Hisar, May 18
Sabotage by party men, personal opposition to the candidate and the lack of strategic campaigning cost the Congress the Hisar Lok Sabha seat despite special efforts made by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Party nominee Jai Parkash lost in all nine Assembly segments that comprise the Hisar parliamentary constituency.

The biggest shocker came from the Uchana Assembly segment of Jind district, which is the only constituency of that district included in the Hisar Lok Sabha seat. This constituency is represented by Congress heavyweight Birender Singh, who is currently the Finance Minister. In this segment, Jai Parkash polled just 22,655 votes against 47,181 votes polled by Sampat Singh of the INLD and 14,861 polled by the winning candidate, Bhajan Lal of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC).

Birender Singh was aspiring for party nomination from the Sonepat seat. After he failed to secure nomination, he did not attend the election meeting addressed by Hooda, the day Jai Parkash filed his nomination papers. He campaigned for Jai Parkash in Uchana later but by then the people had got the message. Jai Parkash’s defeat thus did not surprise anyone.

He lost in the newly carved Uklana constituency as well. This constituency has been established by abolishing the Ghirai Assembly segment, which is represented by Congress legislator Chhattarpal Singh, who was looking after party campaign in Uttar Pradesh. His indifference also cost the party dearly. Jai Parkash and Chhattarpal Singh are political adversaries despite being in the same party.

Jai Parkash had to contend with personal opposition too. Although his brother represents the Barwala Assembly segment, he lost there too polling just 18,468 votes against 29,274 polled by Bhajan Lal and 22,210 by Sampat Singh. This is a sure indication of unpopularity of the candidate among voters.

The Congress nominee’s campaign lacked flexibility. Jai Parkash’s poll managers failed to take effective steps to neutralise opposition during campaigning. As campaign progressed, it was becoming evident that he would lose heavily in the Hisar city constituency. No efforts were made to counter opposition. As a result, Jai Parkash polled more than 17,000 less votes than Bhajan Lal.

In Hisar city, the party workers temporarily shifted base to Kurukshetra from where local legislator Savitri Jindal’s son Navin Jindal was contesting. There were simply not enough party workers to improve the chances of Jai Parkash.

The Congress nominee miserably failed to shed the image of a losing candidate from day one. As the campaign progressed, the public perception that he could be relegated to the number three position in the contest became stronger. As a result, just after the campaign concluded, Jat voters decided to back Sampat Singh instead, thus boosting his chances considerably.

However, the Congress has not been weakened by the loss in any manner. There was no opposition to the party or the government. In this case, it was the candidate who lost and not the party.

In fact, the Congress has emerged a gainer in that it succeeded in reducing Bhajan Lal’s winning margin from his pocket borough Adampaur Assembly segment. Last year, Bhajan Lal won the byelection from Adampur by a margin of 28,000 votes, which has been reduced to half this time. This should ring warning bells for the Bishnoi clan.

Jhajjar, May 18
Nearly 13 villages, which have been declared sensitive for malaria by the district Health Authority, will not be able to get anti-malaria spray in the coming season for the prevention of mosquitoe breeding there.

According to sources, the authorities had declared 15 villages, including Dawla, Kheri Khumar, Dhakla, Jamaalpur, Dhighal, Madana Kalan, Dubaldhan, Dhandhlaan, Aachhej, Talav, Jhajjar city, Dhaud, Sulodha Dujana and Birdhana villages, in the district as malaria sensitive on the basis of the last year’s report which found the villages sensitive for malaria as per the annual parasitic incidence(API) level.

“Names of the villages had been sent to the directorate-general of health services, Haryana, to get the final approval for carrying out the spray.

But, the state authorities have approved merely two - Dujana and Birdhana - villages for the same, pointing out that the two villages have the API level up to five or more than it.

Hence, delta mathrin spray should be carried out there in order to avert malarial incidents,” the sources said.

According to the information, the authorities used to allocate funds for spraying in the areas where the API was up to the level of two or above, which means where at least two persons against every 1,000 persons carry vector-borne disease.

