Gurgaon, February 8
Gurgaon, the millennium city of Haryana located in the vicinity of the national Capital, will soon have a better road network and public transport system in place.

This was stated by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda while addressing a public gathering here today. He said while the cyber city had already been connected with Delhi through the Metro rail link, there were proposals of connecting other parts of Gurgaon with the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi through the Metro.

“To improve connectivity and augment the public transport system in Gurgaon, we have readied a project based on the public-private partnership model to run 750 low-floor intra-city buses, of which about 150 will start plying soon,” he added.

Hooda maintained that a survey was being conducted for regularising unauthorised colonies. Referring to Gurgaon, he said 13 such colonies in the district had been covered, while a survey of 38 other colonies would soon be completed.

On a demand put forth by Haryana Minister of State for Agriculture and Cooperation Sukhbir Kataria, the Chief Minister announced the construction of a community centre in Sector 12, repair of the primary health centre at Gurgaon village located in the heart of the city and naming two roads of the village after freedom fighters Dayakishan Kataria and Kartar Singh Kataria.

He announced that the road from NH-8 to Sheetla Mata Mandir would be named as Sheetla Mata road.

He dedicated two railway overbridges (ROBs) constructed at a cost of Rs 42 crore. One ROB is built over the Daulatabad railway crossing and the other is on the Basai railway crossing.

Hooda also unveiled a huge statue of Lord Shiva on the premises of Sheetla Mata Mandir here and paid obeisance at the temple.

He also planted a sapling on the temple premises.

Sirsa, February 8
Fall in temperature after early morning showers today have brought smile for farmers, who were earlier worried over the early arrival of warm conditions in the area.

Warm conditions were harming the prospects of good crops in the area, and wheat, it was feared, would be hit the most, had the conditions prevailed for a few more days, according to agriculture experts.

However, early morning drizzles that brought the temperature down considerably have revived the hope of a bumper crop among farmers of the area.

“Early rise in temperature is harmful for the wheat crop as it leads to early ripening of the crop. It results in smaller grains and hence a lower yield,” said Gurjeet Singh Mann, a progressive farmer from Kirpal Patti village near Ellenabad.

He said it was ideal for the wheat crop if the weather remained cool and humid during February.

“The showers and fall in temperature is good for all crops, whether wheat, mustard or gram. The crops will find the much needed moisture,” said Dr Vinod Batra, a paediatrician and progressive farmer from Noorki Ahli in Fatehabad. Roop Singh, another farmer from Ramnagaria village said today’s showers would be beneficial to farmers, who would emerge richer.

The optimum period for the harvesting of wheat is considered the second week of April. However, due to climatic changes due to environmental degradation, the summer season has been arriving early for the past few years. The agriculture experts maintain that if the wheat crop gets a normal winter, it gets a prolonged period of ripening and hence bigger grains.

A shortened winter, however, ripens the crop earlier than its normal span resulting in smaller grains and as a corollary lower yield.

“If the conditions continue like this for a few more days, not only wheat, practically all rabi crops, which include mustard, peas and gram, will benefit,” maintained Mann. 

Yamunanagar, February 8
The two major thermal plants of the state - the Yamunanagar-based Deen Bandhu Chhotu Ram Thermal Power Project of 600 MW and the Super Thermal Plant, Panipat, of 1360 MW - have come under the category of super critical stage due to shortage of coal in the stock for these plants.

The Yamunanagar thermal plant is said to be left with coal stock for two days while Panipat thermal plant has stock for three days.

The situation is alarming. state has already been facing a shortage of 100 lakh units per day.

If the thermal plants does not get the required coal stock, then the power situation will further aggravate. The power demand in the state is 897 lakh units while the supply is 797 lakh units per day, sources said. Highly placed sources in Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited said every thermal plant was supposed to keep a coal stock of 25 days.

As per the Central Electricity Authority, if the coal stock was left for less than seven days it came under ‘critical’ state and if the coal stock was less than four days, it became ‘super critical.’

The reason for the shortage is attributed to less supply of coal from coal companies. Central Coalfield Limited had been supplying less coal to thermal plants in the state.

About 8,000 metric tonne coal stock was left with the Yamunanagar thermal plant which would be sufficient for only a day.

While 69,000 tonnes of coal was left with 1,360 MW Panipat thermal plant, which would be sufficient for the next three days, the sources said.

The daily coal consumption at the Yamunanagar thermal plant is said to be around 10,000 tonnes whereas it was 23,200 tonnes in case of the Panipat thermal plant, the sources added. 

Sirsa, February 8
The Haryana Encyclopaedia, released by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at the World Book Fair in Delhi yesterday, is the result of a year’s toil by several persons led by its editor Shamim Sharma.

Shamim, principal of Mata Harki Devi College for Women, Odhan, was a lecturer in Hindi in the Government Post-Graduate College, Hisar, when KK Khandelwal, then Director, Information and Public Relations, who conceived this project, approached her with the task.

Neelam Prabha, a librarian with FC College, Hisar, was the other person closely associated with the project as its associate editor.

“Though, the project took off on August 6, 2008, we practically got a year for the compilation and editing of the encyclopaedia comprising six volumes. The rest of the time was consumed in planning, printing and proof-reading,” said Shamim in an interview.

The encyclopaedia comprises 10 parts of about 700 pages each with information on the historical, geographical, social, cultural, economical, industrial and agricultural aspects of Haryana.

“The first volume in two parts covers the geographical features, including flora and fauna, tourist attractions, rivers, mountains, soil, agriculture etc. The second volume is on the cultural heritage of the state and achievers from Ved Vyas to Olympian Vijender. The third volume is on history and the state’s contribution to the freedom movement.

