The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Awareness on sexual issues Adolescent-friendly clinics to come up Ravinder Saini Jhajjar, December 29 The state government has decided to set up adolescent friendly clinics in each district of the state under its Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH) programme to raise awareness among this section regarding sexual and reproductive health issues. Six adolescent clinics at Community Health Centres in this district will be established soon where adolescents will be given counselling regarding their sexual and reproductive issues, besides making the facility available for their health check-up. Jhajjar civil surgeon Bharat Singh Bishnoi disclosed this while talking to mediapersons after attending the Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Youth Festival organised at Matanhel village here. “In the beginning, such clinics were to be set up in nine districts of the state, but the state government has now decided to execute the planning in every district keeping in view the rising population of the youth,” the civil surgeon said, adding that experts would provide adequate health counselling and services for the adolescents and build a supportive environment to address their sexual and reproductive needs through the provision of adolescent friendly health services. Dr Bishnoi said adolescence (10-19 years) was the period of rapid physical growth that marked emotional, sexual and psychological changes in a child. “Habits and behaviour picked up during adolescence has a lifelong impact and proper guidance is required to ensure good development and growth of an adolescent. Many adolescent boys and girls are sexually active, but lacked information and skills for protection,” he said, adding that they had simple but pervasive crucial reproductive health needs like menstrual hygiene, contraception, safety from sexually transmitted diseases, HIV etc, but communication gap existed between parents and other adults. In view of the growing population of the youth in the country, it was an extremely important programme and the youth should take advantage of this programme,” he added. On the occasion, deputy civil surgeon Kumud Sharma said teenaged boys and girls would be given sexual and health related information in the teen friendly clinics. “Facilities of consultancy about general health management, nutrition and treatment of blood loss, unwanted pregnancy, emotional stress, test phobia and diagnosis of pre-menstrual-related problems in girls with medical advice will be made available free of cost in the clinics,” she said. help on the way Six such clinics will be set up at Community Health Centres in Jhajjar where adolescents will be given counselling regarding sexual and reproductive issues. The facility of health check-up will also be available
	Child labour Officials directed to inspect brick-kilns, dhabas Nawal Kishore Rastogi Rewari, December 29 Officials of the Revenue, Food and Supplies, Education, Development, Panchayati Raj, Police, Labour and other such departments of the Kosli subdivision of the district participated in a conference held for scrupulous enforcement of child labour and bonded labour laws in the subdivision in the mini-secretariat at Kosli recently. SDM Jai Deep Kumar presided over its proceedings. While stating that a vigilance committee comprising the tehsildar, AFSO, labour inspector as well as other official and non-official members had been constituted for the purpose, Jai Deep Kumar impressed upon the officials the urgency of following the state government’s new labour policy in toto while protecting the workers against undue exploitation. Similarly, while stating that any violation of child labour laws was a cognisable offence, he directed the officials concerned to regularly inspect brick-kilns, tea kiosks, dhabas and other such establishments to see to it that no child was employed there by the owners. Besides, he instructed the tehsildar, SHO and the AFSO to undertake a random checking of brick-kilns to ensure that bonded labourers were not in employment there. The SDM also directed the block education officer to ensure that schools set-up at brick-kilns under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to cater to the schooling of the workers’ children were functioning precisely. He also warned that if any violation of the labour laws was reported from any quarter of the subdivision, the guilty would be strictly dealt with.
