SPECIAL COVERAGE
CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI
JALANDHAR



THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

Every Tuesday & Friday

Gender tests rampant in Sirsa
Sirsa, December 17
The recent exposure of the large-scale sex-determination and female foeticide in a local diagnostic centre has brought to the fore the rampant violation of the Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act in the town.

Arms licences now carry warning
Gurgaon, December 17
Now, one will have to rethink before opening fire (into the air) from licensed guns during social gatherings as their licence can be cancelled. The warning has been published on the first page of the new arms licences that was issued by the Joint Commissioner of Police recently.


FOGGY DAYS AHEAD
Poor visibility forces motorists to move cautiously on the Delhi-Jaipur national highway in Gurgaon
Poor visibility forces motorists to move cautiously on the Delhi-Jaipur national highway in Gurgaon. Tribune photo: Sayeed Ahmed



EARLIER EDITIONS



College makes elders computer literate
Yamunanagar, December 17
Age is no bar when it comes to learning. An 85-year-old man, Prem Pal Malhotra, proved it right when he joined computer literacy classes run by the local DAV College for Girls here.


85-year-old Prem Pal Malhotra attends a computer class at DAV College for Girls in Yamunanagar. Tribune photo

85-year-old Prem Pal Malhotra attends a computer class at DAV College for Girls in Yamunanagar

Go English, PR babus told
Gurgaon, December 17
“Get tech-savvy; Go English” is the mantra given by Shiv Raman Gaur, new Director of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) of Haryana, to the DIPROs posted at all district headquarters in the state.

Red Cross troubled by prank calls
Yamunanagar, December 17
Following a large number of anonymous calls at toll free number, the district Red Cross Society has sought the help of the police and the BSNL officials to run smooth-free ambulance services started for the poor especially in rural areas.

State shows the way in energy conservation
Chandigarh, December 17
Haryana has been awarded the second award in the best states category for its performance in energy conservation programmes in 2008-09 by the Union government. The award was given by Sushil Kumar Shinde, Union Power Minister during the National Energy Conservation Day function, organised by the Power Ministry at Vigyan Bhawan, recently.
Sumita Misra, director, Renewable Energy Department and HAREDA, Haryana, receives the award from Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde in New Delhi
Sumita Misra, director, Renewable Energy Department and HAREDA, Haryana, receives the award from Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde in New Delhi.

Stress on combating cyber crime
Panipat, December 17
The Samalkha group today organised a seminar on national cyber crime in which experts and administrators stressed upon the need to find quick solutions to combat cyber crime. The seminar was presided over by deputy commissioner Vijay Singh Dahiya.

Father’s Murder
Son goes from pillar to post to get justice
Rewari, December 17
Dilawar Singh Yadav has been going from pillar to post for the past two months seeking the arrest of the remaining accused allegedly involved in the murder of his father Kanwar Singh Yadav, who was allegedly done to death by some assailants at Uncha village on October 6.

A craftsman gives finishing touches to a cane chair in Hisar
A craftsman gives finishing touches to a cane chair in Hisar. Photo: Subhash Kumar

Students travelling on the rooftop of buses has become a common sight in Hisar
Students travelling on the rooftop of buses has become a common sight in Hisar. Photo: Subhash Kumar

Tree plantation: Plywood manufacturers to meet Jairam
Yamunanagar, December 17
In order to cope up with the shortage of timber for wood industry, members of different plywood organisations will raise the demand for allotment of empty land of the Forest Department to the plywood industry for tree plantation with Union Minister of Environment and Forest Jairam Ramesh.

Meet Your Minister
‘Caste divisions threaten very fabric of society’
In a tete-a-tete with Geetanjali Gayatri, State Public Health, PWD (B and R) and IT Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala talks about his personal and political life and plans for the state

Experts dwell on innovations in theatre
Yamunanagar, December 17
Theatre is instrumental in raising various issues of discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sex and ethnicity. Former Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Prof Bhim S Dahiya, said this on the concluding day of two-day seminar on “Contemporary Drama in English” at Hindu Girls College Jagadhri, here yesterday.

Joint authority to enforce food, drug Acts
Chandigarh, December 17
Haryana has decided to set up a joint food and drug enforcement authority for the effective implementation of the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006, and the Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Act, 2008.

Gurgaon schoolteacher's song in CBSE project
Gurgaon, December 17
A Hindi song “Naya Aghaz” composed by Kamaljit, a teacher at Salwan Public School here, has become the signature song of the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) Programme for schools.

XEN held guilty of dereliction of duty
Panipat, December 17
Holding a XEN guilty of dereliction of duty, the State Financial Commission and Principle Secretary of the Public Health Engineering Department SC Chaudhary have ordered “stoppage of one grade increment without cumulative effect” of Ashiem Khanna, who had been monitoring the sewage project at Samalkha.