“The forth volume enumerates literary treasures from the Rigved, Upnishads and Purans to modern poetry and prose. The fifth volume is on modern Haryana with the highest per capita income in the country.

“The sixth volume is pictorial with contribution by famous lensmen like Yog Joy, Raghu Rai, Ashok Gupta, Ranbir Singh and OP Kadian,” said Shamim.

As many as 250 writers, 500 educational institutions, 800 corporate and business houses, 150 departments and 2,500 individuals gathered information for this gigantic task, she added.

Chandigarh, February 8
Haryana has virtually received a rap for changing overnight a scheme on allocation of sites to oustees “on a flimsy consideration of an inadvertent error”.

Coming down heavily on the state for taking in 2003 a decision “as whimsical as a statement that it mistook cheese for chalk”, Justice K. Kannan of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has also allowed a petition filed in the matter.

Taking up the petition by Gurcharan Singh and others, Justice K. Kannan has asserted: “The petitioners, who having lost the property in acquisition proceedings of the government as early as in the year 1971, are still waiting with bated breath for consideration for allotment of commercial plots as oustees.”

“The expectations have been by virtue of some policy statements, under which the Haryana government had assured to the persons, who had lost the properties in acquisition, to be favoured with consideration for fresh allotments at a special reserved price, when the development of the property acquired takes place and the exercise of distribution through allotments comes to fruition.

“The petitioners’ grievance was, since their entire lands had been acquired, they had been deprived of their sole means of livelihood and the policy of the government that made possible a modicum of restoration of the source of livelihood was ultimately sought to be withdrawn by the last instruction dated December 8, 2003, when the authority stated that consideration for allotments could be made only for residential plots and not for non-residential plots.

“The reference to non-residential plots in all the previous communications were purported to have been done inadvertently. On a rejection of the request for consideration for allotment of a commercial plot when advertisements had been issued, the petitioners have come by means of writ petition to quash the letter rejecting the policy that gave the basis for rejection of the request.”

“The arbitrariness is writ large in the manner expressed in the impugned letter. The consistent line of expression made in each one of the policy statements commencing from the year 1983 making the policy applicable both for commercial and for residential plots cannot change overnight on a flimsy consideration of an inadvertent error. The decision taken in 2003 is as whimsical as a statement that it mistook cheese for chalk.”

“There is no reference anywhere in the impugned communication dated 2003 that there was any conscious decision to exclude commercial plots. There is a casual withdrawal of the scheme on an untenable basis of inadvertence. Human fallibilities would admit of a careless mistake, but a policy presented to a court ought to have been the result of a conscious decision.”

Chandigarh, February 8
The Surajkund Crafts Mela has turned out to be a big hit this year, forcing the mela authority to extend its closing time from 7.30 pm to 8 pm for its last weekend. The mela comes to an end on February 15.

The ticket counters will also remain open till 8 pm on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. The annual event saw more than 1.25 lakh visitors till 5 pm yesterday, a record of its kind. An aerial view of the parking lots suggested that the vehicles had been parked in acres of land.

“How could the Surajkund mela authority manage the parking of thousands of vehicles and cater to the needs of their owners?” commented Nihalsomawaree, Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Industries of Sri Lanka.

Despite a daunting task, the Faridabad district administration and the mela authority successfully managed this immense crowd, with no untoward incident reported. A record number of foreign tourists were also seen in the mela. About 7,000 foreign tourists reached Surajkund today to see the splendour of this mega event. The day also witnessed a gala performance by Jaspal Bhatti, the comedy king who enthralled the visitors with his comedy. The visitors roared in laughter to his satirical takes and jokes. 

Gurgaon, February 8
The Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India has organised a two-week “Faculty Development Programme in Entrepreneurship” here for the faculties of premier science and technology institutions and social organisations of the state.

The programme, sponsored by the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board, under the Department of Science and Technology of the Central government, was inaugurated by SDM Jagniwas today.

Sonepat, February 8
Hundreds of guest teachers led by district president of the Haryana Guest Teachers Association Santosh Chhikara today held a demonstration in front of the DC’s office and submitted a memorandum, addressed to the CM, of their demands to Deputy Commissioner Ajit Joshi.

They demanded regularisation of all guest teachers, payment of salary on the pattern of Sixth Pay Commission and service security to all guest teachers.

District presidents of the Sarv Karamchari Sangh and the Rajkiya Adhyapak sangh, Shilak Ram Malik and Sanjiv Mor, had also supported the demands of the guest teachers.

Chhikara told mediapersons that the state government appointed around 15,000 guest teachers on merit basis in rural areas. A one-year contract was signed in 2009 and it would expire on March 31, 2010, she said.

All guest teachers were united in the decision to launch a stir in support of their demands.

Sonepat, February 8
The mortal remains of Dharam Singh, 94-year-old freedom fighter of Baroda village, was today consigned to the flames at his native village with state honours. He died late last night at his residence following cardiac arrest.

Congress MLAs Jagbir Singh Malik, Sri Krishan Hooda, two surviving freedom fighters Dhan Singh and Dharam Singh, Naib Tehsildar Ram Mehar, DSP Rao Jai Pal Singh and SHO Rajpal were among those who were present to pay their tributes.

He joined the Indian National Army as gunner in 1941.

Chandigarh, February 8
The government has decided to introduce the public audit system for effective implementation of the public distribution system (PDS).

Food and Supplies Minister Mahender Partap Singh said under the PDS, a record of the commodities distributed to consumers was kept at each place.

Under the public audit system, the beneficiaries could see the records to ascertain whether they had received the entitled commodities at prescribed rates or not.

The implementation of this system had become necessary because full allocation of sugar was not being received. — TNS