But, the authorities have enhanced the API level by five or above from the last year for the spray in the sensitive areas.

Following this move, all those malaria sensitive areas have been deprived of delta mathrin sprays, which have API level less than five.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to prevent the spread of the disease in the state, the health authority has also issued guidelines and instructions to the authorities in the district.

They have been asked to be more vigilant in the sensitive areas, besides stepping up surveillance and strengthening anti-malaria measures.

They have also been directed to ensure against the presence of stagnant water not only in the cities but also in the slums and colonies.

Dr IK Yadav, anti-malaria officer, Jhajjar, could not be contacted for his comments despite repeated attempts.

Ambala, May 18
The paying guest culture of metro cities is fast becoming popular in the small towns of Ambala district like Ambala City, Ambala Cantt and even Mulana. Hundreds of students studying in polytechnic and other professional colleges are availing these facilities.

Though a number of such colleges have a hostel facility, a large number of students still prefer living in paying guest accommodations.

In Ambala City, a number of private hostels for girls have come up during the past two-three years.

The owners of several buildings in Mathura Nagari, Navneet Nagar, Prem Nagar and in various sectors of HUDA have converted a major part of their buildings into paying guesthouses where mostly girl students are living.During the past few years, a number of polytechnic and professional institutions have started in Ambala district.

Most of these institutions do not have sufficient boarding and lodging facilities.

The paying guest business is thriving mainly because girl students do not want to avail college hostel facility due to several reasons, including unhygienic living conditions, and prefer staying in a paying guest accommodation.

MM University, Mulana, is running 12 professional colleges, including medical, dental, hotel management, physiotherapy, nursing, BEd and engineering colleges. Several hundred girl students have been studying in these colleges.

Though the university has provided sufficient hostels for its students, a large number of students are residing in residential houses as paying guests. In fact, Mulana has become the hub of paying guest accommodations.

A number of people have been using their residential premises for commercial purpose, but they are not paying house tax and service tax.

A student has to pay Rs 3,000 to 3,500 per month for residing in a paying guest accommodation.

An official of the municipal council said no one could convert his residential premises into a paying guest accommodation without permission.

Some girl students said they preferred staying in a paying guest accommodation due to hygienic living conditions and better food.

Sirsa, May 18
The victory of Rahul Gandhi’s handpicked Ashok Tanwar, president of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), from the Sirsa (reserve) parliamentary constituency in the INLD bastion has raised the hopes of development among local residents.

The Sirsa constituency includes five Assembly segments, Rania, Ellenabad, Sirsa, Dabwali and Kalanwali of Sirsa district; three Assembly segments, Ratia, Tohana and Fatehabad from Fatehabad district; and Narwana Assembly segment from Jind.

Both Sirsa and Fatehabad districts are considered backward in terms of education, healthcare and industrial development.

Though Sirsa has a university, it needs the attention of the authorities to bring it at par with other universities of the state.

Still a residential university, Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, was in bad shape till Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda released some grants for it last year. It was only after receiving the grant the university was able to recruit more staff and get affiliation from the University Grants Commission.

The university needs the attention of the newly elected MP so that colleges of some neighbouring districts could be affiliated to it, giving it the semblance of a full-fledged university.

Besides, the residents have been demanding a separate government college for women since long and better healthcare facilities are also needed in the district.

Except for the colleges established under the Jan Nayak Chaudhary Devi Lal Vidyapeeth by Ajay Singh Chautala in the private sector, there are no facilities in the government sector.

Fatehabad is even backward in the matter of education and healthcare. Poor connectivity is another problem, which is common with both districts. The residents of Fatehabad have been long demanding connectivity through rail link.

During campaigning, Tanwar had listed priorities that included providing better healthcare and education facilities and bringing agro-based industries to the area.

He had also assured to open up new vistas of employment for local youths.

The Indian Youth Congress president repeated these priorities immediately after his victory on Saturday.