Now, sugar mill to generate power
Rohtak, December 17
Set up at a whopping cost of Rs 180 crore, one of the newly constructed high-tech sugar mills of the state government is ready to generate power to the tune of around 16 MW daily, besides preparing sugar during the crushing season.

Strengthen cardiac healthcare, says expert
Sirsa, December 17
Heart ailments have emerged as the biggest killers in the country in the recent years. These are no longer confined to the elderly as more and more young people have been reporting cardiac problems. In view of this trend, it is high time that cardiac healthcare facilities are augmented in the state.

Narwana on growth track
Jind, December 17
The subdivisional town of Narwana, which was being labelled as an "orphaned" city after the shifting of political base by state minister Randeep Surjewala, is in the process of getting infrastructure worth Rs 24.57 crore.

Left-out beneficiaries to get BPL cards
Hisar, December 17
The Haryana government is open to issuing BPL cards to those who claim they have been left out wrongly after verification of their claims. This was stated by P Raghvendra Rao, Financial Commissioner, Rural Development, while talking to mediapersons here recently.

Industrialists told to ensure safety norms
Yamunanagar, December 17
Taking serious view of the ignorance of safety norms by some of the industrial units, the District Administration yesterday directed senior functionaries of all major industrial units, including Deen Bandhu Chhotu Ram Thermal Power Station, Papar Mills, Saraswat Sugar Mills, Poly Plastic, to ensure proper safety norms to avoid any untoward incident.





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Gender tests rampant in Sirsa
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, December 17
The recent exposure of the large-scale sex-determination and female foeticide in a local diagnostic centre has brought to the fore the rampant violation of the Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act in the town.

The impunity with which the sex of the unborn children is being determined and female foetuses aborted, points towards the active connivance of the authorities in the illicit game of killing daughters in the womb.

Locals inform that it is not for the first time that a sex determination racket has been detected in Sirsa.

“Sirsa earned notoriety before the implementation of the PNDT Act. A local diagnostic centre owner proudly displayed female foetuses in flasks filled with preservatives to attract more customers and advertisement titled “ladka ya ladki” were displayed on hoardings throughout the town and in buses going to various towns of the state, Punjab and Rajasthan,” said a local philanthropist, who has been associated with various campaigns on the issue of female foeticide.

Haryana is placed at the bottom of the table in the country with sex ratio of 861 and Sirsa with sex ratio of 882 is slightly better, but much lower than the national figures of 933 females against 1,000 males.

It was in this contest that when Phillippe Tretiack, a French journalist working for Elle, an international fashion magazine, came to India some time back in search of inputs for his story on the female foeticide, he too chose the state for this. His article was published in the French edition of the magazine.

Later, the article was translated in the English issue of Elle titled ‘She didn’t come home’.

“It’s a dreadful effect of progress. Widespread availability of technology like ultrasound has made it easy for anyone to identify the sex of a child. This year alone, nearly 5,00,000 girls will not be born in India due to rampant abortions,” said the study made by the French journalist.

Phillippe came across an ambulance, which, to him, looked more like a hearse.“Week after week, it moves from village to village, jostling through dusty roads. A whole fleet of these rusty dented vans, capped with illegal beacons, can be found making its way through various regions. Or an Armada that comes right to doorstep and indulges in an illegal but very lucrative activity, ultrasound followed by abortions. This is known as a package deal,” the journalist stated in his article about Haryana.

Phillippe was not wrong as precisely this is what the investigations made by the district authorities in Mansa (Punjab) found, when India’s first helpline on female foeticide established by Punjab received a complaint.

“My mother-in-law paid Rs 15,000 to a Sirsa-based diagnostic centre under a “package deal” for sex determination as well as abortion,” disclosed the woman to the investigators of Punjab.

Investigations made by the authorities into the deeds of the local diagnostic centre have already revealed the material, which is sufficient to expose the culprits, who have been dragging the country backwards for a few currency notes and people hope that case would be taken to its logical conclusion.

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Arms licences now carry warning
Sonika Bhatia
Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, December 17
Now, one will have to rethink before opening fire (into the air) from licensed guns during social gatherings as their licence can be cancelled.

The warning has been published on the first page of the new arms licences that was issued by the Joint Commissioner of Police recently.

It reads: “The licence has been granted to you for self protection/security of the establishment/sports activity. Any other use e.g. firing into the air during marriages, religious functions or social gatherings is illegal and may result in cancellation of the licence and initiation of legal action.”

The decision has been taken by the district police on the increasing trend of licence holders to open fire in joy and showmanship, which often turns ceremonies into tragedies.

While handing over the first arms licence to a bank, Police Commissioner SS Deswal said: “Few prefer taking arms licence just for the sake of it though it is not required and also misuse it. There have been incidents in which innocent were killed due to firing.”

“Some people require the licence for security and we don’t mind giving it after verification,” he added.

