Gurgaon, May 21
In order to provide modern healthcare facilities in government hospitals, the state government has decided to spend Rs 90 crore.

The amount will be spent on upgrading the facilities in the civil hospitals of six districts, including Gurgaon, so that these civil hospitals can provide services at par with private hospitals.

The government aims at reducing the medical expenditure of the people, as health is on the top of its priority list.

For achieving this, a number of steps have been taken, which include providing
modern facilities in government hospitals that were previously available only in
select private hospitals.

According to an official, Rs 15 crore each would be spent on providing modern healthcare facilities in civil hospitals of six districts namely Gurgaon, Rohtak, Faridabad, Hisar, Bhiwani and Sonepat.

The work of renovation of the existing buildings of these hospitals has been allotted to the National Building Construction Corporation Limited, which is likely to begin work in July.

City-based civil surgeon SS Dalal mentioned that the government had approved Rs 15 crore for upgrading healthcare facilities in the local civil hospital.

Out of this, Rs 5.50 crore would be spent on the renovation of the existing building and the rest would be utilised for purchasing modern equipment.

He said a modern cancer ward was being set up and with this it would become the first civil hospital in the state to have such a facility.

The cancer ward would have 20 beds, out of which five beds would be in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Dr Dalal said all types of medicines required for the treatment of cancer were being given free of cost to the patients.

The civil hospital located here would also have more rooms in the private ward
so that separate rooms, on the pattern of private hospitals, could be made
available to the patients.

The fees for these would be much less than the private hospitals. Presently, the civil hospital has 11 rooms in its private ward.

Dr Dalal stated the government had filled all posts of doctors and other paramedical staff in the city because of which the patient turnout in the OPD had increased by 11.23 per cent during the past four months.

The civil hospital, which was upgraded to a 200-bed hospital by the Hooda government, also has facilities like MRI, digital X-ray and operation theatre. More facilities like computerised pathological testing lab are likely to be added soon.

Chandigarh, May 21
It’s back to the workers again for the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), still in shock following its rout in the Lok Sabha elections.

Nursing its wounds caused by Congress’ victory, the INLD has decided to go back to grass-roots workers for a post-mortem of its poor performance in the recent polls.

After its pre-election alliance with the BJP, which came about despite stiff opposition from the state unit of the party, the INLD was upbeat and hopeful of a satisfactory performance in the polls.

However, in the face of the nationwide Congress magic, nothing worked and the party drew a blank much to its dismay.

Following a meeting held in Delhi recently, INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautalal, realising that the Assembly elections are not faraway, has put the process of analysis of results on fast track.

While appreciating the hand extended by BJP workers during the campaigning in the five seats that went to the INLD kitty, Chautala decided that the candidates should hold a meeting at the headquarters of the nine Assembly constituencies falling in their respective Lok Sabha seats to go into the reasons for the defeat.

The workers would not only be asked to identify the reasons of failure but also to come up with the suggestions to improve the shortcomings in this election.

For the purpose, the INLD is reaching out to its workers through SMS on their cellphones, asking them to send suggestions for bringing improvement in the working of the party. The party has sought these suggestions in writing immediately.

The idea is to brace up for the Vidhan Sabha polls slated for February next year and to get its act together before it’s too late.

This feedback gathered from the constituencies and workers would then be forwarded to the party leader who would hold a state-level meeting in Hisar on June 1 to chalk out the party’s future course of action.

This meeting would be followed by a workers’ meeting to be addressed by Chautala at the district level all over the state.

Besides, with the INLD president of the state unit, Ashok Arora, resigning, it remains to be seem if a new man would be handed over the reins of the party in the state or the resignation would be turned down by the party supremo.

Sirsa, May 21
Students of JCD College of Engineering have developed a hybrid motorcycle that can run on petrol as well as on battery.

Raj Kumar, Hemant, Ravi, Parveen, Naveen and Rahul, all students of mechanical engineering, who teamed up to develop this motorcycle, have claimed that this is the first hybrid motorcycle of the country.

