Rohtak, November 12
The price of sugar that has skyrocketed in the recent past is likely to remain under check next season due to a threefold rise in the sowing of sugarcane in the district.

High prices coupled with incentives given by the state government have made the farmers to switch over to sugarcane cultivation even if it is a time-consuming crop, which takes about a year to ripe.

The area under the sugarcane crop in the district is likely to go up to about 15,000 hectares in the coming season against just 5,700 hectares in the ongoing season. “It was about 16,000 hectares two years back, but due to lack of incentives and longer duration of the crop, farmers opted for short-term crops like paddy,” claimed an official.

Good rainfall and handsome return of paddy and other crops had attracted farmers towards short-term crops and this led to the fall in area under sugarcane cultivation in the region. The situation also made it difficult for government-owned sugar mills and other cooperative mills to procure cane and they had to shorten their crushing season owing to the short supply, sources said.

Earlier, the farmers had to wait for several days to get a chance to supply cane to the mills. Besides, they had to face uncooperative attitude of the procuring agencies due to which some growers even used to resort to political recommendations to get supply order from mills, said an employee of the mill here.

Later, in view of the problems faced by farmers, and by consumers due to high prices of sugar and other related products, the government announced several incentives for the farmers to take up sugarcane cultivation.

Besides raising the minimum procurement price (state advised price) to Rs 210 per quintal this year, the sugar mills (cooperative) have also announced an additional bonus of Rs 25 per quintal to the farmers this year, said RP Sihag, deputy director, Agriculture, here.

He said the decision to provide a subsidy of Rs 2,000 per acre on the seed of sugarcane and Rs 5,000 on sowing through pit method had proved beneficial and encouraged farmers to go for this crop. The sugar mills had also been providing free or subsidised pesticides for this crop, he added.

“On the other hand, farmers and people residing in the rural areas too have been reeling under high prices which might have forced them to grow sugarcane at least for their own consumption, claimed Yoginder Dahiya, a social activist.

Kaithal, November 12
Farmers who were jubilant last year owing to high paddy prices are a depressed lot this paddy season. Reason: The prevailing low prices. And what adds to their woes is the lack of any government policy to help them as well as the traders.

Some of the farmers who had taken land on lease at very high rates are the worst sufferers. Even the announcement of Rs 50 bonus per quintal on paddy procured by government agencies was too little and late according to farmers.

Major markets in the district have been flooded with PR 1121, Basmati, Muchhal, Shabnam and Pepsi varieties, and due to lack of space some of the stock is even lying outside.

Ram Narain and Dal Singh, farmers from Titram village, said the community was suffering huge losses this year. They informed that the PR 1121 variety was sold at Rs 1,200 to 1880 per quintal this year, whereas the price ranged between Rs 1400 to 3500 per quintal last year. Similarly the price of Basmati ranged between Rs 2,500 to 3,300 last year, but this year per quintal price ranged between Rs 1800 to Rs 2,750 depending upon the quality of crop.

Other varieties too were being sold at a lower cost.

Local commission agents said due to prevailing slump in the international markets, paddy purchasers here were not ready to take risks, which explains the dip in prices.

Meanwhile, heaps of paddy residue can be seen outside various markets. Ved Pal, secretary of the Kaithal Market Committee, said they had auctioned the residue to a contractor for Rs 28 lakh, but as the produce was being flooded into the markets each day, it was difficult to manage the situation.

The commission agents and farmers have also sought more spacious markets for the future. 

Panipat, November 12
In a cost-cutting measure, National Fertilisers Ltd (NFL) has come up with a proposal to convert its fuel-based plants in Panipat, Nangal and Bhatinda into gas-operated units.

The plan, which also aims at modernising the plants, is likely to bring down government's subsidy bill by Rs 600 crore.

Under the project, the company plans to invest about Rs 1,500 crore on conversion of these plants from fuel oil to natural gas. The company is negotiating with GAIL India, Reliance and Indian Oil for sourcing of gas and laying of pipeline. The gas price is expected to be fixed between $5 and $6 MMBTU, said a source in the NFL.

