Jhajjar, July 25
With a view to providing qualitative education to the schoolchildren, the Haryana government has decided to introduce science and commerce streams in 300 more government schools across the state from the current academic session. The required staff will also be recruited for the purpose soon.

Haryana Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal disclosed this while interacting with mediapersons here. She said the students of the rural areas of the state would be significantly benefited from this decision.

“The schedule of Teachers Eligibility Test will be released next month. The test to be taken by aspiring teachers has been made mandatory to make it sure that the students get good performing teachers. The impact of this decision has started showing results in the state. Moreover, strict action would be taken against non-performing JBT and B.Ed institutions,” said the minister.

She informed the mediapersons that a committee had been constituted under the chairpersonship of the additional deputy commissioner with the sarpanch as member to examine the reasons for the children falling sick after consuming mid-day meal in a school in Kurukshetra. The state government had made adequate arrangements to ensure that the children get nutritious meal under the scheme. Kitchen sheds and utensils had been made available for this purpose, she added.

“The aim of the teachers should be to impart quality education to the students and the state government has been continuously striving to meet the demands of the teaching community. However, there are still some associations who are playing politics, which is not proper,” the minister added.

Rohtak, July 25
Haryana may be one of the most developed states in various aspects but slums have been a cause of concern as the state has been placed at the 10th place so far as the slum dwellers’ population (32.88 lakh) is concerned.

This has been revealed in a report released by the committee on slum census of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. The total slum population in the country as on March 16 has been pegged at 9,30,55,983. While Maharashtra leads with a slum population of over 1.81 crore, Sikkim has the lowest such population of 13,321. UP and Tamil Nadu have been placed second and third, respectively.

The slum population in Haryana was around 14.21 lakh in 2001, which now has grown more than 100 per cent in the past 10 years, according to the statistics available with the department concerned.

The main cause of the rise in slums in the state has been attributed to growth in the number of migrant population, following a steep increase in industrial and commercial activities as Haryana has been an important part of the National Capital Region (NCR). Claiming that Faridabad and Gurgaon have been among the leading district towns in the state where slum growth has been instrumental over the past few decades, Rishi Kant of Shakti Vahini, an NGO based in the state, said the state government was still to come out with a long-term plan to combat the problem as thousands of persons residing in the slum areas had not been getting the minimum basic amenities. Faridabad was among the top 10 cities in the country in the matter of children living in the slum areas.

Sirsa, July 25
Cigarette smokers at public places like railway stations, bus stands, hotels, restaurants and coffee bars in the district will now attract penal action. Though there is already a ban on smoking and consumption of nicotine products at public places, smokers have been throwing the law to the wind due to its poor implementation.

Now, in pursuant to the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to implement the ban on smoking and the use of other nicotine products in public places, the authorities have appointed a nodal officer for the district.

City Magistrate Suresh Kaswan, who was appointed the nodal officer by deputy commissioner Yudhbir Singh Khyalia will coordinate with the health authorities to book the offenders.

Issuing directions to all deputy commissioners and civil surgeons of Haryana on a civil writ petition (CWP) 14597 of 2007 (Burning Brain Society vs Union of India), the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed them to ensure that the ban was implemented in such public places.

In a PIL filed in the high court, the Burning Brain Society had mentioned names of several towns of Haryana where the consumption and sales of nicotine products was going on unabated in public places. Khyalia recently headed a meeting of officers to enforce the implementation of the ban orders.

Khyalia said the high court had taken a serious view of the lapse and he directed the City Magistrate to present a weekly report of the action taken against erring persons. He said those found smoking at public places would have to pay fine and those selling nicotine products to children below the age of 14 would be penalised.

Hisar, July 25
Roshan Lal, financial commissioner and principal secretary, agriculture, has said the government planned to issue soil health cards to all farmers in the state.

Inaugurating a kisan mela at Barwala near here, he said 10.50 lakh farmers had already been issued these cards after proper scientific examination of soil in their fields. The remaining would be issued in a phased manner over the next few months.