	CAG to audit rural, urban local bodies Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 29 The Haryana government has entrusted the test audit of urban local bodies (ULB) and Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). As per a notification issued by the Finance Department, the audit of ULBs and PRIs is being conducted by the director, Local Audit Department, as statutory auditor. The CAG will also provide technical guidance to the director, Local Audit Department, with regards to ULBs and PRIs without affecting the administrative control of the Finance Department over the director, Local Audit Department, or his status as statutory auditor of these institutions. The office of the CAG will conduct audit of some of the ULBs and PRIs and the director, Local Audit, will continue to audit these institutions or bodies as per his statutory responsibilities, as is being done at present. The director, Local Audit Department, will adopt the guidelines or standards of audit as may be prescribed by the CAG and will forward some of the inspection reports of audit of ULBs and PRIs conducted by him to the accountant general (Audit), Haryana, who would suggest improvements, if required, in the system of reporting. Any serious irregularity, such as system defects, serious violation of rules, frauds noticed by the director, Local Audit Department, will be intimated to the accountant general (Audit), Haryana. The director will develop a system of internal control in his organisation considering the technical guidance and support rendered by the office of the accountant general (Audit). The CAG will also undertake training and capacity building of the staff of the director, Local Audit, Haryana. The annual technical inspection report of the CAG as well as the annual report of the director, Local Audit, will be placed before the state legislature and the CAG or his representative will have the right to report to the state legislature the results of audit at his discretion. the arrangement The CAG will conduct test audit of some of the local bodies and the director, Local Audit, will continue to audit these institutions as per his statutory responsibilities
	‘Silent observers’ to keep tabs on ultrasound centres Ravinder Saini Jhajjar, December 29 Taking a serious view of the menace of female foeticide, the district authorities have now decided to appoint “silent observers” to keep a close watch on the functioning of ultrasound centres here. As many as 26 ultrasound centres are being run in this district. These centres include 19 in Bahadurgarh, six in Jhajjar and one in Beri town here. Jhajjar Deputy Commissioner Ajit Balaji Joshi while talking to The Tribune said the move aimed at eliminating the social evil of female foeticide from the district so that the female sex ratio could be improved here. “Social activists, besides government officials, will be roped in as silent observers to make the move successful. These silent observers will not only keep an eye on the working of the ultrasound centres, but also visit the centres frequently in the guise of decoy customers so that the owners of ultrasound centres indulged in the illegal practice of prenatal test can be punished as per the PNDT Act,” said Joshi. Besides, the silent observers would also gather feedback from public about the ultrasound centres and would forward it to the district authorities so that steps could be taken as per the feedback. The local officers of the Health Department had also been directed to lend a hand to the silent observers in sorting out their problems, if occur, while performing their duty for the noble cause, he said. Terming female foeticide as a stigma on the face of Indian society, Joshi said everyone would have to contribute to root out this evil from society. Joshi said the licences of three ultrasound centres in Bahadurgarh town had been suspended with immediate effect and their equipment had also been sealed for the violation of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act. “The teams of the Health Department and the task force constituted for the implementation of the PNDT Act carried out raids following complaints received against these centres. One of these centres has also been issued a show-cause notice,” the Deputy Commissioner added.
	IGNOU to hold classes in jail Satish Seth Kaithal, December 29 The convicts lodged in the Kaithal district jail will soon get the facility of quality education. The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the National Open School will soon hold classes in the jail premises. This was stated by Randeep Singh Surjewala, PWD and Industries Minister, while inaugurating the Rs 4.60 crore extension block of the district jail here recently. Addressing the convicts and undertrials, he said that new barracks had been constructed for men, women and minors. A hospital building, a multi-purpose block, school building and a power house had already been constructed. Besides, 42 houses in the residential colony had been constructed at a cost of Rs 2. 60 crore. He said the state was making efforts to provide all facilities to prisoners so that they could live in a positive environment. The minister announced to provide a grant of Rs 2.25 lakh for purchase of four computers, 25 gysers, Rs 11,000 for the jail library and Rs 5,100 for purchase of sports material etc.
