Chandigarh, November 22
Muslims from north Haryana are unhappy with the functioning of the Wakf Board and the “step-motherly” treatment meted out to them.

A delegation of leaders of the community from Ambala, Yamunanagar and Panckula met the Chief Minister to air their grievances and to submit a representation.

From Panchkula, Salim Khan said that Mewat had become synonymous with Muslims because of which the community in the northern areas felt neglected.

“We have urged Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to reconstitute the Wakf Board under the chairmanship of a Muslim from the north Haryana. Till date, the chairman has always been from the south, essentially Mewat.

So, all funds invariably get diverted to that area while we are left high and dry.

“This time, we are seeking a chairman from our area. Further, it has been some months since the term of the board expired and the government appointed an administrator.

“We want the board to be reconstituted on a priority basis now,” he said .Claiming that Ambala alone had a population of 1.25 lakh Muslims and 40 per cent of Yamunanagar’s population was Muslim while Panchkula had only 16 per cent Muslims, Khan said the Muslims in north Haryana were not being given their due and were even denied their rightful share in the quota for the Haj pilgrimage.

“Most of the concessions and schemes are taken to Mewat while we keep waiting endlessly. That’s why we decided to come here in a delegation and highlight our plight,” Khan stated. Explaining other hardships faced by the community, he said the board was disbursing disability and window pension to members of the Muslim community.

“However, without giving any explanation, the same was stopped after Mach 31 this year. In our representation, we have sought the CM’s intervention to re-start the two pensions for the deprived among us. He has assured us that this will be looked into,” Khan stated.

Haji Ilumuddin, also from Panchkula, said the salary of imams had recently been hiked. “ But the increased salaries are yet to reach the imams. The delay is take away the zing from the good news.”

Mehndi Hassan from Yamunanagar said the mosques in the north were facing several problems because of the indifference of the Wakf Board.

“Encroachments abound and efforts to recover our land have borne no fruit. Instead, our troubles have multiplied by way of additional burden of court cases. There is no source of income for maintenance and nobody to turn to.”

Most delegates were hopeful that following their meeting with the Chief Minister, a new beginning would be made to redress these problems.

Jhajjar, November 22
Criticising former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala for indulging in “petty politics” and ignoring the interests of the people of the state, Rohtak member of Parliament (MP, Deepender Singh Hooda, said Chautala had made his real intentions clear by vacating the Ellenabad seat.

Hence, whenever a byelection was held for Ellenabad, the Congress would emerge victorious, he claimed.

Speaking to mediapersons in Bhadani village here last evening, he said: “The government that has been formed in Haryana under Bhupinder Singh Hooda will last its term and Chautala, who has been dreaming its fall, will neither get power, nor will be able to discharge his duty in the Opposition as mandated by the people.

“The Chief Minister took a number of unprecedented decisions during his last term. That’s why people have again voted the Congress to power,” he claimed.

To a question, Deepender Hooda, said being a member of the HRD standing committee of the Lok Sabha, he would try to make education job-oriented. Haryana was emerging as an education hub and there had been massive expansion in the area of technical education.

“Now, the youth in Haryana need not go to other states to study engineering or management. Haryana has not only a health university, but also an IIM and an extension unit of AIIMS,” he said. The MP said the state government was resolving the issue of power shortage on a priority basis and power plants at Khedar and Jhajjar would start generation in a few months.

With their commissioning, the Opposition would be left with no issue for criticising the government.

Sirsa, November 22
Haryana Janhit Congress supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi’s suggestion of fielding a common candidate in the impending Ellenabad byelections is not likely to cut much ice among leaders of other opposition parties.

Smarting under Congress’s act of taking away five of his newly elected MLAs, Bishnoi has suggested that the opposition parties should field a panchayati candidate for the byelections.

He said he was ready to forgo his party’s right to field its candidate from Ellenabad in case other parties agree to field a common panchayati candidate against the Congress. The INLD has rejected Bishnoi’s offer.

“I do not know what offer who is giving. But, my party will definitely field its own candidate in the byelections,” said former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, whose resignation from Ellenabad seat has necessitated the bypoll.

Talking to The Tribune, Chautala, who won the Ellenabad seat by a margin of over 16,000 votes in the assembly elections held last month, claimed his party would win the byelections with even bigger margin this time.State president of the BJP Krishan Pal Gurjar said his party had not taken any decision on the issue so far.

