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Race begins for Faridabad Dy Mayor’s post
Half of newly elected MLAs first-timers
Village known for wrestlers cries for sports nursery
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Semester exams ‘floor test’ for students
Govt to train teachers at block level
Indo-French workshop on nanotech
Winning Independents well-poised to enter Hooda Cabinet
Nirmal Singh down, but not out
Assembly Poll Reverses
Target: Higher milk yield
Art appreciation course organised
Wrestling Tourney
CBSE table tennis tourney
Sheetla Saras fair from Nov 1
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Race begins for Faridabad Dy Mayor’s post
Faridabad, October 29 The situation has been further muddled on the suspense over the continuation of Basant Birmani on the post of Deputy Mayor of the civic body as he had turned rebel of the ruling Congress and contested unsucessfully as Independent from the Badkhal assembly segment. Both the key posts in MCF were occupied by Sharma and Birmani who owed allegiance to the Congress. Sharma also turned rebel and successfully contested the Assebly election from the NIT assembly seat. Sharma has resigned both from the post of Senior Deputy Mayor and and his councillorship following his election to the Vidhan Sabha. It is learnt that moral pressure is being built on Birmani, considered to be a loyalist of former Haryana Minister AC Chaudhary, to resign from Deputy Mayor’s post as he turned rebel of the party. As Chaudhary lost the election himself, he has apparently lost the force to champion the cause of Birmani in the Congress. Chances are that there would be some kind of politicking on the part of Congress-minded councillors to outst him if he did not step down on his own. In fact, already lobbying among the councillors has started for the two posts. However, Daya Chand Yadav, who is serving second stint as councillor and who has always been in the forefront of politics of the MCF, appears to be ahead. He is said to be in touch with all the Congress MLAs and the party MP. Although a school of thought is that since the general election of the MCF was due in another six months time there is no need to spend time and energy for the two posts, a dominant view is that the post of Senior Deputy Mayor was vital as the person on the post is part of several committees of the civic body, especially the one relating to finance. Hence, the post should be filled up forthwith. Ever since the announcement of the election to Haryana Vidhan Sabha, the development works in Faridabad have been affected remarkably.
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Half of newly elected MLAs first-timers
Chandigarh, October 29 Among its 40 MLAs, the Congress has 12 new faces while the INLD in its flock of 31 members, has 21 first-timers. While six of the seven independents elected to the House, too, are greenhorns when it comes to the Vidhan Sabha, the HJC has three new members among its six. The reasons for this “fresh and young-looking” House are not hard to find. In the backdrop of Haryana witnessing a multi-cornered contest and alliances breaking up, the elections provided the much-needed break for grass-root workers who otherwise had to be content managing the district-level affairs of their respective
parties.
The presence of five major political parties in the fray during the recent Assembly elections only added to the existing opportunities. The free-flow of aspirants from one party to another in search of ticket and the need of “winnable candidates” by all parties for 90 seats helped the cause of newcomers. Further, what went to the advantage of the candidates in this election was that the public did not vote for parties but chose to vote for the candidate in the light of his past record and interface with
the public. With the elections and the swearing-in of MLAs over, most of these first-timers are back to their constituencies, trying to learn the ropes of political management as also to carve a niche for themselves and not just be just one in the crowd of 90. After attending the first session of the newly constituted House, most of the new MLAs admitted that the feeling of being an elected representative was something which had not sunk in yet. “For the time being, our role in the House will be limited to observing the senior members and learning from their experience. We have been given a book about the rules to be observed in the House during the session. Our priority will be to study the basics. However, nothing is better than observing and grasping,” newly elected MLAs said. During the first session, most of them, especially the young, chose to stick to their party seniors and did not mingle with leaders of other parties. Yamunanagar MLA, Dilbagh Singh, who was an INLD office-bearer at the district level before being given the party ticket, said, “The first day was about all the action in the House as the veterans argued and reasoned with each other. It was a great learning experience. Hopefully, after a couple of more sessions, we, too, would be able to understand how the system works.” Though this day-long session seemed insufficient to cater to the curiosity of the new MLAs about how the House works, especially since a lot of business had been packed into one day, they are looking forward to picking up more and more as the days go by.
