Chandigarh, May 11
Unlike its opponents, who are waiting for the Lok Sabha election results on May 16 before deciding their future course of action, the BSP has decided that it will announce its candidates for the Assembly elections by June 16.

In the run up to the Lok Sabha elections also, the BSP was the first party to announce all its candidates while most parties kept on waiting for the others to announce their nominees first. The non-BSP parties wanted that once the cards of their rivals were open, they could field the candidates best suited to the caste considerations and calculations. The BSP did not worry for such considerations because it was confident that its Scheduled Caste vote bank could be transferred to candidates of any community fielded by the leadership.

BSP general secretary Maan Singh Manhera, who transformed the party in Haryana to a formidable force just in two years, says his party would give representation to all communities while allotting tickets for the Assembly elections. When specifically asked if “all communities” included the Jats also, he said yes.

This is a major strategic shift for the BSP. During the Lok Sabha elections, the party had virtually made it clear that its doors were not open to the Jats, when it did not field any Jat candidate. Though Manhera says the party did not field any Jat candidate because no one from the community applied for its ticket, a clear signal was given to the Jats that they were not welcome in the BSP when Mayawati had declared at Karnal on March 2 last year that the BSP would make a non-Jat as the next Chief Minister of Haryana.

During the Assembly elections, the party knows that there were many constituencies where a Jat candidate supported by the Scheduled Castes would have a clear edge over the others. Hence, the strategic shift.

The BSP wants itself to be projected as an advocate of the cause of non-Jat communities in the state. Therefore, it first wants to politically neautralise the non-Jat parties like the BJP and the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) of Kuldeep Bishnoi in the state. The BJP has, otherwise also, lost the advantage of being a non-Jat party after its alliance with the INLD of Om Prakash Chautala, who does not have many admirers among the non-Jat communities of the state.

Nuh/Gurgaon, May 11
With curtains coming down on the gala carnival of elections and politicians cooling their heels in some comfy confines, the much glorified aam aadmi has been left to come to terms with the routine difficulties and challenges of life once again.

It’s not that the problems had disappeared while the poll process was on, but the focus had shifted to the “spicy” discussions on which party would come to power, “kaun banega MP”, and so on.

There were reports of enhanced power and water supply during the elections and on the top of it there were assurances galore from the wannabe MPs and their backers, who promised the moon to the electors.

Hence, having exercised their franchise, the residents feel that the summer heat has suddenly become more intense, with power and water again playing truant and the stream of politicians’ promises - which seemed eternal till a couple of days ago - having 
dried up.

Governments have come and gone, but there seems to be no end to residents’ woes. Solutions to problems prevailing at a given time have often led to a different set of problems, which were even bigger and difficult to solve. And with a majority of politicians more interested in their own welfare than that of their electors, the trend continues.

The acute shortage of water and electricity, educational backwardness and the lack of rail link have remained the bane of the Mewat area.

On the other hand, the denizens of Gurgaon, hyped as the Millennium City, have their own set of problems owing to unbalanced and haphazard development.

A sense of social awareness and collective responsibility among the residents seems to be the only solution; and the youth hold the key. But when they effectively use it remains to be seen.

Jhajjar, May 11
Having got completed the four phases of polling for the 15th Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has began preparations for the fairness of counting of votes and correctness of compilation of results. Some vital instructions have recently been issued in order to rationalise the counting centres.

The ECI has directed the chief electoral officers (CEOs) of all states and union territories to appoint one official of the Central government on every counting table for expediting the counting work and maintaining the standard of accuracy in the process.

Besides, the observers have also been permitted to deploy an additional micro observer for each of the counting halls with a view to undertaking the random parallel checking of any two EVMs/tables in every round of the counting and to report to the observer.

In its letter, the ECI has stated, “There shall be one Central government official on every table as counting micro observer, who will ensure after thorough checking that the purity of counting process is maintained and the results at each table are correctly tabulated.”

In another directive, persons having security cover have also been banned to become counting agent. The ECI has cleared that a contesting candidate (whether he is a sitting MP/MLA/MLC) has a right to be present in the counting hall in addition to counting agent. But, they will be permitted with a stipulation that security persons with arms should not get into counting hall.