	Community radio stations to help farmers in state Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 29 The Haryana Government has decided to set up a network of community radio stations in different districts to provide timely and need-based information concerning the agriculture sector. Minister of State for Agriculture Sukhbir Kataria said here today that to begin with, the first such radio station had been set up in Hisar. He said Haryana’s wheat productivity of 46.24 quintals per hectare and mustard productivity of 18.69 quintals per hectare during 2010-11, is the highest in the country. Haryana is also a leading state in the production of Basmati rice and more than 60 per cent export of Basmati rice is undertaken from the state. Kataria said in view of a decline in the area under sugarcane from 1.40 lakh hectares in 2007-08 to 72,000 hectares in 2009-10, the government had taken a series of initiatives to incentivise the farmers for growing sugarcane. Autumn planting of sugarcane has been promoted and subsidy at a rate of Rs 2,000 per acre on sugarcane seed was provided to the sugarcane growers during 2009-10. Resultantly, the area under autumn planting has increased from 19,000 acres to more than 50,000 acres. During 2010-11, an incentive of Rs 1,500 per acre was given on sugarcane seed for autumn plantation The government has launched “Technical Mission on Sugarcane” with a budgetary outlay of Rs 2.73 crore from the current year to promote sugarcane cultivation in the state. Farm mechanisation has been promoted in sugarcane so as to reduce dependence on labour. The government has purchased 100 laser levellers and services of these laser levellers are being provided on custom hiring basis to the farmers. The government has also promoted mechanised transplanting of paddy crop to reduce dependence on labour and to cut the cost of production. The minister reiterated the commitment of the state government to provide quality seeds in plenty, as it is a well-known fact that quality seed alone can increase the yield by 20 per cent. A subsidy of Rs 500 per quintal is being provided to farmers on certified seeds of wheat, paddy, bajra and barley whereas an amount of Rs 1,200 per quintal is being provided on certified seeds of oilseeds and pulses. The government is also providing micro-nutrients, especially zinc on 75 per cent subsidised rates to the farmers to replenish zinc deficiency and to improve crop productivity. An amount of Rs 5 crore is planned to be utilised for this purpose during 2011-12. Gypsum is also being supplied to the farmers on subsidised rates to make alkaline soil productivity and to mitigate sulphur deficiency. The government has also launched a massive campaign to improve soil health. Green manuring with dhaincha crop is being promoted in a big way and dhaincha’s seed are being supplied to the farmers on 90 per cent subsidy. An area of 94,333 hectares has been brought under green manuring during 2011-12 and Rs 13.50 crore has been utilised for the purpose. Since water is a scarce natural resource, micro irrigation, especially sprinkler irrigation system and drip irrigation system, is being promoted in a big way. These irrigation systems are being provided on 50 per cent subsidy to the farmers. This has not only increased additional area under irrigation but has also improved water use efficiency and proved helpful in regulating the temperature during hot months of the year. The government is also promoting underground pipeline system to save irrigation water and to improve water use efficiency. This year is being celebrated as water conservation year.
	Rs 23.31 cr sanctioned for local bodies Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 29 The Haryana Government has sanctioned grant-in-aid of over Rs 23.31 crore to municipal corporations, municipal councils and municipal committees for development works under the recommendations of the State Finance Commission. Stating this, Gopal Kanda, Minister of State for Urban Local Bodies, said the account of the grant-in-aid would be maintained and operated separately for 100 per cent check by the audit office. Kanda said the sanction had been accorded to release Rs 115.53 lakh to municipal corporation, Ambala; Rs 6.58 lakh to municipal committee, Naraingarh; Rs 61.24 lakh to municipal council, Bhiwani; Rs 16.23 lakh to municipal committee, Charkhi Dadri; Rs 5.73 lakh to Siwani; Rs 6.60 lakh to Bawani Khera; Rs 4.13 lakh to Loharu; Rs 381.34 lakh to municipal corporation, Faridabad; Rs 36.34 lakh to municipal committee, Palwal; Rs 13.85 lakh to Hodal; Rs 26.64 lakh to Fatehabad; Rs 18.62 lakh to Tohana; Rs 8.61 lakh to Ratia; Rs 137.36 lakh to municipal corporation, Gurgaon; Rs 9.97 lakh to municipal committee, Sohna; Rs 6.17 lakh to Haily Mandi; Rs 5.81 lakh to Pataudi; Rs 3.44 lakh to Farukh Nagar; Rs 120.62 lakh to municipal