Rohtak, April 20
Crop harvesting season is perhaps the most awaited and rewarding time for any farmer in the farm-dominated states like Haryana, but it is also a high-risk time, as the “golden” crop could be reduced to ashes in no time if fire breaks out in the fields awaiting the final process of the annual exercise.

Wheat crop spreading over about 300 acres has been lost due to fire incidents in the fields in Rohtak and Jind districts in the past 15 days.

Numerous farmers have been affected and majority of them stand to suffer a major loss due to the absence of insurance cover from such a calamity. The district administration has, however, launched a drive to assess the damage.

Though the authorities keep issuing directions for banning the practice of burning stubs of the wheat crop left after combine harvesting, incidents of fire during the harvest season have been a common development nearly each year, with no large-scale drive to check such incidents and provide safety cover to the farmers, who were mostly small and middle level, claimed Jagdish, a farmer of Muana village of Safidon subdivision of Jind district, who lost standing crop in about 20 acres on April 17 due to a huge fire that spread to a large area and damaged wheat in over 40 acres in one go.

The fire that started from the fields of a farmer in Danoda Kalan spread to the neighboring area of Mauna village.

A similar development that took place the previous day in the same district led to crop damage in about 63 acres falling in several villages, including Malar, Ujana, Jaitpur, Igrah and Khokrikalan, says a report.

According to information, fire broke out at noon in a field of a farmer at Popra village due to sparks from a ripper machine that was engaged to prepare dry fodder from the stems of the wheat plant.

It is, however, claimed that sparks from overhanging power cables and machines have been a common cause for all fire incidents so far and strong westerly winds sweeping over the region have been helping the fire menace get wider and stronger, with no immediate help from the fire department available to douse the flames.

“There is an acute shortage of manpower and fire tenders in both districts, especially in the rural areas, and till the fire tenders reach the place, the damage is done,” claimed Jagbir of Madina village whose crops in two acres got destroyed in such a development on April 18.

As per the reports, wheat crop in about 100 acres has been damaged partially or completely in Rohtak district in the past one week. Crop in about 30 acres in some villages, including Brahmanwas and Sanghi in the district, has been damaged in a fire that erupted on Sunday.

Hari Om, a resident of Brahman, whose crop in about 15 acres got destroyed on Sunday, is among those farmers who have sought a cover from such incidents and an immediate compensation for the loss.

“The authorities must launch a major campaign to create awareness among the farmers with steps to provide motivation to villages for checking such incidents,” said Vedpal a social activist.

Panipat, April 20
With the polling date for the Lok Sabha elections approaching, the areas having border with Uttar Pradesh have started bothering the district police as well as the civil administration. Panipat shares its border with Uttar Pradesh at Samalkha and some other places.

Notorious criminals, who indulge in unlawful activities during the elections, generally give an easy slip to the security agencies by crossing over to UP, where the local police has no jurisdiction, making it difficult to maintain law and order.

Most of the sensitive polling booths in the district that fall under the Karnal parliamentary constituency are located along the border in the Samalkha segment.

Deputy commissioner-cum-district election officer Vijay Singh Dahiya said the administration had identified the polling stations that were more sensitive as compared to others.

He said the border with UP had created law and order problems a number of times, but the administration was more alert this time.

He said additional forces had been deputed at the sensitive polling stations. The police was already keeping a close watch at these stations and the intelligence agencies were also on job to prevent any untoward incident during the polling.

Besides, regular inspections of all other polling booths were being conducted to plug loopholes in the arrangements.

Central observer for the Panipat city, Samalkha and Israna segments of the Karnal constituency Meenu S Kumar also expressed concern over the issue.

She said the administration should ensure that no laxity was shown in securing all polling booths in the district.

She also asked officials to make certain that instructions issued by the Election Commission were followed in true spirit. She also laid stress on proper training of employees who would be manning the polling booths.

The observer also held a meeting with assistant returning officer of the district and gave instructions for the smooth conduct of the elections.

Sonepat, April 20
The Mamu-Bhanja Dargah here is a symbol of communal harmony since mediaeval times and it continues to be a place of common worship for Hindus and Muslims.