He said the exercise had been taken up to conserve the use of fertiliser and water and to keep the soil in good health.

The farmers had a tendency to use fertilisers indiscriminately in a bid to get a good crop yield, which resulted in deterioration of the soil quality. With the introduction of soil health cards, agricultural scientists would advise farmers regarding the use of proper fertilisers in the right quantities.

Roshan Lal said two mobile soil health laboratories had been deployed in Hisar and Fatehabad districts to check the soil quality and issue cards.

There were 32 other laboratories in the state where farmers could get the soil tested.

He said the state would spend Rs 200 crore this year under the centrally-funded National Agricultural Development Scheme. Likewise, Rs 26 crore had been earmarked for the agricultural sector under the National Food Security Programme.

The agriculture secretary said there was no shortage of seeds of improved qualities anywhere in the state. Besides, quality fertilisers and other agricultural inputs were also being made available all over Haryana.

Deputy commissioner Amit Aggarwal said the need of the hour was to promote organic farming. He said this was necessary to ensure that the soil health remained good for increased production of food grains.

He said even organic farming required to be taken up in a scientific manner and the farmers should consult agricultural scientists regularly.

The mela proved a big draw as hundreds of farmers participated.

Kaithal, July 25
The residents of this town are unhappy over the prevailing poor condition of civic amenities. Despite the fact that crores have been spent on development works, heaps of garbage and overflowing bins can be seen in every nook and corner of the town.

Choked drains and sewer lines, which are maintained by the Municipal Council and the Public Health Department, respectively, are the bane of the locals. Despite frequent visits of the deputy commissioner and other officials to the affected areas and stern warnings to officials of the departments concerned, there seems to be little improvement.

The residents feel that officials of several departments care little for the inconvenience faced by them.

Surprisingly, despite media reports highlighting lapses on part of the negligent staff and hue and cry raised by the public, no action has been taken against the guilty so far. Public perception is gaining ground that senior officials keep political leaders and elected representatives in good humour so as to escape departmental action.

Many of them hardly care even for their superiors. However, sometimes action is initiated against the lower-level staff, but seniors are never reprimanded and held responsible for dereliction of duty. The residents feel that the lack of accountability among officials is at the root of the problem.

The ongoing rainy season has further added to the miseries of the locals. Normal life remains disrupted due to accumulation of water on roads caused by poor drainage system. Localities situated in the low-lying areas get flooded and rainwater enters into houses, shops and other business establishments.

Even a moderate rain is enough to throw the normal life out of gear in this town. Recently, the town witnessed a flood-like situation, forcing the administration to start dewatering operations in many areas.

Karnal, July 25
The Haryana Institute of Fine Arts (HIFA), a non-government organisation, working for promoting, preserving and disseminating all forms of art and culture in Haryana, is all set to organise its second state-level contemporary art exhibition for Haryanavi artists in Gurgaon shortly.

“The objective of the exhibition is to present works of art of excellence both in terms of material application and aesthetic appeal. The event would cover a broad range of art works of all mediums like paintings, sculptures, graphics, photographs, drawings, installations and multimedia,” HIFA president Piyush said.

Entries have been invited for the exhibition, which has been split into competitive and non-competitive categories, by August 15 and five cash awards of Rs 31,000 along with citation and two “mentioned” awards of Rs 11,000 each have been instituted in the competitive segment.

The exhibition is open to any Indian citizen or NRI artists of either sex having Haryana domicile and there is no age bar. HIFA will also contribute Rs 50,000 for organising a group show by the awardees anywhere in India or abroad and also display the work of selected artists through power point presentation on a giant screen.

The first such exhibition was organised in Chandigarh last year, which saw a large number of participation, Piyush added.

Yamunanagar, July 25
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum in its order on July 22 directed a pesticide dealer to pay a sum of Rs 15,000 as compensation for causing financial loss as well as litigation expenses to the complainant on account of less yield of paddy crop as the quality of seed was not pure.