Such candidates should be asked to give an undertaking that they are surrendering their security on their own to sit in the hall. The only exception will be in the case of SPG guards or other similarly placed persons who can be permitted to be accompanied only with one SPG personnel in plain clothes, the ECI maintained.

The reason behind this illegal activity is that builders want to save themselves from the norms to procure the change of land use permission from the government. Also, they would have to get the site mapped and building plans approved.

Karnal, May 11
The Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) across the country would be provided e-connectivity and 192 out of 567 kendras would be connected in the first phase.

Disclosing this here recently, KD Kokate, deputy director-general (agricultural extension), Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, said there would be faster flow and dissemination of scientific information and technologies amongst different states of the country having e-connectivity of the KVKs, which would benefit the farming community of the country.

Kokate, who was here to have an interaction with a group of young dairy farmers from four districts of Assam, said extension services were essential for taking research and technology from lab to land and online connectivity would enable the farmers to get information instantly.

Kokate urged the farmers, who were imparted five-day training on scientific dairy farming by the KVK and the Dairy Training Centre (DTC) of the NDRI, that they should understand the urgent need to integrate various other enterprises like dairying, bee keeping, poultry, fish farming, etc., with agriculture to supplement their income and generate employment in the rural areas.

Kokate also addressed the progressive dairy farmers of the district and exhorted them to adopt dairy technologies for increasing milk production.

Dr. AK Srivastava, director, NDRI, said in Assam swamp buffaloes could be bred through artificial insemination with murrah buffaloes and improved breed would lead to more milk production in the state. While addressing the progressive dairy farmers of the district, he stressed that such programmes would be organised frequently so that the dairy farmers and scientists were benefited.

“Special training programme would be designed and organised for dairy farmers on animal feeding that would encompass economic ration formulation, enhancing nutritive value of crop residues, formulation of mineral mixture and growing different fodder crops round the year,” he added.

Dalip K. Gosain, head of the centres, said the KVK and the DTC had organised 148 programmes both on and off campus in 2008 in which 4,259 farmers, farmwomen and rural youth participated. The KVK had also organised 33 sponsored training programmes in 2008 in which 901 trainees from different states participated.

Gurgaon, May 11
It is no less then a miracle for 25-year-old Brij Mohan that his severed hand has been reconstructed with which he will be able to work again.

Mohan had almost lost the hope that he would be able to do any work with his left arm, but due to the presence of mind of his colleagues and doctors at Paras Hospital, he is confident that his hand will start working properly in a few weeks.

A team of doctors was able to do reconstruct Mohan’s severed hand after an eight-hour long surgery. The doctors performed a long micro vascular surgery. “Mohan’s hand will be functional by as much as 85 per cent in a few weeks,” said Dr Raman Sethi, chief plastic and micro vascular surgeon.

Mohan, who belongs to Ahmedabad, has been working in a steel sheet-cutting factory here for the past two years. He met with an accident on April 20 that would have resulted in permanent disability.

Dr Sethi said, “Brij Mohan’s hand was severed from his wrist after it accidentally came under a sheet-cutting machine. Thanks to his fellow staff and the primary physician who brought him to the hospital well in time with the properly preserved severed hand. The operation was started within two-and-a-half hours of injury and lasted for more than eight hours.”

“We were able to fix the hand and restore circulation as well as repair all tendons and nerves. Now, almost 10 days have elapsed and Mohan’s hand is responding well. The blood circulation is good and we are quite sure that he has got his hand back,” he said and added that his hand would be perfectly fine after physiotherapy.

Mohan said he was happy as he would be able to get back to his work soon. “Doctors have done a wonderful job as I had lost the hope to get my hand back but they have done it successfully,” he affirmed.

Dr Sethi said the success of such operations depended on the type of injury, whether sharp or badly mutilated, level of injury, time elapsed in transportation, the proper method of storing the severed part and the availability of surgical expertise and facilities.

“The technique of micro vascular surgery is being used in saving a lot of limbs which would have landed up into amputations due to the loss of large amount of skin over fractured bones,” he explained and added, “This technique is also used in restoring post-cancer surgery defects like large facial/jaw defects or post-breast reconstruction”.