Throughout his poll campaign, the Congress had been projecting Tanwar having the favour of Rahul Gandhi, and the young scion of the Gandhi family proved this by selecting Sirsa as one of his two destinations in Haryana for campaigning.

It is Tanwar’s proximity with Rahul Gandhi that caught the fancy of voters here, particularly the youths, who are now expecting the IYC president to fulfill his promises.

Winning Sirsa has not been tough for Ashok Tanwar, but living up to the expectations of the people is going to be a challenge for him.

Kurukshetra, May 18
Kurukshetra University (KU) has decided to introduce several job-oriented courses with specially designed curriculum from this session.

Stating this, vice-chancellor RP Bajpai said the new courses, which would be introduced from 2009-10 session, included M.Sc. in human genomics, M.Sc. operation research in industry and management; M.A. in environmental education; diploma in management of non-governmental organisations; M.A. in women studies and one-year diploma in women studies as well as 4-year degree course in hotel management.

Dr Bajpai said the university would also offer five-year integrated courses in M.Sc. engineering physics, M.Sc. (hons.) economics, M.Sc. biotechnology, M.Sc. bioinformatics, M.Sc. food science and technology, and master’s of performing arts (hons.).

The University Institute of Engineering and Technology would offer M.Tech. in biotechnology, M.Tech. electronics and communication engineering, five-year integrated M.Tech. in food technology and management.

The department of economics is introducing M.Sc. in sustainable development, master’s of business economics (ERP and SAP system) and M.S. in banking and finance. Other courses, which are in the pipeline, are M.Sc. clothing and textile, M.A. in defence and strategic studies and PG diploma in environmental impact assessment and auditing, added Dr Bajpai.

“In consonance with the state government’s higher education policy, the university is producing well-trained manpower to suit the industries,” Dr Bajpai claimed.

The curriculum has been designed with inputs from both academicians and industry experts. The products of the university will certainly meet the needs of industry as well as of research and academic institutes,” Dr Bajpai hoped.

He further added that the university had introduced inter-disciplinary courses in 2008, including M.Tech. doftware Engineering, M.Tech. nano science technology, M.Tech. instrumentation process control engineering, M.Tech micro electronics and VLSI design, M.Sc. graphics and gaming, M.Sc. in mathematical computing, M.Sc. industrial chemistry, M.Tech. digital signal and speech imagography, M.Sc. forensic science, M.Tech. computational seismology, master’s of fine arts, BFA (sculpture), M.Sc. multimedia, M.Sc applied econometrics and business forecasting and diploma in fish farm technology.

Kaithal, May 18
Despite an announcement by the Haryana Chief Minister at a public meeting more than two and half years ago, the opening of an ITI at Kalayat town, 24 km from here, has remained a distant dream for the residents of this area.

The department is yet to decide about the exact location for setting up the ITI, as the land selected earlier is flooded with water flowing from nearby residential localities.

Keeping in view the demand raised by local MLA Geeta Bhukkal and the residents of the area, the Chief Minister during his visit on October 26, 2006, had announced the construction of a bus stand, a stadium and an ITI in Kalayat to facilitate the training of youth in various trades so that they could get better employment opportunities in future. The construction work of the bus stand after much dilly-dallying had began, but the construction of the ITI and the stadium is yet to start.

A piece of land measuring 7 acres on the main road belonging to the Kalayat Municipal Committee had been selected for setting up the ITI and the committee had been paid Rs 98.82 lakh by the department, but the selected site was situated at a low-lying area and during the last floods it was filled up to brims. The flow of extra water continued, hence no construction work could be started. It is learnt that now the PWD had found this site unsuitable for the construction of the ITI building and the proposal seemed to have been shelved.

Deputy Commissioner Amneet P. Kumar said as the present site had been found unsuitable for the construction of the ITI, efforts had been initiated to find some other alternative site and talks were going on with the panchayat of a neighbouring village to provide land for the purpose.

Meanwhile, the residents of the town have expressed their resentment over the inordinate delay in the construction of the ITI and the stadium.

