Chandigarh, September 12
After the Rohtak protest that left one teacher dead and several others injured, it is compromise time between the Haryana government and the guest teachers.

In an attempt to placate them, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today announced to set up a committee under the chairmanship of education minister Mange Ram Gupta to look into demands of the guest teachers.

The teachers, led by the president of Haryana Guest Teachers Association Arun Malik, called on him at his residence today to regret the agitation that was held in Rohtak on September 7.

The CM also ordered initiation of the process of withdrawal of cases registered against the guest teachers.

He assured the delegation that no other guest teacher would now be arrested in connection with the unfortunate incident.

Hooda said the guest teachers whose services had been terminated would be adjusted in their own districts on vacant seats. In case there is no vacancy in their district, they would be adjusted in other districts against vacant seats.

The committee would examine the demands and also hold meetings with representatives of the guest teachers to find a solution to their problems.

The CM also announced Rs 50,000 grant for Hans Raj, who was critically injured in the incident. Hooda also directed the health department to give the best treatment to the other injured teachers.

Gurgaon, September 12
After reviewing the condition of roads in Gurgaon, principal secretary (PS) to Haryana CM, ML Tayal, today directed the district administration to constitute a committee of Municipal Corporation, HUDA, and PWD B&R officials to demarcate the roads to be maintained by various departments, to remove any scope of confusion.

He particularly observed that the slip roads for left turn from main roads should be made a bit ahead of the crossings as this would solve the problem of traffic jams at the crossing to a large extent. On being told about the pathetic condition of the road in front of the bus stand, he instructed the PWD officers to make this road and new railway road motorable immediately, and start the reconstruction later.

Already a plan has been made for four-laning of this road with provisions of proper drainage along it. The work is expected to be complete in seven months. On the occasion, financial commissioner PWD K.K. Jalan apprised the PS about the progress of ongoing strengthening of the Hodal-Nuh-Patouda-Patoudi road, which is to be completed at a cost of Rs 350 crore by March 31, 2010.

The roads in Gurgaon, if repaired with present norms, cannot sustain for more than three months because of heavy traffic plying on them, said Jalan adding that due to the ongoing construction activities in Gurgaon, heavy vehicles were plying illegally on the roads.

Citing the Apex Court’s ruling, he said vehicles carrying 11-tonne load were allowed to ply on normal roads. The PS assured to talk to the local police authorities for controlling the movement of such vehicles.

Jalan also informed that out of the five foot over bridges approved on the expressway, work on two would start within ten days. The rest three would be constructed after the district administration provides land.

Sirsa, September 12
Baljit Singh Yadav, a lecturer in food sciences and technology department in the Chaudhary Devi Lal University here, who is one of the two teachers named in the case of outraging the religious sentiments of a journalism and mass communication lecturer Sewa Singh Bajwa, has given a new twist to the case. He has alleged that the varsity vice- chancellor K.C. Bhardwaj has goaded Bajwa to implicate him in order to pressurise him to withdraw a writ petition filed by his wife, Ritika, against the VC, which pending before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Bhardwaj has, however, vociferously denied the same and said he does not want to comment on the allegations of a person junior to him. The VC said as far as the writ petition is concerned, it is pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court and hence a sub-judice matter.

Yadav’s wife Ritika, a contractual lecturer in the same department, had filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in May this year, in which she had made Bhardwaj and the Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda as respondents. The case is now pending for October 21, 2008.

Ritika, who was rejected for regular posts of lecturers in the departments, had alleged that those selected ahead of her were very low in merit in comparison to her. She had submitted with her petition an alleged recorded conversation of her husband Baljit Singh Yadav and the VC, in which the latter has allegedly admitted that he had to ignore merit under political pressure.

The veracity of the recorded conversations is, however, yet to be established before the court. In a letter to the Superintendent of Police, Sirsa, copies of which have been released to the press, Yadav has alleged that they had been facing threats and humiliation ever since they had approached the court.

Meanwhile, Sewa Singh Bajwa said he has sought the help of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Sabha chief Sukhwinder Singh Khalsa in the matter.

Sirsa, September 12
Actor Sanjay Dutt has said he hopes to take Indian boxing to new heights after taking over as the brand ambassador for the sport in the country. Sanjay, well known for his roles as “Munna Bhai”, was talking to mediapersons at the JCDNCA grounds in Sirsa today, where he had come to see the JCD International Cricket League.