Ambala, May 11
Most of the private schools in Ambala City and Ambala Cantonment do not have sufficient vehicles to transport children. As a result, the children have to depend on unsafe modes of transport, including maxi cabs, three-wheelers and rickshaws.

There are a few schools who have made proper transport arrangements for their students, but a majority of the schoolchildren have to risk their lives while travelling in overloaded maxi cabs, three-wheelers and rickshaws.

Recently, a maxi cab carrying around 20 students of Mulana Engineering College overturned near Ambala Cantt in which 14 girl students were injured. In another accident two years ago, a maxi cab carrying students and passengers rammed into a tree near Naraingarh in which as many as 14 persons had lost their lives. The maxi cab was carrying 26 passengers against the capacity of 10.

According to information, around 600 maxi cabs, three-wheelers, rickshaws and buses carry thousands of schoolchildren everyday. A number of small schools running from residential houses or small buildings generally transport their children in rickshaws. As per norms, a rickshaw is meant for carrying three persons, but generally it carries more than 12 children. A number of accidents have occurred in the city in the past one year, but the practice is continuing.

It is to be mentioned that a number of schools have been running from residential premises without the permission of the education department. Most of these schools do not have proper transport arrangements for their children. Recently, the district education officer has asked these schools to wind up operations otherwise strict action would be taken against them.

Besides schools, most of the government institutions like ITI and polytechnics do not have their own buses for the students, who have to travel in state roadways buses. Numerous students can be seen sitting on the roof of the buses due to inadequate service.

The guardians of the students have taken up this matter with the roadways authorities, but no step has been taken so far.

Deputy commissioner Samir Pal Saro said the safety of schoolchildren was a priority and he would take effective steps to check the overloading of vehicles at every level.

Panchkula, May 11
Offspring of middle and upper middle class families often celebrate Mother’s Day by presenting gifts and flowers to their mothers to express their gratitude. But there are many who cannot afford such luxuries. Perhaps they are not even aware that such a day exists.

Realising their social responsibilities, the Gurukulites went beyond the conventional way of celebrating Mother’s Day this week. Rather, they celebrated it in a unique, yet the most satisfying manner.

Carrying flowers and sweets, students of the Gurukul, a school in Sector 20 here, visited underprivileged families of the surrounding areas and celebrated the most uncelebrated motherhood informing the dwellers about the significance of the day. They encouraged and inspired the children of the locality to express their gratitude and love for their mothers by presenting flowers to them. The mothers were naturally taken back in a pleasant shock. They had never expected that their love for their children would be recognised in this manner. They thanked the Gurukulites for making the day special for them.

The students also made their own mothers feel special by organising a special programme for them in the multimedia theatre of the school. The mothers of the Gurukulites of Sector 20, Panchkula and Madanpura branch had a fun-filled enjoyable morning. The students of the pre-primary block put up a mesmerising programme of music and dance for them.

The tiny tots also enacted a short hilarious skit based on the anecdotes of Akbar and Birbal and danced on the foot-tapping beats of Coco Jumbo.

A quiz was also organised for the participating mothers.

School principal Harsimran Kaur highlighted the role and contribution of a mother in shaping the child’s destiny.

Chandigarh, May 11
From being a software engineer, the transition to being an officer is a challenge Gurgaon’s Vikas Ahlawat (28) is looking forward to. Having cleared the civil services examination with a rank of 567, Ahlawat is looking forward to making a mark in the services just like he did in his job as a computer expert.

Though he missed clearing the examination by a few marks in his second attempt last year, he was confident of making it this time round. “I had the backing of my family which continued to support my dream even though I missed two opportunities. In fact, I was already employed and quit my job to take the examination,” he says.

While working in Quark, it was in 2006 when he decided to appear for the examination. All praise for his seniors at the workplace, he says, “They, too, were instrumental in building my confidence to take the examination. When I went to resign, my seniors told me to give the examination a try and come back if I did not succeed. They left the option to rejoin the company open for me which further boosted my morale. I will always remember their gesture.”

Having cleared the examination with a public administration-psychology combination, he says he was always very influenced by his father, Attar Singh Ahlawat, a police officer of the Haryana cadre and wanted to follow in his footsteps.