The sources said the NFL had also received report from its consultants on conversion, which had been submitted to the government.

The study was conducted jointly by KBR, Lurgi and HTAs consulting firms from US, Germany and Denmark, specialists in conversion technology. The project is expected to be cleared within two months. The sources said finance for the project would be generated through internal resources and loans from financial institutions.

Currently, the cost of urea production comes to Rs 4,000 per tonne and the company will save about Rs 1,000 per tonne after the project is implemented.

With an aggregate urea production capacity of 32.31 lakh tonne, NFL is the largest producer of urea in the country among the public sector undertakings with a share of 17 per cent.

Sonepat, November 12
The efforts of the government in promoting crop diversification in the district seem to have made little progress if the progress in the cultivation of sugarcane, pulses, oilseeds and other crops is to be taken into account.

The government's efforts included strengthening of the agriculture department with extension officers and subject matter specialists and opening of krishi vigyan kendras with sufficient staff of agriculture scientists along with allocation of sufficient funds to motivate and train farmers for the diversification of crops in the district.

During last year's Rabi season, the agriculture department fixed the target of sowing sugarcane in 15,000 hectares, Rabi oilseeds in 10,000 hectares and Rabi pulses in 1,500 hectares. But only 9,400 hectares could be brought under sugarcane cultivation, 4,500 under Rabi oilseeds and 450 hectares under Rabi pulses.

Similarly, Kharif crops' cultivation was also not satisfactory. Sugarcane was sown in 10,400 hectares against the target of 15,000 hectares; oilseeds in only seven hectares against 1,000 hectares; cotton in 1,295 hectares against 2,000 hectares; bajra in 8,305 hectares against 10,000 hectares; and maize was sown in 420 hectares against the target of 2,000 hectares.

However, area under Kharif pulses was 903 hectares more than the target of 7,000 hectares.

Interestingly, contrary to the crop diversification programme, the department has increased the target of paddy plantation from 70,000 hectares last year to 85,000 hectares this year in the district.

While talking to The Tribune, a number of agriculture scientists explained that the income of farmers from cultivating traditional crops of wheat and paddy was higher as compared to other crops. It is mainly because of the average production of the crops and the price farmers get in wholesale markets. The soil condition in different areas of the district also suits the cropping of wheat and paddy as well sugarcane, they said and added, "We organise training camps and field camps and supply seeds at subsidised rates, but the farmers are more interested in traditional crops."

Hisar, November 12
With five legislators of the Haryana Janhit Congress joining the Congress, former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal and his son Kuldeep Bishnoi find themselves at political crossroads.

The Bishnoi clan, which dominated the political scene in Haryana for more than two decades, has few options left open as its experiment to float a political organisation of their own, a la Bansi Lal and Om Parkash Chautala, has proved a flop.

The clan first came into prominence when Bhajan Lal became a minister in the Devi Lal Cabinet in 1977. However, the wily politician shot into national limelight when he dislodged Devi Lal and became the Chief Minister despite coming from the Bishnoi sect whose population is restricted only to Adampur in Hisar and some villages of Fatehabad.

Bhajan Lal displayed the legendary Bishnoi’s instincts for survival when he defected to the Congress in 1981 and took with him all Janata Party legislators after Indira Gandhi became Prime Minister again in 1980.

He continued as the Chief Minister till 1985 when Bansi Lal replaced him. But, Bhajan Lal again occupied the office of Chief Minister in 1991 and lasted his full term till 1996. Later, he remained president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee.

His run ran out in 2005 when Bhupinder Singh Hooda was chosen as the Chief Minister. That marked the beginning of the clan’s political woes.

While elder son, Chander Mohan, was inducted as Deputy Chief Minister into the Hooda Cabinet but later thrown out after his scandalous marriage to Fiza, Bhajan Lal and his younger son, Kuldeep Bishnoi, floated the Haryana Janhit Congress.

Now that the party lies in ruins, Bhajan Lal and Kuldeep Bishnoi’s biggest problem is that they have become politically irrelevant.

Their entire game was based on the surmise that Bhajan Lal is the undisputed leader of the non-Jat communities. This myth has been shattered.

