Chandigarh, February 7
The Congress government in Haryana believes in putting everything on the fast-track, assembly sessions too.

Since the first one-day assembly session of the newly elected House in October last year, the “haste” seems to persist as it readies for its Budget session in March.

The government intends to begin the session on March 5 (Friday) with the Governor’s Address and obituary references, as is the convention.

The House will meet again on March 8 (usually the business of the House resumes in the afternoon after a break) after a two-day break for a discussion on the Governor’s Address and the motion of thanks.

The Budget will be presented the following day though the length of the session and other business will be known only later in the month.

The “empowered” Opposition, sees this “haste” to wrap up the discussion on the Governor’s Address as an attempt by the government to stifle the voices of dissent and opposition. It says this is “undemocratic”.

“No matter how democratic it may appear, the Congress government cannot tolerate being ‘exposed’. Since the Governor reads out the report prepared by the government in his address, the latter obviously does not want too much discussion, lest the truth about their performance is out,” says secretary- general of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and MLA Ajay Singh Chautala.

Attacking the government, he says: “The government does not let the MLAs of the Opposition speak in the House by resorting to such tactics. If the MLAs take to the road to voice their opinion on any matter, they are lathi-charged. Where then should the elected representatives go with the people’s grievances?”

Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) supremo and MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, who took oath as member of the House with his flock of five MLAs, now, stands alone with the rest being “poached” by the Congress.

He maintains: “In the last assembly session, the Congress was in a comfortable position with virtually all MLAs its own. They not only had their 67 MLAs, but also nine Independents. This assembly is a differentball game.

“ The Congress knows it can’t get away with everything it wants. Scared of a stronger (in numbers) Opposition in the House and fearing resistance, the party is using the short duration as a ploy to save its skin. This cannot be taken lying down.”

The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), too, is upset with the session schedule. “Half a day is certainly not enough for a discussion. What is the hurry to pass the Governor’s Address in half a day and get on to the Budget the following day?

“While deciding anything pertaining to the House and the duration of sittings on discussions as crucial as those on the Governor’s Address and the Budget, members of the Opposition, too, should be taken into confidence,” says BJP state president Krishan Pal Gurjar, also an MLA.

He adds that the least the government can do is to extend the discussion on the address by one sitting (scheduled for March 9) and present the Budget in the second sitting on that day.

While Parliamentary Affiars Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala was not available for comment, soucres in the government said ample time would be given to the Opposition to speak its mind. 

Chandigarh, February 7
An advisory sent by the Union Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT) to various ministries regarding filling of reserved posts by recruiting general category candidates has raised the hackles of organisations working for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes.

The DOPT had written to various ministries that though there was a general ban on dereservation of reserved vacancies in case of direct recruitment, in rare and exceptional cases where a post in Group “A” could not be allowed to remain vacant in public interest, the ministry concerned could dereserve it after consultation with the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes, the National Commission for the Scheduled Tribes or the National Commission for the Backward Classes, as the case might be. The DOPT also wrote that in case of promotion, if sufficient number of suitable SC/ST candidates were not available, the vacancies might be dereserved after sending a proposal in this regard to the DOPT and the respective commissions.

What has angered the SC organisations the most is the provision in the DOPT letter that if no reply was received from the DOPT or the respective commissions within two weeks to the proposal to dereserve a post, it should be presumed that they had no comments to offer and the ministry concerned might take a decision regarding dereservation of the post.

President of the Haryana Pradesh Chamar Sangharsh Samiti Gaje Singh Muwal has termed the DOPT letter as an “irresponsible act, aimed at defeating the constitutional provision for reservation for the oppressed classes.” 

Fatehabad, February 7
Avantika Tanwar, nee Maken, wife of Sirsa member of Parliament Ashok Tanwar, today said that cultural fairs provided a platform to budding folk singers to showcase their talent. Speaking as chief guest at the Sabhyachrak Mela, organised every year in Badalgarh village in memory of the late folk singer Joginder Gahnaut,she said new artistes got a chance to perform at such fairs, enriching folk culture.