Earlier, the Deputy Commissioner (DC) had power to issue the arms licence, but now, it has been transferred to the Joint Police Commissioner (JCP). Besides issuing the licence, the police has also been bestowed the powers of magistrate under Sections 107 to 122 of the CrPC. Now, accused of Section 107/151 (scuffle) of the CrPC will be presented before the DCP and higher rank officers. Presently, DCP (HQ) has been appointed as the nodal officer by the Police Commissioner. He will now exercise the powers of magistrate conferred to the police.

While talking to The Tribune, Joint Commissioner of Police Alok Mittal said: “The facility given to the police will be a shortcut for people, as now they can directly approach us.” He added that any amendment without a written permission would attract firm action.”

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College makes elders computer literate
Kiran Deep
Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, December 17
Age is no bar when it comes to learning. An 85-year-old man, Prem Pal Malhotra, proved it right when he joined computer literacy classes run by the local DAV College for Girls here. He is among 35 senior citizens of the district who have been enrolled in these classes. The college has taken an initiative to make senior citizens computer literate at no cost.

“I am still working and preparing export documents. I decided to attend these classes as after learning computer I can easily do my work and communicate through e-mails,” said Malhotra. “I have too much experience in preparing export documentation and computer will help me draft the documents in a better way and also send these to companies through e-mail”.

“My son is working in the UK and I am learning to use the Internet so that I can communicate with him through various modes. I am a retired teacher and have ample of time to learn new things which are useful these days,” said Suman Sharma.

“After retirement we have a lot of time but due to a lack of computer knowledge we have been feeling handicap. Now, right from railway ticket booking to online banking can be done easily with the use of Internet. This is the reason we are here to learn the use of computer, said senior citizens Gobind Lal Sapra and Radhe Krishan Arora.

“We have started the campaign to educate senior citizens as we feel it is our social responsibility. We have been running free classes for senior citizens for the past three years. Every year, we run these classes for 14 days,” said Principal of the DAV College for Girls, Dr Sushma Arya.

“We have provided 35 computers and also one teacher for every senior citizen. We run these classes in the evening when teachers are free. For the next time, we have decided to enroll more than 100 senior citizens,” she added.

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Go English, PR babus told
Sunit Dhawan
Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, December 17
“Get tech-savvy; Go English” is the mantra given by Shiv Raman Gaur, new Director of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) of Haryana, to the DIPROs posted at all district headquarters in the state.

Addressing a meeting of joint directors, deputy directors and district information and public relations officers in Chandigarh yesterday, Gaur asked them to contribute their mite in bringing about qualitative changes in the functioning of the department.

“It should be clearly understood that English press is the major opinion maker in the present era,” the new PR boss asserted, advising the field officers to enhance their vocabulary to ensure better placement of their press releases in the media.

It may be pertinent to mention here that most public relations officers of the state are not capable of preparing a press statement in English. Incidentally, Gaur happens to have an English-teaching background.

The DIPR disclosed that division-level workshops would be organised at which media professionals and other experts would train the DIPROs in preparing press notes with focus on English language.

Observing that NRIs could play a key role in socio-economic development of their native places, he revealed that a plan was afoot to make the NRIs of Haryana partners in the state’s development.

“We are planning to hold annual get-together of Haryana’s NRIs,” he said and asked the DIPROs to begin the spadework on preparing a directory of the state’s NRIs.

Gaur further advised the DIPROs to focus more on people-oriented positive impact stories instead of taking up only routine official statements. He also asked them to build up data banks of the important and interesting facts concerning their respective areas of jurisdiction.

Apart from maintaining good coordination with newspersons, the DIPROs were asked to get used to working with the modern electronic gadgets which improved their efficiency. The DIPR told them to inform him in case they required training, which, he said, would be promptly arranged.

The DIPROs who did not have laptops were provided these by the department.

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Red Cross troubled by prank calls
Kiran Deep
Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, December 17
Following a large number of anonymous calls at toll free number, the district Red Cross Society has sought the help of the police and the BSNL officials to run smooth-free ambulance services started for the poor especially in rural areas.

To provide free-of-cost service during emergencies, 14 ambulances under the National Rural Health Mission Scheme were pressed into service in the rural areas for persons belonging to the BPL category, victims of roadside accidents and expectant women on November 14 in the district.

The district Red Cross Society, which has been running ambulances in different areas, has got at least 150 false calls, including abusive and vulgar calls, at toll free number in their office since the service has begun.

The society has now approached the police and the BSNL department to trace the anonymous callers and to take action against them.

The control room for the ambulance service has been established at the Red Cross Bhawan. A broadband connection has also been provided so that GPS facility can be put to use and better co-ordination be ensured. The reason that later surfaced was that this toll free number was earlier placed at one of the government hospitals in the district.

“Many persons have been making false calls using abusive language at the toll free number. The situation deteriorated to such an extent in the first two weeks that we got at least 150 anonymous calls asking for various other things instead of the service. So we lodged a complaint against one person and the police has registered a case against him, secretary of the society DR Sharma said.