corporation, Hisar; Rs 27.37 lakh to municipal committee, Hansi; Rs 11.98 lakh to Barwala; Rs 5.46 lakh to Narnaund; Rs 45.81 lakh to Bahadurgarh; Rs 5.84 lakh to Beri; Rs 14.10 lakh to Jhajjar; Rs 49.19 lakh to Jind; Rs 9.96 lakh to Safidon; Rs 18.31 lakh to Narwana; Rs 5.10 lakh to Uchanna; Rs 4.93 lakh to Julana; Rs 42.37 lakh to Kaithal; Rs 11.61 lakh to Cheeka; Rs 6.05 lakh to Kalayat; Rs 6.15 lakh to Pundri; Rs 128.56 lakh to Karnal; Rs 10.91 lakh to Gharaunda; Rs 8.21 lakh to Assandh; Rs 8.03 lakh to Taraori; Rs 5.25 lakh to Indri; Rs 5.59 lakh to Nilokheri; Rs 5.44 lakh to Nissing; Rs 44.35 lakh to Thanesar; Rs 13.42 lakh to Shahbad; Rs 12.13 lakh to Pehowa and Rs 8.11 lakh to Ladwa. Sanction has also been accorded to release Rs 6.42 lakh to municipality of Ferozepur Jhirka; Rs 3.99 lakh to Nuh; Rs 6.23 lakh to Taoru; Rs 3.94 lakh to Hathin; Rs 9.53 lakh to Punhana; Rs 8.67 lakh Mahendragarh; Rs 22.44 lakh to Narnaul; Rs 2.05 lakh to Ateli Mandi; Rs 3.69 lakh to Kanina; Rs 50.94 lakh to Panchkula; Rs 11.16 lakh to Kalka; Rs 10.76 lakh to Pinjore; Rs 122.90 lakh to Panipat; Rs 10.79 lakh to Samalkha; Rs 36.49 lakh to Rewari; Rs 4.34 lakh to Bawal; Rs 6.83 lakh to Dharuhera; Rs 138.90 lakh to Rohtak; Rs 6.57 lakh to Meham; Rs 6.09 lakh to Kalanaur; Rs 6.05 lakh to Sampla; Rs 57.88 lakh to Sirsa; Rs 19.45 lakh to Dabwali; Rs 11.85 lakh to Ellenabad; Rs 7.58 lakh to Rania; Rs 9.09 lakh to Kalanwali; Rs 81.38 lakh to Sonepat; Rs 10.48 lakh to Ganaur; Rs 17.54 lakh to Gohana; Rs 6.78 lakh to Kharkhoda and Rs 136.31 lakh to Yamunanagar.
	Rajasthani folk dancers enthrall audience Tribune News Service Sirsa, December 29 Folk artistes from Rajasthan performed at the Jan Nayak Chaudhary Devi Lal College of Education here recently at a programme held under the aegis of the Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture among Youths (SPIC-MACAY). Exponents of the Manganiar folk style of Rajasthan, singers, musicians and female dancers, led by Buttay Khan, reminded the audience of the centuries old cultural tradition of the desert state. The Manganiars are Muslim communities of Rajasthan, mainly of the districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer along the border with Pakistan. These are the groups of hereditary professional musicians whose music has been supported by wealthy landlords and aristocrats for generations. The programme started with the famous Rajasthani welcome folk song “Kesaria, Padharo Mare Desh” and the artistes went on the sing popular folk songs like “Gori Ka Pall Latke” and “Nimbuda” of the film “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam” fame. While the vocalists enthralled the audience with their perfect “suras”, the accompanists, too, entertained them by playing “khamaycha”, “khartal” and “dholak”. The folk artistes described the “khamaycha” as a 17-string bowed instrument made of mango wood. Its rounded resonator is covered with goatskin. Three of its strings are goat intestine while the other 14 strings are steel. “Khartaal” is a kind of castanet made of teak. Its name is derived from "khar", meaning hand, and "taal", meaning rhythm. Rekha and Indra, the two female artistes of the team, performed “kalbelia” and “bhawai” dance. The “kalbelia” dancers wear long black skirts embroidered with silver ribbons. As they spin in a circle, their bodies sway acrobatically sinuously to the accompaniment of music. In “bhawai” dance, the female performers balance a number of earthen pots or brass pitchers as they dance nimbly, pirouetting and then swaying with the soles of their feet perched on the top of a glass, on the edge of the sword or on the rim of a brass thali (plate) during the performance.
	Ambala poet honoured in Bareilly Suman Bhatnagar Ambala December 29 Dr Dalip Kumar Khetarpal, an Indo-English poet and a resident of Ambala, attended the 56th All-India English Teachers’ Conference in Association for English Studies of India (AESI) held in Bareilly recently. He was honoured there for his contribution to English poetry. Professor S. Ramaswami, Fellow, Sillman College, Yale University, US, gave the presidential speech. Prof Pashupati Jha, a former chairman, Association for English Studies of India, chaired the conference. The conference was attended by about 600 literary luminaries, including professors, readers, scholars, writers and poets, from all over the country. The theme of the conference broadly encompassed “Emerging trends in contemporary literature in English and literary theories”. Dr Dalip presented his paper titled “The Grim Scenario” as observed by him in the poetry of DC Chambial, a renowned international poet. The current spiritual void and all-round degeneration of human values in Chambial’s poems were also vividly highlighted by him. He also focused on human psychology and the mysteries of man’s subconscious and unconscious mind.