Surinder Kumar, a resident of Chappar Mansurpur village in Yamunanagar district, in his complaint on February 12, 2009, stated that he purchased five bags (3 kg each) of seed Hy-Arise 6129 on May 6, 2008, from Bhagwati Pesticides, Thana Chappar in Yamunanagar. He planted paddy in his five acres as per the specifications given by the dealer. During the season, it was found that the quality of seed was not pure and some other quality of paddy seed was mixed in it. It was also found that some plants of paddy started nourishing early than the major plants and there was mixing of about 15 per cent other seeds in Hybrid Arise 6129.

The complainant filed a complaint to the deputy director, Agriculture, Yamunanagar, who got his crop inspected through experts on September 15, 2008, and found that there was mixing of substandard seeds in paddy in five acres of the land of the complainant. There is a gross negligence and deficiency of service on part of the shopkeeper in selling the defective, substandard and below quality seed to the complainant and prayed for directing the respondents to pay a sum of Rs 1.25 lakh as compensation for the loss caused to his crop.

Upon notice by the forum, Bhagwati Pesticides, through his counsel, appeared and filed its written statement and stated that he was a sub dealer of M/s Munshi Ram Shanti Sarup, Mustafabad, so the latter should be held responsible; hence the present complaint was liable to be dismissed on this ground alone.

The firm, while filing the written statement, stated that the present complaint was not maintainable because the seed supplied to Bhagwati Pesticides was free from any mixing and the fault might be at the hands of the complainant himself. No such inspection was done in the presence of the answering respondent and prayed for the dismissal of the complaint.

Dina Nath Arora, president of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, with members Urmil Beniwal and SK Sharma in their decision on July 22 stated that the report of three agriculture officers, including the sub-divisional agriculture officer, Jagadhri, senior scientist, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Damla, and the block agriculture officer, stated that there was a mixing of other seed from 8 per cent to 10 per cent and due to this, the complainant had suffered a loss in the yield of paddy which was unfair trade practice on their part and he would have to suffer monetary loss of 10 per cent per acre.

As such, the complainant is entitled to get relief for five acres of land at the rate of 10 per cent per acre. Thus, the complainant suffered a total loss of 15 quintals which comes to Rs 15,000. The forum directed Bayer Bio Science Pvt. Ltd to pay a sum of Rs 15,000 as compensation for causing financial loss.

Kaithal, July 25
A three-day district-level science exhibition was held in the local Government Senior Secondary School here recently. As many as 22 students selected for their outstanding performance in the exhibition were honoured by the chief guest, Sadhu Ram Berwal, DEO Kaithal.

Amit Pawar, DPRO, Kaithal, presided over the function. The selected students will participate in the state-level competition to be held in Gurgaon from July 27 to July 29 and those selected in this event will further participate in the national exhibition to be held in Vigyan Bhawan, Delhi, from August 14 to August 16.

While addressing the participants, the DEO congratulated the winners and said these students had not only impressed the visitors by displaying their models, but have also motivated other students to participate in such events.

He said the government had provided Rs 25 lakh to create awareness among students for preparing science models and two students from each school were entitled to participate in this exhibition.

All the 485 students from 260 schools of the district, who participated in this exhibition, were provided Rs 5,000 by way of cheque, Berwal added.

Amit lauded the efforts of the students and said the government was taking all steps to create awareness among the students about science and technology so that they could apprise themselves of the latest developments in this field and prepare themselves for the stiff competition in future.

State Council for Research and Training representative Dr Madhuk Sharma also congratulated the students for their outstanding performance. Anil Girdhar, convener of the exhibition, and science teachers Krishan Kalra, Surinder Khurana, Sandeep Singh, Urmil Nijhawan, Neeraj Kumar, Mahaveer Saini, Ishwar Chand, Nawal Kalra, OP Chawla, Sunita Gulati, Sushil Kumar and Suresh Gulshan were given prizes for their contribution in organising this event.