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State shows the way in energy conservation
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 17
Haryana has been awarded the second award in the best states category for its performance in energy conservation programmes in 2008-09 by the Union government. The award was given by Sushil Kumar Shinde, Union Power Minister during the National Energy Conservation Day function, organised by the Power Ministry at Vigyan Bhawan, recently.

The award was received by Sumita Misra, director, Renewable Energy Department and HAREDA. Haryana is the only state in the country to have bagged the national award for energy conservation for consecutive two years in a row.

The state has been awarded for its various regulatory, promotional and awareness programmes implemented by the Department of Renewable Energy and HAREDA in its capacity as the state designated agency for energy conservation programme. These steps have resulted in a saving of 132 MW during 2008-09.

The state government has taken a lead in the replacement of conventional lighting fixtures in all public buildings leading to saving of 236 lakh units with an investment of Rs 5.03 crore and saving in the energy bills by Rs 9.44 crore annually. In the agriculture sector, 14,668 ISI marked pumps were installed in the state resulting in saving of 46.6 MU of electricity translating into a saving of Rs 186.4 crore annually. The department has also completed the energy audit of 30 large government buildings and recommendations of the energy audit are under implementation.

In an innovative initiative, HAREDA has developed replicable prototypes of energy efficient buildings which have been adopted by the Architecture Department for the construction of buildings.

The government is promoting solar water heating technology as a demand side management measures and so far solar water heating systems of about 12 lakh litre per day capacity has been installed in the state leading to a peak load shaving of 12 MW.

Haryana is the first state in the country, where Energy Service Company (ESCO) has been conceptualized, designed and implemented by the state designated agency on its own in Hisar and Panchkula for municipal street lighting resulting in a saving of 860 KW. Not only the lighting fixtures have been replaced by ESCO but also they will be maintaining the same for the project period, which is of six to eight years. This way, the government will also be saving operation and maintenance cost of streetlights.

Haryana is also one of the few states in the country where a state energy conservation awards scheme is being implemented to popularise and promote energy conservation with prize money ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh in the industry (HT/LT, small-scale industries, government/ semi-government institutions and bodies, educational institutions and commercial buildings.

To inculcate energy conservation habits in students and to create awareness among them on the issues of renewable energy, climate change and global warming and innovative project called Bal Urja Rakshak Mission is being implemented in Gurgaon and will soon be extended to Panchkula.

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Stress on combating cyber crime
Tribune News Service

Panipat, December 17
The Samalkha group today organised a seminar on national cyber crime in which experts and administrators stressed upon the need to find quick solutions to combat cyber crime.

The seminar was presided over by deputy commissioner Vijay Singh Dahiya. Speaking on the occasion, he said information and communication mediums were steering society towards new directions and it had become an inseparable part of life. He said experts should work to find a collective solution to tackle various problems being faced in communication.

He said human race had been able to garner a lot of information about universe which had been made possible by the information revolution unleashed by the advent of internet. However, the benefits of internet had been clouded by cyber crime, which has started affecting most of the people either directly or indirectly.

While congratulating the management of the Samalkha group of institutes for having set up a forensic lab, he said the move could go a long way in solving various crimes.

Ashok Goyal, chairman of the Samalkha group of institutes, said the group was committed towards providing quality education to the students.

A number of cyber experts from Delhi universities and other institutions of participated in the seminar and expressed their views on the issue.

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Father’s Murder
Son goes from pillar to post to get justice
Nawal Kishore Rastogi

Rewari, December 17
Dilawar Singh Yadav has been going from pillar to post for the past two months seeking the arrest of the remaining accused allegedly involved in the murder of his father Kanwar Singh Yadav, who was allegedly done to death by some assailants at Uncha village on October 6.

Kanwar Singh, a resident of Mohlada village, who worked as a milk vendor, had gone to fetch milk from Uncha village, where he was killed.

Later, following a complaint lodged by Dilawar Singh, the Khol police of Rewari district registered a murder case against Rajbir, Shiv Avtar, residents of Mohlada village, and Indu Bala, wife of Yaswant Singh Yadav, brother of complainant Dilawar Singh Yadav.

Dilawar Singh alleged that when his father Kanwar Singh repeatedly castigated Rajbir for developing extra-marital relations with Yaswant’s wife Indu Bala, Rajbir along with Indu Bala and his associate Shiv Avtar hatched a conspiracy to kill Kanwar Singh.

The police had arrested Rajbir. However, the rest have not been arrested yet. Dilawar Singh made a representation to Governor Jagannath Pahadia, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, DGP Ranjiv Dalal, the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and several other dignitaries seeking the arrest of the remaining accused.

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Tree plantation: Plywood manufacturers to meet Jairam
Kiran Deep
Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, December 17
In order to cope up with the shortage of timber for wood industry, members of different plywood organisations will raise the demand for allotment of empty land of the Forest Department to the plywood industry for tree plantation with Union Minister of Environment and Forest Jairam Ramesh.

