Gurgaon, October 22
The ongoing stir by industrial workers and trade unions here has affected the local industry in general and the automobile and auto-component sector in particular. Apart from causing huge financial losses to the company managements, the stir has also hit the livelihood of industrial labourers.

Not only the local industrialists and company managers, but also several sections of industrial workers lament the "politicisation" of the issue.

However, thanks to the failure of the authorities concerned in tackling the matter timely and appropriately, the situation has assumed the present alarming form.

The protests sparked by the death of an industrial worker made a considerable number of local units come to a grinding halt as a large number of labourers went on strike.

Operations in a number of big manufacturing units like Honda, Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto, RICO, Sunbeam, Microtech were hit by the strike.

The functioning of major manufacturing facilities heavily depends upon the supply of components from ancillary units. Almost the entire auto industry has been forced to bear the brunt of the strike.

Industrial captains maintain that If the present scenario is allowed to persist, it would ruin the local industry as well as the investment climate, especially in Gurgaon, which has lately emerged as a major industrial hub of the region and a preferred destination of investors.

Terming the whole episode as unfortunate, Col Raj Singla(retd), president of the Chamber of Industries of Udyog Vihar, Gurgaon; and Krishan Kapur, general secretary of the Haryana Industries Association, have appealed to the industrial workers not to be misled by the vested interests and directly approach their respective managements to get their internal matters settled amicably.

"The managements of industrial units are also dependent on their workers and any dispute between the two can be resolved by way of talks," says K.C.Papreja, general secretary of the Gurgaon Industries Association, who hopes that with talks going on at various levels, an amicable solution would soon be reached.

Jhajjar, October 22
Here is good news for those who are not satisfied with the ongoing investigation process of their criminal cases and wish to review them for removing their fear and apprehension of any foul play. Now, they can easily get their cases reviewed just by placing a written request in the office of Inspector General of Police (IGP), Rohtak.

Working on its novel plan of preventing any possibility of wrongdoing while investigation, besides making the functioning of the police scientific and result-oriented, the Rohtak police has decided to review all those pending cases on the request of the complainants or accused of the cases, who have any doubt about misconduct and inaccuracy in the investigation process.

The special crime analysis cell, established in the IGP office six months ago, would review the pending cases after receiving the request in this regard. It will study each case from various angles and make an effort to curb irregularity, if any.

IGP V Kamaraja said instructions for execution of the plan efficiently had recently been issued to all SSPs of Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat, Karnal and Panipat falling under the jurisdiction of Rohtak range police.

“The aim behind the move is to check foul play, if any, committed by investigative officers (IOs) during the investigation, besides improving the investigation standards and strengthening the investigative skills of the officers as well,” emphasised the IGP, adding that official action would also be initiated against those who would be found guilty of negligence or committing irregularities while investigating the cases.

The special crime analysis cell, which will review the cases, is the first cell of its kind in the state that has not only been pointing out the inaccuracy committed by officers while investigating a case but also providing expert aid to them after reviewing the case study thoroughly. Besides, it tries to find a way for plugging the loopholes, if any, in the investigation.”

He maintained senior police officials from various places of the range had been working as the representatives of the cell and they not only had thorough knowledge of crime investigation but had also proved instrumental in solving several crime cases in the past. “All those complainants or accused in the cases who are not satisfied with the investigation of their pending cases can contact his office for getting their cases reviewed. The case will be reviewed within a limited time period so that time could be saved,” Kamaraja said.

Hisar, October 22
DAV Colleges in Haryana are once again under a cloud for flouting university rules to appoint their principals as managers of DAV Schools run by the non-statutory DAV Colleges Managing Committee, New Delhi, in addition to their own duties.

In reply to a query made by local RTI activist Anil Bhatia, Kurukshetra University has stated on record that “there is no such rule vide which the principal of a DAV College, being a whole-time employee of the college, functions as the manager of DAV Public School”.

However, despite this principals of almost all DAV Colleges in Haryana are acting as school managers and are being provided special perks to help them discharge their managerial duties. These include chauffeur-driven sedans, up market cellphones and even private security guards.

In reply to Bhatia’s query filed under the Right to Information Act, the university has also stated that “there is no fund” from which the managing bodies of DAV Colleges can provide perks such as luxury chauffeur-driven cars, airconditioners, mobile phones and security guards to their principals.

Significantly, in 2004 the Higher Education Commissioner had also issued a directive to all private aided and unaided colleges not to misuse funds meant for students. The directive specifically stated that funds collected from students were not “public money” but a kind of “public fund” in the hands of heads of institutions which should be spent strictly for the welfare of students.