	NRI docs provide free medical care to rural patients Tribune News Service Hisar, December 29 Two NRI physicians practising in the US teamed up with some prominent doctors from the area, including some from PGIMS, Rohtak, and provided free medical care and consultation to rural and underprivileged patients at Kumbha village near here. The Kumbha Employees Welfare Association, led by BS Dalal, organised a medical camp in the village school. Anganwari workers, ASHA workers, Sakshar Mahila Samuh, members of the Self-Help Group and literacy volunteers were roped in to inform the residents of nearby villages. The team of doctors was led by the two NRI doctors - DP Mann and Karambir Dalal. Others associated with the camp included Dr RS Dahiya, nodal officer, National Rural Health Mission, Dr Yogender Kadian, both from PGI, Rohtak, Dr Satish Bansal, Dr Rama Bansal, Dr Vimal Jain, Dr Manjula, Dr Sunil Soni, Dr Mahesh Chhabra and Dr Narender Gupta. Besides providing free consultation and medicines, joint and spine injections for pain management, a seminar on health awareness and disease-prevention measures was also organised. Motivated by the success of a similar camp organised last year, two semi-government organisations operating in the rural areas - KRIBHCO and IFFCO - volunteered to sponsor a part of the camp with contributions that helped provide free medicines. The patients, who needed further care, including surgery, were sent to General Hospital and PGI, Rohtak.
	Training programme for journalists held Our Correspondent Rewari, December 29 Journalists from Hisar, Bhiwani and Rohtak participated in a regional blog-cum-website master trainees’ coaching programme held under the auspices of the Haryana Union of Journalists (HUJ) at Hisar recently. While Naresh Selpar, state secretary of the HUJ, was the chief guest, Jagjit Sindhu, chief of the Jat Dharamshala Sabha, presided over its proceedings. Besides, Praveen Tyagi, managing director, Global Advertising, and Ashok Monalisa, senior lensman-cum-journalist, were the guests of honour. Proficient professionals imparted training and provided valuable tips to the selected scribes. Stating that in this era of advanced IT, computer-related proficiency was a must for mediapersons to get better results in minimal time, Naresh Selpar announced that the HUJ would organise training programmes for journalists in various districts of the state to enable them to hone their technical skills.
	Expert stresses need to highlight individual strength of students Tribune News Service Yamunanagar, December 29 To educate their staff and faculty on modern teaching aids and technology, a workshop was held at Shree Siddhivinayak Engineering and Management Institution, near Yamunanagar. Giving the keynote address, Dr PK Yadav, senior professor and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of MJP Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, exhorted the faculty members to focus on individual strength of the students to guide them in the right direction. Dr MK Sehgal, chairman-cum-CEO of Siddhivinayak Institutions, said: “A teacher leads by example and must share his knowledge with an open mindset.” The workshop covered various topics like etiquettes, communication, visual display, presentation, grievance handling, psychological behavioural analysis, barriers to development, promotional techniques, scientific management, 360 degree appraisal, case studies, maintaining teacher diary, etc. Students were given nuggets of information on time management and professionalism. Dr Rajni Sehgal, Director-General of the institute, said holding workshops was a contiguous part of skill enhancement of the faculty members.