A large number of devotees from distant places reach here to offer blue “chadar” at the dargah of mamu (maternal uncle) and bhanja (sister’s son) for the fulfillment of their wishes. The history of the dargah dates back to the ninth century.

It is said there was a temple at the present site located in the centre of this historical town and a pandit of Garhi Brahmanan village was the priest of the temple.

One day, a Muslim, Saein Baba, reached the temple and desired to die there. He wished to see his nephew who lived in Rohtash Garh.

The priest expressed his inability to go to Rohtash Garh, saying his body and eyesight were weak.

The baba asked the priest to keep his hands on his eyes and when he put his hands on his eyes, his eyesight returned to normal.

The priest then went to Rohtash Garh and brought baba's nephew to Sonepat. After seeing him, Saein Baba asked the priest to demand something.

The priest forwarded two demands - first, the Yamuna, which was then flowing adjacent to Sonepat, be diverted seven "kos" from Sonepat, and second, his family should always be identified with this religious place.

The baba told the priest his wished would be fulfilled and he breathed his last. In memory of Saein Baba, his "mazar” was constructed in the temple premises. After some time, the Yamuna changed its course.

One day, the nephew too died after lightening struck him and his “mazar” was also constructed adjacent to Saein Baba’s tomb.

However, it is said one day the “mazars” were found cracked and the people of the town came to know in their dreams that both “mazars” should be joined and then a new “mazar” was constructed.

Even after 1,000 years, the first "chadar" is still being offered by the pandits of Garhi Brahmanan village every year and people from every section of the society come to visit the dargah to offer blue “chadar”.

Rohtak, April 20
With the process of filing of nominations by the candidates, the election campaign has started heating up.

This has led to a beginning of a ‘flag war’ with the candidates and their supporters
being busy in putting up flags of their party or candidates at the public places or
the main roads.

This activity is likely to get further intensified and continue till the final day of the polling on May 7.

The first sign of ‘flag show’ came up here recently, when the election bandwagon (special ‘rath’) of the Congress party toured the various parts of the area.

Bhahdurgarh, the town located on the National Highway 10, about 40 km from here and Jind located about 50 km from here witnessed a large number of the Congress flags put on every available space, including the buildings and the divider railings of the main roads.

“Intense political campaign had hit the region, as the party flags can be seen fluttering all along and it may go stiffer in the coming days,” said Virender, a resident of Bahadurgarh town.

Claiming that due to the reduction in the overall campaign period, he said candidates of the various parties might resort to every possible manner to woo the voters.

Reports from the various places, including the rural parts, indicate that the supporters and the activists of the various parties have started public meetings at nearly every village and urban locality.

“The supporters of the various parties have started seeking clear-cut promise or support from their candidates in the coming polls,” said Raj Singh, a political worker.

“Someone had put a flag of a particular party on the gate of my house last night. It seems that the activists of the various parties may soon approach me or my family to put a flag or a sticker on the gate or wall of my house, as the campaign activity has already begun and people in my neighbourhood have started to talk about the weaknesses and the strengths of the candidates,” claimed Somvir, residing in the housing board colony here.

“A large number of people may not be aware of the Act or the rule that prohibits or punishes the people indulging in defacement of walls and buildings during the poll campaign,” he added.

As the poll campaign has been expected to continue for the next 20 days, “the war of flags, posters, pamphlets and bills of various types” may get to an acute level.

“The situation regarding the support of any particular candidate could be real confusing, as many residents, especially in the rural areas may allow flags of various parties atop their houses, as they do not want to expose their stand at this point of time,” said a political observer.

He said the flags and posters, however, may not find favour with the urban residents as this activity leads to defacement of their houses and an educated person would rather prefer a silent campaign that would not disturb their peace.

Meanwhile, the district election officer has issued the directions to the authorities concerned to take suitable action to prevent defacement of walls and buildings during the campaign and has warned of a legal action against the violations.

Gurgaon, April 20
Bilateral trade between India and Jiaxing city in Zhejiang province of China amounts to $250 million, with Jiaxing exporting goods worth $230 million to India. Amongst 30 foreign companies operating in Jiaxing, eight are of Indian origin.

This was disclosed by Shen Wenping, vice-director of the Jiaxing Municipal Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, at a seminar with business delegation from Jiaxing organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here recently.