It tersely stated that “the funds are to be utilised in the same way as a man or woman of ordinary prudence would do in respect of his or her own money”.

The Higher Education Commissioner had also specifically banned provision of mobile phones and payment of their bills from the amalgamated fund. Payment of conveyance allowance, TA and DA and sumptuary allowance was also banned.

In sharp contrast, the principals of government colleges have no power to purchase anything for their college without permission of the Higher Education Commissioner. They get only one telephone in their office.

The principals of government colleges are entitled only to an air cooler for the office during the summer. They are required to have “simple furniture” in the office and carpets are a taboo. They are neither entitled to cars and they draw their TA and DA as per government and university rules.

These principals cannot function as school managers or perform any other duty in addition to their main job.

Yamunanagar, October 22
Known for its religious sanctity and religious values, the state-level Kapal Mochan fair is to begin from October 30. The four-day mela at Bilaspur will witness lakhs of devotees pouring in from different states.

Proper arrangements need to be made as thousands of devotees will throng the town. Conditions of roads leading to the fair site are dotted with potholes and sanitary conditions too prevailing in the town require proper attention.

Pilgrims begin to pour in a week before the fair starts. The Naryanagarh-Jagadhri state highway as well as Chhachhroli-Jagadhri road are in deplorable conditions and need repairs. The devotees coming from Himachal, Punjab, Uttar Pardesh, Delhi, besides Haryana use these road links.

The fair is of unique significance as it holds religious sanctity for both the Hindus and the Sikhs. Lord Shiva, Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, as well as Sikh gurus, Guru Nanak Dev and Guru Gobind Singh are believed to have visited Kapal Mochan here. The pilgrims take holy dip in Kapal Mochan sarovar at Bilaspur on Kartik Purnima.

The administration has to ensure that no snake is found in the sarovars, which may lead to mishap. Last year, there was panic among the pilgrims, who took holy dip in the sarovars due to presence of snakes. There was paucity of space, drinking water facility and the vehicles carrying community kitchen items were not allowed to drive down to their venues.

The need was also felt that separate arrangements should be made for men and women, who take holy dip at the three sarovars on Kartika Purnima. Many women pilgrims felt the inconvenience last year.

However, DC Amit Kumar Agarwal has directed the officials concerned to make proper arrangements. He has also visited the town and assured that all arrangements would be in place before the fair. Some of the work had been left as most of the officials were deputed on elections duty, he said.

Karnal, October 22
The chairman of the Punjab Farmers Commission, Dr GS Kalkat has urged farm scientists to work towards breaking the yield barrier so as to meet the food grain demand of the growing population.

Inaugurating the “Kharif Mela”, organised by the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI), here, he emphasised the need for securing the national food basket and urged the farmers to adopt laser-leveler, happy seeder and artificial insemination of buffaloes.

He also advised the farmers to adopt integrated farming model and diversify to vegetable cultivation and commercial dairy farming for supplementing their income, besides developing varieties suitable for water-stress situation.

Dr Gurbachan Singh, director, CSSRI, said about 1.7 million hectare land had been reclaimed by the institute in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and over 10 million tonne of food grain was being produced annually from reclaimed soils. He also elaborated upon the recent initiatives taken by the institute.

Farmers were informed about the technologies developed at the CSSRI for reclamation of salt-affected soils, use of poor quality irrigation water, crop diversification, medicinal and aromatic plants, salt tolerant varieties etc.

Seeds of wheat PBW 550, PBW 502, DBW 17, HD 2894, HD 2851, HD 2733, KRL 19 and mustard CS 52, CS 54 and CS 56 were sold during the mela. Soil and water samples brought by farmers were tested free of cost and a large number of farmers benefited from the mela.

All ICAR institutes located in Karnal, departments of agriculture, HAU, Regional Station, Karnal, and other government and private agencies displayed their works at the exhibition. A “kisan goshthi” and field visits were also organised in which scientists interacted with the farmers and discussed and solved their emerging agricultural related problems. Besides, 15 progressive farmers from Haryana were felicitated during the fair and prizes were awarded to three best exhibition stalls.

Panipat, October 22
The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is all set to shutdown half of its Panipat refinery for about 21 days during the first phase of increasing its capacity from the existing 12 MMTPA to 15 MMTPA by next year.

Besides, the oil giant is also going to shut a 2.4 million tonne per year (TPY) delayed coker unit for about 21 days while a 1.7 million TPY hydrocracker and a 3.5 million TPY diesel hydrotreater (DHDT) would be closed for about a month.

Earlier, the expansion of the refinery was planned to be completed by November this year, but for certain reasons it has been delayed.