“I will be able to comment on party’s stand only after the issue is discussed with the central leaders of the party,” Gurjar said.

Taking a similar stand, state president of the BSP Parkash Bharti said only Mayawati would take decision in this regard.

The result of the Ellenabad assembly seat in the assembly elections suggest that the main contest in the bypoll is likely to remain between the ruling Congress and the main opposition party INLD. Former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, who won the seat, polled 64,567 votes against 48,144 votes received by Congress candidate Bharat Singh Beniwal.

Amir Chand Mehta of the BJP, who finished third, polled 3,618 votes only.

Sirsa, November 22
The health authorities have been put on alert after fresh cases of suspected swine flu reported in the district. In all, there have been 11 such cases, five in November alone.

“Samples of 30 patients were sent to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) this month and five were positive,” said Dr Viresh Bhushan, nodal officer, swine flu.

He said among the infected, two were students of a school in Kishangarh (Rajasthan), who had been sent back home in Sirsa by the school authorities.

“We have a sufficient stock of Tamiflu drug that is needed to treat patients suffering from swine flu. We have 12,000 tablets and 150 bottles of syrup,” said Dr Viresh Bhushan.

He said the health authorities had launched an awareness drive on the H1N1 virus under its information education and communication (IEC) programme. Village folk were being educated on the prognosis of the disease. The field publicity department of the IB department of the central government was also carryingout a publicity campaign on the issue.

Meanwhile, the Haryana government has appealed to the people not to panic. Health Minister Geeta Bhukkal said the state health authorities were keeping a vigil and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was monitoring the situation personally.

The health department was taking all measures to screen suspected cases of HINI and treating those found suffering from it.

Bhukkal said all DC and DEO had been instructed to educate parents and teachers on preventive measures. Those suffering from the flu could be healed to health within five to six days, she added.

Chandigarh, November 22
To provide impetus to the sanitation campaign in the state, the Haryana government has decided to celebrate “Swachhta Week” (Sanitation Week) in the rural areas from November 23 to 29.

Stating this here today, a spokesman of the Development and Panchayats said special activities would be undertaken in the villages during the week. Awareness drives would be launched in the schools, both private and government. Declamation contests, essay-writing, painting and poster-making competitions would be orgaanised for the children.

The selected paintings and posters would be fixed on the walls of the school and at prominent places of the village. Gram sabhas would also review the cleanliness of villages. Functions would be held in all the schools with the cooperation of gram sabhas on the last day of the week and students who secure first three positions in the various competitions would be awarded.

The “Swacchta Week” would be organized under the guidance of DCs concerned while the ADCs and Chief Executive Officer, DRDA, would be nodal officers. Sarpanches, principals of schools, and teachers would takesteps for success.

Jhajjar, November 22
A devastating fire broke out at Viksam Chemical Factory in the Modern Industry Estate (MIE) in Bahadurgarh here recently. The fire tenders were pressed into service, which took over four hours to douse the flames.

Short circuit is said to be the cause behind the incident that caused heavy losses to its owner. Though no loss of life has been reported, but the incident has yet again exposed not only inadequate firefighting measures being taken by factory owners, but also the “lethargic” attitude of the district authorities in getting rules and regulations under the factory laws complied with.

Every time the authorities wake up after the incidents and launch a drive to beef up safety measures in factories by constituting committees. Though the committees conduct surprise raids in factories as a formality, such drives turn out to be a mere eyewash as the owners again start violating the rules.

Over 2,000 factories of various sorts are being run here and most of them lack safety measures turning out to be a leading cause of fire incidents in these units. As per reports, a majority of industrialists have installed firefighting systems in their factories just to fulfill legal requirements. However, they hardly bother about the maintenance of the systems.

The law requires the factory owners to maintain firefighting systems at regular intervals and also impart training to their employees. However, most of the owners do not take interest in imparting training to their workers.

However, there is a provision in the law for checking safety measures in the factories at regular intervals and initiating stringent action against erring factory owners as well, but the authorities don’t carry out raids.

Ravinder Malik, assistant director for industrial safety, Bahadurgarh, said surprise raids were carried out at regular intervals to check safety measures in factories. All factories located in Bahadurgarh town had fire extinguishers and other safety components required as per rules, he claimed.

Karnal, November 22
A Murrah buffalo at the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) here has yielded a record 23.3 kg milk in a single day.