Dutt said Abhey Singh Chautala, president of the Indian Boxing Federation, had given him an offer to become the brand ambassador for boxing in India, which he would accept. Sanjay said: “Once associated with the sport, I would see to it that India brings gold medals in boxing in future and would not settle for bronze only.”

Answering a query, Sanjay said he had no plans to enter into politics and was happy working in films. “As far as social work through politics is concerned, I am already working for eradication of cancer and spreading awareness for HIV/AIDS. I have worked for tsunami relief and now working to provide relief to the flood victims of Bihar,” he added.

He said his father Sunil Dutt had dreamt a bright future of sports in India when he became the minister for sports in the union government. He said he wanted to do whatever little he could to fulfill the dreams of his late father. Chautala said whenever an actor became the brand ambassador of a sports body he charged his price. However, Sanjay Dutt would not only offer his services free of cost to the country but would also help in generating funds for the sports body.

Abhey expressed confidence that India would win many gold medals in the Commonwealth Games not only in boxing but in other events too. A match between players selected from the Indian team and from Pakistan, UAE and Sri Lanka was organised especially for Sanjay Dutt. The match was won by team comprising Indian players.

Earlier, Sanjay Dutt took a round of the stadium in a sports car with the title song of “Munna Bhai MBBS” playing in the background. MP Ajay Singh Chautala and director-general of the JCD Vidyapeeth Kuldeep Singh Dhindsa were present on the occasion.

Karnal, September 12
Maninderjit Singh Bitta, president of All India Anti-Terrorist front, today cautioned the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee against precipitating the crisis on a separate SGPC for the state and said Sikhs would be biggest losers if the situation went out of control.

Talking to media persons here today, he said the presence of leaders such as Simranjit Singh Mann, Daljit Singh Khalsa and Jasbir Singh Rode at the rally at Karnal on September 7 suggested that the agitation for separate SGPC was slipping into wrong hands and possibility of terrorists exploiting the situation could not be ruled out.

He said there were reasonable apprehensions that ISI might be fuelling the issue and it was important that Haryana intelligence agencies give authentic report about the situation to the government so that precautionary steps could be taken.

Recalling that 17 years of terrorism in Punjab claimed the lives of over 36,000 Sikhs, Bitta said the separate SGPC row was a ploy to create a similar situation in Haryana and stall its march towards progress.

'Haryana is emerging as a fast developing economy, capable of competing with economies like USA in the next ten years. But some vested interests do not want the state to prosper and are raising such divisive issues,” he alleged.

He appealed to Jathedars of Akal Takht, Hajoor Sahib, Patna Sahib and Damdama Sahib and neutral Sikh intellectuals to work out an amicable solution on the issue. He also urged Punjab and Haryana Chief Ministers, Prakash Singh Badal and B.S. Hooda, respectively, and INDL leader Om Prakash Chautala to sit across the table and settle the issue.

Kunjpura (Karnal), September 12
The initiative taken by Sainik School Kunjpura, Karnal, to impart special coaching to students preparing for National Defence Academy (NDA) examination, has paid off.

The school has created history by sending 21 students to NDA this year, which is the highest number of cadets sent to the Academy by any Sainik School in the country in a single year.

It was made possible due to 400 hours of special coaching imparted to the budding cadets, who sacrificed their holidays for their career in the Army.

The school devised a comprehensive package for the written exam as well as the interview.

“We do not merely impart education but teach them a way of life that will help them become responsible citizens,” principal of the school Colonel Arun Datta said.

Notably, the school has produced 21 Generals and the present army chief Deepak Kapoor is also a pass-out of first batch from here.

Gurgaon, September 12
Haryana chief secretary Dharamvir yesterday directed the Jhajjar SP to personally ensure patrolling along the Gurgaon water channel, known as the lifeline of Gurgaon, as well as to set up police posts for the purpose so that the water supply to the cyber city is not disrupted.

Dharamvir issued the directions while reviewing the arrangements and sanctioned projects for augmenting the water supply to Gurgaon, Sonepat and Jhajjar districts through video-conferencing with the respective deputy commissioners.