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Village known for wrestlers cries for sports nursery
Sonepat, October 29 But, it is pity that neither the state government nor the Sports Authority of India (SAI) is serious about providing coaching and other facilities in the village akhara which is managed by voluntary contribution from villagers. Acknowledging the wrestling talents in the village, the SAI appointed a coach in 1980 and the wrestlers started giving good results. Impressed by the results and performance of the village akhara, in 1987 the then Chief Minister Devi Lal announced to open a sports nursery in the village. The nursery was set up in 1987-88. The State Education Department provided 36 wrestling mats to the village akhara and a number of youths from the village shot to fame at the national and international level. However, the nursery was closed down in 1991. Despite this, wrestling fans of the village contributed Rs 7 lakh for the construction of a wrestling hall and purchasing a wrestling mat. Meanwhile, with the cooperation of a former general manager of the HSIIDC, Randhir Singh Gulia, a youth sports club was set up in the village to manage the facilities for the young wrestlers. With their own efforts, the villagers had arranged several facilities like wrestling hall, kabaddi, volleyball and handball courts, athletic track and a football ground in the village. NIS trained and residents of the village, Balbir Singh, Mahasheel and Raghubir Singh provide coaching to the youths of the village. According to wrestling coach Suresh, who has been engaged privately by the villagers, the wrestlers practising in the village akhara hope that taking into account the achievements of the village wrestlers in the past and interest of budding wrestlers at present, the government should reopen the sports nursery in the village. Besides Ramesh Gulia, Shamsher, Rajesh Gulia, Rakesh Gulia, Yashbir, Anoop, Sarvar, Ram Phal, Rakesh Kumar, Neeraj, Rohtash, Vinod Kumar, Jaiveer also bagged medals at international-level events.
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Semester exams ‘floor test’ for students
Rohtak/Jind, October 29 About 50,000 students in Rohtak and Jind districts are appearing in the ongoing examinations at hundreds of centres. The problem appears to be common in nearly all centres where the students are being made to squat on the floor to take the exam. “It is inconvenient and disturbing to sit on the floor to take the examination,” says Sunil, a student of class X. “We are not able to concentrate properly. A lot of time is wasted in changing postures during the exam as we feel tired in one pose after five minutes and have to adjust our posture frequently,” complains Monica, another student of
class X. “The authorities do not provide us any sheet or rug to sit on the floor. Our clothes get dirty due to dust on the floor and this keeps us disturbed all the time,” says Deepak, another student. “Most of the government schools are in a state of neglect. School affiliated to the CBSE and private schools have good arrangements, including proper chairs, desks and classrooms with provision of proper light and other facilities,” says a teacher. A total of about 25,000 students are appearing in these board exams in Rohtak district alone. “We are not able to provide desks and chairs to all students appearing in the exams as there is an acute shortage of furniture in nearly all government schools in the district,” admits Kiran Mai, district education officer, Rohtak. “There has been no addition to furniture in any of these schools in the district in the past two to three years,” she adds. Kiran, however, claims that her office has already asked for a large number of dual desks, but the authorities are still to supply the same. The department had sanctioned a grant of dual desks for about 10-12 schools in the recent past, but it was far from being adequate, she adds.
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Govt to train teachers at block level
Panipat, October 29 UP Singh, district elementary education officer (DEEO), who is also the district project coordinator of the SSA, said educational experts hired by the state coordinator of the SSA would conduct the training programmes of teachers. At present, the teachers undergo a 30-day compulsory training. The aim of starting round-the-year training programme was to ensure that all teachers were provided training about the latest teaching methods. The programme would be used to upgrade the skills of the teachers. The state project coordinator of the SSA has already written to all district coordinators to get the BRCO building vacated and put the required furniture in place to open the training centres. Singh said furniture for the new centres had already been received in
the district. He said some of the teachers working with the Education Department had been there for the past 30 years and it was thought that holding a regular training programme for them would benefit the SSA in a big way. The DEEO said instructions regarding the conduct of the programme were still awaited and once these were provided by the higher-ups, the project would be started at once. He said there was a proposal to provide boarding and lodging to the teachers who would be undergoing the training. Initially, first to fifth class teachers and those teaching sixth to eighth standard students would be given training under the new project. Those undergoing the programme would be trained in the latest teaching techniques and also how to develop a child’s personality, Singh said. The district is also being covered under the project to run mobile schools for children of brick kiln workers, along with Yamunanagar, Sirsa, Hisar and Gurgaon districts.