Pointing out that China was already the largest trading partner of India, Wenping expected that bilateral trade between the two countries would reach $60 billion by the end of this year.

He disclosed that Jiaxing city was planning to set up three to five ITO/BPO parks and was in the process of contacting big IT companies from India like Infosys, HCL and Tata Consultancy to offer their expertise in this regard.

Expressing hope that their visit would solidify India-China trade relations, he underlined Jiaxing city’s close relationship with the CII over the past two years, which culminated in the signing of an MoU earlier this year.

The delegation from Jiaxing is visiting India with an objective to promote the city as an attractive destination amongst Indian enterprises and to foster bilateral ties, he said, adding that the delegation aims to explore potential opportunities for individually owned companies in Jiaxing to invest overseas.

It also attempts to promote cooperative projects with India and seek new sources of imports, he maintained.

During an interactive session, he mentioned that during the ongoing global economic slowdown, China was pushing development of infrastructure and education sector. He invited Indian enterprises to operate language schools from China.

Earlier, welcoming the delegates, Ravi Bhoothalingam, member, CII National Committee on Tourism, asserted India and China were globally being viewed as two big locomotives that could put the world economy back on the track.

He welcomed the delegation to provide complementary capabilities for business opportunities in IT, pharmaceuticals, hardware, power and energy, environment, tourism and other sectors.

Rewari, April 20
Following delimitation, the newly carved Gurgaon Parliamentary constituency is now a blend of three assembly segments, Nuh, Ferozepur Jhirka and Punhana, of the Mewat region and six segments, Gurgaon, Sohna, Badshahpur, Pataudi, Rewrai and Bawal, of the Ahirwal region.

Thus, it is for the first time that over 2.5 lakh Meo Muslim voters and almost equal number of Ahir voters of this new constituency will caste their votes in the Lok Sabha elections simultaneously.

Needless to say that such unusual statistical configuration of the electorate has lent some sort of curiosity to the poll contest in Gurgaon.

All constituencies of the state, including Gurgaon, will witness a multi-cornered contest. However, in all probability, the main fight on this seat is going to be among the nominees of the Congress, BJP, BSP and the HJC.

The Congress has renominated its Union Minister of State for Defence Production Rao Inderjit Singh from the Gurgaon constituency.

He is a seasoned fighter of many electoral battles. Thus, while he seems to hold an enviable sway over the electorate in the segments of the Ahirwal region, the Mewat segments are a new electoral territory for him to tread upon.

However, his party, which is firmly rooted in Mewat, can fetch him a good dividend from there as well.

Talking to The Tribune, Rao Inderjit Singh exuded confidence saying that this time he would exceed his previous winning margin of 2.10 lakh votes.

Like the Congress, the BJP, too, has renominated its former MP Sudha Yadav from the Gurgaon constituency.

Thus, she is a candidate of the BJP-INLD combine. She claimed that the disenchantment of the people with the Congress regime caused by spiralling prices of essential commodities as well as the persistency of the power and water shortage was drawing people nearer to the BJP-INLD combine.

Besides, they were also getting the support of over 70,000 ex-servicemen of the constituency, who were annoyed with the UPA government because of the non- implementation of their longstanding demand of “one rank, one pension”, she added.

While implementing its social engineering formula in the state as well, the BSP has sagaciously fielded a Meo leader Zakir Hussain, son of the Mewat stalwart late Tayyab Hussain, from the Gurgaon constituency.

Owing to his late father’s five-decade sway over the Mewat region, Zakir Hussain seems to have become a front runner among the candidates in this constituency.

The HJC has astutely put the mantle of candidacy on Rao Narbir Singh, who, too, is a proficient combatant of many electoral battles.

Besides, he also owns the political legacy of his grandfather late Rao Mohar Singh, who strode like colossus in the Ahir politics during 1950’s as well as his late father Rao Mahabir Singh, who was minister in the then Bansi Lal cabinet.

Rao Narbir Singh, who had trounced Rao Inderjit Singh from Jatusana in the assembly election of 1987, has claimed that this time, too, he would be able to repeat his landslide performance of 1987.

