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More girls born in Fatehabad now
Fatehabad, September 11 If the figures of the health authorities are any indication, the number of girls born in 108 out of 240 villages of the district is much more than the number of boys born in these villages during the current fiscal till July 2008. In 2007 too, 71 villages of the district had registered more births of female children than the males. Fatehabad, according to the health authorities' claim, has reached at the third position in Haryana in terms of better sex ratio and is behind Hisar and Kaithal only. "The sex ratio has witnessed a positive trend in the district during the past three years. The sex ratio of new births was 873 in 2005, reached 891 in 2006, and 893 in 2007," claimed J.S. Ahlawat, deputy commissioner, Fatehabad. "The sex ratio for the current fiscal till July is even better i.e. at 905," he added. An area-wise study of the birth trends in 2008 in the district provides an interesting reading. At Badopal primary health centre (PHC) coming under Bhattu Kalan community health centre (CHC), 185 girls were born against 183 boys making the ratio of 1,011 females against 1,000 males. The figures are 1,040 females against 1,000 males in Bangaon PHC, 1,043 females against 1,000 males at Mohamadpur Rohi, 961 females against 1,000 males at Bhirdana and 967 females against 1,000 males at Bhuna. Interestingly, many of these areas are dominated by the Bishnoi community, which considers female foeticide as a sin. While there are some villages that have shown positive trends in the matter of sex ratio, there are others, where the sex ratio is still a major cause of concern for social analysts. Samain PHC, which falls under Jakhal CHC, registered a ratio of 724 during the current fiscal till July, according to the records of the health authorities. Other areas with low sex ratio are PHC Jhalnia under the CHC Bhuna, which recorded a sex ratio of 803 in the matter of new births. Jakhal with sex ratio of and Kulan with 870 are the other areas that have shown negative trends.
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Central scale for school principals, finally
Chandigarh, September 11 Interestingly, school principal is the only category in the state education department that has not been given the central scale. Other categories like JBT teachers, masters, high school headmasters and school lecturers are all getting a central pay scale since the Fifth Pay Commission recommendations were enforced in the state. The genesis of the problem lies in a decision taken in 1990, when the powers that be decided to give the same pay scale to headmasters and school lecturers. "When the Fifth Pay Commission recommendations came in force in 1996, the government realised the mistake and tried to rectify it. However, the school lecturers raised their voice and were appeased by the state government by being granted the central pay scale. Since the headmasters were not given a central pay scale, the principals, too, could not be granted the same. As against a central pay scale of Rs 10,000 for the principals, principals in Haryana were kept in a pay scale of Rs 8000," said Sudhir Kalra, president of the Haryana School Education Officers (Principals) Association. He said though the pay anomaly for the headmasters was removed in 2000, by being granted the central pay scale, the principals were not granted the same. "Since then, we have been making representations to the government. In November 2005, the state government had formed a committee headed by the then education minister Phool Chand Mullana to look into the matter. This committee, too, had assured that the pay anomalies would be removed, after it had surveyed the pay scales given to principals in Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh," he added. With the government now set to implement the sixth pay commission recommendations, these principals hope that they will finally be treated at par with other officials in the education department.
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Elevated road fails to ease traffic
Panipat, September 11 The elevated road has provided relief to only those who commute between cities
Local residents say only 30 to 40 per cent of traffic crosses over this road while the rest passes through the city due to which the condition has not improved much. The service lanes on both sides of the road still witness huge rush of vehicular traffic. Som Nath Verma, a local resident, says Panipat being an industrial hub attracts a large number of businessmen from across the region. The local bus stand is also located on the NH-1 on one of the service lanes and almost all buses plying through Panipat halt here. This adds to the traffic congestion in the city. Surinder Kumar, another resident, says the bus stand should be shifted to another place so that buses could use the elevated road to pass through the city. As the NH-1 almost divides the city into two parts, the traffic continues to overflow on the road. People have to commute from one side of the NH-1 to the other. This adds to the traffic coming from other cities and makes commuting a nightmare. “Though it was thought that the 10-km long elevated stretch would ease traffic congestion in the city, but this is not the case,” says Ved Prakash, who passes through NH-1 twice daily while going to his office. Locals are also expressing displeasure over the toll tax being charged from them. The residents maintain that even as they do not use the elevated road, they are being made to pay the toll. Ved Prakash says though the local residents are being charged a lesser amount, it is unjustified. The 10-km long elevated stretch that includes 3.4 km flyover on north-south corridor was recently inaugurated by union minister of shipping, road transport and highways T.R. Baalu along with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh
Hooda. |
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Paddy procurement
Faridabad, September 11 The administration has directed the two agencies to sort out the matter immediately and make preparations for the arrival of paddy and bajra. Officials also reviewed the preparedness of three markets in Ballabgarh. Firm directions were also given to the procurement agencies and the FCI was asked to ensure the smooth conduct of auctions of food grains, and its safe and speedy transportation to godowns. Due to the apparent non-seriousness on the part of the two agencies, several lakh gunny bags of wheat procured during last season have been lying in the market. The