Kaithal, July 25
Sidharth Girdhar of the Haryana State Bharat Scouts and Guides Bhism Open Group, Kaithal, has been selected to participate in the 22nd World Scouts Jamboree (2011) to be held in Sweden from July 28 to August 6.

Giving this information to mediapersons here recently, group leader Bakhsheesh Girdhar said three scouts from the state had been selected to participate in this Jamboree. Sidharth is a student of RKSD Public School, Kaithal.

The selected scouts, during their stay in Sweden, would learn the culture, style of living, folk songs, social traditions of other countries and would also participate in adventurous programmes and cultural events.

The Rovers from this group had already represented India in the Asia Pacific Jamboree, the 21st World Jamboree, London, and the events of SAARC countries held in Nepal in the recent past, Girdhar added. — OC

Kurukshetra, July 25
An orientation programme for B.Tech first-year students of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Kurukshetra, was held at the institute Jubilee Hall here recently.

Addressing the students, chief guest Parul Kush Jain, SP, Kurukshetra, said students should work hard to achieve success in their lives.

She said, along with their studies, periodic entertainment was also essential in order to maintain high efficiency in the work. She appreciated the approach of hard work and high concern of the institute’s director Prof. Anand Mohan towards the welfare of the students.

She also congratulated the first-year students on their admission to this institution of national importance.

Institute Board of Governors chairperson and the guest of honour Prof. JK Palit said as per the directions of the Ministry of Human Resources Development, 24-hour medical service would be available at the institute’s health centre. Several new doctors would be appointed soon and facilities of yoga, physiotherapy, etc., would be extended at the health centre. An ambulance would also be purchased soon.

In order to meet the teaching requirements of students, 82 assistant professors were appointed recently on a contract basis. Meanwhile, the process of appointment of faculty on a regular basis would also be initiated soon, he added.

Prof. Anand Mohan, director of the institute, advised the students that they should decide the areas of carrier objectives in various fields such as civil services, engineering services, multinational companies, academia, etc., and start working accordingly.

He motivated the students to become the members of prestigious student professional societies at the national level and enhance their technical knowledge by reading their technical literature and participating in various activities. Efforts would be made to achieve the placements of students to the level on a par with the top IITs.

In the programme, the students were intimated to the existing facilities in the institute relating to academic, placements, extracurricular activities, sports, hostels, etc.

Institute dean (planning and development) Prof. SP Jain, dean (students’ welfare) Prof. VK Arora, dean (academic) Prof. AK Gupta and chief warden Prof. Rajender Deswal were among the prominent speakers in imparting the information about the institute to the newly admitted B.Tech first-year students and their parents.

Rewari, July 25
Thousands of chemists and medicine distributors from various parts of the country will hold a demonstration at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi and will also gherao Parliament on August 1 in protest against the proposed inclusion of the new Schedule HX by the Union Health Ministry in the Drug Act.

This was stated by Kailash Gupta, national president of the All-India Chemists and Distributors Federation (AICDF), while addressing a meeting of the members of the Rewari district unit of the AICDF here recently.

Describing the HX Schedule as a black legislation that was allegedly being inserted at the behest of MNCs, Gupta asserted that while the new Schedule would adversely affect the existing hassle-free availability of requisite medicines throughout the country, it would also make treatment costlier and out of manageable reach for the common man as well.

He went on to say while 70 per cent population of the country lived in villages where effectual presence of well-qualified doctors was almost negligible, the interests of a major section of medicine distributors would be enormously jeopardised as well.

Furnishing more details in this regard, Shri Niwas Bindal, state convener of the AICDF, said medicines listed in Part-A of the new Schedule would be available in government hospitals only, whereas about 74 other antibiotics enumerated in Part-B of the above Schedule could be sold by the medicine distributors to only those patients/persons possessing doctors’ written prescription in duplicate.

Thus, expressing concern over the predicament which the distributors and the patients would have to face as a result of the introduction of the new Schedule, Bindal pointed out that if a radical transformation of the existing health services was brought about by the government, it would do more good to the masses.

