Hisar, April 16
Amidst the din of meaningless harangue by seasoned politicos aiming to conquer the Hisar Lok Sabha seat, a much saner voice is striving for attention.

Manu Digvijay Singh, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, is making a valiant effort to focus on core issues. He has quit his cushy job with a multinational bank to contest as an Independent from Hisar.

The ethos of the corporate culture, in which he thrived for 11 long years, is still with him. So, unlike hardcore politicians he does not sport a spotless white kurta-pyjama to connect with the ordinary voter. A simple Western style shirt and trousers is good enough for him.

Manu has published a 32-page booklet outlining his plans for Haryana. He refuses to rake up the issue of corruption, saying it’s no use repeating what has over the years become a cliché. Instead, he wants voters to focus on what they need but do nothing about it.

To him, Haryana’s priorities are availability of power, international class roads and lots of jobs. So far as politics in general is concerned, he thinks, Indian polity has degenerated into “rajtantrik” rather than “loktantrik”.

Manu thinks Indians in general and Haryanvis in particular are “heavily taxed”. He traces the mentality of over-taxation to the philosophy of Chanakya who believed that the ruler should tax the subjects to the extent that they are left with just enough to barely survive.

In the modern society, he thinks, over-taxation is counter-productive as it kills initiative in the individual.Yet, even the governments of the day are working on the same Chanakya theory and depriving people of their due.

In addition, he feels that instead of creating jobs and encouraging enterprise, the modern governments in India are only encouraging a culture of “little or no work” in government departments, thus making an entire society hapless.

He considers indirect taxes as much more dangerous to society and economy. In his booklet, he says petrol costs Rs 26 a litre in the USA against Rs 40 in India. A Honda Civic car is available for Rs 7.5 lakh in America against Rs 11.80 lakh in India. Milk likewise costs Rs 3.50 a litre in the USA while in India the average price ranges between Rs 20 to 25. This is because of indirect taxes imposed in India.

Manu believes no government is farmer-friendly. To buttress his view, he says in Haryana the per capita income (non-agriculture) rose by 105 per cent between 2000 and 2008, while in the same period the farmers’ per capita income went up by just 20 per cent.

He wants the education system to be overhauled completely. The present system, he says, just tests the students’ ability to memorise facts and does not promote the individual’s mental and academic growth.

His is a low-key campaign often limited to meeting groups in public places. But, thus far this sane voice has refused to die down. 

Chandigarh, April 16
A recent clarification from the Election Commission of India has come as a setback to the parties which are contesting the Lok Sabha elections in alliance with other parties.

So far, parties have been putting up the flags of their alliance partners on vehicles being used by their candidates to give a message of unity to the electorate. There was confusion in the minds of the election authorities of Haryana on this point and they had sought a clarification from the commission.

The commission has said there is no meaning of alliance between the parties under the Symbols Order or the Representation of People Act. A political party or a candidate cannot display the party flag of any other party on his own vehicle. “Even leaders of other political parties cannot be nominated as star campaigners by any party."

In another clarification, the commission has said that no candidate or a political party can deface any property, including owned by private persons, even with the consent of the owners, in Haryana, which has a state law which prohibits defacement of private property in any manner. The commission has said the provisions of the state law will apply, meaning that there can be no defacement of any property in any manner.

Recently, the Kurukshetra district administration had registered a criminal case against Congress nominee Naveen Jindal for allegedly defacing a private property. Jindal’s defence was that he had put up the hoarding at a private property after obtaining the consent of the owner. The case against him was registered under the Haryana Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 1989.

The state election authorities referred the matter to the commission for clarification.

According to Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana, Sajjan Singh, the property as defined under Section 2(b) of the Haryana Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 1989, includes any building, hut, structure, wall, tree, fence, post, pole or any other erection. Section 2(a) of the Act says word “defacement” includes impairing or interfering with the appearance or beauty, damaging, disfiguring, spoiling or injuring (a property) in any other way whatsoever.

The commission has dealt with the defacement of property in three situations. First, in those states which have a law that prohibits th defacement of private property in any manner, the provisions of the law would apply, meaning thereby that there cannot be any defacement of property in such states even with the consent of the owner of the property. Haryana falls in this category. Hence, Jindal’s defence is not valid.

Second, where the state laws have express provisions permitting any kind of defacement of private property, with or without conditions, the commission says the written permission of the owner or the occupant of the property should be obtained by the political parties or candidates concerned and a copy of the same should be submitted to the returning officers concerned.

Thirdly, in the states that have no law on defacement of private property, the commission permits that temporary and easily removable campaign material such as flags and banners to be put up with the written permission of the owner or the occupant of the property. The permission should be voluntary and copy of the permission must be submitted to the returning officers concerned.

The Haryana Act says no advertisement can be exhibited without permission from the BDPO/panchayat officer or social education and panchayat officer/executive officer/secretary of the municipal committee concerned on the payment of prescribed fee and at prescribed places.

Thus, the political parties, candidates and other political workers can display their advertisement, hoardings, banners etc. only on those places which have been prescribed by the BDPO for the rural areas and by the executive officer of the municipal committee for the urban areas. 

