Mirpur (Rewari), June 27
The Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah, said here today that the Centre would make efforts to popularise the use of solar energy in the country.

Dr Abdullah, who was here as a chief guest at a private function related to the 10th annual day function of the Mirpur Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS), saw merit in subsidising production of solar panels so that there was greater encouragement on part of the public to come forward in setting up solar plants to generate solar-based energy.

He further said the biggest challenge that the ministry was working to address was to devise effective ways to conserve solar energy generated for consumption.

According to him, the Clinton Foundation, which had been promoting solar-based energy as an alternate source of energy, had already decided to set up a 3,000 MW plant in Gujarat. The state government had already given them the green light.

The foundation was also in touch with the Rajasthan government to set up a 3,000 MW solar plant in the state. He said the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, was also in favour of increasing the scope of solar-based energy as an alternative source of energy.

When asked about the drift of the India-Pakistan relations, he said: “Pakistan must hand over the culprits of the Mumbai terror attacks to India. Unless that happens, it will be difficult on the part of India to move forward in normalising the embittered relationship with our neighbouring country.”

Speaking at the annual function of the MIMS run by the Dr SS Yadav Ram Bhagwan Charitable Trust, he lauded the institute for the work it was doing in rural areas in the field of medical sciences. He said the biggest service to the humanity was to serve the poor and the destitute.

The chairman of the trust, Padma Shri awardee Dr SS Yadav, had set up the institute with an aim to provide diagnosis of cancer. The trust now runs a nursing school as well as DNB (PG) courses in orthopedic surgery on the institute premises.

The department houses a 50-bedded multi-speciality hospital and there are plans to expand the facilities as well as the departmental units in the institute.

The Union Minister assured all help to the institute.

Dr Yadav said the institute had been working against all odds, but the spirit of the team of its doctors had enabled it surmount all difficulties.

The management of the institute also honoured Dr Abduallah.

Karnal, June 27
The irate Shokhpura villagers in Gharaunda area of Karnal today locked Junior Engineer Nand Kishore in the power house to protest against the ‘chronic’ power shortage, which is affecting their paddy transplantation aversely.

Enraged villagers assembled near the power house and kept the JE locked till the SDO arrived on the spot and pacified the villagers by giving them a firm assurance that the supply would be normalised.

The police also reached the village but its intervention was not required as better sense prevailed on the villagers and they dispersed peacefully.

Power shortage had led to violent clashes between villagers of Gharibaral and Barana on Thursday and 200 people were booked under various sections of the IPC and Arms Act.

Villagers of Nagla Mega also resorted to road blockade to press their demand for regular and assured power supply during the paddy season.

The villagers blocked the Karnal- Meerut road at Nagla Chowk for hours.

The farmers rued that the power supply was far short of demand and one of the two tube-wells in the village had been rendered in-operational due to some fault while sufficient power was not available to operate the other.

The villagers also attacked the sarpanch and said he was not doing anything to provide succour to them and half the cultivated area in the village was without water.

The villagers feared they would suffer heavy losses and their crops would wither if normal power supply was not restored during the ongoing sowing season.

A police party headed by DSP (Headquarters) Surinder Singh reached the spot and took stock of the situation and persuaded the villagers to lift the road blockade.

The villagers hailing from nearby villages warned that they would again resort to road blockade if proper supply was not normalised within two days and the tube-well was not repaired. 

Kaithal, June 27
Four panchayats of the area - three of Balu and one of Julani Khera - met Deputy Commissioner Amneet P Kumar on Thursday and tendered a written apology for the damage that they had caused to a powerhouse in Balu and cut off electricity lines linking Balu with Kelram village about a week ago.

The villagers had also blocked traffic in protest against frequent power shutdowns in the area. In their letter to the Deputy Commissioner, they committed not to cause any damage to public property in future. They also stated that from now onwards if somebody resorted to such an action, he would have to bear the responsibility for it and the panchayats would not extend any kind of cooperation to him.

The panchayats promised to cooperate with the administration in maintaining law and order. They also urged the DC to withdraw the case registered in connection with the incident. The police had registered a case against some residents for the damage caused to public property and had rounded up a person for interrogation on Thursday. However, he was let off later.