Jhajjar, July 25
The state government has made the required arrangements in time for draining out rainwater in this district and it is now the accountability of officials of the department concerned to avoid waterlogging. Negligence in this regard will not be tolerated in any condition and stern action will be taken against the erring officials.

Haryana Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal stated this while addressing district officials during her visit for reviewing the arrangements of water drainage at various places in the district.

Reviewing the pump house of Out Fall Link Drain here, she said the government had given Rs 3 crore to augment the capacity of the pump house. She directed the officials to complete the work at the earliest.

Later, she reviewed the works going on at Jhajjar Link Drain on the bypass road. “The irrigation officials must ensure the cleanness of drainage not only in the rainy season but also throughout the year so that people do not have to face any problematic situation in this regard,” the minister said.

During the visit, residents of Kheri Khummar village met the education minister and presented their suggestion before her in connection with the works being undertaken for draining out the rainwater. The villagers also informed her that they had to face a lot of problems owing to rainwater accumulation in their fields every year because the irrigation officials used to take a long time to remove the stagnant water, they added.

The minister assured them that this year they would not have to face any problem as efforts were being made to ensure the removal of rainwater at the earliest from the low-lying areas. Later, Geeta Bhukkal got information from the irrigation officials about the construction material being used for remodeling of Dujana-Dhaud-Jhajjar link drain here.

She also directed the officials to take suggestions from the people of the nearby area while chalking out any planning for the drainage system. The minister also enquired about other schemes implemented in this direction.

Sirsa, July 25
For Guddi Devi (60), a widow from Shekhupuria village, the Lok Adalat held at Panjuana village, came as a god sent gift, as her four-month old pension related issue was resolved within minutes.

Denied widow pension for the past four months, Guddi Devi has been leading a miserable life as she had become dependent on others for her personal needs.

The woman had been running from pillar to post for the last four months for her pension only to be told that she would start getting her pension soon.

Over 10 villagers from Panjuana village had not received their remuneration for the work done under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) for the past two months.

The MNREGA norms provided that their wages should have been transferred to their bank accounts within days of the completion of works.

Sudhir Parmar, Civil Judge (Senior Division), who presided over the Lok Adalat, took up these and many other related matters with officials of FINO, a private mobile banking company to outsourced the job of disbursement of pensions and MNREGA funds.

The judge called up the officers of the concerned departments, when the Fino officials informed that the funds had not yet been transferred to their account.

Some senior citizens also approached the judge for the release of their pension, which they alleged, was not being given regularly for the past four months.

“Though these works were not on the agenda of the Lok Adalat, the judge took up their cases on humanitarian grounds and ensured that their problems would be solved,” said Avnish Singh Kalra, an advocate on the panel of the District Legal Services Authority.

He said the authorities had assured the judge that Guddi Devi’s and senior citizens’ pension as well as the wages of villagers would be paid soon. As many as 72 cases were taken up by the Lok Adalat and the judge settled all these cases on the spot.

Janak Rani, sarpanch of the village, and advocates Vikram Singh, Monica Sharma, Balbir Kaur Gandhi, Pawan Kumar, Ajit Goyal, Mahesh Yadav, Prabhjot Kaur, Mamta Banga and Yogesh Modi attended the Lok Adalat.

Sirsa, July 25
NGOs working in the field of rehabilitation of special children lack management skills and hence fail to provide benefits of government schemes to their real beneficiaries.

Michael J Rosencrantz, a capacity builder at the National Trust for the welfare of persons with autism, mental retardation, cerebral palsy and multiple disorders, said the NGOs needed to be trained in this aspect. Rosencrantz is here to address a three-day workshop for NGOs organised under the aegis of the National Trust by a local NGO, Disha.

Talking to mediapersons, he said in comparison, NGOs working in the field of disability in the US were doing their work in an excellent manner.