Chandigarh, April 16
Even before Haryana goes to the polls, the verdict is out. This is not an exit poll announcing the share of political parties in the fray. This election is not about the Congress or the BJP-INLD combine, about the HJC or the BSP, but about the youth.

Of all candidates fielded by major political parties in the state, the Congress has emerged as the most “youthful” party in the state. As many as five Congress candidates are below 40 years of age while Rao Inderjeet Singh from the Gurgaon seat is the oldest at 59 years.

While the sitting MP from Rohtak, Deepinder Hooda, is the youngest of the lot at 31 years. First timers Ashok Tanwar and Shruti Chaudhary, contesting from the Sirsa and Bhiwani-Mahendergarh constituency, respectively, are both 33 years old. Sonepat nominee Jatinder Malik and Kurukshetra’s candidate Naveen Jindal are 39 years old while Ambala nominee Selja and Karnal candidate Arvind Sharma are in their 40s. This makes 43 years the average age of Congress candidates. The party is hoping to reach out to the youth who are a major force to reckon with this election season.

The three other candidates Nafe Singh Rathi from Rohtak, Ashok Arora from Kurukshetra and Sampat Singh from Hisar are all in their 50s. However, party sources maintain that while these candidates may not be as young as those fielded by the Congress, they are not old. “Besides, unlike the Congress, our candidates not only have age on their side but are an experienced lot. All of them have been MLAs, ministers, MPs at some point in their careers,” a party leader stated.

The BJP has emerged as a party of old guards this election. Of the five candidates fielded by the party, most of them are in their late 60s while ID Swami is the oldest at 79 years. He is a candidate from the Karnal seat. Barring Sudha Yadav who is 40 plus, Ram Chander Bainda, Kishen Singh Sanghwan and Rattan Lal Kataria are between aged 55 years and 68 years, taking the average age of the candidates to 60 years.

BSP candidate from Sirsa Rajesh Vaid, who is a varsity lecturer, is less than 40 years of age. In the HJC, while nine-time MLA Bhajan Lal is the oldest candidate at 79 years, Sonepat’s Umesh Sharma aged 40 years is the youngest candidate. While most other candidates fielded by the party are in their 40s, Jaswant Singh Cheema and Krishan Murti Hooda are in their 60s. 

Kaithal, April 16
A former technocrat, JS Cheema, who has been allotted HJC (BL) ticket to contest from the Kurukshetra Parliamentary constituency, has said if elected to the Lok Sabha he will make sincere efforts to ensure that the whole of the Kurukshetra area is developed as a religious hub and the historical sites situated at the different places get proper attention of the departments concerned.

While speaking at a press conference here recently, he said the demand to ensure a Kaithal-Delhi direct rail link, which has been a longstanding demand of the people of this area, could have been conceded long back by the railway minister if the public representatives had made sincere efforts. “The MPs never raised this issue sincerely with the Railway Ministry. Hence, it still remains a distant dream,” he added.

He said as no new rail line would have to be laid down for this rail link, as the existing track will serve the purpose. The railways should provide direct train service for the benefit of the thousands of the passengers, who have to take long routes to reach Delhi and vice versa. He said he would raise this issue with the department concerned.

Cheema assured that if he got a chance to serve the people as MP he would ensure the equitable distribution of the canal water and share in the government jobs to youth belonging to all the regions of the state without any discrimination. He said he would leave no stone unturned to fulfill the aspirations of the people of this area who had felt cheated by the elected representatives in the past, as they failed to keep their promises made with the electorate during the elections.

During a press conference in which Surinder Madan and Devinder Sharma, former ministers, and Jogi Ram, a former MLA, were present, Cheema said by getting party ticket he had won the first round of the political battle and he was sure to be elected with the active support of the farmers, employees, common man and the HJC party workers. The good will of the party leaders Bhajan Lal and Kuldip Bishnoi will certainly help him to achieve victory.

JS Cheema, who retired as the superintendent engineer from the Haryana Irrigation Department in 2006 said during his service period he always made sincere efforts to redress the grievances of the farmers and now, if he is elected to the Lok Sabha he will play a constructive role to ensure that people face no problem in getting their genuine problems solved.

Gurgaon, April 16
Residents of the millennium city got an opportunity to soothe their nerves at a musical evening of classical film songs, ‘Yaadon ki Shaam’, organised by the Gurgaon Cultural Club at the Apparel House in Sector 44 here recently.

Melodious old Hindi film songs like “Deewana hua baadal”, “Bekarar karke hamein”, “Pyar hua ikraar hua”, “Jaane wo kaise log thhey jinke”, “Main dil hoon ik armaan bharaa”, “Kahin door jab din dhal jaaye”, “Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai” and “Wo bhooli dastaan” etc filled the air, as noted singer R. Venkatraman, accompanied by Jyotsana Rana and Papiya Sood, rendered these before a packed house.