Faridabad, May 18
There is suspense over the fate of Haryana local bodies minister A.C.Chaudhary,who had submitted his resignation from the Cabinet to party president Sonia Gandhi,alleging that the Congress had ignored Punjabis while deciding candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.

Chaudhary was also in the race for the ticket from Faridabad. Congress leaders have alleged that Chaudhary as well as other two MLAs,Mahender Pratap and Karan Dalal,who is also chairman of the Haryana State Administrative Reforms Commission, worked against the party nominee in Faridabad.

The situation became more complicated when Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda,in the midst of the campaign,said he was was not aware of Chaudhary’s resignation.He said he had not heard from Sonia Gandhi on the issue.

The Faridabad unit of the party is not sure whether Chaudhary still considers himself as a minister. The moot question among the Congressmen here is whether Chaudhary will stick to his stand and announce his resignation without waiting for any response from the party high command or withdraw his resignation.Incidentally, party leaders, including organising secretary of the Haryana Congress,Gulshan Baggar, have written to the president of state unit of the party, Phool Chand Maulana, and the general secretary of the AICC and in-charge of the Haryana affairs,Prithviraj Chaudhary,alleging that Chaudhary had worked for the nominee of the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL), Chander Bhatia.Baggar demanded that the primary membership of Chaudhary be forfeited and he should be sacked from the Cabinet.

The detractors of Chaudhary in Faridabad are feeling emboldened following the Congress nominee’s victory.The Punjabis have voted overwhelmingly for the Congress,they add.

There is also a talk about the role of Karan Dalal and Mahender Pratap as they allegedly worked against the party nominee in Faridabad.

Manesar, May 18
Hundreds of industrial plot owners who could not execute their projects within the stipulated three years allegedly because of the lack of infrastructure, including power supply, have approached the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) to extend time for starting production by at least six months.

About 500 industrialists had taken the possession of plots on about 250 acres in 2006, in Sector 8 here, and they were to commence production by March 31, 2009.

However, most of them have failed to start production. The Gurgoan Industrial Association has alleged that the construction of units could not be completed in time because of the lack of infrastructure.

“There is no power and water supply and even the roads in the area are not in good shape,” association president Praveen Yadav said.

According to him, several representations have been made to the authorities, but to no avail.

On the other hand, government sources said global meltdown was one of the reasons for reluctance on the part of industrialists to go ahead with their plans.

"Entrepreneurs are cautious while implementing their projects because the slowdown in the world's major markets has impacted India as well and there is a slump in the Indian manufacturing sector," an official said.

Industrial output had shrunk 2.3 per cent in March while it had registered a negative growth for the first time in 15 years, falling to 0.4 per cent in October 2008.

Sources in the real estate sector said besides the lack of infrastructure, the high cost of building material, including steel, in 2008 was another reason for the delay in construction work. Steel prices had gone up by over 40 per cent in 2008, he added.

Yadav said the HSIDC, Manesar, should extend the time for implementing the projects by at least six months and also waive the penalty.

The plot owners who have defaulted on the project schedule would have to pay a penalty of Rs 75 per sq m in the first year and it would be doubled in the second year. Estate officer, HSIDC, Manesar, Divya Kamal said the representations of the industrialists had been communicated to senior officials.

Gurgaon, May 18
Industry and government should work together and take appropriate measures to ensure that the schemes and policy regulations that were made in view of the economic slowdown start to benefit the economy.

This was stated by PK Bansal, additional director (Industries and Commerce), Government of Haryana, at a conference on “Maximising Business Value for SMEs” organised by the CII Haryana State Council here recently.

Focusing on policy interventions and regulatory framework, Bansal pointed out that the medium and small-medium enterprise (MSME) sector was the most prominent sector in the state.

“Totaling to more than 8,200 industries in the state, the MSMEs are the backbone of the industrial growth in the state,” he said, adding about 40 per cent of the total exports were from the MSMEs and until the micro-level companies were included in the mainstream, the required growth rate could not be attained.