administration’s action stems from the arrival of paddy and bajra in mandis, which is expected to commence from September 25. The procurement season is likely to stretch till mid of October. The anxiety on the part of the administration is attributed to the reports of bumper crops of paddy and bajra this season, and which is expected to flood the mandis. With wheat still lying in Mohana grain market, the administration is left with no space for the fresh arrival of paddy and bajra. Ballabgarh SDM H.C. Jain, in whose jurisdiction Mohan mandi falls, convened a meeting of top officers of DFSC, Hafed, Confed and FCI in relation to the preparation for storing the fresh stocks in the grain markets at Mohana, Ballabgarh and Fathepur Biloch. The SDM is said to have listened to the grievances of the officials on wheat lying in Mohana. The agencies are allotted grain markets to procure food grains. All procurement agencies then pass on the collected grains from the collection centres to the FCI. In Mohana, due to the stalemate over the issue of transportation among various agencies, huge stocks of wheat have been lying in the open. |
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A quiet wedding for this Olympian
Karnal, September 11 His arrival from Beijing went unnoticed in his Gadi Birbal village in the periphery of Karnal and even local sports officer was not aware that a 22-year-old jawan from the area had qualified for the Olympics till he returned. Belonging to a poor family, Asiad bronze medal winner Khandelwal is sore over the treatment meted out to him in his own town and he chose his wedding day (September 10) to give vent to his feelings. "We could not win a medal, but qualifying for the Olympics without any encouragement and facilities from the state and finishing 18th in light weight doubles (LWx2) rowing event is no less achievement," he said with desperation writ large on his face. Attributing his performance to the Indian Army, he said he ventured into rowing after joining the Army which provided equipment and coaching facilities. "Left to myself, I would not have been able to purchase oars and rowing boat and other costly equipment for preparing for competitive events," he lamented with his newly wedded wife sitting by his side. The ambience of the village with buffaloes squatting near the house and cow dung dotting the courtyard aptly described the pathetic economic conditions of the people and corroborated the facts narrated by Devinder Kumar. Welcoming the announcement of the Chief Minister to give cash award of Rs 11 Lakh to all Olympians from the state, Khandewal hoped that the promise would be fulfilled. The Army has moved the papers of Khandewal, presently posted at Roorkee with the Bengal engineers for promotion as Naik Subedar. He said Indians were biologically and physically strong but it was the sound foundation and coaching that gave an edge to the competitors in the international arena. "Proper training from the early age, adequate facilities and financial support to budding talents is a pre-requisite for winning medals in international events," he added.
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Stationed in chaos
Bhiwani, September 11 The Bhiwani junction was accorded the status of model station when late Bansi Lal was the railway minister. He had sought to provide every facility to this station at par with stations of metropolitan cities. Neat and clean platform, modern canteen, restroom for passengers, A-class retiring room, electronic display of trains, washing line and several other facilities had been provided at this model station. But today, as far as facilities are concerned, just a few of these exist. The local Rail Yatri Sangh has been urging to senior officials of Bikaner division, under which this station falls, to add more facilities here, but to no avail. The sangh has been demanding the facility of making season ticket for first class besides connecting this station with the Northern Railway through unreserved ticketing system (UTS). Since this station falls under Northwestern Railway, the monthly first-class season tickets cannot be extended to Delhi. Those who have availed monthly season tickets cannot travel beyond Rohtak and if they require travelling to Delhi, they would have to buy a new ticket from Bhiwani to New Delhi. Since, there is only one booking window, a long queue of passengers can be seen in front of it while most of the times, touts can be seen capturing the ticket window. Passengers and the yatri sangh have been demanding the extension of booking windows for years, but all their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Leave alone the booking window, the authorities have not even extended the present two ticket windows despite increase in the number of commuters. This has been causing difficulties to women travelling with their children, as they have to wait and face the unruly behaviour of co-passengers while buying tickets. The situation becomes worse during morning hours when hundreds of commuters stand in queues for buying tickets. At about 6.50 am, when two trains for Delhi are scheduled to depart, these two windows prove insufficient and several passengers board the train without ticket. This "modern" station has no fare-list board for different stations and passengers fail to get proper answer when there is no one in the enquiry office. The main tower clock of the junction too is out of order since long. There is also no proper space for the parking of vehicles and only a tin-shed is allocated for cycle and two-wheeler parking. Auto-rickshaws add to the woes of the passengers as the drivers park their vehicles just in front of the junction entry and create chaotic scenes. The Dainik Rail Yatri Sangh had also demanded the construction of a big parking shed for three-wheelers, but this demand too met the same fate. Besides, the main railway washing line has proved a hazard for people living in the vicinity, as there is no proper drainage. And due to waterlogging, huge cracks have developed in a state government warehouse, a few houses in new grain market and Krishna colony, and office and godowns of the Food Corporation of India.