They maintain that though hybrid cars have already been developed, no one has so far developed a hybrid motorcycle.

Students owe their success to the guidance of their teachers, Dinesh Kumar and Rajesh Bansal, and inspiration by institute’s director-general Kuldeep Singh Dhindsa.

“The best feature of this motorcycle is that its battery gets automatically charged when it is running on petrol. The batteries can be charged through power as well. Once fully charged, the batteries help the motorcycle to run 20 km without fuel,” says teacher Rajesh Bansal, who has guided these students in their innovation.

The motorcycle has been powered with two batteries of 12 watts each. The students have used the chassis of a sports motorcycle and have made certain changes in the body by fabrication.

“Presently, it can run at a speed of 20 km per hour on battery but with some
minor changes in the gear system and by using light-weight tyres, it can be
increased,” said Hemant.

“On one litre of petrol, this motorcycle will run 40 km and by that time both its batteries will be charged and it will run another 20 km on batteries,” added Rahul.

He said the best aspect of this motorcycle was that it was environment friendly and free from noise pollution.

The students plan to get their innovation patented after making necessary changes to enhance its speed and running distance.

“We want to develop the spirit of innovation in our young engineers. They must be aware of our social requirement and should develop technologies that are socially required and environmentally compatible,” said Dhindsa.

Gurgaon, May 21
It was a delightful evening for the book lovers of the city who flocked to Landmark, a local book and music store, to meet author Lord Jeffrey Archer in person recently.

The author was on a five-city tour organised by the Landmark in association
with the Citibank.

The author shared his experience of writing his latest international best-seller
“Paths of Glory”.

While in Gurgaon, the author delighted his fans with a special book reading. At his candid best, he also signed books for his fans.

Commenting on the second innings of the Landmark Jeffrey Archer Tour, Himanshu Chakrawarti, COO, Landmark, said, “It was an honour for us to have Lord Jeffrey visit our store for the second consecutive year. His fans have loved interacting with him and I am glad that we managed to fulfill their dream in such a short span.”

This tour marked the beginning of a year-long association between the Landmark and the Citibank in which Citibank cardholders got an opportunity to meet the author and avail exclusive savings from the Landmark retail and online stores throughout the year.

New Delhi was his third spot post Chennai, wherein Lord Jeffrey pleased his fans by launching his novels “A Twist In The Tale” and “Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less” in Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam.

After New Delhi, the author proceeded to Pune and Bangalore for his latest best-seller “Paths of Glory”, which is a fictional account of unsolved mysteries in mountaineering history and revolves around the story of George Mallory and his dream of being the first person to climb the Mt. Everest.

Gurgaon, May 21
If the issue of breast cancer is not addressed properly, one out of 10 women will develop it in their lifetime.

This was stated by Dr Siddharth Sahni, consultant, surgical oncology (breast) at a programme on recent advances in breast cancer management, organised by the Artemis Health Institute (AHI), here, recently.

He said over 50 per cent of women diagnosed with breast cancer in the country would not survive for more than five years due to late diagnosis.

“Breast cancer cannot be prevented, but it has the potential to lend itself if detected at an early stage. This can be achieved by a woman only if she gets aware of how to examine herself,” he said.

“It is must for a woman to observe her breasts on a regular basis and must consult a doctor if she finds a lump or a change in it, although all lumps are not considered as cancer. One should also start getting screening done at the age of 35 and above to prevent the same”.

Dr Sahni said the cure rate in breast cancer, if detected early, was 97 per cent. Unfortunately, less than 10 per cent of all 1,50,000 breast cancer cases diagnosed in the country every year fall in this category.

According to the National Cancer Registry programme of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), breast cancer is the single largest cancer among women in Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chandigarh.

He mentioned that affirmative action could make a difference in stemming the increase in cancer rates and preventing at least a third of the cases.

Dr Sahni also highlighted the fact that cancer had seen a sharp increase in the
last decade or so.

“The incidence of breast cancer had been increasing in India, particularly in
the metros. In fact, it is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women in the
country,” he added.

