Karnal, May 4
The unexpectedly high pass percentage in classes VIII, X and XII examinations, conducted by Haryana Board of school Education, Bhiwani, has raised concerns from many quarters.

It has provoked the Rajkiya Adayapak Sangh to question the reliability of the examination system.

State general secretary of the sangh Krishan Kumar Nirman maintained that the pass percentage in the first semester examinations of classes X and XII held in September 2008, was 28 and 30, respectively, while it is 84 and 92.29, respectively, in the recently held examinations.

“This phenomenal improvement is unacceptable as the board results of class X during the past five years were 59.60 per cent in 2003-04, 55.44 per cent in 2004-05, 57.78 per cent in 2005-06, 56.89 per cent in 2006-07 and 67.94 in 2007-08,” he said, adding that the pass percentage in class XII results was still lower at 41.45 in 2003-04, 46.54 in 2004-05, 50.45 in 2005-06, 49.40 in 2006-07 and 68.52 in 2007-08.

The pattern is no different in respect of class VIII where the pass percentage was 46.61 in 2003-04, 40.53 in 2004-05, 40.93 in 2005-06, 55.33 in 2006-07, 69.06 in 2007-08 and 82 in 2008-09.

Nirman said the high pass percentage was due to the increase in the internal assessment marks. The new pattern being followed by the board harmed the interests of the students who had passed during earlier years as their percentage was much low as compared with this year results.

He claimed that there were numerous cases in which the students of classes VIII, X and XII had passed through internal assessment ignoring the scores in written examination and said it was a disturbing trend which equated the meritorious students with high IQ with average students.

Further, the high pass percentage in different subjects in class XII examination, ranging between 95 and 99.88, also raised suspicion over the manner of marking adopted by the board.

The results were 100 per cent in agriculture, 99.88 per cent in computer science, 99.80 per cent in Hindi, 99.58 per cent in geography 99.57 per cent in accountancy, 98.90 per cent in biology, 98.06 per cent business study, 95.65 per cent in English, 99.37 per cent in fine arts, 98.20 per cent in history, 98.77 per cent in physical education and 94.29 per cent in mathematics, he disclosed.

Karnal, May 4
Parties are on a “poaching” spree in the state. Disgruntled and ignored leaders are switching loyalties to embarrass their parent parties and hog the limelight by joining rival camps.

Senior INLD leader Kailasho Devi, who was elected twice to the Lok Sabha from Kurukshetra in 1998 and 1999, sprang a surprise by announcing her decision to quit the party and join the Congress.

Veteran Congress leader and former MP Tara Singh, who joined the party way back in 1946, did the balancing act by quitting the Congress and joining the INLD. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kurukshetra in 1991 and was also elected once to the Vidhan Sabha from Shahbad Markanda. Ekta Shakti Party leader Varinder Maratha was wise enough to merge his outfit with the BSP and is contesting as the party candidate from Karnal.

Another Ekta Shakti Party leader, Raj Kumar Arya, also joined the Congress while Samajwadi Party candidate Rajiv Ahuja joined the Congress after the last date of withdrawals, leaving his party in the lurch.

Some parties were eagerly waiting to “adopt” Arvind Sharma, in case he was denied the party ticket, but that did not happen as he got the ticket at the last moment.

Kalpana Singh Suryavanshi, who was Karnal district president of the women’s wing of the HJC, also left the party a few months ago and is contesting as a candidate of the RPI.

Even the local leaders at the constituency level were not lagging in the “defection game”. Shamsher Singh Gogi, a senior Congress leader of Assandh, had set the ball rolling by deserting the Congress a few months ago and joining the BSP.

Panipat, May 4
Local cinema house owners , in an attempt to earn a ‘decent profit’, have adopted a strategy which does not appear to be decent at all.

The owners have pasted obscene posters all across the city.They, however, maintain that there was nothing obscene in the posters as are promotional and have been supplied by film distributors.

Most of the prominent places in the city, including the walls along the National Highway- 1, have been defaced with the pasting of these posters. One of the theatres in the city, the building of which also houses a number of government offices, is also displaying an adult film, the life-size poster of which can be seen pasted on one side of the building which is visited by a number of people every day.