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Indo-French workshop on nanotech
Gurgaon, October 29 The conference was inaugurated by Dr S Bandopadhyay, vice-chancellor, GGSIP University, Delhi. Among those present included Prof Alain Cappy, head of the French delegation; Sushil Ansal, chairman, AIT; and Dr Patrick Chezaud, counselor for science & technology, French Embassy. Dr Bandopadhyay mentioned about the postgraduate programme in nanotechnology at IP University and mentioned that five faculty members are engaged in active research in various fields of nano-science and nanotechnology. He talked about nanotechnology as the future of the mankind in the form of green and clean technology. Dr Chezaud explained the role of nanotechnolgy in the current scenario. He also gave his thought for the usefulness of Indo-French collaboration, which will be fruitful for both nations and he hoped to do strong collaborative research in this field. Prof Alain Cappy spoke on nanotechnology for energy harvesting. He explained the consumption of energy in various products used in day-to-day life and said, “If we improve the efficiency of these systems, a lot of energy can be saved”. Prof Cappy explained that by using nano-structures, the efficiency of solar cells can be improved. Giving another example, he explained the improvement in thermo-electric devices using nanotechnology. He also explained the process of improvement in the mechanical energy systems. Some of the leading researchers from across the world presented their research work in various areas during the technical sessions. The workshop brought together eminent professionals from academic and research institutions, corporate world, key officials from the relevant government bodies and young researchers/ scholars to discuss the recent trends in technological developments.
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Winning Independents well-poised to enter Hooda Cabinet
Sirsa, October 29 This question is being asked after all stalwarts, who inclusion in the Cabinet was sure, have lost in the recent Assembly elections. Of the nine Assembly seats coming under the Sirsa parliamentary seat, the Congress has been able to win only Tohana, where Paramvir Singh defeated Nishan Singh of the INLD. Congress stalwarts Ranjit Singh (Rania), KV Singh (Dabwali), LD Arora (Sirsa), Dura Ram (Fatehabad), and Sushil Indora (Kalanwali), who were hot contenders for ministerial berths in the event of their victory, have all lost in the elections. The INLD has bagged Ellenabad (Om Parkash Chautala), Dabwali (Ajay Singh Chautala), Rania (Krishan Kamboj) and Narwana (Pirthi Singh) while the seat of Kalanwali has gone to its alliance partner Shiromani Akali Dal’s nominee Charanjit Singh. The Sirsa and Fatehabad seats have gone to Independents, where Gopal Kanda and Prahlad Singh Gillankhrera, respectively, have emerged victors. Paramvir Singh was Parliamentary Secretary in Hooda’s previous government and his inclusion appears quite imminent as well as logical. However, the manner in which the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government has become dependent on Independents, the possibility of inducting Kanda and Gillankhera as ministers cannot be ruled out. Kanda is the only MLA with Hooda in the home district of INLD supremo Om Parkash Chautala and the government may find it prudent to empower him by inducting him as a minister to enable him match the might of Chautalas. Similarly, Gillankhera, though a confidant of Kiran Chaudhary, has reposed his faith in the leadership of Hooda after his election. Gillankhera has shown his prowess in these elections by winning as an Independent despite strong opposition from the Congress as well as the INLD. Gillankhera had contested from Darba Kalan twice in the past and now around 40 villages of that seat have come under Ellenabad, where the Congress is likely to face a byelection in near future as Om Parkash Chautala, who has been elected from here, has been elected from Uchana Kalan too. Keeping that in mind, Hooda might like to provide more power to Gillankhera so that he is able to campaign for the Congress in a better manner. With almost all stalwarts of the Congress from seats falling under Sirsa parliamentary seat losing their elections this time, Independents can well hope to get a chance to represent the area in the Haryana Cabinet.