Bansal observed that the slowdown had adversely affected the economy of the state and the MSME was the worst hit. He assured that the state government was ready to play its part in extricating the industries from the crisis situation through various stimulus packages which are being announced, but added that the biggest challenge was that the benefit of these stimulus packages was not percolating down to the MSME sector.

“The state government is continuously working for infrastructural development and a special industry infrastructure promotion scheme (IIPS) has been introduced to promote infrastructure in the state,” he maintained.

Citing the example of petrochemical hub in Panipat, he said interest-free loans were being provided to the industries in the special economic zones.

Bansal, however, expressed concern that despite several measures having been taken by the RBI and the government to ensure liquidity, it was heard that the industry was not getting the benefit in the terms of availing loans from banks. He advised the financial institutions to disburse micro-financing schemes on priority.

Speaking on financing options, credit rating and cluster approach, Rajiv Chawla, MD, Jairaj Ancillaries, said the Indian MSMEs could compete with the foreign industries by adopting world-class manufacturing practices. Giving the example of Tata Nano, he said the marketing strategies needed to be revised according to the market situation.

Krishnaswamy, DGM (SME Business), SBI, explained various aspects of credit rating and other financing options available for the MSMEs.

Participants from the Haryana Financial Corporation, SIDBI, National Small Industries Corporation, BHEL, HP, etc., laid emphasis on sharpening strategies, leveraging the limited resources improving quality, reducing costs and increasing production.

Earlier, NK Minda, chairman, CII, Haryana State Council, delivered the welcome address. Jamil Ashraf, convenor (SME Panel), CII Haryana State Council, moderated the sessions at the conference.

Kurukshetra, May 18
Every effort will be made with the help of teaching and non-teaching staff to bring the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Kurukshetra, to the number one position in the country. This was stated by the chairman of the NIT, Prof JK Palit, after inaugurating a new hostel for boys at the NIT premises here today.

Prof Palit said the new hostel costing Rs 12.5 crore would accommodate 350 students, while another boys hostel with a capacity of 350 and costing Rs 15.2 crore would be completed by the next month. Similarly, a new hostel for girls with a capacity of 300 and costing Rs 9.3 crore was under construction, besides 12 lecture theatres, the construction of which would cost Rs 4.17 crore. Administrative block costing Rs 6.59 crore was also under construction, he added.

Besides highlighting various achievements made by the NIT in the field of education and research, Prof Palit mentioned about the MoUs of the NIT, Kurukshetra, with the foreign universities like Concordia University, Canada, University of Toledo, USA. The NIT has also signed MoUs with TCS, HP India and Altair Engg. for setting up the centre of excellence in the related fields.

Talking about future plans, Prof Palit said the construction of the MBA and MCA Department building on the NIT campus would be started very soon. This building would cost Rs 4.23 crore.

A swimming pool costing Rs 3.96 core, an extension of guesthouse costing Rs 1.6 crore and an open-air theatre would also be constructed shortly, he said.

He further informed that 21 per cent seats would be increased in the second phase next year for implementing OBC quota as per the Government of India guidelines and the institute was going to set up a pioneering centre for in service, technical and professional persons.

Prof Palit claimed that the Sixth Pay Commission had already been implemented for the non-teaching employees and 6 per cent additional DA had already been released for all employees.

Education allowance for two children at the rate of Rs 1,000 per month had been sanctioned for the NIT employees and the long pending issue of pension of the institute employees would also be taken up with the Centre immediately. All efforts would be made to provide medical facilities to all employees as per the Government of India guidelines, he said.

The institute offers seven UG programmes, civil, electrical, mechanical, electronics and communication, IT, industrial engineering and management and computer engineering with a total intake of 605 students. The institute also offers MTech in 17 specifications and MBA and MCA and PhD programmes in all departments of the institute, he added.

Sirsa, May 18
The Rashoba College of Education, managed by the Shobha Devi Ramanand Bansal Foundation, Sirsa, organised a seminar on “Critical Analysis of the Present BEd Curriculum” recently.