The posters can be seen even outside colleges and schools as these are apparently aimed at targeting the students. Last year, the administration had asked the cinema house owners to remove the posters and a warning was also issued that strict action would be taken against them. But it had failed to move the owners, who find it easy to attract audience for such films.

Deepika Avasthi, a homemaker, complained that her house was near a cinema house where adult movies were screened most of the time. The owners pasted indecent posters on walls near her house ignoring their social responsibilities.“I have two grown-up daughters and they feel awkward while going out, she said.

Meanwhile, one of the cinema house owners, on condition of anonymity, said they were paying fees to the Municipal Corporation for pasting posters. “It is not that we intend to paste such posters only. The posters of most of the Hindi movies are like that. We have to publicise the movie, so we paste the posters to attract the moviegoers,” said the owner.

According to a lawyer who practices in the district courts, under the provisions of the law, the cinema house owners can be booked under Section 292 of the IPC, which prohibits circulation and pasting of obscene posters.

Naresh Puri, a local resident, said that given the fact that there was a large population of labour class in the city, cinema house owners put such posters even at public places to catch their attention.

The residents here demand that cinema house owners should act responsibly and desist from putting up such posters.

Gurgaon, May 4
“Save water” was the message that the people of all ages received as they participated in a run organised by runningandliving.com here recently.

The participants included young athletes from schools who tested their mettle along with experts, seasoned regular runners and village folks. The weather god was kind enough as the light drizzle cleared the dust in the air and cooled the temperature considerably, which was also enjoyed by the participants. The winner, Sheshnath Goswami (28), finished the run in 38 minutes.

Besides, iamgurgaon and Advit were also involved in creating awareness on water conservation.

“You can run the washing machine or dishwasher on full load each time and save water. It just needs a little planning and I am happy that while saving water I do not have to depend on my maid,” said Shaloo Dogra, a volunteer of iamgurgaon.

“I am used to getting up early in the morning for my athletic practice. I am glad that I came here along with my six other friends.

I realised that water is important and we need to be careful. I thank iamgurgaon for information on how to conserve water which I will share with my family and friends,” said Nikita, a 12-year-old athlete from Shri Ram School.

Other tips suggested that pools should be covered and plants watered in the evening to avoid evaporation.

The participants were also informed that rainwater harvesting was essential and should be done sensibly according to the CSE norms.

“It is amazing to see that people of all ages came to run so early in the morning,” said Ajay Bakaya, executive director, Sarovar Hotels, who also participated.

“We just completed our first-ever 5-km run,” said three friends who ran for the first time.

“When is the next run?” they asked excitedly.

Kurukshetra, May 4
“Let the new breed of knowledge workers take a pledge for creating a work culture for boosting peace, progress and prosperity in today’s knowledge economy. There is a need for the protection of 91.7 per cent workers in the unorganised sector because they are the main contributors to the wealth of India who deserve to be recognised as workers in official surveys for all practical purposes and need to be issued identity cards to provide a definite legal entity,” said MM Goel, professor and chairman, Department of Economics, Kurukshetra University, here recently.

Goel said the ban on child labour from October 10, 2006, in India was necessary, but not sufficient to create a conducive environment for children to go to school. The new provisions in the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act were merely a lip service. There was need for conducting a national survey of child labourers within a year to know their nature and extent in India, which was around 6 crore.

Yamunanagar, May 4
Candidates of all parties from the Ambala Lok Sabha constituency are sparing no effort to woo 50,000 new voters of the urban areas, who have been added in the Yamunanagar Assembly segment after delimitation. Earlier, this urban area was a part of the Kurukshetra constituency.

Out of 12.37 lakh voters of the Ambala constituency, total 1.28 lakh voters, including 50,000 new voters, are in the Yamunanagar Assembly segment.

Candidates of both the Congress and the BJP have been trying to win over the new voters to increase their chance to make it to Parliament. Sources say the INLD-BJP alliance will give a tough fight to the Congress.