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Nirmal Singh down, but not out
Nirmal Singh, who remained MLA from Naggal, the adjoining constituency of Ambala Cantt for four times, and was also a cabinet minister in the Congress government. He had been a forceful president of Haryana Youth Congress for several years. He came to the fore of state politics when he raised voice against the discrimination with the northern districts of the state for which he had to face the annoyance of the then Chief Minister Bhajan Lal. The Naggal constituency was debarred in new delimitation and its villages were merged into Ambala City and Ambala Cantonment constituencies. Nirmal Singh put his claim on the Ambala Cantt constituency on the basis that around four dozen villages of his former constituency were incorporated in it. Sitting MLA of this constituency Devender Bansal was also the strong contender for getting the ticket. However, Nirmal succeeded in the first round and managed to secure the ticket. But BJP candidate Anil Vij, who had won this seat two times as an Independent, defeated Nirmal by 6,600 votes. Nirmal Singh has a strong hold in the rural part of the constituency but he proved his grip in the urban area too. Nirmal was not a new face for the people of Ambala Cantonment residing in this city for last several years. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also held a rally in favour of Nirmal at Ambala Cantonment during the elections but it did not leave any impact. The supporters of Nirmal are disheartened these days as they were not expecting this defeat while Nirmal Singh is still enthusiastic. He said he had lost the seat not the battle. He has started the preparation for the municipal council’s election which is due next year.
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Assembly Poll Reverses
Chandigarh, October 29 Whenever two Congressmen meet, the topic of conversation invariably turns to the causes of the poor performance of the party in the Assembly elections. The party could win only 40 seats of the 90 whereas it had expected anything between 60 and 70. The usual explanations include wrong distribution of the ticket, factionalism, internal sabotage and over-confidence of the leaders. Most of the Congressmen believe that the party faltered in giving the ticket in at least 20 constituencies. A hardcore Congressman lamented that these elections were less of the Congress versus INLD or Hooda versus Chautala. It was more of “Congress MPs versus Congress MLAs”. He was supported by many. These partymen blame the high command for its failure to enforce discipline in the party. They say if the high command had come down heavily on those MLAs, who had opposed the Congress candidates in the Lok Sabha elections, the situation would have not been this bad and the party would not have to depend upon the Independent candidates. During the Lok Sabha elections in many constituencies like Faridabad, Gurgaon and Bhiwani, several Congress MLAs had openly worked to ensure the defeat of the party nominees. Not that their activities were clandestine. Their activities were in the knowledge of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and AICC general secretary in charge of Haryana, Prithviraj Chavan. They had personally appealed to the MLAs not to indulge in anti-party activities. They even unsuccessfully tried to act as peace-makers between the warring Lok Sabha candidates and the MLAs. After the results were out, senior leaders preferred to forget the anti-party conduct of the MLAs instead of taking disciplinary action against them. Perhaps the leaders believed in the maxim that all is well that ends well. Since the party won nine of the 10 Lok Sabha seats, the party gloated and forgot the indiscipline in the larger interests of the party. Then came the Assembly elections. It was the turn of the MPs to take their revenge. Since almost all Congress MLAs, who had opposed the party nominees in the Lok Sabha elections, got renominated in the Assembly elections, the MPs worked against the MLAs. Now defeated candidates have levelled allegations against many party MPs of having worked against them. Congress workers say it was this “tit-for-tat” culture among senior leaders of the party was primarily responsible for the resurgence of the INLD. They also point out that in certain constituencies like Kurukshetra newly elected MPs forgot the party workers and the electorate as soon as the polling was over. While workers kept waiting for a word of encouragement and gratitude from their would-be MP at their camp offices after the polling, the leader flew away in his helicopter. This demoralised the party workers, who did not put their heart when the Assembly elections came.