Their best chance to remain politically relevant was to join the Congress after the Assembly poll along with five HJC legislators. However, Kuldeep Bishnoi squandered the opportunity and the MLAs deserted him.

The other problem staring Bishnoi in the face is retaining the loyalty of voters of the Adampur Assembly seat who have been backing the clan for four decades. The margin of victory from Adampur has come down from 71000 in 2005 for Bhajan Lal to just 3000 votes for Kuldeep Bishnoi in the recent Assembly poll.

While this is worrying enough in itself, the scenario looks even grimmer when one considers that while Chander Mohan is already a political non-entity, Bhajan Lal’s wife, Jasma Devi, lost to arch rival, Sampat Singh, from Nalwa in the Assembly polls.

An ageing Bhajan Lal is another worry for Kuldeep Bishnoi. The last Assembly poll was the final opportunity for him to exploit Bhajan Lal’s stature to his advantage. He has availed that and squandered the chance to become the kingmaker of sorts. Lady luck may not go that far to help him next time.

Panipat, November 12
The District Monitoring Committee has decided to undertake a special drive to provide clean drinking water and check pollution in the city.

A meeting of the committee was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commission Vijay Singh Dahiya, who asked the officials concerned to make sure that all measures were put in place so that the residents get clean drinking water. Besides, issues like disposal of solid waste, sewage problem, regularisation of illegal water connections and proper disposal of discharge from dyeing units were also discussed.

The health officials were asked to visit the slum areas in the city and make sure that dwellers do not consume water from polluted sources. They were also asked to make sure that there was no leakage in pipelines. It was also decided to replace old water pipelines in various parts of the city.

Dahiya also asked the officials to make sure that none of the industrial units dump discharge direct into groundwater. The health officials were also asked to undertake fogging operations at regular intervals to prevent mosquitoes from breeding.

Besides, officials of the civic body were asked to identify places to safely dispose of the solid waste being generated in the city.

Faridabad, November 12
A number of senior surgeons of Haryana have taken a joint initiative to modernise the art of surgery through the concept and practice of endoscopy.

Doctors behind this move are said to have taken this initiative as a sense of social responsibility to modernise the practice of surgery in the state.

They have launched an awareness campaign towards endoscopic surgeries under the aegis of the Association of Endoscopic Surgeons of Haryana (AESH), headed by Dr SP Yadav, managing director and senior urologist of Pushpanjali Hospital (Gurgaon).

AESH has already organised workshops in Rohtak, Hisar and Panipat to demonstrate endoscopic surgeries in various fields. Dr Yadav says the lasted workshop on endoscopic surgery which was organised in Panipat this month was attended by 170 medical practitioners. Another workshop organised in Hisar was attended by 100 surgeons while a workshop in Rohtak was attended by about 70 medicos.

Those behind the noble initiative are private practitioners who exemplified the sense of social responsibility on their part as well as the contribution of the private sector towards a social cause. Basically, the job of training in such field is imparted by the medical institutes. ASH has urged upon the government and medical institutes in the state to stress on the practice of endoscopic surgery in right earnest, which would make the state an avant-garde in the field of medical sciences, besides benefitting the public.

“Endoscopic surgery is done without much obtrusive surgical intervention on the patient's body and without spilling much blood. The surgery is done via laser and making interventions through natural process and orifices in the body. This is considered to be the most advanced technique. Unlike the traditional art of surgery it is less complicated, less expensive and the patient can be discharged much earlier. Also, it needs less post-surgery care,” he says.

According to Dr Yadav, it was practitioners in urology who first showed to the world that surgeries could be done through endoscopy. Hence, as the urologists in the private field are generally present in some of the districts in Haryana, patients are not able to take the benefit of this technique.

AESH is determined to popularise the concept and practice of endoscopic surgery in the state within three years. This would be mainly done by training, especially junior doctors/surgeons by holding workshops at various centres. A number of practitioners in various districts have approached AESH to hold workshops in their areas, Dr Yadav added.

Dr Yadav says senior surgeons taking the initiative want the state to be counted as number one in the field of endoscopic surgeries. According to him, patients from the state go to cities like Delhi, Jaipur, Chandigarh etc for treatment due to which the state could not build up it own identity in this field.