Besides big rallies in the urban areas, Congress candidate Kumari Selja along with local Congress MLA Krishna Pandit has been addressing small gatherings and holding meetings with traders associations. Traders hold great importance here as thousands of employees work in over 1,000 metal and over 5,000 plywood industries of the district.

Development is Selja’s poll plank, as she has been highlighting various development works and schemes launched by the central and state governments.

BJP candidate Rattan Lal Kataria along with Om Parkash Chautala, is also busy in meeting with representatives of different trades associations. Kataria has been seeking votes while raising issues like price hike of basic commodities and deteriorating law and order situation during the Congress regime.

The BSP, too, has been campaigning aggressively this time, but in the urban area, it does not have much hold. The HJC (BL) is also trying its best to woo the voters, but it lacks manpower for campaigning.

Kurukshetra, May 4
The Kurukshetra Panorama and Science Centre here added a new facility, popularly known as Hi-definition 3-D film fantasy hall, for students and the public.

The facility was inaugurated by Dr M.N. Bandopadhyaya, Director, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra.

In his address, Dr Bandopadhyay said the new facility would be popular among the public and the film, “Save the Earth”, which was screened during the inaugural session, gave a strong message to the masses to take action and spread awareness about protecting the earth.

The project-coordinator, Dr Raj Mehrotra, informed the fantasy with extraordinary clarity and 3-D effects provided a thrilling experience in an all together different world.

Bhiwani, May 4
“Bholi hai, chori hai” goes the tag line that Congress nominee Shruti Chaudhary has earned during campaigning for the Bhiwani-Mahendergarh seat, seeking support of the villagers.

Unlike the “hardened politician” doling out promises, she has an almost raw appeal to her. At Kuksi village in Mahendergarh, she alights from her SUV to the sound of beating drums and loads of garlands.

Accepting a red turban graciously, she appeals to the villagers in the name of her grandfather Bansi Lal and father Surender Singh, “My grandfather is remembered as the architect of Haryana. You have tried Bhajan Lal and Devi Lal, but they stand nowhere in comparison to him. My father was attached to each one of you. I am here to carry forward their legacy. I am your sister, I am your daughter, give me strength”.

Since this village falls in an Ahir-dominated area, a villager reads out a message from the Ahir leader and Congress candidate from the Gurgaon seat, Rao Indrajeet Singh, seeking support for her.

Hisar, May 4
The Haryana Congress has found a star campaigner in party’s sitting member of the Lok Sabha from Rohtak Deepender Singh Hooda. The 31-year-old MP had to campaign for party nominees in several other parliamentary constituencies in addition to his own.

He is the only Congress nominee who was invited by party candidates from other constituencies to campaign in their areas. So far, he has covered Hisar, Sirsa, Sonepat, Faridabad, Karnal, and Kurukshetra. His road shows were a big attraction, especially among first-time voters in all these constituencies.

During his recent road shows in Hisar, he was mobbed by young voters in several villages with whom he had detailed interactions.

The MP, who is seeking re-election from Rohtak, was first elected in 2005 in a byelection caused by the resignation of his father Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who had taken over as Chief Minister a few months earlier. He defeated his nearest BJP rival by a massive margin of 2.32 lakh votes. At that time, he was the youngest member of the Lok Sabha.

Deepender Hooda was initially a shy politician, who preferred to stick to his own constituency. During his first year as MP, he preferred to operate under the penumbra of his father in Rohtak, only politely turning down invitations from party colleagues from other areas.

He set up an NGO with members drawn from amongst his party workers from his parliamentary constituency. This organisation has organised medical camps in Jhajjar and Nuh in Mewat district. The record turnout of patients examined and treated at these camps earned him a place on the governing body of the Indian Red Cross.

During his curtailed four-year term as member of the Lok Sabha, he toured all villages and towns of his constituency at least twice. This performance earned him kudos from senior party leaders.

He assiduously pursued development projects for his constituency, especially those funded by the Centre. These included railway overbridges, rail tracks and national highway projects. As a result, the Rohtak constituency was able to draw maximum funds from the union government for development projects.