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Hoteliers, caterers all smiles as marriage season on
Hisar, October 29 The marriage season will last till mid-December after which the date considered auspicious for the purpose will only be February 16. Pundits have notified as many as 17 days between tomorrow and December 12 on which marriages can be performed. All banquet halls, dharamshalas, state tourism complexes, HUDA Gymkhana Clubs and community centres and hotels all over the state have been booked months in advance. In many cases, popular banquet halls have been booked for two marriages in a day - one in the day and another in the night. Yashpal, owner of a jazzy banquet hall in Rohtak, says most halls have been renovated in anticipation of heavy bookings. New lights have been installed and lawns have been manicured. The rentals have been revised too. Caterers say they have brought in special teams of chefs and waiters from outside to meet the soaring demand. Orders for fresh and unseasonal vegetables, imported fruits and paneer were placed three months ago. Despite that short supplies cannot be ruled out because of the rush. For sweetmeat sellers, the season marks the beginning of another long diwali. A popular local sweetmeat seller said the demand for sweets was several times more than on diwali. “To put it appropriately, you can say we will be celebrating 17 diwalis till mid-December”, he added. Bands, drummers, DJs and ghori walas have jacked up rates too. Most of them have been booked for several marriages in a single day. Florists have booked orders for cut flowers from Bangalore and Gurgaon among other places. Jaimalas, a must for every marriage will cost three times more, a Gurgaon florist said. Traffic snarls are expected in all towns as most of the popular banquet halls and tourist complexes are situated on main roads, especially the stretches of national highways passing through towns. The police have made special arrangements too ensure smooth flow of traffic on all 17 days. Besides, plainclothesmen will be deployed at all marriage pandals in view of the recent trend among youth to snatch a lavish free dinner and drinks. Recently, a group of youths who were detected as uninvited guests in a marriage, had assaulted the members of family here after their demand for liquor was not met. All banquet halls have brought in ex-servicemen as security guards to man entry points and parking lots as a precautionary measure. Although use of loudspeakers is banned after 10 pm, the rule is observed more in its breach than observance. However, officials said they had already requested banquet hall managers to cooperate.
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‘Increased pay to lure youths to Army’
Sirsa, October 29 Group captain GS Bedi, station commander, Air Force Station, Sirsa, said this while interacting with radio listeners during a programme “Hello Sirsa”, a regular feature of the Chaudhary Devi Lal University (CDLU) Community Radio Station. Bedi, who was decorated with the Vayu Sena Medal for gallantry during the Kargil Operations, also shared his Kargil experiences with people of Sirsa. Virender Singh Chauhan, station director of the radio station, hosted the programme. Bedi told the listeners that he was posted in Srinagar during the Kargil conflict. “After the Air Force lost two of its aircrafts in the operations, it was decided to fly at more height. We flew above the clouds and did bombardment at the positions of the infiltrators. It was an awesome experience and we took them by surprise,” he said. He said the impact of these attacks was tremendous and the Pakistani infiltrators were intercepted telling their mentors sitting across the border that “yahaan to aasmaan se kayamat baras rahi hai janaab”. Bedi said while it was one the toughest operations, all our fighter pilots posted there wanted more and more chances to fly for the same. Asked about the frequent crashes of MIG aircrafts, Bedi opined that these accidents should be seen as any routine road accident. Bedi said it was true that armed forces were not the first career choice of youths these days, but this situation was likely to change soon as the government was making all-out efforts to reverse the trend. The preference to money over everything else would prove to be short-lived tendency in our society and things would take a positive turn in near future, he told the listeners. Bedi appreciated the cooperation and affection displayed by the local residents towards the Indian Air Force staff serving at the Sirsa Air Force Station. He said he always encouraged regular interaction of the IAF staff posted here with the local civilians within the limitations imposed by law. Later, having a round of the media centre established by the Journalism and Mass Communication Department, Bedi suggested that the department should start a certificate course for IAF officers to hone their communication skills in general and the expertise of dealing with the media in particular.