He said there was no dearth of schemes launched by the Government of India through the National Trust, but all that was lacking was the awareness among staffers of the NGOs to convey benefits of those schemes to the beneficiaries.

He said keeping this in mind, the National Trust had been organising workshops for NGOs for capacity building and skills of fund raising. The National Trust, he said, had so far organised 15 workshops and the present one being held here was the 16th, where efforts were being made to make staff members of the NGOs mentally strong to take all challenges.

Later addressing participants in the seminar, Rosencrantz said the NGOs should not depend solely on the funds provided by the government, but they should also approach social and political organisations for this purpose.

NGOs working in the field of rehabilitation of special children from different parts of Haryana, Samrat from the National Trust, Chetali, a representative of an NGO based in Ahmedabad, Preeti from Lucknow, Ramanuj from Gorakhpur have been attending the workshop.

Geeta Kathuria, director of Disha, Dr RS Sangwan, AC Gadi, Surinder Bhatia and Chander Shekhar Mehta, all office-bearers of Disha were present on the occasion.

Rewari, July 25
Addressing a meeting of the concerned officials of the district, the Union Bank of India (UBI) and the service providing company, FINO, in the conference hall of the district secretariat here recently, Vijay Vardhan, financial commissioner-cum-principal secretary of the state Power and Non-Conventional Energy Department, directed them to ensure the payment of the pension amount to all 79,834 beneficiaries of old-age pension in the district by the 10th of every month, positively.

After he was informed that while bio-metric cards of 71,790 out of the 79,874 beneficiaries had already been devised and accounts of 68,785 out of the 79,874 beneficiaries had been opened in the UBI here, Vijay instructed FINO company officials as well as UBI officials to expedite the accomplishment of the remaining work without any further loss of time. Simultaneously, he directed the district social welfare officer and UBI officials to verify the credentials of all 72 agents of FINO.

Panipat, July 25
DAV Public School, Thermal Colony, Panipat, has become the recipient of the National Green School Award consecutively for the second year. The award was presented to the school at a function organised jointly by the Centre for Science and the Delhi Government at the Habitat India Centre.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit conferred this award on Dr Dharam Dev Vidyarthi and the school survey team. This award comprised of a national trophy and a certificate. The school team headed by Rashmi Vidyarthi, Neena Uniyal, Sanjula Kakkar, Reena Gupta, Madhu Singla, Nafisa, Anil Kumar, along with 12 students, worked for this programme and represented the school in Delhi.

A survey in three categories was conducted in around 15,000 schools all over the country, out of which top 10 schools were selected and among these, DAV Thermal School bagged the third position in the Change Maker Category. Last year, the school received this award in the category of ‘New Schools’. The school holds the credit of being the only one in the state of receiving this renowned award for consecutive two years. This award is given for the conservation of water land, air and the best out of waste concept.

Dr. D. Vidyarthi, regional director, DAV Schools, said the school had brought laurels to the city by winning many national and international school awards.

Giving the credit of all these achievements to the sincerity and dedication of teachers, hard work of students, faith of parents and blessings of the DAV Management, he said the students were excelling not only in academics but also in sports and other activities.

Hisar, July 25
With the byelection to the Hisar parliamentary seat on the horizon, factionalism in the Congress is already at play. This is bound to adversely affect the party’s prospects in the byelection.

Union Minister Kumari Selja’s “Dhanyavaad Rally” at Uklana, 45 km from here, recently is a case in point. Supporters of the minister unabashedly alleged that they were being discriminated against in Haryana.

Congress legislator from Uklana Naresh Selwal, a Selja loyalist, went to the extent of saying that he was finding it hard to get development projects sanctioned for his backward constituency and that he had to virtually fight for every penny of development funds. Clearly, the dart was aimed at Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda

A former minister and senior Congress leader Jagdish Nehra did not mince words at all. He said the crowds at Hooda’s rallies were no match for the gathering addressed by her.

Nehra left nothing to imagination when he urged Selja to become active in Haryana saying that time was not far when this would happen.

