act, 1900.

The existing forest, habitat of wildlife and their migratory routes should be protected not only for the preservation of the fragile ecosystem of the lower Shivaliks but also as per the provision of the National Forest Policy, 1988.

Development of housing sectors in the fragile ecosystem of the Shivaliks will further denude the ecology of the area. It will also cause fragmentation of the habitat of precious wildlife of the lower Shivaliks. As of now, wild animals migrate from the Thadugarh and Banoi Forest areas of Kalka to the Khol-hi-din area of Pinjore. Similarly, there is movement of wild animals from the forests areas of Nolta and Bhawana to the Bir Shikargah Wildlife Sanctuary.

Bir Shikarhah was notified as a sanctuary vide notification dated May 29, 1987. The notification of the reserved forest areas would also be affected by the housing sectors. The proposed plan for the development of housing sectors was against the spirit of the National Forest Policy, he added.

Bansal further said the deputy conservator of forest, Pinjore, had also written in connection with the violation of the Land Preservation Act to the PCCF, Haryana. He said he had already sent letters in the context to the Haryana Chief Minister, the Cabinet Secretary, the Ministry of Forest, Union of India, New Delhi, the Department of Urban Development, Haryana, and the Ministry of Forest, Haryana, last year before filing the PIL in this context.

Chandigarh, January 27
Wisdom, rationality and cosmic intellectualism are the traits adorning the persona of Gurgaon-based painting art maestro, Krishen Khanna, who will be bestowed with Padma Bhushan by the President of India at a national-level function shortly.

He was honoured with Padma Shri about 15 years ago. A self-taught artist, Krishen (86) has also taught art in the US without any formal academic qualification in the art realm. He was awarded the Rockefeller Fellowship in 1962, and remained “The Artist in Residence” at American University in Washington in 1963 and 1964. Apart from 90 solo shows, he has participated in group shows like Tokyo Biennale in 1957 and 1961, Sao Paulo Biennale in 1960, Venice Biennale in 1962 and several others.

As a true artist, Krishen made painting as his calling when this art realm had no glamour and money in it. He even sacrificed his lucrative job with Grindlay’s bank in Mumbai to explore new horizons in the art in all its mediums.

“The credit for my transition to a painting artist of international repute goes primarily to my father Dr Kahan Chand Khanna and my wife Renuka Khanna. I too have groomed my children to excel in their choicest realms. My son Karan Khanna is an acclaimed photographer artist, daughters Malti Shah is also an artist and Ratika Mohan, a Bhartanatyam danseuse,” disclosed Krishen.

“But I had gone through the turbulent times of the Partition, destabilised from Lyallpur (now in Pakistan) to settle in Shimla and later studied at Mayo college of Art. My heartfelt experiences sometimes are eloquently reflected in my works,” adds Krishen.

Sonepat, January 27
The Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology (DCRUST), Murthal, recently signed an MoU with Daeduk University, Daejeon of South Korea. HS Chahal, vice-chancellor of the DCRUST, signed the MoU which was already signed by the president of Daeduk University and brought here by the head and professor Dr Lil-Jin Kim of the Department of Marine Technology of Daeduk University.

The agreement covers student and faculty exchanges with special reference to materials sciences and nanotechnology, joint participation in research projects, academic thesis and public exchange educational programmes, research related to defence missiles and special weapons and ammunition, collaboration in research areas and projects, faculty and student exchanges and visits between the two universities.

After signing the MoU, Chahal stated that this would be a mutually beneficial agreement giving students and faculty of the Department of Materials Science and Nanotechnology opportunities to work and learn in collaboration with this world-class university.

“This is the second MoU with a foreign university covering research collaboration and student exchanges,” he added.

Prof AK Sharma, chairman, Department of Materials Science and Nanotechnology, explained that this collaboration would be academic in nature and these research works and projects would afford great exposure to our students and encourage significant contributions on the part of faculty as well.

Prof Kim said the MoU was initially for five years and could be extended with the mutual consent of both the universities.

“The MoU comes at a most opportune time when the Korean government has declared 2011 as the Year of India,” he added.

Prof Kyu Jin Han from Daeduk University, DCRUST’s registrar RK Arora, Dean Academic Affairs Prof KD Gupta, Dean Students’ Welfare Prof BP Malik, Dean Faculty of Science and Technology Interface Prof BP Singh, in charge International Affairs Prof JS Rana, and the entire faculty of the Department of Materials Science and Nanotechnology among others were present on the occasion.

Panipat, January 27
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has sanctioned a major research project entitled “occupational health problems and occupational workload assessment of women construction workers in unorganised sector in Haryana” to Dr Santosh Tikoo, associate professor and head of the Department of Home Science at Arya PG College.