Binod Kumar, member, NCTE Northern Regional Centre, Jaipur, was the chief guest. KC Bhardwaj, vice-chancellor, Ch Devi Lal University, Sirsa, presided over the seminar. VK Gupta, principal, University College of Education, Kurukshetra, was the resource person.

Kumud R. Bansal, chairman, Rashoba College of Education, gave brief introduction of the topic. She advocated the introduction of recent techniques in BEd curriculum. She said the destiny of the nation depends on the shoulders of pupil and teacher. Therefore, we should try to raise the standard of education.

Binod explained the ways and means for good research and advised the teachers to conduct research for the effectiveness of education for budding teachers.

Bhardwaj echoed the views of the chief guest and urged all participants to come forward for the development of quality education.

Participants discussed major issues relating to teaching practicum and gave their suggestions. They gave more stress on the practical aspects of the curriculum as compared to the theory part.

Some participants suggested that the time period of teaching practice should be increased and training should be provided in more skills. The importance of work education and work experience was also discussed.

In the closing session, Gupta gave answers to the queries of the audience. He stressed that evaluation system should be modified and the criteria of internal assessment should be like that it could judge the overall performance of the students.

Yamunanagar, May 18
With a view to increasing the green cover in the country, saving foreign exchange, creating more employment opportunities and saving the plywood industry, the wasteland should be allotted to the wood-based industry on lease with a condition that 50 per cent of the land must remain green at all times and the rest be used for production.

These views were expressed by president of Wood Technologists SC Jolly.

“More than 500 plywood units have been functioning in the district. Due to the global economic crisis, the cost of production has increased manifold and industrialists have been suffering a lot, as we have to import much of plywood.

We will soon submit a memorandum to the Central government in this regard,” he said.

Jolly said India was one of the major wood consumers in the Asia-pacific region.

The total forest cover of the country was 6,78,333 sq km which constitutes 20.64 per cent of the geographic area of the country. Out of it, 51,285 sq km was dense forest, 3,33,279 sq km was moderately dense forest and 2,87,769 sq km was open forest cover.

“The mangrove forest area in the country is only 4,461 sq km. The non-forest cover, excluding scrub, is estimated to cover 25,68,661 sq km”.

There was a need to increase the cultivation of the mangrove area in the country so that the plywood industry can have enough wood for production, he said.

“As statistics clearly shows that we have much wasteland, still we have to import plywood due to the lack of proper policy of the Central government,” he added.

Ambala, May 18
The ambitious plan of shifting dairies of Ambala city and Ambala cantonment from the urban areas continues to hang fire.

Municipal councils of the two areas have not made any effort in this regard during the past five years and as a result, hundreds of dairies continue to run from here, adversely affecting sanitation.

Around eight years ago during the then Chautala Government, the scheme was finalised for Ambala city and cantonment. The government planned to shift all the dairies from the urban areas to make the city areas clean. The government had acquired land in the nearby villages for this purpose and provided grants to the municipal councils.

In Ambala city, the land was acquired near Mandore village and filling of the land was also done. The municipal council constructed roads and provided other facilities like water and electricity supply on the site. The plots were allotted to dairy owners at subsidised rates. The administration has already summoned meetings of dairy owners a number of times, but the dairy owners keep on delaying the matter on one or the other pretext.

The dairies could have shifted a few years ago, if the municipal council was given a free hand. Political interference has delayed the project. In fact, the dairy owners do not want to shift outside the urban locality as it would affect their business.

There are around 200 small and medium dairies in Ambala city and most of the owners throw the dung of the cattle in the main drains which chock the drains. In the rainy season when the drains overflow, filthy water floods the roads and sometimes enters houses. The cattle belonging to the dairies roam in the city area throughout the day and cause inconvenience to people.

The residents of the city have demanded the municipal council to shift the dairies to the proposed site before the monsoon.

Deputy Commissioner Samir Pal Saro had assured the residents a few months ago that the dairies would be shifted in a few months, but due to the Lok Sabha elections, the matter could not be pursued.