The opposition parties are elated. A senior INLD leader said now that a Congress legislator had publicly stated that he was not getting funds for development, how would the Congress make development a plank in the coming Hisar byelection.

However, to give Selja her due, she did not utter anything that could be construed as opposing Hooda. She even said the party would contest and win the Hisar seat unitedly. But, she did not comment on Nehra’s or Selwal’s speeches. Her silence could easily be taken as a tacit approval of the views of her close associates.

Significantly, there was no mention of the Chief Minister in any of the posters and banners used for canvassing support for the rally.

It is common knowledge that Selja and Hooda do not see eye to eye. Earlier, during the Mirchpur imbroglio also there were reports and allegations that the two were working at cross purposes.

However, a public display of these differences at a crucial juncture could mar the party’s prospects in the byelection.

Sonepat, July 25
The new building of the sub-tehsil office at Khanpur Kalan village remains devoid of electricity fitting even after one year since it was inaugurated by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The staff has no other option but to take supply from an adjoining house to run the fans during the summer season.

Interestingly, the building has been constructed by the government on the land owned by the gram panchayat. It is because of this reason that an electricity connection has been denied by the Bijli Nigam authorities.

And even if the electricity connection is released in the name of gram panchayat, the panchayat would have no legal authority to make the payment of bills. Moreover, the Revenue Department also cannot draw the amount of electricity bill raised in the name of gram panchayat from its own funds.

The matter has already been brought to the notice of the deputy commissioner and SDM Gohana, but the problem continues.

No wonder, the complex presents a deserted look on all working days except Tuesdays and Fridays which have been fixed for the registration of land deals and other land related matters. Hardly any facility like drinking water, toilets, benches etc has been arranged for the people visiting the office.

Chandigarh, July 25
Art lovers of Haryana, especially of Rohtak, are in for a double delight of a feast of modern Indian theatre and the magical gayaki genius of legendary Mohammad Rafi at a three-day drama festival from July 26 to July 28 and a special Rafi Memorial Nite on July 30 at the Tagore Auditorium of MDU, Rohtak.

Bhal Singh Balahara, additional director, disclosed that the cultural bonanza is a joint venture of the Information, Public Relations and Cultural Affairs Department, Haryana, and Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, which will be inaugurated by Asha Hooda, vice-chairperson, Haryana Bal Kala Parishad, at 6.30 pm on July 26.

Theatre fest will open with a play “Hadh Kar Di Aapne” by a Mumbai-based director Om Katare which offers many comical situations arising out of psychological feelings of a 52-year-old man suspicious of his becoming a father much to the possible criticism he might face from his daughter and son-in-law.

Another Bollywood actor Rakesh Bedi will stage his masterpiece “Massage”, a rib-tickling comedy. The festival will conclude with a play “Urgent Meeting” by director JP Singh which is a satire of government function with the series of acrimonious meetings.

Talented singers selected after the series of contests will perform in the Rafi Nite to be held at MDU Auditorium on July 30 and all are welcome on the first-come, first-serve basis, as per Balahara.

Kaithal, July 25
A public utility court was held in the local judicial courts here recently. MR Batra, Sessions Judge (retd), presided over the proceedings.

The court, while disposing of a complaint lodged by Om Parkash, a resident of Sector 20 HUDA here, issued directions to the Electricity Department to get the trees under the transmission lines trimmed periodically so that power supply was not disrupted and there was no loss of life or property.

The court also awarded a compensation cheque of Rs 25,000 to one Randhir Singh of Harsola village under the Rajiv Gandhi Parivar Bima Yojna. The compensation amount had been given to the accident victim by Reliance General Insurance Company following his partial disability due to an accident. Arvind Khurania, advocate of the insurance company, was also present on the occasion.

Following complaints lodged by Gautam Kumar, SDE, Public Health, against 10 defaulters for the payment of outstanding bills, the court issued summons to them for August 5. This court, constituted under the State Legal Aids Committee, is held at the district level fortnightly. — OC