Folk music was a unifying force as it nurtured mutual goodwill among villagers.

Punjabi folk singers Jaswinder Kaur Brar, Gurbaksh Sonki, Satwinder Bugga, Raj Khamana and Om Parkash Mauji enthralled the audience with their performances.

The MP’s wife gave Rs 21,000 to the artistes.

Former minister Ram Swaroop Rama, Gurdeep Chahal, Jaipal Lali, Nishan Singh Gahnaut, Ashok Garg and Gurdeep Singh were present on this occasion.

Rohtak, February 7
The state unit of the CPM has decided to step up the campaign against price rise and has resolved to support the proposed rally to be organised in Delhi on March 12 by Left parties on the issue.

This was announced by Inderjit Singh, state secretary, here recently. He said the CPM would put pressure on the state and Central governments by mobilising the masses through the month-long campaign for demanding a rollback of the prices of essential commodities.

He said during this campaign, the party would oppose the government’s move on privatisation of various departments along with focusing on issues concerning land and employment.

The party has demanded that the state government should revoke its decision of privatising the power distribution system in the state.

Chandigarh, February 7
The Haryana State Pollution Control Board plans to go to the doorstep of entrepreneurs and start online processing of applications for “No-objection certificates” to them for environment clearance.

Environment Minister Ajay Singh Yadav said here today that the board was contemplating offices at all district headquarters.

It would also set up four new laboratories at Panipat, Yamunanagar, Sonepat and Bahadurgarh. It had also been decided to strengthen and upgrade the existing laboratories.

Yadav said if the online process for “NOC” turned out to be a success, other services , like consent to operate, grant of authorisation and cess collection, would also be included in the ambit of online services in due course of time.

He said efforts were being made to motivate farmers against the harmful effects of burning of paddy straw and wheat stubble.

He said since plastic bags posed a major threat to ecology, the state government had issued a revised notification , increasing the thickness from 30 microns to 40 microns.

The provision for a fine had also been made by giving power to officers of other departments to take cognisance of plastic carry bags. 

Rewari, February 7
Resentment prevails among residents of Musepur, Berli Kalan and Berli Khurd villages of Jatusana block in the district over the unabated electrocution of the national bird, peacock, owing to their incidental entanglement in uncovered high-tension wires.

Irate elders of these villages, led by Capt Ram Kanwar, sarpanch of the Musepur panchayat, Shri Bhagwan, sarpanch of Berli Kalan, and Ram Niwas, sarpanch of Berli Khurd, met SDM Roop Singh here recently.

Stating that the uncovered high-tension wires were proving fatal for peacocks, they said at least 12 peacocks had perished in Musepur and nearly 15 peacocks got electrocuted in Berli Kalan during the past one week. Similarly, several peacocks had died of electric shock in Berli Khurd.

Deploring that their repeated requests to DHBVN officials to insulate bare wires had gone unheeded, they sought the intervention of the district administration.

Fatehabad, February 7
In a move to check mushrooming of colleges of education, providing BEd degrees in Haryana, the National Council of Teachers Education (NCTE) and Kurukshetra University have taken steps for strict implementation of regulations on such institutions.

Self-financing colleges affiliated with Kurukshetra University and imparting Bachelor’s degree in education will now have to get them accredited from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).

The university has written to all self-financing colleges and institutions of education affiliated to it asking them to acquire gradation from the NAAC before April 1.

The university has warned these colleges that their failure in this regard will lead to withdrawal of additional intake of students granted to them.

“An institution that has been granted additional intake in BEd and BPEd teachers’ training courses after promulgation of the Regulations, 2005, shall have to be accredited itself with the NAAC with a Letter Grade B under the new grading system developed by the NAAC before April 1, failing which the additional intake granted to the college shall stand withdrawn with effect from the academic session 2010-11,” said the letter written by the university asking them to strictly follow the regulations set by the NCTE.