On being asked whether the case against the villagers would be withdrawn, SP Sultan Singh said the police would take a decision on the issue soon.

The administration has been facing a tough task in tackling traffic blockades in protest against the power shortage in different parts of the district.

Kaithal MLA Shamsher Singh Surjewala has urged the people to refrain from this kind of agitation as it caused great inconvenience to the public.

Beri (Jhajjar), June 27
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said today that Beri town would be given the status of subdivision and a residential sector of Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) would also be developed here.

He made the announcement while addressing the Vikas Rally organised by the local MLA and Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Dr Raguhbir Singh Kadian, here today.

Hooda also announced that next month blankets would be given to those widows who had been getting pension from the government. Earlier, the government had provided doga and turbans to the men beneficiaries and shawls to women beneficiaries.

The Chief Minister also sought the cooperation from the opposition parties to deal with draught-like situations in the state as the water level in Bhakra Dam had receded and the Yamuna water level was also low.

He asserted that the situation could be dealt with the unstinted cooperation of the people. Referring to the INLD-BJP alliance, Hooda said the alliance was made to grab the power as it was not based on any principle and it had no future.

The Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Dr Ragubir Singh Kadian, said during the past four and a half years, the government had executed a number of development works. Seven roads costing Rs 263 crore were being constructed in National Capital Region besides the construction of five minors and six drains at a cost of Rs 80 crore. He termed Beri town as “Chhoti Kanshi” as it had 104 temples in its vicinity.

HPCC president Phool Chand Mullana urged the people to vote for the Congress in the Assembly elections so that the development process could not hamper. Meanwhile, the Congress got a shot in the arm when several prominent INLD leaders, including Ranbir Dhaka, former president of the District Bar Association, Rohtak, and Youth INLD state general secretary Sanjay Lohan, joined the Congress.

Chandigarh, June 27
Amidst reports of opposition parties planning agitations to protest against scarcity of power and water, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today appealed to the people “to act with patience and support” the government in dealing with countrywide “drought-like situation”.

Hooda said here today that the drought-like situation had arisen in the country due to the natural adversity. The water level in the Bhakra Dam had receded as a result of which the power generation had gone down and water supply in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan was largely affected. Haryana too had not remained untouched by this natural setback.

Assuring the farmers that he would not let their standing crops wither, he said the power would be purchased at any rate. He said the state would soon emerge out of this temporary problem as four power plants at Yamunangar, Khedar, Jharli and Khanpur Khurd were being set up on war footing.

He appealed to leaders of political parties to give “constructive support” to the government as natural calamities were beyond anyone’s control and these issues were not meant to get political advantage. “Leave the politics for elections which are not far away. Now help the government in meeting the challenges posed by the nature,” he added.

Hooda said the problem would not be solved by inciting the people but it would exaggerate the problem as the attention of the officers engaged in solving the shortage of power and water would be diverted towards tackling demonstrations, protests and traffic jams.

Sirsa, June 27
Farmers of Bajekan, Khairpur and Vaidwala villages, whose agricultural land has been affected by a notification of the state government for the acquisition of land for the purpose of developing a sector of the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC), today said they would resist every move of the government in this direction.

Talking to mediapersons here Ashwapat Singh Rathore, Balwinder Singh Aulakh, Dhanwant Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Om Parkash Sethi and Nirmal Singh, representatives of the farmers, whose land has been affected by the government notice issued under Section 104 of the Acquisition of Land Act, 1981, alleged that the authorities had started the process for making a case for the acquisition of their land although the move was once put off after the first notice was issued on August 7, 2008.

“Our land is adjacent to Sirsa town and the prices in this area have gone very high over the years. Besides, more than 500 persons have been living in 20 to 25 dhanis constructed on the land for which notice has been issued,” claimed Rathore.

He said Sirsa had been included in the list of grade C towns by the government. In view of this the price offered by the government was much lower than the actual price of land.

The farmers demanded that the HSIDC sector should be constructed at a place 10 km to 15 km away from the town as had been done in various cities of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. He warned that the farmers would not allow the government to uproot them from their land and would take their battle to the highest level.