Sources at the refinery state that it was the phase-I shutdown for raising the refinery capacity to 15 million tonne (3,00,000 bpd). The shutdown would begin in the last week of this month.

After the shutdown, the refining capacity of the crude unit would be increased by 25 per cent, while the DHDT would be able to produce Euro IV compliant diesel. The hydrocracker would also be revamped and would be able to process at 3 million tonnes a year.

With the completion of these projects, the Panipat refinery would become an integrated petrochemicals complex, which would be one of the most advanced establishments of the company.

The expansion would ensure better supply of petroleum products to the strategic north-west region of the country. The IOC is investing a whopping Rs 14,000 crore for upgrading the refinery. The refinery-cum-petrochemical hub would not only better the fuel supplies but also benefit polymer units in northern states. It is also expected to drive the growth of the petrochemical industry of the region.

The IOC had earlier expanded the capacity of the refinery from 6 MMTPA to 12 MMTPA. The new complex would create a dedicated industrial zone for the downstream industries and is expected to attract an investment of more than Rs 15,000 crore, besides providing employment to a large number of persons directly and generating indirect employment opportunities through ancillary units.

Rohtak, October 22
The traffic movement in the city is likely to become smoother with another railway overbridge (ROB) thrown open for public here recently. This has been the fourth ROB that has become functional in the city in the past about four and half years.

Two more ROBs have been under construction and are likely to be completed within a period of another six to ten months period.

Though no formal function was held officially to start the ROB at Circular Road (double phatak) here due to the election process, the opening of this over-bridge on October 12 has come as a major relief to residents of several colonies, especially those located on the southern side of the city and the commuters moving towards Jhajjar, Bhiwani and even Hisar bypass roads.

The most remarkable thing about this ROB, which is about 750-metre long, is that it provides a smooth passage over two railway lines, including the main railway track connecting the city with Delhi and another connecting this town with Panipat.

“This spot, popularly known as double phatak, had emerged a major bottleneck for the residents and commuters moving on either side due to closure of the railway crossing at most of the time,” said Yoginder Rana, a resident of Azad Nagar locality.

The localities which stand to benefit directly with this ROB include the Housing Board Colony (old), Preet Vihar, Shivaji Colony, Ekta Colony, Kamla Nagar, Vijay Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar, Sugar Mill Colony, Azad Nagar, Kanheli village and adjoining areas, besides the commuters moving towards Sunarian Chowk, and several villages falling on the outskirts of the town said an official.

“This ROB has been constructed by the PWD at a cost of Rs 28.85 crore in a time period of about 25 months,” according to Satbir Singh, XEN of the department. It has completed all the four ROB projects sanctioned to it about two and half years back and may take up another two projects in the district if given approval in the near future, he said.

There has been an unbridled increase in the traffic over the years. Since the ROB is double lane , it doesn’t seem that it would solve the purpose to a great extent, claimed Wazir Singh, a resident of Vijay Nagar.

The authorities should construct wider flyovers keeping in view the future demand, he said. The ROB on the Jind-Hisar Road is also two lane, though it is on the national highway.

Sonepat, October 22
A food park with the state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities and modern technology is being set up at Rai in the district. With an objective to provide the best possible food processing facilities to the small and medium scale entrepreneurs and industrialists, the park is coming up in an area of 116 acres adjoining the GT road.

According to official sources, as many as 223 plots of different sizes, varying between 3125 sq m up to 11,025 sq m, had been carved out and the facilities like road, electricity, water and communication services have been provided in this park.

The park’s proximity to Delhi, which is about 30 km from Rai, is one of the main advantages for the entrepreneurs. Moreover, The Kundli Maneshar-Palwal (KMP) and Kundli-Gaziabad-Palwal (KGP) expressways around Delhi will almost be crossing through the Rai and Kundli industrialist belts of the district.

These expressways after completion would solve all problems relating to the transportation of the raw material in the park and finished goods from there.

Yakut Danone India and Unique Fragrances are some of the major units which are already into production at the park. Other industries like Becto Food Specialities, Bikano Backery and Namkeen and Reliance Industries for processing food and agriculture products were in the process of setting up bases at the Rai Food Park.

A number of small-scale units had also started production activities at the park. These are engaged in manufacturing and processing of pulses, rice, breads, fruits and vegetables.

With an objective of providing logistic support to the units in the park and its neighbouring areas, About 16 acres of land had been allotted on leasehold basis to Fresh and Healthy Enterprise, a wholly owned subsidiary of CONCOR for setting up a sophisticated and specialised controlled atmosphere storage facility at Rai.