“The institutions which have been running on rented premises even after completion of three years have been directed to immediately shift to their permanent premises with prior approval of the NCTE, failing which the recognition granted to such institutions shall stand cancelled from the next academic session,” provide the regulations of the council.

Colleges of Education have mushroomed likes shops in Haryana during past some years. “Till less than a decade ago, Haryana had four colleges of education affiliated to Kurukshetra University and an equal number of colleges under Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak. However, today we have over 400 colleges in the state, many of these operating like educational shops,” said a senior academician.

Together, these colleges produce over 60,000 teachers every year, adding to the already large army of unemployed teachers.

“Worse, many of these colleges have not been following the guidelines set up by the government as well as the NCTE and students have been getting degrees without even attending the classes,” he added. The recent move of the university is likely to tighten the no ose on such institutions and ensure better academic standards in the colleges of education.

Chandigarh, February 7
The Haryana Power Generation Corporation (HPGC) has won a major battle against a private power producer when the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity of the Union Government dismissed an appeal filed by Lanco Kondapally Power and Lanco Infratech Limited regarding the dispute over non-signing of the power purchase agreement (PPA) for procurement of 389 MW of power by Haryana.

The HPGC had issued letters of intent to three private producers, including the Lanco group, for procuring 2113 MW of power on July 12, 2008. While two other producers signed the PPA with the HPGC on August 7, 2008,

Lanco did not come forward to do so and was allegedly trying to wriggle out of the contract on one pretext or the other.

Lanco had earlier agreed to supply 389 MW for 25 years at a levellised tariff of Rs 2.355 per unit.

Lanco approached a Panchkula court with the plea that it should be given more time to sign the PPA because the land for its project in Orissa had not been acquired as yet.

The court extended the time for signing the PPA up to December 31, 2008.

Lanco is yet to comply with these court orders and the HPGC has launched contempt proceedings against it.

The HPGC also encashed Lanco’s bid bond of Rs 11.89 crore as it would have expired on January 15, 2009. The HPGC filed a petition before the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) under Section 86(i) (f) of the Electricity Act, 2003, with a request for directing Lanco to sign the PPA and also for restraining it from signing any agreement with another party for sale of the 389 MW of power contracted with Haryana.

Lanco took the plea that only civil courts and not the HERC had the jurisdiction in the matter. However, the HERC restrained Lanco from selling the power contracted with Haryana to any other party

Lanco appealed to the tribunal against these orders of the HERC. After five hearings, the tribunal, comprising its chairman Justice M. Karpaga Vinayagam and its technical member HL Bajaj, dismissed Lanco’s plea that it had not signed any contract with the HPGC.

The tribunal held that the contract came into existence on the issuance of the letter of intent on July 17, 2008. It also held that the HERC had the jurisdiction to adjudicate the dispute.

Sapera Basti, February 7
Promila is pursuing her graduation and is a role model for her village. Considering she hails from a snake charmers' community where education is hardly a priority and for women a taboo, this feisty 19-year-old's achievement is a big deal.

"I am the only girl in my village to have reached the graduation level. There are a few others who are in school, but none have managed to reach college," says a chirpy Promila in her village near Badarpur on the edge of the Capital.

Originally from Rajasthan, the inhabitants of Sapera Basti, which literally means snake charmers' village, settled here decades back in search of better livelihood options. Education never featured on their priority list since it was taken for granted that their profession - snake charming - would be passed down generation to generation.

"Even after the ban on snake charming came into effect, thanks to the Wildlife Protection Bill, other livelihood options were explored, but educating their sons was never considered one.

“As far as the women's role went, like in any other patriarchal society, they were hardly meant to step out of their homes," explains Bhagyashree Dengle, executive director of Plan India, an NGO that works with the community.

She says it took 12-year-intervention to convince community members on the benefits of education so that they started sending their children to school. Even then, educating the girls remains a big challenge.

Kamlesh Chauhan, one of the very first women of the village who went to school, says: "I have studied till Class XI. It may not sound too impressive, but considering the challenges that I have had to face, it is for me.