"The rare feat was achieved on the 56th day of the second lactation of the buffalo, born at the institute using superior germplasm," said NDRI director Dr AK Srivastava.

Since the animal was only in her second lactation, it was expected that the milk yield would further increase during the 3rd and 4th lactation, he added. Srivastava informed that in the current second lactation, this buffalo had so far produced 946.3 kg of milk in 52 days with a daily average of 18.2 kg. In her first lactation, the buffalo had yielded 3812.5 kg milk in 305 days.

He expressed hope that the male calf born from this animal in second lactation would become a breeding bull with high genetic potential after maturity and its semen would immensely benefit the dairy farmers in improving the breed of Murrah buffaloes.

While applauding the team of scientists and doctors he said NDRI was committed to the overall improvement of dairy sector.

He emphasised that in addition to other advanced technologies, such as IVF, super-ovulation and embryo transfer, the recent breakthrough made in cloning of buffalo at NDRI would further enhance the faster multiplication of such superior germplasm, which would benefit the dairy farmers.

Sonepat, November 22
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said that his government would provide financial assistance to gurukuls to strike a balance between the gurukul tradition and modern education.

He was addressing the 96th annual function of Gurukul Senior Secondary School, Matindu, in 
Kharkhoda.

Paying tributes to Peeru Singh, founder of the Arya Samaj in Matindu in 1904, the Chief Minister said Peeru Singh, a freedom fighter, was the main architect of the famous Barona panchayat in 1911 which was aimed at removing illiteracy and other social ills in society. This was seen as imperative to fight the British rule.

Aware that education was a must for social upliftment and awakening of the masses for the freedom struggle, Peeru Singh started a gurukul in the village in 1912.

The foundation stone of the same was laid by the great Arya Samajist Swami Shraddha Nand ji.

“Arya Samaj played a key role not only in the freedom struggle, but also in spreading education through gurukuls and eradication of social evils like untouchability,” he said. Hooda reiterated that the state government was committed to making Haryana an education hub. A number of universities had already been opened in the state and more like defence university, a central university and medical university were underway.

“Education can bring about development in a big way. Hence, it becomes my duty to ensure quality education to each and every student in the state,” he said.MPs Ram Prakash and Deepender Singh Hooda , Haryana Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Jaiveer Balmiki and political adviser to CM Prof Virender also addressed the gathering.

MLAs Jagbir Singh Malik, Jai Tirth, Kuldeep Sharma, Shakuntala khatak, Sri Krishan and Anand Singh Dangi attended the function.Chairman of the Peeru Singh Educational Institutions Brig (rtd) Satya Dev presented a school report. The Chief Minister announced a grant of Rs 11 lakh for the gurukul. He also inaugurated a multi-purpose hall at Matindu constructed at a cost of Rs 80 lakh.

The hall will benefit the village population of over 3,000. Earlier, the CM laid the foundation stone of a 50-bed community health centre at Kharkhoda.

This four-storeyed centre will be constructed in an area of 11,800 square yards at an estimated cost of about Rs 6.91 crore.

Hisar, November 22
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam and the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam would launch IT-based power distribution systems under Restructured-Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (R-APDRP) at a cost of Rs 166 crore in 36 towns, Anurag Agarwal, Managing Director, DHBVN, said here recently.

Agarwal said the steering committee for R-APDRP of the Ministry of Power had recently approved the revised projects of Rs 90.47 crore for 16 towns in the jurisdiction of the DHBVN and of Rs. 75.16 crores for 20 towns in the jurisdiction of the UHBVN for information technology-based activities. The Power Finance Corporation had also issued the sanction letter for the approved amount of the projects.

He said the projects would be completed within three years from the date of sanction. On completion of the project, the full amount provided by the Centre would be converted into grant. The ring fencing of the respective town had already been completed.

The DHBVN is first power distribution utility in India to get approval for 16 projects under this programme. The 16 towns of the area of the DHBVN are Hisar, Barwala, Fatehabad, Hansi, Tohana, Sirsa, Dabwali, Ellenabad, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Narnaul, Rewari, Faridabad, Palwal, Hodal and Gurgaon.

The managing director said under the project, the activity of consumer indexing, geographic information system (GIS), metering of distribution transformers and feeders would be completed. The project would also include asset mapping of entire distribution network comprising 11 kV transformers, distribution transformers, feeders, low tension lines, poles and other distribution network equipment of these towns.