This facility is part of cold chain infrastructure being set up by CONCOR and is the biggest facility of this kind in the country. A storage capacity of 12,000 metric tonnes in 78 chambers, each having a capacity of 155 MTs with 100 per cent power back up have been created so as to ensure uninterrupted operation throughout the year.

Each chamber is provided with a computer-controlled system for control of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and temperature. The technology for controlled atmosphere has been imported from the United Kingdom.

Recently, Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) Gas and Toyo Seikan Kaisha had approached with a proposal for setting up of a gas distribution centre and can manufacturing unit at the food park.

Acknowledging the importance of the region in food processing field, a National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management was being set up by the Central government at Kundli near Rai for providing world-class education to the students in food processing field. The infrastructure development of this institute,the foundation stone of which was laid by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, was nearing to completion.

Chandigarh, October 22
Haryana's average performance under the total sanitation campaign (TSC), a flagship programme of the state government, has been highly satisfactory at 91.32 per cent.

An official spokesman said strict directions had been issued to the Deputy Commissioners performing less than the state average to accelerate the pace of coverage.

The performance of Deputy Commissioners (DCs), ADCs, District Development Panchayat Officers (DDPOs) and Block Development Panchayat Officers (BDPOs) would be adjudged on the basis of their performance in the implementation of this campaign, he added.

He said the Women and Child Development Department had been asked to do a quick mapping and analysis regarding the location of aanganwari Centres of private as well as government buildings and also the availability of sanitation facilities.

The department had also been asked to work out district-wise proposals for construction of toilets in all anganwari centres located in government and private buildings, schools, chaupals, panchayat ghars and community centres, etc for submission to the ADCs concerned.

It had also been decided that the Nirmal Gram Puraskar (NGP) would be awarded to gram panchayats at a state-level function by the Governor or the Chief Minister and the winners of the district and block-level NGP awards would be given awards by the President of India.

To achieve better performance under the TSC, it had been decided that block education officers would check the school toilets and their status would be recorded in their monthly inspection report.

Anganwari workers would be responsible for maintenance of anganwari toilets. Similarly, BDPOs and SEPOs and panchayat secretaries each would check the maintenance of at least five community/women sanitary complexes.

Chandigarh, October 22
If the Congress is struggling to retain the power in Haryana today, the party has to blame itself. High on the success in the Lok Sabha elections, when the Congress picked up nine of the 10 parliamentary seats, marginalizing the opposition, it went for an early Assembly elections.

The Lok Sabha success made the party complacent. Various leaders became ambitious to become the Chief Minister. Right up to the day of polling, these leaders were trying to run down each other than on taking the opposition. In fact, from the very start the Congress committed one mistake after the other.

It delayed its list of candidates to the last. The Congress aspirants spent their energy and resources more on getting the party ticket than on campaigning in their constituencies. The INLD, for whom it was a question of survival, moved quickly to fill the vacuum. It surged ahead in the campaigning.

Then, the Congress was under a false notion that anyone contesting on its ticket would win. The ticket distribution was not based on merits and winnability of the candidates, but on balancing various factions within the party. The party found an easy way out to balance various factions.

It renominated most of its sitting MLAs, without bothering about the anti-incumbency against individual candidates. The party went a step further by transplanting candidates from one constituency to another, ignoring the aspirations of the local party men, who also wanted the ticket but did not enjoy the patronage of a senior leader.

The transplantation also annoyed the local populace in many constituencies, which wanted such a person as their representative, who would be easily approachable to them and they would not have to travel far to meet him.

The Haryana electorate has once again proved that no party should take it for granted. It can make or mar the prospects of any political party, however well- entrenched it may feel

Rewari, October 22
By securing a thumping victory from the Rewari constituency for the sixth time in a row, Congress candidate Capt Ajay Singh Yadav has scripted a new electoral history in Haryana.

Previously with five consecutive electoral wins each to their credit, both Capt Yadav and former minister Dheerpal Singh stood on an equal footing in the matter of poll victories.

However with a successive sixth triumph this time, while Capt Yadav has made history in the poll annals of the state, he has also excellently displayed his supremacy in his own bastion of Rewari.

This time Capt Yadav has secured 48,427 votes and has beaten his nearest rival Zila Parishad chief Satish Yadav (independent) with a hefty margin of 13,179 votes who has got 35,248 votes.

Battling against the covert opposition of a senior Congress leader of the Ahirwal region as well as other odds, Capt Yadav has this time got the victory which has added one more feather to his cap.

Capt Yadav has a two-decade long political association with Rewari. It is a coincidence that when Rewari became a district in 1989, he, too, was elected MLA for the first time in a byelection from here.