The audience enjoyed the musical evening, comprising old songs as well as witty one-liners, hilarous jokes and impressive couplets by KC Khurana, who conducted the show. Earlier, Punjabi singer and stage performer Shankar Sahney and Col RC Chadha (retd) set the ball rolling by formally inaugurating the programme.

Indri (Karnal), April 16
The urgent need for a change in science and engineering education to meet the challenge of global recession was stressed at a seminar organised here by the Apex Group of Institutions.

The seminar, sponsored by the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), deliberated on the present state of engineering and technical education, its capacity to respond to emerging challenges thrown by global recession and the growing pressures on the need for change.

In his keynote address, Prof Nand Lal of Kurukshetra University pointed out that technical education, especially at the undergraduate and lower levels, was currently facing unprecedented pressure to change. The enrollment in technical courses had dropped at a disturbing rate last year and the reason responsible for this declining trend was both cognitive and non-cognitive.

The cognitive issues were related to the development of engineering knowledge and technical skills where as non-cognitive issues were associated with the cultivation of the attitude and perspectives that students held towards technical and engineering education, he said.

A direct incentive for the change was perhaps rapid globalisation, which had deep impact on economy, society and technology, he observed.

Speaking on the causes and consequences of global financial crisis, Prof MM Goel, chairman, department of economics, Kurukshetra University, called for adopting preventive and healthy approach in economy to meet the current challenge. The cardinal principles of economy should be meeting the need of the people and not the greed, he said, adding that “glocalisation” (think globally and act locally) should be the guiding philosophy to reverse economic recession.

Prof Goel also made a strong plea for prudent financial management and said to save the Indian economy from the financial crisis caused by FEAR (false evidence appearing real), it would be relevant to adopt the canons of public expenditure advocated by Dr BR Ambedkar in the allocation of public expenditure among competing demands and the manner of utilisation of funds faithfully and judiciously.

Presiding over the seminar, Ashwani Shanvi, ASP, Karnal, said dedication and hard work was the only key to success. 

Panipat, April 16
The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of India, which is aimed at ensuring energy security and sustained economic growth of the nation.

With the signing of the MoU, the corporation has set for itself a high growth-oriented agenda for the year 2009 and 2010. A senior official of the corporation said it was being perceived that the demand for the petroleum and diesel products would continue to rise despite the economic slow down. The IOC through the endeavour aims at meeting these requirements.

The MoU was signed to ensure optimum utilisation of the resources and increased operational efficiency in both the refineries and the marketing divisions of the corporation. Besides this, substantial cost reduction at the operational level has also found mention in the MoU.

“The IOC is already putting in efforts to usher cleaner fuels, which was the priority issue of the MoU. Projects like the residue upgradation at the Koyali Refinery in Gujarat and petrol quality upgradation at the Panipat, Mathura, Barauni, Guwahati and Digboi refineries have found much appreciation in the petroleum sector,” the official said.

The MOU also laid emphasis on the physical parameters like crude oil, energy factor, project milestones, etc. Indian Oil would be commissioning projects worth Rs 30,000 crore during the year 2009-10, including the Naphtha Cracker at Panipat, residue upgradation at the Koyali Refinery, hydro-cracker at Haldia and Panipat refinery additional expansion from 12 to 15 MMTPA. 

Gurgaon, April 16
Reliance Retail in association with Undercover Utopia released a cookery book of Spanish recipes, ‘Sangria’, here. It is the first-ever cookery book in fiction form. Manuela Requena, an amateur chef and author from Brisbane, Australia with Spanish antecedents, is the author of the book.

“I have tried to create a story about the essence of life that includes elements of romance and passion woven around 25 magic Spanish recipes through a beautiful story. The book relives my family’s epicurean traditions, the most wonderful memories of my life that revolve around my family and the wonderful dishes that we shared together. It is a compilation of recipes passed down the generations that originated from the province of Andalucia over the last 120 years,” she explained.

“Another twist in the book is the fact that it is a story about a girl who loves food and suddenly loses her sense of taste and smell. This is based on my personal life experience when I lost these senses of owing to an illness,” said Requena.

She affirmed that all the locally available ingredients could be used to prepare the authentic Spanish recipes. “The Indian and Spanish food somehow resembles each other.This is another reason to write this book,” Requena averred.

Co-founder of Undercover Utopia Abhigyan Jha said, “We are proud that we are able to lead the way and be the first publishing house in India to print the works of an international author. This book will be an exceptional experience for the Indian readers as Requena has weaved a story around these recepies,” he claimed.

Producer: Venu Ramachandaran

Director: K. Ravikumar

Music: Himesh Reshammiya

Cast: Kamal Hasan, Asin and Mallika Sherawat

The Tamil version of “Dasavatar” was released in June 2008. It was a very big hit down South. Now, in Hindi version there are Bengali characters instead of the Telugu characters in this movie that releases today at Suraj Panchkula, Sheila-Rohtak, Movie Time- Karnal, OHM Cine Garden- Sirsa, DT City Centre- Gurgaon, DT Mega Mall- Gurgaon, India Bulls-Faridabad, INOX- Faridabad.