"When I was in Class VI, my parents withdrew me from school. My teachers and members of the NGO came to my home to make my parents change their mind, which they did, but for another two years.

"In Class VIII, my relatives said it was time for me to tie the knot. Another round of pleading followed and finally my parents gave in. I managed to study till Class X and after that I got married," says Chauhan.

Instead of sitting at home thereafter, she decided to look for work and found a job with a nursing home. She now earns a decent pay packet and helps her husband run the home.

"I have a six-year-old daughter who goes to school. With the little education that I’ve had, I am able to lead a fairly independent life, but I will make sure that my daughter studies more than I me so that she can lead an even better life," she says with confidence.

While things have changed for the better since Chauhan's days, Promila says much needs to be done, especially for the womenfolk in her village.

"The problem of early marriage is rampant. On completing my graduation in social work, I plan to work in my village to remove this custom. I also want to encourage female literacy," says Promila.

Anuja Nath, a village resident whose daughter goes to school, says:

"The men earn little and even that is wasted on alcohol. We women take care of the livestock, get firewood and work at home.

"I don't want my daughter to lead a life like most of us. I want her to study, get a good job and lead a comfortable life.

“Thanks to her going to school, I came to know of a three-month beautician's course and I enrolled in it, so I hope I can earn some extra money," Nath says.

Promila is doing graduation through correspondence and have gives tution to kids and papply henna on women's hands at weddings. She also works as a peer counsellor and sensitises youngsters on HIV/AIDS, health and hygiene. — IANS 

Sirsa, February 7
Despite initial concerns, cotton growers and ginners in the area have made good fortunes this year, as the total production of cotton this year is likely to touch last year’s figures.

Sirsa is considered the cotton bowl of Haryana with a share of over 40 per cent of the total cotton produced in the state and the overall economy of the district, predominantly based on agriculture, depends much on its cotton production.

Concerns were both on the quantity of production due to sparse rains last year as well as lower price in the earlier months of the season this year.

However, sources in the cotton business inform that while the total production of cotton this year is likely to be almost near to the last year’s total, the growers, too, are getting fairly good rates. “As many as 42 lakh bales of cotton were produced in the northern region comprising Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan last year. The figure is likely to touch 39 lakh bales this year,” said Senapati Tamred, a cotton broker. He added that the total production of cotton in Haryana was almost equal to what it was last year.

“Scant rains last year had raised concerns for both farmers as well as cotton ginners, but good downpour, later in August, appears to have helped,” said Gurpreet Singh Nagpal, partner of Royal Cotgin, a local mill and secretary of the Sirsa Cotton Association.

He said more than 85 per cent of the cotton in Sirsa had already arrived in the market and the ginning season was likely to continue for one more month now.

Cotton was procured for Rs 3,260 per quintal on Saturday, much higher than the Cotton Corporation of India’s MSP of Rs 2,700 per quintal.

“The procurement started at a rate around Rs 2,550 per quintal in September this year, but the prices picked up after exporters came in the market by the end of October and went up to Rs 3,400,” said Nagpal.

Indian cotton is finding good market in China this year, according to trade sources.

Pakistan, Bangladesh and Thailand have also been importing cotton from India; However, China is the biggest importer of Indian cotton, with over 70 per cent of the offtake. 

Panipat, February 7
International orders worth several crores have come as good news for the Panipat industry that has been struggling against the global economic slowdown for the past several months.

Local traders and producers participated in two textile and trade fairs - the Hannover World Handicraft Fair and the Heimtextil International Trade Fair - in Germany which helped the local industry bag international orders worth over Rs 1,450 crore. This has brought cheer to local business houses, which are now hopeful that this will help them tide over the economic crisis.

Many units in this industrial hub had brought down production to one-third due to fewer orders. This had even rendered over 75,000 labourers jobless.

Local carpet traders bagged orders worth Rs 250 crore from international firms at the Hannover World Handicraft Fair, while owners of textile units bagged orders worth over Rs 1,200 crore at the Heimtextil International Trade Fair.