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Poll alliance: BJP set to drive a hard bargain
Chandigarh, September 11 Realising the keenness of the two regional parties to have an electoral tie-up with a national party in the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP leaders decided to go for a hard bargain. They not only wanted to contest a majority of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state but also 50 per cent of the 90 Vidhan Sabha seats. The Lok Sabha elections are due early next year and that of the Vidhan Sabha in early 2010. Therefore, it is perceived that the Lok Sabha elections would reflect how the state’s electorate would vote in the Vidhan Sabha elections. The regional parties are naturally keen to be in the company of a national party in the Lok Sabha elections. They feel the Haryana voter is discerning enough to realise that with just 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the regional parties do not have a significant role to play at the national scene. A poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections may adversely affect the prospects of a regional party in the assembly elections. The INLD and the HJC cannot go with the Congress for obvious reasons. The BSP has ruled out any alliance in the state. This leaves the BJP as the only option. According to sources, the HJC was willing to give a majority of the Lok Sabha seats to the BJP but it wanted a majority of the Vidhan Sabha seats for itself. The sources say initially the BJP was adamant on contesting 45 of the 90 Vidhan Sabha seats. It also wanted an arrangement under which the HJC and the BJP would head the government, if formed, for two and a half years each. Later on the BJP is believed to have scaled down its demand from 45 Vidhan Sabha seats to 35 seats. But the talks broke down when the BJP demanded almost all urban seats in the state for itself. Bishnoi, whose support base is also concentrated mainly in the urban areas, could not agree to the BJP demand. The acceptance of the BJP demand could lead to a revolt among Bishnoi’s supporters. Certain supporters of Bishnoi, who had attended the dinner hosted by BJP Prime Ministerial candidate L.K. Advani on the eve of the Lok Sabha vote on the confidence motion moved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, have already come out against an alliance with the BJP. The sources say Bishnoi is feeling betrayed by the BJP after it secured his support against Manmohan Singh. A number of central BJP leaders supported by certain likely party nominees for the Lok Sabha elections want an alliance with the INLD. They feel that the BJP and the INLD are natural allies because if the BJP has support in the urban areas, the INLD has a strong presence in the rural areas. Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, a trusted ally of the BJP, is also believed to be pressing the saffron party to join hands with his long-standing family friend Chautala. However, a large number of the Haryana BJP leaders, particularly those who are not to contest the Lok Sabha elections, and the rank and file of the party are still opposed to an alliance with the INLD. A former Haryana BJP president, who did not want to be identified, said the coming Lok Sabha elections would be an opportunity for the BJP to usher in the two-party system in Haryana. If the BJP contests these elections alone, the electorate would choose either of the two national parties the Congress or the BJP. In that case, the regional parties would be marginalisd in the state, paving the way for the two-party system in the state. This would stand the party in good stead in long run. He said if the BJP had to enter into an electoral alliance in its keenness to capture power at the centre, at present it should limit its alliance options to the Lok Sabha alone. It should go for an alliance for the Vidhan Sabha elections only after the Lok Sabha election results were out. If the party performed well in the Lok Sabha elections, it could bargain hard for the Vidhan Sabha seats. He said the BJP should go for a seat adjustment in the Lok Sabha elections with both the INLD and the HJC. He said the BJP should itself contest five or six seats, leaving the rest for the regional parties. The sources say Chautala has offered five Lok Sabha seats to the BJP while retaining a majority of the Vidhan Sabha seats for his own party. But the BJP leaders in know of things say Chautala seems flexible on the number of Lok Sabha seats he might leave for the saffron party. The INLD, the sources say, also wants the alliance to extend to Delhi and Rajasthan, where the Assembly elections are due in the next few months. He wants the BJP, which is in a dominant position in the two states, to leave a few seats in both states for the INLD. The number of seats, the sources sa, the INLD wants in these states is less than double digits. Cut up by the BJP betrayal, secretary of the HJC Satpal Kaushik said in a democracy the imposed alliances did not work. Only those pre-poll alliances had worked in the past that reached as per the wishes of the people and the rank and file of the electoral partners. Kaushik gave voice to the sentiments of many in the Haryana BJP when he said in the past the BJP-INLD alliances had never lasted for full five years, might it be 1977, 1982, 1987 or 2000. In future also, the fate of the BJP-INLD alliance would be no different.