Flanked by financial commissioner and principal secretary, urban development, Haryana, D.S. Dhesi and other senior officers of the state irrigation department, he directed the deputy commissioners of Gurgaon and Jhajjar districts to ensure that the water supply in the Gurgaon water channel was maintained at all costs for the drinking water requirements of the public. At the same time, he asked the Gurgaon deputy commissioner to prepare a contingency plan to meet the water crisis, in case the channel was breached as it happened in March.

The only water supply channel to Gurgaon was breached by villagers in Bupania village near Daboda in Jhajjar district and when it was repaired the other bank of the channel gave way. As a result, Gurgaon faced an acute water shortage for three days. At that time, the Jhajjar district administration was asked to set up police posts along the channel for its security. The Chief Minister had directed the HUDA authorities to increase the water storage capacity of the tanks to meet any eventuality.

DC Deepti Umashankar apprised the chief secretary that the water treatment plant at Basai was being augmented by HUDA at a cost of Rs 13.84 crore and the work would be completed by February next. After this, the Basai plant would have a capacity to treat 60 MGD water. 

Panipat, September 12
In order to ensure that meritorious students get admissions in professional colleges on the basis of their performance, the district administration has asked all government and aided educational institutions in the district to follow the rules laid down by the government.

In a notification issued here, deputy commissioner Vijay Singh Dahiya asked all the educational institutions to give admissions to students strictly on the basis of merit. The DC also asked the institutions to put up the cut-off list on the notice board of the colleges for proper dissemination of information to the students and their parents.

Educational institutions have been directed to provide the district administration with the admission list so that these could be scrutinized to check any violation of norms, the DC said.

He said the administration had recently received several complaints regarding violation of norms by some of educational institutions. Following this, it was decided to make it mandatory for all educational institutions to provide the admission list to the administration.

Fatehabad, September 12
The authorities have received funds for the construction of 36 women chaupals in this district and the work on these will start soon.

Talking to mediapersons in his monthly meeting with the Press J.S. Ahlawat, deputy commissioner, Fatehabad, said the state government had sent Rs 1.08 crore for the first phase of the project.

The women chaupals would work towards empowering rural women and all offices relating to the welfare of women in the villages would be shifted to these chaupals, he said.

Ahlawat said all roads of the district, which had been damaged during the monsoon, would be repaired within two months.

He said all block development officers had been instructed to get the roads falling under their respective areas cleared from garbage or any other material lying on the roadsides.

The deputy commissioner said all schools and social organisations, which had adopted parks in the town, had been requested to maintain these properly.

Chandigarh, September 12
Haryana is gearing up to roll out Multi-Drug Resistant (MDR) treatment for patients not responding to drugs specified for tuberculosis during the first line treatment. Haryana will be the third state after Gujarat and Maharashtra to provide this treatment.

In a state where there are 38,000 TB patients and 5,000 DOT centres offering first line treatment, the MDR treatment facility will first come to the districts of Rohtak, Panipat, Sonepat, Jind, Jhajjar, Karnal and Bhiwani, and will be extended to the remaining in the second phase.

An inter-medical reference laboratory has already been established in Karnal and a Lala Ram Sarup Institute for Chest and TB in Delhi has been identified as the National Reference Lab for accreditation of the Haryana lab. Till this is achieved, all samples from Haryana will be tested at the NRL.

Since the culture of MDR samples gives results in three months, the TB treatment wing of the health department has already sent 24 samples free-of-cost to the NRL for culture in July this year. The results will be out by end of October to coincide with the rolling out of the facility.

PGIMR, Rohtak, has been identified as the nodal treatment centre for MDR.

To be available in a month’s time, the treatment facility will be beneficial for patients who stop responding to or become resistant to two of the most important TB drugs - Isoniazid and Rifamticin. The patient then becomes an MDR suspect although it is only a laboratory diagnosis. Patients also fall in the MDR category for unfinished treatment, which could be on account of the high treatment cost of nearly Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh if it is continued for 18-24 months.

In DOTS, that is first line treatment, the state has already achieved a success rate of 85.4 per cent and the death rate has fallen to 4 per cent in the second quarter of 2008. Against this, MDR has a cure rate of only 60 per cent.

“Although there are no official statistics available, we know that there are 2-3 per cent patients of MDR among TB patients. Since MDR can also occur due to incomplete and inadequate treatment, its prevalence is about 8 to 10 percent in re-treatment cases,” says the state TB Control officer, Dr Vijay Garg.