Jhajjar, November 12
A majority of technical education institutes in the state, which are offering the master of computer applications (MCA) programme, are facing a tough time as merely 20 per cent have managed to fill their seats. Admissions for 2009 were concluded in the mid of September.

The information is based on latest statistics complied and made available on the website of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), an apex body that regulates technical education in India. It has covered around 2,000 institutes running the MCA course across the country.

Thanks to the “unfair” policy of the Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD), which considers BTech higher than MCA despite being a bachelor’s programme. The students are thus less interested in pursuing MCA.

This has become a cause of concern for professionals and experts toiling hard to promote the programme at the grass-roots level, besides inspiring students to choose it for better career prospects.

They opine that information technology is still in its nascent stage in the country and it has a high potential as merely 2 per cent of the processes across all sectors have been computerised and automated till now. Hence, it can be safely predict that IT experts would be in great demand for the next two three decades.

Prof Nasib Singh Gill, HoD, computer science and application department of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, says, “I fail to understand why the government has discriminatory policies towards the MCA programme. The bachelor of engineering (BE)/bachelor of technology (BTech), bachelor of computer applications (BCA) and MCA are the three major competing programmes and if a student wants to pursue a career in the IT sector, he can pursue either of these courses. But surprisingly, rather than putting B.Tech. and BCA at par with each other, the authorities, including the AICTE and the HRD Ministry, have put BTech at a higher level than MCA, which is clearly inequitable and unreasonable”.

Likewise, discrimination is also being done during the recruitment of faculty for the MCA programme. As per AICTE recruitment norms, a candidate holding an MCA degree is not eligible for teaching BE/BTech classes whereas a BTech degree holder is qualified to teach MCA classes. That means a postgraduate (i.e. MCA) cannot teach an undergraduate programme (BTech) while an undergraduate can teach a postgraduate programme, adds the HoD.

Prof Gill suggests, “The government must initiate the process to replace the faulty and discriminatory rules after examining the entire issue so as to place a Continued on page 4

postgraduate programme (MCA) above an undergraduate programme (BE/BTech). Further, the duration of MCA should also be reduced from 3 years to 2 years like all the other PG courses”.

Ravikant Swami, dean, Hindu Institute of Management, Sonepat, says the computer application programme has been badly affected due to indifferent attitude of the government.

“Why would a student waste six years for getting an MCA degree when he can get a ‘superior’ degree (BTech) in four years. It is justifiable to think that why not a BCA degree holder along with three-year MCA programme be considered equivalent MTech/ME considering the fact that in both cases the student spends six years,” maintains Ravikant, adding that this would further help the students to get an entry at all places in teaching as well as the industry wherever MTech is eligible.

Gurgaon, November 12
An international spelling bee competition for students was organised by Marrs Intellectual Services, Kochi, at Brahma Kumaris' Om Shanti Retreat Centre here.

S.S.Malik, DIG (CRPF), delivered the inaugural address. In her welcome speech, Sister Ranjana, programme coordinator at the centre, asserted that excellence was the need of the day in today's competitive world and a clear intellect and focused mind were necessary to attain the objective.

The competition commenced with the written rounds in which nearly 300 students from different schools across the country and abroad participated in six categories in age-groups ranging from 6 to 17 years.

The written round was followed by the orals for the selected students. While the students were taking the spelling tests, a special talk on enhancing interpersonal relationships was organised for their parents by Sister Shanti, a senior faculty member of the Brahma Kumaris.

Winners

Category 1: Shivani Nirgudkar, Mumbai; Prerana, Bangalore; Priyam, Maharashtra

Category 2: Mohammed Kaif, Kolkata; Sunirita Bhattacharya, Kolkata; Rajkumar Varun, Kerala

Category 3: Anamai Samant, Mumbai; Shivang, Mumbai; Javeria, Mumbai

Category 4: Parvathy, Kerela; Balasubramanium. P, Kerela; Dijo.D, Kerela

Category 5: Manisha Krishnan, Sherwood Academy, Abu Dhabi; Namrata Nagraj, Bangalore

Category 6: Lohita, Mahrashtra; Arshad Ansari, Aligh Junior School, U.A.E; Sayalee Murali, Indian School, U.A.E

Gurgaon, November 12
The 10-day-long pre-Republic Day NSS camp organised on the premises of Government College in Sector 14 concluded here recently.