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Kalka-Pinjore bypass en route to development
Kalka, September 11 The construction of the bypass will begin from near the Mullah road, about 400 m away from Pinjore garden, and would join the national highway near Timber Trail in Parwanoo. Coupled with four laning of the NH-22, tourists and residents of the area feel it would make travelling convenient. According to experts, with the shortage of affordable residential space in Chandigarh and Panchkula, the newly planned Pinjore-Kalka urban complex has gained the attention of home-seekers as a preferred destination. It is believed to have surplus supply of residential property as compared to Mohali, catering the housing demand on the other side of the tricity. Various infrastructure and real estate companies like Amravati, DLF and foreign fund houses like IREO have stepped in to create new residential units. The largest of these projects is being developed by DLF with a 200-acre integrated township. Three of the sectors are located near Pinjore whlie the rest are very close to the Himshikha colony. Spread over an area of over 11,000 acre, from the Pinjore Aviation Club, the township would be extended till Parwanoo, reveal official sources. HUDA is developing 32 sectors at the foothills of the Shivaliks. Residential, commercial, institutional and industrial zones have been planned in this area that has already been notified by the government of Haryana. It has been planned as a self-sufficient city with economic activities to drive employment opportunities as well as entertainment, leisure and residential infrastructure. The four-laning of the Zirakpur-Shimla national highway (NH- 22), between Zirakpur and Parwanoo, is already in progress and the stretch will include a bypass to Parwanoo, Kalka and Pinjore. Connectivity to this area will get a further boost once it is connected to Chandigarh on the MRTS (metro rail transit system) that has been planned and is being pushed by the governments of Chandigarh, Punjab as well as Haryana. A bus stand for the complex is also underway. It would be located on the outskirts at a location close to the highway, sources add.
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Art gets better of babus
Chandigarh, September 11 Month of September each year, however, is different ball game. This is when art gets the better of the babus, tingles their aesthetic sense and they flock annual eight-day Rashtriya Natya Parv. Organised by the North Central Zone Cultural Centre, Allahabad, the North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala, in collaboration with the Information and Public Relations Department, Haryana, it definitely boasts of the who’s who in Haryana. Add to that the showmanship of director public relations K.K. Khandelwal, who never fails to mention the names of senior bureaucrats who too get their moment of glory besides the artistes. This time there were plays by Habib Tanvir of Naya theatre of Bhopal, Atul Yaduvanshi of Swarag Rangmandal, Allahabad, Vijay Kumar of Manch, Patna, and Satyavart Raut of Triveni Sahai Samriti Sansthan, Allahabad. Plays by Devender Raj Ankur of Sambhav art group, Delhi, Alakhnanadan of Natt Bundele, Bhopal, Nadira Zaheer Babbar of Ekjut Theatre Group, Mumbai, and one by Balwant Thakur of Natrang, Jammu, were staged at the much-awaited festival held at the plush Indradhanush auditorium in Panchkula. For once during the festival, there were no parking blues, no scamper for seats that were available a plenty and no sound issues as the public relations department rolled out a red carpet for the participants and the guests alike. Though it drew a big crowd as usual, the shifting of venue from Chandigarh to Panchkula took a toll on theatre enthusiasts from among the bureaucrats. While a number of senior bureaucrats thronged the venue, a few familiar faces were missing from the action. There were others who themselves could not make it but their families made up for their absence. However, this time, too, the festival had a fair share of regulars like Samir Mathur, Ashok Khemka, P.K. Das, R.R. Phulia, who didn’t miss their date with action and came with families for an evening of entertainment and recreation. Others took their pick from the list of plays and came occasionally including chief secretary Dharamvir, Yudhvir Singh Malik, Rajan Gupta, Rajbir Deswal, the DRM (Ambala) who came for the first couple of evenings among others.