Thereafter he won Assembly elections from Rewari from 1991 to 2005 four times in a row.

Thus while Rewari found in Capt Yadav its veritable architect and dedicated patron, he, too, received unstinted support and love from people of the region.

It is all due to his patronage that a new face of Rewari has now emerged with the accomplishment of numerous development projects here.

The rebels as well as dissidents in the Congress who put their weight behind Shashi Sharma, who defected to the HJC to contest had to eat a humble pie and now it would be difficult for them to come back to the parent party.

Fatehabad, October 22
Students of Akal Academy, Ratia, a CBSE school run by the Kalgidhar Society of Baru Sahib (Himachal Pradesh), took upon themselves the task of making people aware of the importance of water and fast depletion of its sources as well as ill effects of air pollution.

“In a unique drive, 1,470 students of the school took a pledge to save water and conserve environment,” informed Indu Sharma, principal of the Akal Academy.

She said the students took upon the task of educating their parents as well as villagers to conserve water and environment.

“Most of our students come from villages and belong to the families of farmers, who are in the habit of burning wheat and paddy stubble. This being peak time for preparing fields for wheat crops and the students pledged to make their parents as well as other farmers aware of the ill effects stubble burning has on the environment as well as on the fertility of soil,” she said.

Three groups of schoolchildren headed for three different villages, Kamana, Hamjapur and Ajitsar, and made people aware on these issues. The students had prepared a street play that depicted the importance of water and environment and they staged the play in all three villages.

They also informed villagers as to how important it was to keep water taps closed while not in use and how much of water could be saved by avoiding shower while bathing. They also informed the villagers how they ended up spoiling their soil by burning the micronutrients and friendly pests while burning wheat or paddy stubble. “The toxic gases emitted during the burning of wheat stubble cause hazards to our health,” the students told villagers.

The students also told villagers about the ill-effects of polythene and told them not to use these and dispose those properly. The students also organised a rally carrying placards of slogans on these issues.

Sirsa, October 22
Students of JCD College of Engineering, Sirsa, have bagged four positions in the B.Tech 2nd semester results of Kurukshetra University. The students of the college have cornered five out of the first 10 positions of the university, Kuldeep Singh Dhindsa, director-general of JCD Vidyapeeth said.

Surjeet Kaur, Tamanna, Manu Jain and Shakshi Sharma, all students of this college have secured the first four positions in the university.

Navdeep Kaur, a student of the same college stood 8th in the merit list of the university.

Congratulating the girls, Dhindsa said the girls have brought glory to their teachers, institution as well as their parents.

Vineet Goel, principal JCD College of Engineering, said around 10,000 students from 48 colleges under Kurukshetra University appeared in B.Tech 2nd Semester exam, out of which JCD College of Engineering girls bagged first four as well as the eighth position. 

Chandigarh, October 22
Moti Lal Nehru School of Sports, Rai, in Sonepat district has invited applications to admit approximately 80 students to class IV for the academic session 2010-11.

The students will be admitted strictly on the basis of merit obtained in various admission tests. The principal of the school said 80 per cent seats had been reserved for students of the Haryana domicile. The students should be between eight and 10 years of age as on June 30, 2010.

He said the prospectus containing all details could be obtained either by post or from the school counter. The application forms should be submitted by November 10, 2009, without late fee and by November 24, 2009, with a late fee of Rs 500. The written test for admission to class IV would be held on January 24, 2010, and physical efficiency and sports aptitude test would be held on February 21, 2010.

For these examinations, six centres have been set up in Rai, Hisar, Narnaul, Sirsa, Kurukshetra and Faridabad. However, physical efficiency test would be held only at Moti Lal Nehru School of Sports, Rai.

He said students having outstanding performance in sports would also be admitted to various classes except X and XII under the outstanding sportspersons category on the basis of various tests and trials in relevant disciplines.

Chandigarh, October 22
The Sports Department of Guru Jambheshwar Science and Technology University, Hisar, organised an inter-house man football tournament on the varsity campus from October 22 to 24.

Dr.Neeraj Dilbagi, Director, Sports Department, said the university would select through this tournament its football team for the North Zone Inter-University Tournament (Men) -2009-10 scheduled at University of Kashmir, Srinagar, from November 1 to November 5.

The Sports Department also organised a 10-km inter-house cross-country race ( Men). Mr.Rakesh Kumar(M.Sc.Mass Communication student) and Mr.Om Veer (B.Tech Mechanical Engineering student) finished first and second, respectively, in the race. B.Pharmacy student Prahlad and M.Sc.Environment student Anil Nain got the third position in the race.