The different issues of the plywood industry will be taken up in a meeting to be convened by the minister with the representative of the plywood industry on December 22 at the Paryavaran Bhawan, New Delhi.

Besides, the issue of demand of subsidy to the farmers who have planted poplar and eucalyptus same as given to the farmers of rubber plantation in Southern states will also be taken up. The director of the India Plywood Industries and Training Institute, CN Pandey, intimated all members of different organisations to provide details of their problems to be raised during the meeting. As many as 30 representatives of the plywood industry from all over India will meet the Union Minister.

Revealing details of the meeting, the president of Wood Technologist Association, Haryana, SC Jolly, said we had prepared a draft demanding the allotment of empty land of the Forest Department to the plywood industry for plantation of poplar and eucalyptus on lease basis. With the condition that out of total allotted land, 50 per cent plantation would be allowed to use for industry, while the remaining land would always have trees, he added.

“This way industry will contribute in environment protection by increasing trees and will also be able to fulfill its timber requirement. Plywood industry in Yamunanagar is the largest in the country and has been fulfilling more than 50 per cent requirement of the state. The industry in the state is not using forest timber and is totally dependent on the farmers for timber. We have to purchase timber from other states to meet our requirement and have to pay a heavy price for it,” he added.

So, we will discuss this demand with Jairam Ramesh on December 22. Besides, we have also decided to raise the demand to provide subsidy to farmers for poplar and eucalyptus plantation and as it would decrease the price of the timber, he said.

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Meet Your Minister
‘Caste divisions threaten very fabric of society’
In a tete-a-tete with Geetanjali Gayatri, State Public Health, PWD (B and R) and IT Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala talks about his personal and political life and plans for the state

Randeep Singh Surjewala Q. What do you do to de-stress?

A. To de-stress, I listen to ghazals, read books and play with my boys.

Q. What are your favourite leisure activities?

A. I love to go on long drives. In fact, I love travelling with family and friends. I am also a movie buff.

Q. What do you always carry?

A. Cell phone, wallet and an i-pod.

Q. Anything you have learnt from your parents that you would like to share?

A. I have learnt that hardwork and consistency always pays. I am still struggling with getting up early every morning.

Q. Who are your closest friends and what do they do?

A. Jasdeep Singh Toor and Hitender Lalli. They both are lawyers.

Q. What is the job that you have valued most and found most rewarding?

A. I value all jobs and always find a people’s perspective to make it rewarding. As Power Minister, I enjoyed powering up the state by initiating the process of adding 6,000 MW of power projects. Providing sanitation and drinking water - two essential pre-requisites for a decent life - are jobs that I cherish and value. Last but not the least, I always loved the everyday thrill of donning lawyer’s wing callers to be in a court room.

Q. Are you a good leader or a good follower?

A. To be a good leader, you must learn to listen, follow and execute. To demand delivery and command respect, you must lead by example.

Q. Do you come up with ideas or allow others to ideate?

A. Sure, I do. I believe that every single idea must be deliberated and fine tuned by cumulative contribution to become a ‘team’s idea’.

Q. Do you consider yourself a fast or a slow learner?

A. I learn quickly and never hesitate to learn more.

Q. Do you set goals for yourself and your departments?

A. I do.

Q. How do you divide your working hours?

A. Public life commands nearly 3/4th of your functioning time to people’s interaction everyday. So, normally we end up working till very late for taking care of ministry’s work at the cost of personal and family time.

Q. Who is the first person you consult in the departments?

A. Secretary and Head of Department on all policy issues and person in charge on operational issues.

Q. How well do you know your departments?

A. Reasonably well. I, however, believe that everyday is a learning process.

Q. What difference would you like to make in 2010?

A. I would like to see extensive sanitation connectivity, safe drinking water pothole-free safe roads in the state.

Q. Between time you were younger and now, what are the changes you have seen in Haryana?

A. The state’s economy is more sound with an ideal mix of services and agricultural sector. People, including in small towns and villages, demand and get far better accountability. Young men and women of the state have taken over the mettle of leadership at grassroots level, such as municipal committees/councils, panchayats, panchayat samitis and zila parishads.

Q. What are the three most serious challenges the state will face during the next five years?

A. First, sharpening caste divisions, which threaten the very seamlessness of a mutually cohesive society. Second, growth of agriculture by increased productivity with emphasis on research. Water conservation and optimum ground water usage to be the underlying theme of increased agriculture productivity. Simultaneously, development of livestock, fisheries, etc. to be made a parallel farm activity.

Q. What are the handicaps under which your own departments work?

A. I look at handicaps as challenges. Execution within a given time frame and seamless delivery of services are always biggest challenges, particularly in the government.