According to health practitioners across Delhi and NCR, breast cancer cases are actually far higher than reported.

“Breast cancer management has not only resulted in cure, if found early, but also in the preservation of the female form in its entirety without compromising on the cancer treatment and for this, creating awareness and the early detection of the disease is must,” Dr Sahni said.

More then 100 gynaecologists and private health practitioners of the city attended the session. It also covered various other aspects related to the disease, such as when to go for breast screening and how to manage non-cancerous conditions effectively and reliably. The doctors were also educated about the newer modalities of detection and treatment.

Jhajjar, May 21
Taking a strong view of the rising incidents of animal theft and illegal slaughtering of animals, the district magistrate has issued an order that all able-bodied persons of every village in the district would perform patrol duties in their respective areas from 10 pm to 6 am every day.

The move aims at preventing loss to human life, public and private property, disruption of peaceful atmosphere and safety in the jurisdiction of the district.

This order has come into force with immediate effect and would remain effective for the next two months.

A copy of the order has also been circulated to all tehsildars, block development and panchayat officers, local bodies and panchayats in the district.

As per the order issued under Section 3 (1) of the Punjab Village and Small Town Act (VIII) of 1918, the gram panchayats would be responsible for patrolling and ensuring the performance as envisaged in the Act.

The SDM, district development and panchayat officer (DDPO) and the block development and panchayat officers (BDPO) would make sure the regulation of requisite patrol through the panchayats. The contravention of this order would be punishable under Section 9 to 11 of the Act.

It may be recalled that 14 carcasses of cows, bulls and a calf were found in the fields of Mundakhera village here last week.

The animals had been skinned. A large number of people from Mundhakhera, Lagarpur, Badhsa, Dewarkhana, Lohat, Samalpur, Fatehpur and Badli villages had blocked the Badli-Gurgaon highway in protest.

They lifted the blockade after nearly four hours following the assurance by district officers that guilty persons would be strictly dealt with. The Badli police had registered a case in this regard.

Chandigarh, May 21
There is a good news for about 2,200 electricity consumers of eight villages of Yamunanagar district as the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) has made a new arrangement for lodging complaints by setting up temporary complaint centres with the help of Sakshar Mahila Samoohs (SMS).

The complaints relating to power supply will be registered at these centres. President of the SMS group in Yamunanagar Sneh Lata has been assigned the responsibility of registering complaints of the consumers of Kamboj Majri, Damla, Model Town Damla, Kishanpura Damla and Harijan Basti Damla.

The nigam has provided a calling user group (CUG) cellphone no. 9315609789 to her. The complaints would be registered from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. After registering the complaint, the same would be forwarded to the staff of the nigam.

Under this arrangement, a complaint Raj Kumar of Model Town Damla was registered at 12.20 pm and the same was set right by 1.00 pm.

Earlier, the consumers of these areas had to travel from 0-5 km for lodging their complaints in a register kept on the premises of a floor mill.

Similarly, the responsibility of registering the complaints has been given to the president, SMS, Naya Gaon village, Poonam, for Naya Gaon, Sabepur, Bakarpur, Behrampur and Fatehpur for which CUG cellphone no. 9315609718 has been provided. Earlier, the consumers had to go to bus stand, Behrampur, for lodging their electricity complaints.

An official spokesman stated that the nigam would also provide stationery for registering complaints and pay Rs 500 per month as honorarium to the women who were given the job.

The nigam had come out with this scheme as a pilot project and instructions had been issued to all superintending engineers to identify two SMS in their respective areas, he added.

The department had registered eight service providers under the PWDV Act and a number of organisations were in the process of being registered as service providers.

Kurukshetra, May 21
Sri Krishna Museum here celebrated the International Museum Day by organising an exhibition and a quiz on its premises here recently. The day was celebrated to create awareness among people about the heritage and culture of the country.

After inaugurating the exhibition, Dr VK Asthana, a retired professor of Kurukshetra University, said the exhibition highlighted the archaeological and cultural heritage of Kurukshetra. The exhibits included blowups of folk paintings, architectural and archaeological findings etc.