As he readies for his new assignment, he is hoping to bring about a difference in public perspective of a civil servant.

Fatehabad, May 11
The University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, has sanctioned a grant-in-aid of Rs 2.5 lakh to Manohar Memorial Post Graduate College, Fatehabad, for the introduction of foundation course in the Department of Political Science under Human Rights Education from 2009-10 session.

Dr DK Kaushik, principal of the college, said the introduction of such course would enable the youth to educate themselves regarding human values.

“If the youth is educated about their rights and duties, it will help maintaining peace and harmony in society,” he said.

He said seminars, symposia, workshops and moot court/mock-trial, including guest lecturers by renowned persons from judiciary, police and specialists from the Haryana Institute of Public Administration, would be arranged to promote the course.

Dr Kaushik stated that the duration of the course would be of at least three months and any student of the college could get admission in it.

The certificate would be awarded by Kurukshetra University.

Sirsa/Fatehabad, May 11
Despite a ban, wheat stubble is being set on fire in the fields of Sirsa and Fatehabad districts, creating trouble for residents, besides risking the lives of those living near the fields.

JS Ahlawat, district magistrate, Fatehabad, has already promulgated prohibitory orders banning the burning of wheat stubble in the fields. In fact, criminal cases have also been registered against two farmers in this regard.

Sirsa district magistrate SK Goyal also issued orders under Section 144 of the CrPC banning the burning of wheat straw in the district. But no action has so far been taken against any farmers and wheat stubble is being burnt in the fields with impunity.

“We have no other option. Cutting the stubble manually is a costly affair. Even the straw reapers are too costly to afford,” confided a farmer from Patli Dabur village.

The burning of straw is a common phenomenon in the area after the wheat-harvesting season for the past some years ever since combine harvesters have came into vogue.

Earlier, when the wheat crop was harvested through manual labour, the plants were cut from near the ground and when these were fed in the harvesters, wheat and straw were emitted out of the machine in separate heaps.

But, combine harvesters cut the ears and leave the stubble on the ground after which the farmers usually set their fields on fire to burn the stubble so that fields could be prepared for the next crops.

The burning of stubble not only causes air pollution but also results in the loss of feed for cattle leading to a rise in the price of straw.

In some cases, trees belonging to the forest department also become victim of fires.

Several trees were seen burning near Kotli village in Sirsa near the national highway, when The Tribune team visited the area on the day of polling.

The authorities in Fatehabad claimed that they had been very strict in the implementation of prohibitory orders and two cases were registered immediately on the receipt of complaints.

“We got the cases registered against two farmers in Barsin village after complaints were received regarding stubble burning. The cases were registered under Section 188 of the IPC for the violation of the prohibitory orders and also under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981,” informed JK Abhir, SDM, Fatehabad.

Stubble burning had led to the loss of cattle and property in two districts in the past when huge areas covering Haryana and neighbouring Punjab had come under fire as strong winds spread the fire from one field to the other.

Though no incident of that magnitude has occurred so far, the impunity with which the stubble is being burnt, it can lead to some major mishap, besides creating environmental pollution on a daily basis.

Sonepat, May 11
Raj Kunwar, a resident of Khanpur Kalan village, who drives a school bus, loves to work for the preservation of environment by planting more and more trees. He has done a commendable job by planting over 4,000 trees over 12 acres of land around the village pond, named as “Prithi Wala Talab”, on the outskirts of the village.

This year, he has already planted as many as 1,500 trees. For the past 30-35 years, Raj has been driving the bus of Kanya Gurukul, Khanpur Kalan, which has been upgraded to a women’s university.

He devotes all his time after office duty and during holidays in protecting and looking after the trees.

He says the village pond was dug under a government scheme about five-six years back and the earth dig out from the pond was put on all its sides to strengthen its banks. However, realising that some of the villagers might illegally occupy the area around the pond for dumping cow dung with an aim to encroach upon the common land, he thought of planting trees there.

When Raj discussed the proposal with forest department officials, the latter agreed to raise a nursery adjacent to the university campus to provide him saplings free of cost.

Since then, there is no looking back for Raj, who with his selfless dedication has encouraged a number of youths in the village to devote some time for the cause of environment.