Q. What kind of people will your departments require during the next five years?

A. The two engineering departments have to necessarily rely upon the skills and capacity of trained professionals as against administrative service officers. This is where success lies.

Q. Should the Anti-Defection Act be made more stringent?

A. A balance has to be struck between an elected member’s right of genuine dissent and control of party bosses over all policy issues. While defection needs to be checked to ensure longevity of governments and avoid corrupt malpractices, members should be permitted to formulate their own opinions on issues and policies unchecked by the powers of compulsory whips. Compulsory whips should only be permitted on money bills and other matters affecting the continuation of governments and not otherwise.

Q. If defection by 1/3rd of members is unlawful and immoral, why should defection by 2/3rd of the members be deemed acceptable?

A. Answer lies in the question itself. 2/3rd members constitute overwhelming majority and thereby could be permitted to support/change political loyalty. Underlying maxim is that majority shall prevail.

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Experts dwell on innovations in theatre
Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, December 17
Theatre is instrumental in raising various issues of discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sex and ethnicity. Former Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Prof Bhim S Dahiya, said this on the concluding day of two-day seminar on “Contemporary Drama in English” at Hindu Girls College Jagadhri, here yesterday.

Speaking on the occasion, he said, “The present day theatre is highlighting old conditions with new techniques.”

Elaborating on it, he said, “The post World War II play staged in the west was highly innovative in technique and radical in thought. The play had made startling and shocking appearance. It earned various names, such as the new theatre, the theatre of the absurd. From the continent the new wave straight reached America, going over the conservative English soil almost untouched.”

He added that the American dramatists localised the absurd by making it culture specific. As for the British contemporary drama is concerned it began with John Osborn and remained largely in the native tradition of realism, with the only absorption of shock tactics from the continental model.

While Vice-Chancellor of English Foreign Language University, Hyderabad, Prof Maya Pandit said we had been witnessing resurgence of plays and dramas again in India. The theatre in Maharashtra is playing a major role in highlighting the socio-political issues and problems of the Dalits. Whereas the street plays were now becoming regular feature in many states. Despite much entertainment channels and cinema, dramas have come back as strong medium for masses, she added.

Highlighting the perspective of Indian theatre in the past, present and future, she said India had multiple traditions of theatre in various Indian languages, including folk Sanskrit theatre before the colonial period, she added.

After Independence, theatre in India on one hand represented the conscious efforts to create an Indian theatre that would be aesthetically distinct from the westernised theatre. On the other hand theatre integrates the western influence with the indigenous vision of nations in the making.

While providing details of the tradition of the Yatra and innovation in contemporary Odiya drama in English, the Vice-Chancellor of Uttkal University, Prof GK Das, highlighted the indigenous properties and major technical innovations of the theatre.

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Joint authority to enforce food, drug Acts
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 17
Haryana has decided to set up a joint food and drug enforcement authority for the effective implementation of the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006, and the Drugs and Cosmetics (Amendment) Act, 2008.

A spokesman for the Health Department said here recently that the authority would be called “Food and Drugs Safety and Standard Authority of Haryana”, and it would be headed by a Food and Drugs Safety and Standards Commissioner.

The authority would regulate manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import of articles of food to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption. It would also check the manufacture and sale of spurious/adulterated/grossly substandard drugs and cosmetics.

Public prosecutors or additional public prosecutors or special public prosecutors were also being appointed and the Punjab and Haryana High Court had been requested to designate one or more courts as special courts in each district of the state to try cases under these Acts.

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Gurgaon schoolteacher's song in CBSE project
Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, December 17
A Hindi song “Naya Aghaz” composed by Kamaljit, a teacher at Salwan Public School here, has become the signature song of the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) Programme for schools.

The CBSE authorities now plan to use her song to popularise its concept of the CCE, as well as in workshops, teachers' training programmes and distributing manuals. The CBSE has also put this song on its website www.cbse.nic.in and sent it to schools across the country. The song, which lasts for 4 minutes and 32 seconds, describes the transition in the classroom teaching from the time when students used to be evaluated through a one-time exam to the new era of the CCE.

Kamaljit wrote this song and her school authorities presented it to the CBSE.

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XEN held guilty of dereliction of duty
Manish Sirhindi
Tribune News Service

Panipat, December 17
Holding a XEN guilty of dereliction of duty, the State Financial Commission and Principle Secretary of the Public Health Engineering Department SC Chaudhary have ordered “stoppage of one grade increment without cumulative effect” of Ashiem Khanna, who had been monitoring the sewage project at Samalkha.

Khanna had been chargesheeted by the department on grounds that while working as XEN, Public Health Water Supply and Sanitation, at division number 1, Panipat, he had failed to ensure that the sewage scheme be executed as per the contract agreement by a private agency.

The action was taken against him after social worker PP Kapoor filed a formal complaint with the state lokayukta in which he had alleged that project to lay sewage pipelines in Samalkha had been delayed causing grave inconveniences to public. The project had commenced October 20, 2006, and was to be completed within 12 months.