Hisar, April 20
With at least two senior ministers Birender Singh and AC Chaudhary in dissidence mode at present, history has come a full circle for both the Congress and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

He and three other senior Congressmen had led a sustained campaign against then Chief Minister Bhajan Lal from 1991 onwards after he was first elected to the Lok Sabha from Rohtak.

One of those keeping Hooda company in this campaign was none other than
Birender. The other two were Shamsher Singh Surjewala, now MLA from Kaithal,
and Ram Prakash, a minister in the Bhajan Lal cabinet from 1991 to 1993, now a
Rajya Sabha member.

The quartet’s campaign was aimed at dislodging Bhajan Lal and replacing him with one of them.

Birender and Surjewala were at that time veterans of the state Congress, while Hooda was basking in the glory of having humbled Devi Lal - a feat he was to repeat twice over the next few years.

Although Ram Prakash never nursed ambitions of becoming the state’s Chief Minister, Birender and Surjewala, who are much senior to Hooda, were definitely hoping to occupy the office one day.

Hooda then was considered unlikely candidate being junior to other two comrades- in-arms. History proved everybody wrong and Hooda assumed office in 2005.

As then, the current wave of dissidence is a similar exercise with much the same objectives. It has not much to do with the denial of a Congress ticket to Birender or not accommodating a Punjabi in the list of party nominees for the Lok Sabha polls as demanded by Chaudhary.

These are at best the first hints of what could be a free for all battle before and after the 2010 Assembly elections.

Even though Chaudhary has denied that his resignation had anything to do with reports circulating for the past few months that the BSP had offered to project him as its chief ministerial candidate in the next Assembly polls, veteran political analysts are not taking it at its face value.

As for Birender, short of projecting himself as a candidate for the office of Chief Minister, he obliquely hinted at replacement of Hooda while addressing a rally organised by Congress nominee for the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seat Shruti Chaudhary at Bhiwani recently.

He had stated that if Shruti won, she would occupy her place at the Centre while her mother would sit in Chandigarh with a “lathi” in her hands.

This is reminiscent of the days when the Hooda-Birender-Surjewala-Ram Prakash
quartet organised series of rallies all over the state with the stated purpose of
advancing the Congress interests but with under the table agenda of kicking
Bhajan Lal out.

Hisar, April 20
Kurukshetra University vice-chancellor RP Bajpai has nominated his kin OP Bajpai as the university nominee on the governing bodies of all 11 different DAV colleges of Haryana affiliated to this university.

OP Bajpai is director of the University Institute of Engineering and Technology set up in 2004, by Kurukshetra University to run courses in select engineering disciplines at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Prior to this nomination, Bajpai was the university nominee of just two DAV colleges - Ambala City-based DAV College and the Sohan Lal DAV College of Education.

He was the only university official who represented the varsity on the governing bodies of two such colleges. All other nine DAV Colleges had nine different persons as varsity nominees.

Generally, once nominated, university nominees continue in their position unless there are compelling reasons to warrant a change.

The notification of Bajpai’s nomination states that his term will come to an end on January 26, 2011.

The practice all over the country has been to select the nominees on the basis of courses run by a college.

Thus, teachers with appropriate academic background are nominated to their
governing bodies.

As such, governing bodies of colleges of education had teachers of similar colleges or from the university’s department of education as university nominees and science colleges had appropriately qualified teachers as nominees.

Interestingly, each governing body of a college is supposed to hold at three
meetings in an academic session as prescribed in Clause-6 of Ordinance XVI
(Appendix-I) of Kurukshetra University Calendar Volume-I of 1997.

Bajpai’s kin will thus be attending at least 33 such meetings in an academic session lasting practically nine months.

This is the minimum prescribed limit. He may have to devote more time to governing bodies of these colleges should these hold more meetings with diverse agenda.

He will be paid TA and DA plus an honorarium of Rs 1,000 per meeting by the
colleges concerned.

But it is not just a case of the VC choosing his kin over the rest of the teachers of the university and affiliated colleges.

The demand for a single nominee on the governing bodies of all DAV Colleges was made by principals of these colleges at the behest of the DAV College Managing Committee, New Delhi, which is a non-statutory body neither affiliated to any Haryana university nor getting any grant-in-aid from the state government.