	flashback 2011 haryana Year of achievements for Millennium City Sunit Dhawan/TNS Gurgaon, December 29 Thanks to a series of clean-governance initiatives taken by the district administration, HUDA and the municipal authorities, Gurgaon, the Millennium City, was swept by a fresh breeze of administrative reforms apart from getting numerous new projects during the calendar year 2011. Nonetheless, intermittent spells of labour unrest at Manesar plants of Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) proved a tough challenge for the local administrative as well as the police authorities and caused losses running into hundreds of crores to MSIL, besides several ancillary and other connected units. The developmental projects include clearance of metro rail link between Gurgaon and Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, a biodiversity park in Nathupur, opening of 100-bed ESIC Hospital at Manesar, Community College of IGNOU in Government Polytechnic College of Manesar, widening of the Gurgaon-Faridabad road and connecting it to Ghata village. Time limit for the delivery of 15 essential services to the public was also fixed. The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) got its first set of elected representatives during the year. Rajendra Park colony got a boosting station, to be built at a cost of Rs 12 crore. HUDA constructed 560 flats for economically weaker sections in Sector 48. Due to efforts of deputy commissioner PC Meena, about 1,900 acres of land belonging to the Municipal Committee, Sohna, and about 165 acres of panchayat land of Nainwal village in the district was saved from going into the hands of land-grabbers and restored to the respective government agencies. Meena also initiated organising of special mutation camps in various tehsil offices of the district to clear the backlog of pending mutations, through which many were benefitted. The new facility of delivering the registered sale deeds of the immoveable property on the same day to the buyer was started during this year for which three counters were opened in the Gurgaon tehsil office. The deputy commissioner also got 16 CCTV cameras installed at the local mini secretariat. Towards the end of the year, the new Gurgaon HUDA administrator, Dr Praveen Kumar, created ripples with his radical anti-corruption and anti-encroachment initiatives. He freed several parking lots from the parking mafia supported by some leaders of the ruling party and mingled with the local residents to understand and resolve their problems. Gurgaon municipal commissioner Sudhir Rajpal launched a web portal in order to bring transparency in the functioning of the civic body and enable the common people to monitor the progress of development works. The MCG also started the facility of applying for and obtaining birth and death certificates online. The head office of the newly formed Farmers Commission was also set up in Gurgaon. It also got a “Ved Pathshala” on the premises of Sheetla Mata Mandir, where the teaching of Vedas is being done by the preachers of Shankaracharya Sharda Peeth Shrengeri. A biodiversity park in about 600 acres near Nathupur village is being developed by the MCG authorities to provide green lungs to the city residents. An amphitheatre at a cost of Rs 2 crore is also being developed in this park. The Gurgaon General Hospital got a new Intensive Care Unit (ICU) facility, the first of its kind in the state. Many new and modern healthcare facilities were also introduced in the general hospital. major projects n Clearance of metro rail link between Gurgaon and Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi n Biodiversity Park in Nathupur n 100-bed ESIC Hospital at Manesar n Community College of IGNOU at Government Polytechnic College, Manesar n Widening of the Gurgaon-Faridabad road n Fixing of time limit for the delivery of 15 essential public services n Rajendra Park colony got a boosting station to be built at a cost of Rs 12 crore n HUDA constructed 560 flats for economically weaker sections in Sector 48
	Chief Minister's visit today Sonepat readies its ‘wish list’ BS Malik Sonepat, December 29 The residents of the town have high expectations from the proposed visit of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to Sonepat on December 30. The Chief Minister is likely to make some big announcements for the region while addressing a rally here after a gap of about seven years. According to information, Hooda will lay the foundation stone of a railway over-bridge (ROB) at a level crossing near Sonepat railway station. He will also lay the foundation stone of 33 KV power substations in HUDA sectors 12, 13 and 15 and also of a water supply augmentation and storm water disposal project. Local BJP legislator Kavita Jain has also written a letter to the Chief Minister inviting his attention towards some of the problems being faced by the people here. She has stressed the need for improvement in sewerage and drainage system of the town, construction of bypass around Sonepat, construction of sewage treatment and solid waste management plants, proper disposal of the storm water and covering of a nullah passing through the town. Some other demands raised by her include regularisation of 22 unauthorised colonies, construction of a flyover at Bahalgarh crossing on the GT road, extension of lal dora limit in Revli, Shahjahanpur, Shahpur, Fazilpur, Badhkhalsa villages where the entire land has been acquired by the government. SN Solanki, state vice-president of the All-India Kisan Sabha, has demanded the construction of a bypass around Sonepat to decongest the town from vehicular traffic which has increased manifold in the past six years. The residents of Bahalgarh, Badhkhlasa and many other villages have demanded flyover on the GT road at Bahalgar Chowk and Beeswan Meel Chowk.