Even though the work started on time, it progressed at a slow pace. The complaint had stated that despite being instructed by the SDM Samalkha and Deputy Commissioner, the concerned XEN could not expedite the project.

Besides, it was also alleged that the stretcher where the sewer had been laid was not restored and public had to face great difficulty. Even the manholes were not constructed simultaneously and the RCC slabs were also not laid which led to several accidents in the towns.

Following the complaint, the department concerned ordered an inquiry into the matter, which was conducted by Superintending Engineer of Jind circle of the PWD Water Supply and Sanitation.

In his report, the SE held the XEN guilty of not taking timely action against the private agency that had been awarded the work for delaying the project. The local residents also told the SE that the quality of work was not up to the mark.

A complaint in this regard had also been submitted to the DC, Panipat. Following which a flying squad from Karnal had taken samples of work executed at Samalkha. The report of which is still awaited.

It was last year in December that the XEN concerned was charge sheeted. In an order that were passed recently, the Financial Commission and Chaudhary held that the sewerage project at Samalkha was not completed within the stipulated time frame, which had been proved by the perusal of relevant records. Due to which, one grade increment of the XEN was stopped without cumulative effect.

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Now, sugar mill to generate power
Bijendra Ahlawat
Tribune News Service

Rohtak, December 17
Set up at a whopping cost of Rs 180 crore, one of the newly constructed high-tech sugar mills of the state government is ready to generate power to the tune of around 16 MW daily, besides preparing sugar during the crushing season.

The new mill will replace an old sugar mill here which had started operations way back in 1956.

Though the crushing season has already started in the state, the low production of sugarcane crop and the time taken in setting up the entire infrastructure perhaps led to some delay, the authorities claim that with the higher crushing capability and the latest machine, the mill was very much in a position to make up the time loss if any. It was capable of crushing even higher quantities in a shorter period as the “tonnes crushing per day” (TCD) was at 35,000 quintals, one of the highest in the state in all the cooperative sugar mills in the state.

“This mill complex will use the bagasse (leftover of the sugarcane after extracting its juice) to make power, generating a revenue of at least Rs 3 lakh daily. The generated power up to 12 MW would be sold to the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) daily,” stated Naresh Narwal, managing director of the mill.

He said the total generation period of the power would be approximately six months in a year as bagasse is not available throughout the year.

This complex would be highly energy efficient, using latest DC motors, planetary gear boxes and rope coupling in the production of sugar.

The new plant which would be replacing the existing old mill would consume the same amount of power as the latter. However, the production capacity would be more than the double of the older mill.

The boiler of the mill has the capacity to save 6 per cent of the bagasse. This would help the mill to run an extra two months for generation of power. To have a quality water supply, the complex has built a reservoir of 45,000 cubic metres in the complex, which would help in saving Rs 50 lakh usually incurred on maintenance and replacement of pipes as high capacity RO system has also been installed here.

The authorities have already transferred the land of its old mill complex near New Anaj Mandi here to the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA). Thus, meeting out the expenses of its new complex to a larger extent.

“To revive the interest of farmers in sugarcane, the government has made changes in the policy and hiked the state support price of sugarcane, besides setting up an ultramodern sugar mill complex here,” claimed a senior official.

The overall sowing area under sugarcane this season has taken a tripled to about 15,000 hectares against just 5000 hectares last time, says the records of the Agriculture Department. Besides, the mill has offered help and guidance to farmers, subsidy on pesticides and seeds of the cane, said the mill authorities.

The sugar mill has also offered to sell sugar at a subsidised rate of Rs 20 per kg to those farmers who supply sugarcane to the mill and promised to continue this offer in future as well, said the mill MD. More than 2,000 farmers are likely to get the benefit this season from this scheme, he said.

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Strengthen cardiac healthcare, says expert
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, December 17
Heart ailments have emerged as the biggest killers in the country in the recent years. These are no longer confined to the elderly as more and more young people have been reporting cardiac problems. In view of this trend, it is high time that cardiac healthcare facilities are augmented in the state.

Prof Shamsher Singh Lohchab, noted cardiac surgeon and head of the Department of Cardiac Surgery at the Pt. Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, observed this while addressing a seminar organised by the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication of Chaudhary Devi Lal University here through video conferencing.

Virender Singh Chauhan, chairperson of the host department and director of CDLU Radio, conducted the proceedings of the seminar which was also broadcast in a special radio programme named as “Web-Varta”.

Prof Lohchab said the Rohtak institute had latest facilities and expertise to deal with almost all types of heart ailments,

The upgrading of PGIMS into a health university has ushered in a new wave of expansion in the facilities available at the state’s premier healthcare institute.

The next step in this direction could be establishment of an advanced cardiac centre, he added.

He said no government or private hospital or institute in Haryana had facilities comparable to those in PGIMS, but an advanced cardiac centre was need of the hour.