It has no legal functional, financial, administrative or academic control of DAV Colleges. Yet, it continues to “remote control” these colleges by exploiting legal lacunae. This organisation is currently engaged in a battle for its survival.

The demand for a common nominee was made to strengthen its plea that all DAV Colleges in Haryana have a common governing body.

However, even though all 11 colleges now have the same person as the university nominee, the official notification of nomination lists all these colleges as separate entities, which is the legal position.

The nomination of Bajpai has ruffled the feathers of university teachers who feel that one person on the governing bodies of 11 colleges is unjustified.

The general opinion is that an individual who will, for all practical purposes, be attending three to four meetings of each college during an academic session cannot do justice to the job.

Besides, the claims of better-suited teachers have been ignored. The colleges on whose governing bodies OP Bajpai would be the university nominee are: DAV College, Naneola; DAV College, Pundri; DAV College of Education for Women, Karnal; DAV College for Women, Karnal; DAV College, Pehowa; DAV College, Ambala City; Sohal Lal DAV College of Education, Ambala City; DAV College for Girls, Yamunanagar; DAV College, Sadhaura; Dayanand College, Hisar; and DAV College, Cheeka.

Sirsa, April 20
The traffic in Sirsa town has become chaotic and a nightmare for local residents for the past certain months.

The construction work of the railway over bridge (ROB) on the Hisar-Dabwali Highway has compounded the problem. The construction of the ROB began a few months ago and will continue for at least one more year.

Ever since the work on the ROB has begun, the traffic authorities have tried to regulate the traffic by allowing vehicles coming from Ellenabad and Rania side through the main railway crossing on which the ROB is being constructed and those going towards these towns from another railway crossing near the railway station.

Flow of traffic has also increased on a makeshift mini bypass constructed through the Chatargarh Patti area.

Traffic going to and coming from Dabwali has been diverted through mini bypass.

Although, efforts have been made by the authorities to regulate the traffic, the conditions remain messy throughout the day.

Traffic jams have become a regular feature on the diverted routes, too, now.

The mini bypass constructed through the area has proved to be too weak to take on the heavy traffic passing through it.

The road on both sides of the railway crossing on this bypass is in poor condition making it difficult for heavy vehicles to cross this road.

The railway crossing near the railway station remains heavily crowded with vehicles.

Lack of road sense among some drivers and indifference of the authorities to control the traffic adds to the problem.

The chaos on the roads is so big that people avoid visiting friends on the other side of the railway crossing unless it is very urgent.

Residents demand that the authorities should make better arrangements for the regulation of traffic so that their miseries could be mitigated.

Karnal, April 20
In an initiative to create awareness about importance and constitutional obligation to exercise vote, the National Integration Forum of Artists and Activists (NIFAA), an NGO, has decided to organise a quarter marathon under the patronage of the Bharat Swabhiman Trust of yoga guru Ramdev in Karnal on April 25.

The objective of the event, being organised in association with the recently formed organisation, Youth in Action, is three pronged i.e. “run for 100 per cent voting”, “run for corruption-free voting” and “run for liquor-free voting,” said Pritpal Singh Punnu, NIFAA chairman and coordinator of the movement.

The electoral system has been vitiated due to corrupt practices and the use of liquor by candidates and parties for getting votes and a large number of people did not care to vote, defeating the very spirit of democracy and as such it was imperative for social movements to launch a crusade for corruption and liquor-free, and 100 per cent voting, Pannu asserted.

A large number of students, professionals, employees, sportspersons, eminent citizens and opinion leaders would participate in the “triple run” starting from the main gate of the NDRI and culminating at Karan Stadium.

The purpose of the event is to remind people of their right and duty to cast vote
and ensure free and fair election with the sense of involvement and participation,
Punnu added.

The runners would carry the banners with a slogan, “Let us vote and run towards better future,” and an effort would be made to reach out to maximum number of people and similar events would be organised simultaneously in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam to bring about perceptual change in thinking of people about voting.

Giving details of the event, Pannu said an organising committee consisting of 100 citizens and over 200 youngsters, had been constituted and the volunteers would visit schools, colleges, offices and other institutions to explain the theme of the marathon and the participants securing first three positions would be given cash awards of Rs 5,100, Rs 3,100 and Rs 2,100 respectively, and separate awards.