Deputy director of the museum Rajesh Purohit said one could view the potential and attractive destinations through the exhibition such as archaeological sites contemporary to the Indus Valley civilisation.

Purohit said there had been a sea change in the definition and concept of a museum. Museums in contemporary times not only preserved the tangible heritage to make people aware of the history and culture, but they had also started initiating new programmes on intangible heritage, he added.

A number of schoolchildren participated in a quiz competition on the heritage and culture of India that was organised on the occasion.

The first prize went to Aggarsain Public School, the second prize was won by Gurukul, and the third prize went to Saini Public School.

Rewari, May 21
The town has a number of historical tanks. The prominent among these are Tej Sagar, popularly known as Bara Talab (big tank), Nand Sagar, which goes by the name of Chhota Talab (small tank) and Solah Rahi (a medium-sized tank).

It is, however, deplorable that these tanks, once the pride of the town rendering valuable services to its residents, are now lying in a state of neglect.

Solah Rahi, which is located on the outskirts of the town, about 1 km from the Maharana Pratap Chowk on the Rewari-Bawal road, was built by the people of Rewari in the last quarter of the 19th century.

It is unfortunate that this ancient water tank, which is a unique representative of the traditional water system of the region and which still holds significant historic value for the people of Rewari, has been lying in ruins.

However, the Rewari Chapter of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has come forward to seek government’s assistance for the restoration of this dilapidated historical tank.

It is not known how this tank got its name. It was primarily constructed as a stepped reservoir of rainwater, which served as a bathing place for residents.

Simultaneously, the wells dug nearby provided drinking water to the residents of various neighbouring localities. INTACH has prepared a comprehensive plan for the conservation of the tank.

Sudhir Bhargava, convener of the Rewari chapter of INTACH, has recently sent
the copies of the plan to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and senior officials
of the district administration.

Sirsa, May 21
The Public Health Engineering Department, Haryana, will spend Rs 2.20 crore to improve drinking water supply in more than six villages of the district.

Deputy Commissioner SK Goyal said three separate water tanks would be constructed at the waterworks of Kumthal village.

Staff quarters and pump chamber would also be constructed in the waterworks campus. He said Rs 57 lakh would be spent on the extension of water supply scheme of Mithi Sureran village.

Besides constructing various types of water tanks, inlet channel pipelines would be laid and various types of equipment/gadgets would be installed in this waterworks.

Goyal said Rs 47.40 lakh would be spent on the construction of an independent waterworks at Pana village of the district. Similarly, Rs 14 lakh would be spent on laying RCC pipelines in waterworks of Bhurtwala village.

Water supply scheme of Darba Khurd would also be extended at a cost of Rs 24 lakh and Rs 8.60 lakh would be spent in Dhani Sikhan.

He added that Rs 7 lakh would be spent on the construction of a boosting station at Asir village. All these constructions works would be completed in the period of four to 12 months, Goyal added.

Hisar, May 21
Despite claiming the second highest vote percentage in the recent Lok Sabha polls in Haryana, the BSP faces an uncertain future mainly because of the lack of a local leader with statewide appeal.

The party claimed 15.73 per cent votes in the parliamentary polls bagging the second spot behind the Congress, but ahead of the INLD.

The feat has surprised pollsters. Veteran poll managers are baffled by the fact that the BSP was able to poll so many votes even though the party did not have a Haryanavi face to lead its march.

In this background, they tend to attribute the high vote share of the party to the stillborn INLD-BJP alliance.

They say that a large numbers of supporters of these parties voted for the BSP because they did not want to vote for the Congress and their poll partner’s candidates. The only other choice was the BSP.

Whatever the reasons, the fact remains that unless the BSP finds a Haryanavi leader who has mass appeal in the state, it is unlikely to repeat its performance in the Assembly elections due early next year when it would be necessary to present a chief ministerial candidate.

At present, its only known face is Mann Singh Manhera, the present party chief in Haryana. However, Manhera with no political standing worth the name is hardly a candidate for the office of the Chief Minister.