The camp was organised jointly by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and NSS Regional Centre, Delhi, along with the NSS Unit of Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak.

Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Rajender Kataria was the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the camp. Addressing the NSS volunteers, he recalled that he had also been associated with the NSS during his college days and it had given him much-needed confidence and inspiration.

Kataria exhorted the volunteers to contribute their mite in eradicating social evils like dowry and female foeticide. He also gave away the prizes and certificates to the participants.

Dr PD Sharma, principal of the host college, said students from eight states participated in the camp, which was organised for the selection of NSS volunteers for the Republic Day parade and other events.

Chandigarh, November 12
To provide affordable quality veterinary and allied services to pet animals, the Haryana Government has constituted a Pet Animals Health Society under the patronage of Minister in charge, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Department.

The Chief Secretary will be the chairman of the society and the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretaries, Finance Department and Animal Husbandry and Dairying Departments; Major-Gen Dr.R.M. Kharab (retd.), Chairman, Animal Welfare Board of India, Vice-Chancellor, Veterinary University of State, Dean, COVS, Hisar, and a representative of the North American Vety. Practitioners' Fraternity will be its members.

Dr.K.S.Dangi, Director-General, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Department, will be its member-secretary.

The society aims at providing affordable quality veterinary and allied services to pet animals, undertaking activities pertaining to the needs of pet lovers and making the pet animals health system responsive. It will also provide training to veterinary graduates who are interested in pet practices in India and abroad and make them self-sufficient for global competition. It will also train dogs of various breeds in demand for the defence and police services so that good sniffers are produced at the centre and their services could be utilised for national security, besides providing in-house facility for pets so that the owners going on holidays could shift their pets to the centre.

Chandigarh, November 12
Residents of Anta and surrounding villages in Jind district are in shock over the death of Ishwar Singh Deswal, a known spiritual philanthropist personality of the area.

Deswal, 79, died at the PGI, Chandigarh, on November 4, following a severe heart attack.

Besides several social and religious organisations, Haryana Governor and Chief Minister have also mourned his death. As one of the founders of the Radha Swami Ashram at Anta village, spread over 12 acre land donated by his family, Deswal inspired a large number of residents of the surrounding villages to shun liquor consumption in the 1970s.

After working as a bank manager in Jind and Safidon for a few years, Deswal returned to his village to serve his community. He was devoted to public service right from his student days. He worked as a volunteer for over a year in refugee camps in Karnal and surrounding areas after the Partition. Deswal penned many verses, which are sung by devout Radha Swami followers. His admirers will organise a special prayer meeting in his memory at Anta village on November 15 at 11 am. 

Sonepat, November 12
The dusty town of Gohana in the district created history when 35-year-old Kavita Batra, who died in a road accident, became 200th eye donor of the town.

On the initiative of a voluntary organisation, Ahuti, which has been spearheading blood and eye donations on voluntary basis since January 2000, the eye donation operation was performed at the town’s civil hospital by a team from Venu Eye Bank Hospital, Delhi, led by Dr Vishal recently.

Kavita, owner of a beauty clinic in the town, was returning from Anwali village in the area on a motorcycle along with her cousin on November 2 when the motorcycle was knocked down by a Haryana Roadways bus going from Gohana to Kharkhoda. Kavita died on the spot and her body was brought to the civil hospital for postmortem.

Ahuti founder Surender Viswas and president Sunny Nirankari said Kavita’s husband Prem Batra along with her 13-year-old son Raghav Batra contacted them for the voluntary donation of the deceased’s eyes.

Ahuti was founded on January 1, 2000. The first eye donation was made by Ram Sharan Dass Khurana on October 10, 2001 and the 199th eye donation was of 52-year-old Satish Bhatia of Gohana recently.