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Target: Higher milk yield
Karnal, October 29 Moreover, the present scenario indicated that the cross-bred cows were growing at the rate of 4 per cent against the target of 6 per cent to meet the demand of increasing population and generating surplus. The scientists strongly feel that cross-breeding was the only answer to meet the increasing demand of milk as cross-bred varieties yielded 6.5 litres of milk per day as compared to 3.5 litres from buffaloes and 1.5 litres from indigenous (desi) cows. Dr. Shiv Prasad, the cattle yard in charge at the NDRI here, said India at present had 97 million buffaloes, 186 million cows and only 10 million cross- bred lactating cows. Another disturbing feature was that on the one hand the cross-bred cows were increasing at the sluggish pace of 4 percent and on the other the desi cows of Indian breed were diminishing at the rate of 1.25 per cent NDRI Director AK. Srivastava says that as cross-bred cows accounted for only 16 per cent of the total production, there was dire need for cross-breeding of unidentified breeds of cows for increasing the yield. The NDRI was providing good-variety 'semen' to the dairy farmers but due to the lack of awareness among not many dairy farmers had benefited, he added. A major difficulty in rearing cross-bred animals was that they needed green fodder throughout the year. Lack of adequate knowledge among farmers to take special care of cross-bred cows was another obstacle. Farmers in Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and parts of UP were encouraging cross-breeding of milch cattle but Rajasthan, Gujarat and other states had not shown much interest.
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Art appreciation course organised
Kurukshetra, October 29 Dr Sinha lauded the efforts of the museum in creating awareness about the practical aspects of art and architecture. He also emphasised the value of art in contemporary times. He said there should be a platform or some avenue from where the creativity chapter of a child could begin and there was a need for more institutions like Srikrishna Museum. Dr Sinha said it was the responsibility of the civil society and institutions to provide opportunities to students upgrade their creative skills. Deputy director of the museum Rajesh Purohit said the objective of the course was to make students aware about art, architecture iconography and paintings through power point presentation and demonstration so that they not only understand them but also learn to preserve them.
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Wrestling Tourney
Jhajjar, October 29 A communication in this regard has recently been received by the registrar, Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, from Vinod Tomar, assistant secretary of the Wrestling Federation of India, affiliated to FILA, IOA, CWC and AAWC. A senior lecturer of physical education, MDU, Garg is presently posted at the MDU Postgraduate Regional Centre, Rewari. Earlier, he was nominated as technical official/coach/referee for the Commonwealth Youth Games (2008) in Pune; advance boxing training-cum-competition camp (1989) in Bangkok (Thailand); JLN Centenary Gold Cup Wrestling Tournament (1989) in New Delhi; First Asian Cadet Wrestling Championship (1989) in New Delhi; 11th Asian Games national wrestling coaching camp (1990) in New Delhi; 12th Asian Games (1994) in Hiroshima (Japan); Sydney Olympic Games (2000) in Australia; 2nd Australia Cup (2003) in Melbourne; World Military Games (2007) in Hyderabad; and National Wrestling Championship (2007) in Udaypur (Rajasthan). Besides, he also got opportunity of participating in advance training course of wrestling in the US as FILA representative.
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CBSE table tennis tourney
Fatehabad, October 29 “Students of the academy bagged gold medal in the under-14 category of girls,” said Principal Indu Sharma. Kirti Sharma, Mehakpreet Kaur and Ripanpreet Kaur of the academy defeated teams from Bhawanigarh, Patiala and Sangrur to win the tournament. In the single’s tournament, Kirti Sharma bagged gold by defeating players from Ladda, Rajpura and Bhawanigarh, she said. Kirti Grover, Rasneel Kaur and Arshdeep Kaur bagged silver medal in the under-16 girls category. Sohit Dhingra, Ankush Bharti and Sahil Jindal bagged third position in the under-16 boys category to win bronze medal. The under-14 girls team of the academy has been selected to play in a national-level tournament to be held in Nagpur (Maharashtra). Kirti Sharma (under-14), Rasneel Kaur (under-16) and Sohit Dhingra (under-16) have also been selected for the national-level CBSE Table Tennis Tournament to be played in Nagpur.
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Sheetla Saras fair from Nov 1
Gurgaon, October 29 Nearly 1,000 artisans with their handicrafts from different parts of the country are expected to participate in the fair. This fair, a regular annual feature since 2005, is organised by the District Rural Development Authority (DRDA) with the help of the Union Rural Development Ministry. The fair is usually organised around Navratras, but it got delayed a bit this year due to the elections to the Haryana Assembly. The fair is organised to promote self-help groups (SHGs) of the DRDAs from all states of the country. The SHGs exhibit their products at the fair for sale.
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Ambala, October 29