The campaign would continue even after the event and 25 watchdog groups of about 200 youths would maintain a strict vigil till the polling day.

These groups would bring any illegal activity by any candidate or party to the notice of the Election Commission.

NIFAA has urged the Returning Officer to permit the use of vehicles to the watchdog groups for effective intervention to check the acts that vitiate free and fair polling.

In the run-up to Karnal marathon, volunteers of NIFAA, Bharat Swabhiman Trust and Youth in Action would organise a 10-km rally in the city on skates and bikes on April 25, and raise slogans and distribute pamphlets to inform and educate the people.

Besides, another very important issue of female foeticide would also be raised with a slogan, “run to save the girl child”.

Faridabad, April 20
The Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) has decided to reorganise and modernise its functioning to ensure transparency and efficiency in its administration.

The move by its commissioner, RK Khullar would ensure timely payment of dues
to the contractors as well as quick handling of the official files in various wings
of the civic body.

This would also save the common man from the “clerical culture” and “babudom” in the MC offices. According to an official, the move would drastically cut down on red-tapism and ensure accountability.

As per the new system, the three zones of the MCF would be linked to a central system via computer network.

The traditional practice of dealing files manually by the officials would be a thing
of the past.

In the new dispensation, the files would be dealt with and disposed of online. This would reduce paper work as well as the rigmarole of maintaining files.

The commissioner is of the view that a lot of time of the officials is lost in tracing files instead of devoting time on redressing the grievances of the public.

In the new system, finance-related matters would be coordinated with Axis Bank with which the MCF has entered into collaboration. A branch of the bank would operate at the MCF headquarters.

Payment to contractors would be made through the bank. With this, the contractors would not have to wait for days for the cheque to be prepared and signed by MC officials. This would reduce the chance of corruption.

Earlier, there were complaints on the part of the contractors that the officers used to clear bills according to their whims.

There was no serial order as those who had completed the work early were given the payment late while some others were preferred for early payment of their dues.

Now, with the new system, there would be a serial number in clearing the bills and payments made to the contractors.

In fact, the MCF will now do away with multiple bank accounts and operate only one account with Axis Bank.

The MCF has also decided that house tax collection would be deposited with the bank on a daily basis.

Employees of the bank will visit the offices and collect the money. Earlier, MC officials used to collect taxes and deposit the money with the banks according to their own will.

The new banking system coupled with computerisation would give ready information about the financial status of the civic body.

Earlier, as the civic body and its various offices had accounts in different banks, the commissioner and the department had to wait for a long time to ascertain the financial status of the MCF.

The MCF has also revised the format of its “G-8” copy. The new format will have serial number starting from 5001 from this financial year.

Earlier, the serial number on the forms in the copies was such that the number
could be repeated. This had chances of bungling. The new format would also
have a printing code.

It is learnt that the MCF has sent a proposal to the state headquarters for the sanction of recruitment of 25 employees to operate computers and other works related to information technology.

Gurgaon, April 20
The City Club here recently hosted a live stand-up comedy show “Go Bananas”, during which stand-up comedians of TV shows Laughter Challenge, Comedy Circus and Chhote Miyan came on a common platform.

Bharti Singh, Rajiv Thakur, Jaswant Singh and Saloni provided a fun-filled evening to DLF club members.

The presentation by the comedians reflected the true colours of the modern lifestyle in a hilarious manner.

It was a different experience to watch artistes in a live performance; and members got into fits of laughter by witty one-liners, puns and punches of the performers.

“The event provided us an opportunity to unwind ourselves, which acts as a breather in the fast and busy life of the city. Besides, it served as a welcome and refreshing get together with our friends and families,” said Sunipa, who had come to the event with her family.

He has been singing at private functions and parties and has also reached the top 10 of TV reality show, “Awaaz Punjab Di-III” on MH One and finally his dream debut with T-Series.

With two videos already been canned, he is now awaiting the big day when his music video will be launched on all major music channels.

He has also bagged a movie titled “The Party”, for which he has sung the song,
“Pher sare nachde”.