Among his many notable achievements are the establishment of an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Rohtak, which is expected to start functioning from a temporary campus from July, and the setting up of an All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in Jhajjar on the pattern of AIIMS, New Delhi.

The recent visit to Hisar by Congress President Sonia Gandhi to address an election rally held a special significance for Deepender. Sonia brought him forward to the stage and blessed him.

Deepender Hooda also escorted Rahul Gandhi during the latter’s visit to Haryana to campaign for the party.

Sirsa, May 4
With electioneering reaching the fag end, election to the Sirsa parliamentary seat will provide an answer to many claims and counterclaims made during the month-long campaign by various parties.

Sirsa being his home district is considered prestigious for former state Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala.

Chautala’s INLD lost this seat to the Congress in 2004 elections after retaining it for two consecutive occasions in the past.

Winning the Sirsa seat is as important for the INLD as is Bhiwani from where Chuatala’s elder son Ajay Singh is pitted in a fierce electoral battle against Shruti Chaudhary of the Congress and Rao Narender Singh of the HJC.

In its effort to wrest this seat from the Congress, the INLD has changed its candidate and fielded Sita Ram, a two-time MLA from Dabwali, instead of former MP and Ellenabad MLA Sushil Indora.

The results will provide an answer whether the INLD’s decision to change its candidate was wise or not.

The election will also answer the INLD’s allegations that the Hooda government has been discriminating against the Sirsa and Fatehabad areas.

If Sirsa is important for the INLD, it is equally important for the Congress, where Ashok Tanwar, a member of Rahul Gandhi’s team, has been trying his luck.

The results will answer the claims of the ruling party, particularly of Hooda, who has said people of Sirsa would vote to get rid of the atmosphere of terror that prevailed here during the term of his predecessor.

The results will also decide political future of certain leaders like Ranjit Singh, a younger brother of Om Parkash Chautala and KV Singh, a former OSD to the Chief Minister.

Ranjit, who plans to contest the election from Rania, if the party gives him the ticket, has been quite active in this election and a major mobilisers of crowd in the party rallies, particularly in Rahul Gandhi’s Sirsa rally.

As INLD heavyweight Abhey Singh Chautala has already announced his decision to contest the next Assembly elections from Rania, the results will decide on Ranjit’s fate on the Rania ground.

Similar is the case of KV Singh, who is interested in contesting against Om Parkash Chautala from Dabwali in the next Assembly elections.

The Sirsa seat will also decide the fate of Fatehabad MLA and parliamentary secretary Dura Ram, who deserted his uncle Bhajan Lal to join the Hooda government four years ago.

The present election is the first occasion to test Dura’s popularity among his Bishnoi voters.

Dura chose to skip campaigning, when the first opportunity to test his prowess arose during the Adampur bypoll, as he wanted to avoid campaigning against his uncle and mentor Bhajan Lal. But the present election will decide who is popular among Bishnois — Dura or Kuldeep Bishnoi.

The Sirsa seat will also decide the popularity of Kuldeep in this area, which includes the ancestral village of his father Mohamadpur Rohi.

Bishnoi’s decision to field an outsider Rajinder Dhanak instead of old warhorse Mani Ram Keharwala will also be at test.

Sonepat, May 4
The Guru Teg Bahadur Memorial Museum at Bud Khalsa, near Rai, is a victim of neglect, as much of the accommodation has not been utilised and the building, adjacent to the National Highway 1, remains closed most of the time with hardly anyone visiting it.

The museum was set up by the Haryana government at a cost of Rs 44 lakh six years ago. It has the collections of paintings depicting events that took place during the lives of all 10 Sikh Gurus and during the rule of Misls and Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

The museum is hardly visited by people and it remains locked most of the time. It is opened by a security guard only on request. The museum requires the attention of the Sikh bodies who should upgrade it as an informative and inspiring place for the visitors. Most of the building comprising three big halls is still lying unused.

Panipat, May 4
The continuing standoff between Hindi film producers and owners of multiplexes over the issue of revenue sharing has deprived the local populace of the release of any new film.

