VIP involved in Panchkula ruckus
Chandigarh, August 2
The alleged involvement of a Haryana VIP in a ruckus at the army flats in Panchkula is turning out to be a political embarrassment to the Hooda government. A written complaint was lodged at the Mansa Devi police post yesterday.


Haryana BJP vice-president Gian Chand Gupta (left) addresses a press conference in Chandigarh on Thursday to demand an inquiry into the involvement of a VIP in a ruckus in Panchkula. — A Tribune photograph

Consumer forum notices to HUDA chief
Faces prison term
Panchkula, August 2
The Panchkula district consumer disputes redressal forum yesterday issued show-cause notices to the chief administrator, HUDA, at Panchkula in two cases under section 27 of the consumer protection act asking him why he should not be sentenced to imprisonment of up to three years and also asked to pay a fine of up to Rs 10,000 for not complying with the orders of the consumer courts.

Gurgaon to churn in Metro storm
Gurgaon, August 2
The proposed Metro rail link in Gurgaon, work on which is already underway, has the potential to further catapult the city into a more evolved metropolis not only on the material front but also in the cultural and social spheres.

At your service — not exactly
Common service centre of little use
Pinjore (Panchkula), August 2
The first common service centre (CSC) of the state, opened at Chiken village of the block over a month back, now awaits the promised facilities. Inaugurated by deputy commissioner Neerja Shekhar, the centre promised services like computer literacy, railway information, e-mail and net surfing, desktop publishing and printing, education and legal consultancy and lots more at nominal rates.

Kalka awaits return of its splendid era
Kalka (Panchkula), August 2
Once known as the gateway to the Himalayas, Kalka has now lost its glory. Located at farthest northern end of Haryana, the town has been getting a shabby treatment in terms of civic infrastructure and development. Despite the fact that the state Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan represents the constituency, the problems of the residents are a plenty.

From glorious past to gloomy present: The “battle honour”, a small park with a captured Pakistani tank, surrounded with overgrown Congress grass and other wild vegetation in Kalka. A Tribune photograph

Inside Babudom
Using the rule book to rein in ministers
Chandigarh, August 1
Senior babus of Haryana have been asked by the state government to function as bulwarks against ministers who overstep their brief.

Rohtak’s HUDA sectors lack
civic amenities
Rohtak, August 2
When the HUDA sectors came into being, the authorities promised the best-possible facilities to the residents who chose to reside in these urban localities. As the size of population grew, the available infrastructure failed to cater to the growing needs of the residents.

A roadside littered with garbage opposite the marketplace in HUDA’s Sector 1 in Rohtak. Photo by Manoj Dhaka

CITIZEN FIRST
Environment hazards in Faridabad
For some years now, developers and land mafia to the callous degradation of the environment have been recklessly destroying the pristine beauty of the ridge between the Badkhal Lake and the Surajkund Tourist resort. While the ridge plateau in Delhi has been protected under laws, in Faridabad, the Badkhal-Surajkund ridge is being consistently converted into concrete jungle.

Young Achiever
Crop diversification recipe for success
Chandigarh, August 2
With barely 7 acres of land, Pawan Saini of Prem Nagar in Hansi is today dreaming big. So are those who want to replicate his farming model in growing chillies and mushrooms.

CSSRI head to attend Brazil congress
Karnal, August 2
The director of the Karnal-based Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI), Dr Gurbachan Singh has been invited to chair the technical session of the 6th International Congress on Cactus Pear and Cochineal, scheduled to be held in Joao Pessoa, Parabia in Brazil, from October 22 to 25 later this year.

Ambala Sadar rehri market
Shifting plan stuck in limbo
Ambala, August 2
The plan to shift the Hill Road rehri market in Ambala Sadar to a site near Indra Park has not been implemented even as the market has denied the quality of life to the residents of the area.

Hisar — city of traffic offenders
Hisar, August 2
Indifferent policing and the lack of public cooperation have earned Hisar the dubious distinction of being Haryana’s “city of traffic offenders”.

A view of the traffic on the Delhi road in Hisar. — Tribune photo by P. L. Munday 

Micro-hydel project fails to generate results
Sonepat, August 2
The joint efforts of the Krishi Gyan Kendra (KGK), Sonepat, and IIT, New Delhi, to experiment a micro-hydel project at drain no. 6 has failed to give desired results, as it became nonfunctional within a short span of time. However, the scientists at the KGK are hopeful to make it operational again.

Admn inert as maxi cabs play with lives
Ambala, August 2
While the Blue Line buses of Delhi have been dubbed killer buses, the same perhaps holds true for maxi cabs here.

Maxi cabs are a common mode of transport in Ambala as these provide better connectivity to different parts of the district. — A Tribune Photograph

Sharma set for Bhajan Lal bashing
Chandigarh, August 2
Kuldeep Sharma, newly appointed working president of the Congress in Haryana, has given clear indications of his readiness to match his predecessor, Ram Prakash, in launching attacks against disgruntled Congress leader Bhajan Lal.

Green cover shrinking in Sonepat, Panipat
Sonepat, August 2
The landscape in the NCR townships of Sonepat and Panipat is fast losing its green cover.

Rohtak takes lead with 90 pc coverage
Rohtak, August 2
With a view to extricating the poor villagers from the shackles of moneylenders and providing them affordable credit through banks, the Rohtak district authorities have taken the initiative in getting the Financial Inclusion Scheme implemented in all villages of the district. Several nationalised banks have been roped in for the project.

Negligence deprives Rewari of tourist hotspot tag
Rewari, August 2
Rewari is dotted with several monuments, mausoleums, mansions and tanks, which are of great historical, religious, social and cultural importance.

Power board ups eligibility
Vocational diploma holders face axe 
Fatehabad, August 2
Over hundreds of gramin vidyut pratinidhis (GVPs) with vocational diplomas, appointed recently by the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), fear the loss of jobs. The power board is appointing GVPs under its ambitious programme to make village panchayats its franchisees in distribution network.

Skewed Sex Ratio
42 Bhiwani villages stand out
Bhiwani, August 2
After registering itself above among the districts with low sex ratio for many years, Bhiwani has finally shown some improvement. There are about 42 villages in the district where the number of girls in the age group of 0-6 years is equal to that of boys or even more in some villages.

Govt plans to boost power generation
Chandigarh, August 2
The state government has drawn a comprehensive plan to attain self-sufficiency in power generation over the next few years. This has been done keeping in view the sharp rise in power requirement of the state, especially in the industrial and commercial hubs.

An economical machine for farmers
Chandigarh, August 2
The department of agriculture, Haryana, is promoting the use of the reaper binder among farmers for harvesting paddy, wheat and other grain crops.