He has been functioning more like a regional manager of a corporate looking after a particular territory for the parent company based outside Haryana than as a mature political leader.

The BSP nominees who performed well in the Lok Sabha polls, too, lack statewide appeal and acceptance necessary to aspire for the office of the Chief Minister.

All this points to a vacuum at the top which the party will find difficult to fill in the months before the Assembly elections are held.

In the absence of credible top leaders, the party will be unable to raise its cadres, notwithstanding the high percentage of votes it claimed in the Lok Sabha polls.

Without an army of political workers, the party can only hope for freak voter behaviour as witnessed in the Lok Sabha polls.

Under these circumstances, the BSP will perforce have to seek an alliance. If that were to be so, its only likely ally will be the Kuldeep Bishnoi’s HJC (BL). But this will not be easy too.

The HJC may prefer the BJP, which squandered a chance to perform well in the Lok Sabha polls by opting for the INLD. It is already looking for an alternative in the 2010 Assembly polls.

There is hardly any chance of the BJP joining hands with the BSP in Haryana, especially as Mayawati has extended support to the UPA government at the Centre.

The BJP’s earlier flirtations with the BSP in Uttar Pradesh have also not been a
pleasant experience.

The party will be looking up to Mayawati to come out with a solution. But this is a difficult task even for the maverick UP Chief Minister.

Panipat, May 21
The presence of foreign particles in the bottle of a soft drink left a consumer guessing as to how some suspended material was found in the bottle despite tall claims made by the manufacturers regarding quality control.

Vishwas, a local resident, had recently gone to meet his friends in a factory located on the Sanoli road, where his friend offered him a bottle of Pepsi.

Vishwas said without doubting the quality of the drink, he started to consume it. He came to know about some suspended material in the drink after finishing the bottle.

Shocked over what he had consumed, Vishwas immediately took up the matter with the owner of the shop from where the bottle had been purchased.

The owner of the shop told him that he was not responsible for the lapse and he should contact the company to seek an explanation.

Vishwas then asked the shopkeeper from where he had purchased the drinks and after the shopkeeper provided him with the details of his supplier, he rang him up.

The local supplier gave him another number that was of a local representative of the Pepsi company and told him to bring the matter to his notice.

The aggrieved consumer spoke to the local representative of the company, who identified himself as Vineet Sharma.

After receiving the complaint, Vineet assured Vishwas that he would look into the matter and would meet him soon to get more details in the regard.

However, when, even after a couple of days, none from the company turned up to meet Vishwas, he then sent an e-mail to the headquarters of the company. But, there was no response.

Vishwas said following this, he called up the company’s head office at Gurgaon where he brought the matter to the notice of customer care unit where one Simi Mehta spoke to him and assured him that the company would be taking effective measures in the regard.

However, even this assurance did not produced any results. He said it was an important matter as many people consume soft drinks and any contamination could prove fatal for the individual.

These companies were earning huge profits from the sale of drinks and it was their responsibility to ensure its quality, he added.

Gurgaon, May 21
Sunday was the day for the criminals who managed to loot lakhs of rupees, cell phones and electronics items and even steal a car from different parts of the city.

Dharampal Singh, a resident of Bilaspur, complained to the police that lakhs of rupees, including mobile phones and other valuable items, were stolen from his shop situated at Bilaspur Chowk.

Dharampal said when he reached his shop on Monday morning he found that the lock was broken and around 12 phones were stolen.

He immediately informed the police who reached the spot and registered a case. The burglars also broke the lock of an electricity shop in Farukhnagar.

Shop owner Ashok told the police that other then a motor, four bundles of pipe and cash were stolen from his shop.

In another incident, three persons stole a car from the National Highway No 8 on
Sunday night.

Pappu, driver of the vehicle, told the police that when he was returning to Udyog Vihar three boys stopped the car near the Shankar Chowk.

He said the boys entered his car, hit him and took away the vehicle. He informed the police who sealed the area.