	Hooda-Bishnoi ‘nexus’ in bypolls may harm Cong Raman Mohan Tribune News Service Hisar, December 29 The victory for the Congress in the byelection to the Ratia assembly seat may have proved a morale booster for the party in the short term, but it could well prove to be a disadvantage in the long term. This is because an impression has gone round that while the Congress helped Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) nominee Kuldeep Bishnoi win the recent byelection to the Hisar Lok Sabha seat after it realised that its own nominee Jai Parkash will not sail through, the HJC repaid the debt by helping the Congress snatch the Ratia seat from the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). Immediately after the result of the byelection to the Hisar Lok Sabha seat was announced, INLD nominee Ajay Singh Chautala had alleged that there was a secret meeting between Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Kuldeep Bishnoi the night before the polling at which they made a pact to help each other. However, at that time Chautala’s allegations were brushed aside by most political observers since Bishnoi had defeated Chautala by a thin margin of around 7,000 votes. Bishnoi had attributed the low winning margin to the fact that a candidate with road-roller as his election symbol had bagged 22,000 odd votes and that those votes were cast by his supporters who mistook the road-roller as a tractor - the HJC symbol. But after the INLD defeat in Ratia, political observers are more willing to believe the theory of a Hooda-Bishnoi nexus. The BJP-HJC nominee in Ratia polled about 18,000 votes. He had polled 17,000 votes the last time he contested the seat as a nominee of the BJP. This means that the HJC only added about 1,000 votes to the BJP nominee’s kitty which is unbelievable to the say the least as the Bishnois command a lot of influence in the area, especially the villages which were earlier a part of the Fatehabad assembly seat. Obviously, most of the HJC supporters voted for the Congress. This is when people began to believe the reports of a nexus. While there may or may not be a nexus between Hooda and Bishnoi, the allegations have created suspicions in the minds of Jat voters. The Jats as a community have been opposed or rather hostile towards late Bhajan Lal after he brought down the Devi Lal government in 1979. The Jats got further enraged when Bhajan Lal was administered oath as Chief Minister in 1982 even though the Congress did not have a majority after the assembly polls. It was because of this anger that in 1987, Devi Lal stormed to power in Haryana with a massive majority. The Jats have since never forgiven any leader of their community who was seen as hobnobbing with Bhajan Lal. Hooda rose to prominence in the Congress primarily because he vehemently opposed Bhajan Lal when the latter was in office. In this background, should the community believe the allegations of a nexus as alleged by Chautala, Hooda could face political opposition in the Jatland.
	ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS Congress will form govt in five states, claims Deepender Tribune News Service Ambala, December 29 Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda said the Congress would form its government in all five states, including UP, Punjab and Uttrakhand, where the Assembly elections were to be conducted in February. He said Rahul Gandhi had taken the command of the UP elections in his hands, which boosted the confidence of party workers there. After several years, it was the first time that the Congress was contesting the UP elections in real sense. The rallies of Rahul Gandhi in the various parts of UP indicated that the Congress would definitely win the UP battle. He said the UPA government was committed to bringing a strong Lokpal Bill so that corruption could be checked at every level. He said a three-day debate would be carried on in Parliament so that the views of various parties could come out on this issue and it would lead to a consensus outcome. When asked whether Anna Hazare was playing in the hands of the Opposition parties, he said, in democracy every person had right to express his views but the public interest issues should not be politicised. Replying a question, he said, Rahul Gandhi had got all qualities and capabilities that was required to be a Prime Minister, however, Manmohan Singh was leading the country effectively and he was considered as a successful Prime Minister.
	Technical education award for GIMT MD D.R. Vij Kurukshetra, December 29 Er DK Gupta, managing director (MD) of the Geeta Institute of Management and Technology (GIMT), Kanipla, 12 km away from Kurukshetra, was conferred the “Top Rankers Excellence Academia Award in Technology Innovation” on the occasion of two-day 13th National Workshop on “Visionary Leadership for Powering Business Growth”. The workshop was inaugurated by Subodh Kant Sahai, Cabinet Tourism Minister, in New Delhi on December 23. Claiming this here recently, GIMT press in charge Aswani Goel said this award was conferred on Er Gupta for his outstanding contributions in the field of engineering and technology and technical education. Besides, Dr LN Mittal, director, Quality Improvement Programme, GIMT, was invited as a resource person in the national workshop to deliberate on the theme “An Effective Manager Cognitive View Point”. In his lecture to senior executives from the corporate world, he highlighted that the concept of a manager is changing from common sense approach to cognitive approaches whereby a manager possesses cognitive, psychomotor and affective capabilities for effective functioning. This two-day workshop was attended by around 250 delegates from the corporate world, both public and private sector as well as academia. Eminent industrialists, CEOs, HR managers from Reliance, Power Grid, Hero Motors, NTPC, Air India, LIC, IFFCO, SAIL, JCB, NHPC and Jindal Industries participated in the workshop.