A data centre would be created here which would be common for the DHBVN and the UHBVN and there would also be one disaster recovery centre (DRC) at Panchkula, common for both companies. A call centre would be set up at Gurgaon under the project.

Gurgaon, November 22
The Central Government has allowed Mayar Infrastructure Development to increase the area of its sector-specific special economic zone (SEZ) located here.

The Board of Approval (BoA), the inter-ministerial committee headed by commerce secretary Rahul Khullar that met recently, allowed the developer to add 2.59 hectares to the special economic zone thus taking the total area of the tax-free enclave to 15.08 hectares.

“After deliberations, the board decided to approve the request of Mayar Infrastructure Development Pvt Ltd for increasing the area,” the BoA meeting said.

In order to make SEZ techno commercially viable, the developer had requested the commerce ministry to include additional area of land in the zone.

The state has emerged as a favourite destination amongst developers for IT and ITES special economic zones.

Out of 30 SEZs notified in the state, two-third are located in Gurgaon district. Ansal SEZ projects, Parsvnath SEZ Ltd and DLF Ltd are some of the major developers whose SEZs have been notified in the district.

The board, however, deferred the decision on the request of DLF Utilities for authorised operations as co-developer in the IT/ITES SEZ at DLF Cyber City here.

The SEZ is being developed by DLF Cyber City Developers.

The DLF Utilities had requested for authorised operations for setting up commercial complex over 41,200 square meters.

As per the board meeting, the BoA decided to defer the proposal and directed that the Development Commissioner (DC), Noida, and the DC of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) must jointly inspect the premises of the developer to appreciate the proposal.

“In case the proposal falls under the default list of authorised operations, the DC will dispose it off suitably,” the minutes document said.

Similarly, the BoA deferred decision on the proposal of GHI Finlease and Investments for authorised operations in its SEZ located in Sohna here. The BoA is expected to take decision on the request after inputs from the DC Noida and the DC/Director STPI.

The developer wanted government’s approval for setting up banks, recreational facilities and multipurpose hall besides other operations.

The SEZs in India have attracted an investment of over Rs 1.10 lakh crore and exports from the units were valued at Rs 100,000 crore in 2008-09.

Jhajjar, November 22
The Haryana government has told the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to extend the Metro line to Bahadurgarh in Jhajjar district and it is ready to bear all expenses on the project.

This was stated by Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda while speaking at a public gathering at Dadanpur village here recently.

He said a Rs 25 crore project had also been sanctioned from the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) to construct a link road from Gijodaud mode to Gwalison village on National Highway 71.

Hooda, who also visited Silani, Silana, Gijarodh, Sulodha, Raipur, Kilrodh, Chandpur, Machhrouli, Asadpur Khera and Khudan, said various development programmes had been on to improve the basic infrastructure in the region.

He said it was because of the faith and regard of people of the area that helped the Congress to return to power.

The MP assured that the ongoing projects would be completed speedily and the pace of development would be further accelerated.

Referring to various statements made by Om Prakash Chautala about the present state government, he said in case Chautala introspected, he should accept the defeat of his party on 60 out of 90 seats.

He advised that the INLD leader should honestly play a constructive role of the opposition instead of criticising others unnecessarily.

Alleging that the sole aim of the INLD was to gain power whereas it has nothing to do with the welfare of the people, he claimed that the people were aware of political gimmicks played at the time of elections.

Kurukshetra, November 22
Inaugurating a free of cost cancer check-up camp organised by the Rishi Public Welfare Trust, Kurukshetra, at Red Cross Bhawan here today, Ambala Division Commissioner Mahender Kumar said cancer was a fatal disease and 90 per cent victims could be saved if proper treatment was given to them by identifying symptoms at an initial stage.

He said many diseases such as cancer were spreading due to dirt, including polythene and plastic items, and use of adulterated food items.

Appreciating the role of social welfare societies, Kumar said these societies could spread awareness against such diseases. Lamenting on the decreasing gender ratio, he said a check on foeticide was a must to maintain balanced gender ratio in society.

Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Aggarwal said generally cancer victims did not get themselves checked at initial stages which was necessary. The fatality could be decreased if people get proper treatment at the initial stage.

Trust president KL Wadhwa said adulterated food and polluted environment were the main causes of cancer.

As many as 75 persons were checked at the camp, he added. President of the Senior Citizen Forum Jagjit Singh Virk said the construction works on an old age home in Kurukshetra was in progress. He assured the trust that the forum would create awareness about the detection of cancer.