The sample of the study would be selected from Hisar, Ambala, Gurgaon and Panipat districts. In this project, the impact of occupational environment on women workers in terms of their occupational health problems, physiological cost of work on the basis of heart rate and bio-mechanical stress in terms of grip fatigue, postural analysis and musculoskeletal problems would be assessed.

The permissible workload for the selected construction-related activities would be determined. A manual for promoting the safety and health of women construction workers would also be developed. These investigations would be beneficial for occupational heath institutes, civil engineering departments, construction welfare boards and labour welfare departments.

Dr Sudesh Gandhi, senior scientist at Hisar Agriculture University, would provide help in the ergonomic aspect of the study. It is for the first time that the UGC has sanctioned a huge amount of Rs 10,28,800 for a major project at the college level. The project would be completed in three years.

Dr Tikoo has already authored nine books and has 46 papers and chapter publications to her credit. She had presented papers in more than 35 international and national conferences. Recently, she has also organised UGC-sponsored national-level conference in which about 125 delegates from different parts of the country participated.

She attributes her achievements to the College Managing Committee and the principal and the staff and all of them extended their best wishes to her for this achievement.

Dr Jagdish Gupta, principal of the college, assured that the institute would provide all logistic support to the professor for the said project.

Rewari, January 27
MP Deepender Singh Hooda has asserted that the Congress government, led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has made commendable advancement in the domain of education during its tenure which has enabled Haryana to carve out a niche for itself among the educationally blossomed states of the country. He regretted that the previous governments did nothing tangible to enrich the state in the field of education.

He made this assertion while addressing a memorial conference held to mark the 15th death anniversary of former minister Rao Ram Narain, founder president of the Rural Education Society of Kosli, at the DAV Mahila College complex at Kosli, recently.

Enumerating the major educational projects launched by the Hooda regime, he specifically mentioned about the development of an educational hub at Kundli, establishment of a central university in Mahendergarh and opening of a women’s university at Khanpur while the setting up of a defence university in Gurgaon is on the anvil.

While paying homage to Rao Ram Narain and appreciating his contribution made to the educational sector in the Kosli region, he announced a financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh for the society. He also garlanded the statue of Rao in the college complex.

Later at a separate samaroh, he was accorded a warm welcome by the Bar Association of Kosli where its president advocate Vikram Singh Yadav presented a charter of demands to the MP who then announced a financial grant of Rs 10 lakh for the Association out of his MPLAD fund.

Kurukshetra, January 27
The initiatives taken by Kurukshetra University to revamp the examination system have started paying dividends.

Stating this here recently, vice-chancellor DDS Sandhu, said the university had declared results of all five semesters of MBA five-year course, which ended on December 30, 2010. The university administration was trying its best to declare results of most of the postgraduate and undergraduate semester examinations within 30-45 days, he added.

Meanwhile, Dr Hukam Singh and YP Goswami, both controllers of examinations, said, “Answer books of all postgraduate science and technology courses have been provided with an OMR evaluation sheet to post the marks given by evaluators directly from answer sheet to the computer system to save time and to make it error-free. The university has created spot-evaluation centres in its departments and select affiliated colleges,” they added.

Rewari, January 27
Administrative officials and members of the teaching as well as the non-teaching staff, along with their families, participated in the 62nd Republic Day function held at Guru Jambheshwar Science and Technology University (GJU) complex in Hisar yesterday.

Dr ML Ranga, vice-chancellor of GJU, unfurled the National Flag on the occasion.

In his address, Dr Ranga appreciated the dedicated work put in by the teachers as well as the non-teaching employees during the past 15 years, which, he asserted, had enabled the university to carve out a niche for itself in the state and the country.

He said it was a matter of pride and satisfaction for them all that the university had made strides in the twin domains of education and research.

On the occasion, as many as nine university employees, Rajender Pal, Inderpal Kaur, Rajbir Singh, Tara Chand, Hari Lal, Pradeep Kumar, Pramod Kumar, Pale Ram and Raj Kumar, were also honoured by Dr Ranga for their meritorious services rendered by them in 2010-11. Each one of them was given a cash prize of Rs 501 and a citation.

Kaithal, January 27
Haryana PWD and Public Health Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala laid the foundation stone of an additional wing of seven rooms in the PWD (B&R) rest house here recently. The new wing, which would cost Rs 1 crore, is expected to be completed by September this year.

Speaking on the occasion, Surjewala said Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was making strenuous efforts to ensure speedy development of the state. He said the rest house was constructed in 1972 and later four rooms, including a VIP suite, were added to it in 1982. Now, two more VIP suites and five rooms would be added. The rest house would have all basic amenities, including 1,500-lt capacity solar water heating system, rainwater harvesting system, EPBX and public address system, he added.

The Minister further revealed that a proposal was under consideration to construct a community centre at a cost of Rs 1 crore. A park would be constructed and named after martyr Udham Singh which would have a wall on which names of martyrs of freedom struggle and their acts of valour would be inscribed. — OC