Last year, traders and producers had not been able to get impressive orders from any of the international trade fairs due to global recession.

Traders who participated in the two fairs said the response from international traders had lifted their spirits and they were now hopeful that more orders in the future would put production back on track.

Virender, a local trader, said business here had had been hit due to the global recession.

However, the New Year brought good news for the business houses as the two fairs provided a fresh lease of life to the local units.

Sonepat, February 7
Hundreds of activists of the Mid-day Meal Workers Union, led by district president of the Sarv Karamchari Sangh Shilak Ram Malik and district president of the union Meena Kumari, today staged a demonstration at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in protest against discrimination against them by the government. They handed over a memorandum of their demands to the Deputy Commissioner.

The union is against giving the mid-day meal scheme on contract, wants workers’ appointment to be made through the DEO, immediate payment of monthly remuneration of Rs 1,000 and wants mid-day meal workers declared as school employees.

Malik alleged that the mid-day meal workers were neither being given the minimum wages nor their names were entered in the attendance registers of schools.

Sonepat, February 7
Around 1,000 persons, including women and children, of Matindu, Morkheri and other nearby villages were examined by a team of doctors, led by Dr Rajinder Singh Tonk, a cardiologist, at a free health camp organised by an NGO, Chaupal, at Gurukul Senior Secondary School, Matindu, today.

The team included a skin specialist, a dentist, a child specialist, an eye specialist, a physician, a psychiatrist, a gynaecologist, an ENT specialist and an orthopaedic specialist. Facilities of ultrasound, ECG and laboratory were provided at the camp.

Dr Tonk, who is also the chairman of Chaupal, said patients were provided medicines free of cost and were advised to avail of free medical follow-up treatment at the next camp to be organised next Sunday in a nearby village.

The chairman of Gurukul, Brig Satya Dev Dahiya, donated Rs 11,000 for the camp.

Rewari, February 7
With the arrest of two gangsters, Hoshiar and Prakash Yadav, both residents of Khanpur village under Bhiwadi police station of Alwar district in Rajasthan, the Rewari district police today claimed to have busted an inter-state gang involved in bank robberies and gruesome murder of several bank employees in Haryana and Rajasthan in the past 30 months from July, 2007, to December, 2009.

The police impounded a motor cycle, reportedly used in the robberies and two countrymade pistols.

Rajender Singh Gahlot, SP, said at a press conference here today that it was startling that the kingpin of the five-member gang, Maman Singh of Seethal village in Alwar, was a serving soldier posted in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

Two other members were also soldiers. Prakash Yadav, was posted in the Army training camp at Dev Lali in Nasik, Maharashtra. The arrests were made on a tip-off from Dharuhera area last night. A police party had been sent to Dehradun to arrest Maman Singh. The SP said the two had confessed to the detection of 11 bank robberies, five in Rewari district, three in Gurgaon district, one in Mahendragarh and two in Alwar district of Rajasthan.

The gang had looted a total of Rs 66, 69,007 from the Kapriwas branch of the Gurgaon Gramin Bank, the Chillarh, Meerpur and Nangal Mundi branches of the PNB in Rewari, Kalwari and Indri branches of GGB, Jamalpur branch of the Punjab and Sindh Bank in Gurgaon district, Godh Balawa branch of the PNB in Mahendragrah district, Laxmangarh and Neemrana branches of the State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ) in Alwar district of Rajasthan.

The gang had shot dead a security guard at the Kapriwas branch of the GGB, a branch manager at the Godh Balawa branch of the PNB and a security guard at the Laxmangarh branch of the SBBJ.

Cases were registered for murder, robbery and under the Arms Act against the gang. As regards the modus operandi of the criminals, the SP said they came on a motor cycle and struck between 10 am to 12 noon.

The criminals carried a cash reward of Rs 50,000 as announced by the Rajasthan police. The district police chief said local police teams headed by DSPPooran Chand Panwar had done a commendable job in apprehending the gangsters.