The producers are on an indefinite strike after their talks over revenue sharing with multiplex owners failed to yield any results. The producers have been demanding an equal share in ticket sales from the multiplexes.However, the latter have been advocating "performance-based" revenue sharing. This standoff has hit hard the local multiplex owners also as they are losing business in view of no new film being released.They have been banking upon foreign films, which they say, are more expensive to exhibit.

The producers, distributors and exhibitors stand to lose about Rs 100 crore to Rs 200 crore due to this stand-off, but the multiplex owners are not only incurring losses but are also losing their patrons.

It is not just the multiplexes but also the single- screen theaters that have been affected by the ongoing tussle. The owner of one of the theatres here said that as no new films were being released, their revenues had also gone down. As of now, a large number of single- screen theatres in the city are either showcasing old or less popular movies or are displaying adult movies.

Virender Sheoran, a regular moviegoer, said that it was quite unfortunate that no new films were being released due to the standoff and the commoners had no means to get quality entertainment under the prevailing circumstances. He said that the deadlock should be resolved soon.

Yamunanagar, May 4
If the Haryana government is not able to take care of poor people living in the areas in the foothills of the Shivalik ranges, then over 1000 villages of this backward area, including Sadhaura, Chacharoli, Panchkula, Kalka, Kalesar, Bilaspur, should be merged with the neighbouring districts of Himachal Pardesh.

While politicians are making tall claims during their campaigns, the residents of these areas do not have basic amenities, including regular power and water supply, educational institutions and health facilities. No party has paid any attention to their problems so far, rue the villagers,who have formed a Ghar Sangharsh Vikas Samiti to highlight their problems.

The condition of the villagers in the neighbouring Himachal Pradesh is much better than here, claim members of the samiti.

The members also claimed that they would not vote for any party as none of these assured them about fulfilling their demands. They said they would continue their agitation.

The samiti was formed in 2007 to highlight the problems of the villagers living in the foothills of the Shivalik ranges. The members of the committee had met the chief minister during his visit to Bilaspur in 2007 and apprised him of their problems.

“We have been demanding the construction of a bridge over seasonal rivulets at the Alisherpur Majra crossing as in the absence of it, many villages remain cut off during the rainy season.Such is the neglect of the area that there are many villages where not even one person has been able to get a government job”, said Prithvi Singh Arya of Ranipur Khurd. As none of the party assured them to fulfill their demands, they would not vote for any party”, he added.

Ambala, May 4
More than 60 years after Independence, thousands of people in Ambala City and Ambala Sadar area are not getting even potable water while the state government has been spending crores of rupees on supplying drinking water in the district.

Recently, the health department collected 25 samples of drinking water from various taps of the public health department out of which 18 were found unfit for human consumption.

According to information, the samples were collected from Ambala , City Ambala Cantt , Naraingarh , Panjokhra and a few other villages. The public health department supplies drinking water in the urban as well as rural areas.

The department has increased the supply of water by digging a huge number of tubewells in the city as well in the villages, but no steps have been taken to improve the quality.

This is the reason that water-borne diseases like cholera and dehydration increase in the summer and the rainy season in the city as well as the nearby villages.

During the last one year, more than six cases of dehydration took place in a few villages. Last year, two persons died of cholera in the Baldev Nagar area in Ambala City. Later, it was revealed that there was a leakage in the underground pipelines which led to this tragedy.

The underground water pipelines which were laid a few decades ago have become obsolete. The leakage can be seen anytime. In some of the localities, pipes for domestic connections pass through drains.

In the rainy season when the level of the drains comes up, the pipelines submerge in these. Two years ago, the administration had launched a campaign to disconnect those domestic connections which were passing through drains, but it could not continue for long.

Some of the unapproved and slum colonies do not get the water supplied by the public health department. The residents of these colonies have to drink water fetched from uncovered wells which is neither chlorinated nor filtered.

A part of the Motinagar area in Ambala city does not get potable water. Women belonging to the families residing there fetch water for drinking purposes from railway station taps every day.

During the last four years, the local MLA , Venod Sharma, has been instrumental in setting up more than 48 new deep tubewells in the city and the adjoining rural areas, but things have not improved much.