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Elders’ date with cops
Sirsa, September 11 It was a surprising event for many who preferred to stay away from the police stations throughout their lives and thought people were not invited but only summoned to such places. Station house officer Ajay Sharma was host to as many as 80 senior citizens. Guests included lawyers, retired government servants, traders and other former professionals. “We have invited you to tell that the police is here to serve you. If any of you has any kind of insecurity, you could always look upon us for help,” said Sharma. He said the city police stations had constituted a four-member team of policemen, who would exclusively be at the disposal of senior citizens. The cops would happily perform services like withdrawing money from banks, bringing medicines for the senior citizens from medical stores or any other job like this. “Many jobs are of such a nature that we could do them while sitting here only. Suppose a senior citizen has a complaint of blocked sewer and the public health authorities are not listening to his complaints then we can get the work done just by making a telephone call,” said Sharma. He said those who had problems from their family members, who had left them in the lurch in twilight years of their lives, could also approach them for help. The police would definitely help them by counselling their family members,
he added. Sharma said that such facilities to senior citizens are part of the citizen charter and our senior officers, including SP Amitabh Dhillon have been exhorting us to implement these from time to time. He said that this was a small step in that direction. Sharma informed that a forum of the senior citizens under the name of Sirsa Senior Citizens Welfare Association had been set up and prominent senior citizens O.P. Bansal, Sewa Singh, Roshan Lal and Sukhbir Jain had been entrusted with the task of organising the forum.
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Filthy ponds to be a thing of past
Kaithal, September 11 The deputy commissioner has directed officials to take steps to beautify the ponds under the National Rural Employment Gaurantee Scheme. Gupta said besides adding to the basic amenities in the villages, the project would generate employment opportunities. He said since most of the ponds had not been dug for long, they were in a bad shape. The ponds were an important part of the lives of the rural people so it was important to maintain them properly he added. The renovated ponds would have more water storage capacity and if properly maintained and filled during the rainy season, the tanks would also help in recharging the water table. The deputy commissioner also gave directions to plant trees around the ponds so that it could add to the beauty of the villages and help in maintaining pollution-free environment. While expressing his concern over the slow progress of the employment scheme, Gupta asked the officials to start new projects in villages so that the main objective of the scheme could be achieved. He also asked the officials to launch a sanitation drive and motivate the villagers for constructing toilets so that the prevailing tendency to defecate in the open was discouraged.
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Work begins on education city project
Sonepat, September 11 The city is being set up in order to provide quality education matching with the global standards. Deputy commissioner Ajit Joshi informed that tenders for the construction of roads, four tubewells and the laying of sewer lines were under approval while tenders for the construction of drain along the proposed central greenbelt and boundary wall along the NH-1 had also been called. Giving details, he said besides 40 plots for educational institutions of size ranging from 2.42 acres to 165 acres, there was provision for a convention centre, seminar rooms, art gallery, auditorium, weekly market, international university centre, hostel, staff housing, hotels, shopping arcades, medical centre, post office, police station etc. Other features of the city include a lake covering 12.50 acres, provisions of rainwater harvesting and recharging of groundwater systems, solid waste and sewage treatment plant with tertiary treatment. The deputy commissioner said the project would be designed as zero flood zone and 24-hour water supply system has been envisaged for the city.
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170 cases settled in Lok Adalat
Kurukshetra, September 11 District legal service authority secretary-cum-chief judicial magistrate Naresh Kumar Singhal said 52 motor vehicle accident cases were solved in which compensation of Rs 75.7 lakh was given. At the same time, nine cases under the Hindu Marriage Act were settled. Singhal stated that main objective of the authority was to settle disputes between parties in an amicable manner without wasting time and money. Any person from the general public could approach the Lok Adalat before going to the court without paying any charges.
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Movies This Week
Producers: Surendra Sharma, Amita Bishnoi, Bhagwanti Gabrani ‘1920’ is touted as a gripping film that will keep the viewers on the edge of the seat. This super-natural thriller opens today at Sheela-Rohtak, DT Mega Mall, DT City Centre, Adlabs, PVR Sahara, SRS OMAXE, PVR MGF, PVR (All Gurgaon), INOX, Cinemax, SRS, SRS Pristine, PVR Crown Plaza, Movie Time City Mall, Movie Time Manthan Mall (Faridabad), Sun City-Hisar, Inder Palace-Karnal, Fun-Ambala City, Fun-Panipat, Cinemax-Panipat. What to watch out for: Yorkshire County locations, atmosphere of doubt, suspense, music, direction plus debutant pair Rajneesh Duggal and Adah Sharma. Ru-Ba-Ru
Producer: Percept Picture Company Romantic thriller ‘Ru-Ba-Ru’ also opens today at INOX-Faridabad, SRS-Faridabad, PVR MGF-Gurgaon, PVR Ambience-Gurgaon, Adlabs Ansals-Gurgaon, SRS-Gurgaon. What to watch out for: Perfect thrills, lead pair performances, direction and musical score. — Dharam Pal |
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