	Four booked for duping youth of Rs 30 lakh Rewari, December 29 Following a directive issued by a court on a petition earlier filed by Bikram Yadav of Jhal village, near Kosli, the police has registered a case of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy against four persons, Sanjay, Rohtash, Satbir and Dinesh Katiyar, who had allegedly duped Bikram Yadav of Rs 30 lakh in 2008. Police sources said the culprits had promised to get a cooking gas agency of Bharat Oil and Gas Corporation allotted to Bikram Yadav following which they secured Rs 30 lakh from him. Soon after, Sanjay, along with his two other associates, sent a draft of Rs 10 lakh to Dinesh Katiyar, director of a “fake” Bharat Oil and Gas Corporation, Kanpur, who, in turn, forwarded a letter on behalf of the said corporation to Bikram regarding allocation of the gas agency to him. This made Bikram to believe that his negotiators were well-intentioned. He, therefore, purchased a piece of land and then approached the State Explosives Control Board authorities at Faridabad to secure a no objection certificate for a godown, which was to be built on the plot. However, when board officials told him that the authority letter issued to him by Katiyar was fake, he was shocked. He then went to Kanpur in April, 2010, and explained the things to Katiyar who gave him a cheque of Rs 10 lakh and also asked him to get back the remaining amount of Rs 20 lakh from his other associates. He got another shock when the bank officials at Jhajjar refused to encash the cheque given by Katiyar while stating that the account holder, Katiyar, had already got it frozen. Thereafter, when his repeated requests made to Sanjay and others for return of his money, remained unheeded, he filed a petition in October, 2011, in the Kosli court for relief and justice, which now directed the police to initiate action against the accused. — OC
	Sonepat IITM head to attend science congress in Orissa Our Correspondent Sonepat, December 29 Prof KK Saini, Director-Principal of the International Institute of Technology and Management (IITM), Murthal (Sonepat), has been invited to chair the technical session in the section of the Information and Communication Sciences and Technology of the 99th Indian Science Congress to be held at KIIT University, Bhubaneswar in Orissa, from January 3 to January 7. The congress will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and directors, engineers, professors from India and abroad will attend it. Former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam will also inaugurate the Children’s Science Congress on January 4. In this congress, Dr Saini will present his presentation of the paper entitled “Behavioural Analysis of Different Cryptographic Techniques of IPSec on different WiM scenarios” in ORAl section of Information and Communication Science and Technology, including Computer Sciences, on January 6. According to Dr Saini, on the eve of Indian Independence, the 34th Annual Session of the Indian Science Congress was held at Delhi in January 1947 with Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Prime Minister of India, as General President. Pandit Nehru’s personal interest in the Science Congress continued ever since and there had been hardly any session during his lifetime which he did not attend. He immensely enriched the activities of the congress by his sustained interest in the development of scientific atmosphere in the country, particularly among young generations. The Indian Science Congress is the largest attended congress in India. Dr Saini, with an experience of 21 years in industry, administration and teaching, had also served as Deputy Director in the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), New Delhi. He was the founder chairman of the Electronics and Communication Engineering Department at the CDLM Engineering College of the Haryana government at Panniwala Mota in Sirsa district. He has written four technical books and has published more than 300 papers in journals, conferences and seminars at the national and the international level. He was invited from US, Russia, Australia, Mexico, Spain, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the UAE to share his research work in the international conference. In 2008, he chaired a technical session in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in an international conference. Dr Saini was awarded the Dr S. Radhakrishnan Samman in 2004 for his outstanding contribution in the field of education by Avantika, New Delhi. His area of interest has been advance communication, digital electronics and reliability of electronic components in electronics-based industries.