Answering queries of students, Dr Lohchab said sedentary life style, stress at work place and consumption of junk food was responsible for the increasing incidents of heart ailments.

He said to keep the heart fit and fine, one must avoid junk food and other cholesterol rich diet. “Regular physical exercise and a stress free atmosphere at work place are other factors that can help in preventing heart ailments”.

Asked about heartcare facilities available at PGIMS, the noted surgeon said cardiology and cardiac surgery departments of the varsity were well equipped to deal with almost all types of heart ailments.

Facilities ranging from angiography to angioplasty, stunting, valve replacement, valve repair and bypass surgery were being done at the institute.

Responding to another question, the specialist informed that despite all-round development of the state, incidence of rheumatic heart disease had not gone down significantly. The disease that begins with the infection of the throat in childhood is often linked to unhygienic living conditions; he said, adding that 15-20 cases of the disease were attended at PGIMS everyday.

Guest teachers Rachna Saini and Vijeta Chilana also spoke on this occasion.

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Narwana on growth track
Tribune News Service

Jind, December 17
The subdivisional town of Narwana, which was being labelled as an "orphaned" city after the shifting of political base by state minister Randeep Surjewala, is in the process of getting infrastructure worth Rs 24.57 crore.

Various projects, including the construction of a judicial complex, a primary health centre and an ITI complex, are nearing completion. These were launched about two years ago.

"Residents of this town have been since long seeking the development and setting up of certain projects which could generate employment opportunities. However, the kind of progress which should aim at making the town an important commercial hub is missing," said SP Gupta, a local resident.

According to the district authorities, Rs 16.06 crore has been spent on various projects in the town and the subdivision. These include two new primary health centres each at Durjanpur village and Chhatar village. More than 50 per cent of the work is over. Besides, an amount of Rs 1.80 crore has been spent on the construction of an ITI for women at Dumarkhan Khurd village in the subdivision.

One of the most important projects, according to the administration, is the construction of a judicial complex at Narwana town for which Rs 6.57 crore has been released by the government.

The work is at its final stage and is likely to be completed within a couple of months.

The construction of residential buildings at the community health centre at Uchana is also nearing completion on which Rs 1.14 crore has been spent. Repair and supplementary construction works are going on at several places in the district which include a workshop of the Haryana Roadways at Narwana, pilgrimages centre at Kayasodhan Tirath and Lokesh Rishi spot at Lodhar village for which Rs 3.50 crore has been earmarked.

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Left-out beneficiaries to get BPL cards
Tribune News Service

Hisar, December 17
The Haryana government is open to issuing BPL cards to those who claim they have been left out wrongly after verification of their claims.

This was stated by P Raghvendra Rao, Financial Commissioner, Rural Development, while talking to mediapersons here recently.

He said although the Centre had estimated issuance of 6.5 lakh BPL cards in Haryana, the government had identified 8.5 lakh eligible persons already and the government was prepared to verify the claims of more claimants.

Rao said all BPL cardholders in Haryana were genuine as these were issued after due verification of the applicants. He ruled out the possibility of ineligible persons having procured BPL cards.

He said 2.67 lakh individuals had been identified for allotment of 100 square yard plots and the process was on to identify another 2 lakh eligible individuals. Rao said the government had sanctioned funds for constructing 171 sports stadia in villages to give a fillip to sports in rural areas. Of these 100 stadia had already been completed and the rest were under construction.

He said the government had forwarded a list of 131 villages to the Centre for claiming reward under the Nirmal Gram Scheme.

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Industrialists told to ensure safety norms
Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, December 17
Taking serious view of the ignorance of safety norms by some of the industrial units, the District Administration yesterday directed senior functionaries of all major industrial units, including Deen Bandhu Chhotu Ram Thermal Power Station, Papar Mills, Saraswat Sugar Mills, Poly Plastic, to ensure proper safety norms to avoid any untoward incident.

“With a view to avoiding any disaster in the hub of plywood and metal industry in Yamunanagar and Jagadhri towns, all major industrial units, including thermal plant, sugar and paper mill, are directed to ensure safety norms,” said deputy commissioner Amit Kumar Aggarwal. Giving details, Amit said all senior functionaries of major plants and owner of all major industrial units were informed in a meeting not to keep raw material in an open place.

Besides it, to cope up with fire-like situation, they were told to train their employees and also to inform them about all possible ways to come out of factory in case of any emergency. Owners of industrial units were also told to do mock exercise to impart training to their employees to deal with disaster-like situation. Besides, they were instructed to strictly ban smoking in industrial units and also to make appropriate arrangements of water and electricity in them.

“The district is a hub of plywood industry and is feeding more than 50 per cent need of the country. Any small incident of fire can become a major disaster because of the presence of timber in these units. So, appropriate arrangements are required in each unit for the safety of employees and property,” he added.

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