Chandigarh, March 22
With the mining imbroglio in Haryana does not seem to have an early solution, particularly so after the Supreme Court could not hear a petition filed by Deepak Kumar of Gurgaon on March 19, the prices of grit and sand in the region have started going up.

Deepak has challenged the authority of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to permit the state to allow mining without prior environment clearance for a short time.

The petition was filed after the High Court last year allowed mining in the state without environment clearance till February 28 this year as a stop-gap arrangement so that the development projects and construction activities were not hit. Meanwhile, the government was supposed to get environment clearance from the expert appraisal committee (EAC) of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

When the government failed to get the clearance, it sought another extension for one year from the High Court. Deepak Kumar opposed the government’s plea and told the court about his pending petition in the Supreme Court. The High Court deferred the hearing on the government’s request till March 26 in view of the hearing fixed on Deepak’s petition in the apex court on March 19.

Now since the case in the Supreme Court is likely to take some more time, the High Court may also defer the hearing to another date on March 26. The Supreme Court Bench hearing the environment-related case (Hence, it has come to be known as Green Bench) sits once a week. Now the Bench will sit on March 26, the day the case is fixed in the High Court also. But it is not yet known if the court will take up Deepak Kumar’s petition that day.

Meanwhile, the state government’s plan to carve out a 600-hectare zone in Faridabad district for mining has also run into rough weather legally. Most of the proposed zone is already on lease to private parties for mining of major minerals. Some of them have even obtained the mandatory prior environment clearance and their environment management plans (EMP) have been approved by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. However, in view of an earlier order of the Supreme Court, the mining could not be started.

When these leaseholders moved the apex court for its permission to start mining, the Haryana government first supported them but then opposed their plea, saying that if they were allowed mining, its plan for the mining zone would be hit badly. The government has urged the court to cancel the mining leases of major minerals in Faridabad district without giving a hearing to the lease-holders, as giving them an opportunity to hear would lead to a long process.

The court is highly unlikely to agree to this plea. Our judicial system is based on the premise that all persons must get a fair trial. Sometime ago the apex court had suggested that the leaseholders and the government should try to find out an amicable solution. However, the government has filed an affidavit reiterating its demand for cancellation of the leases.

There is a view that the state should suggest to the court to allow those leaseholders to operate, who had already obtained the environment clearance, while cancelling the leases of those who had failed to do so despite so many years. 

Karnal, March 22
Stepping up its drive against organised crime, the Karnal police busted three gangs involved in robbery, theft of goods, transformers and LPG and recovered stolen property worth Rs 1.18 crore during the past one month, police sources informed.

The police also cracked down on people drinking in public places and arrested 830 persons. As many as 202 persons were arrested for drinking in public places, 529 for violation of the Excise Act and 89 persons for gambling. The police also recovered Rs 2,26,202 from gamblers.

The police busted an interstate gang of transformer thieves, solving 78 cases of thefts by recovering 170 transformers. It has arrested five persons in connection of these thefts and recovered 18 quintal of aluminum and copper wires and 44 quintal of iron strips. The value of recovered stolen goods is about Rs 1 crore.

Another gang of criminals involved in theft of LPG during transportation from depots to various destinations was also unearthed by the police and three persons were arrested. The police also seized 918 empty and filled LPG cylinders and impounded three trucks.

The police solved an old case of dacoity and 62 theft cases and recovered 28 stolen motorcycles and property worth Rs 18 lakh.

The police registered 17 cases under the NDPS and recovered 60 g of opium, 3.980 kg of charas, 71.5 kg of poppy husk, 1030 kg of lahan used in making illicit liquor, 138 bottles of illicit liquor, and 1,547 bottles of IMFL and 3,940 bottles of country liquor being smuggled to other states. The police also succeeded in nabbing 14 proclaimed offenders.

Karnal, March 22
A world full of talent and creativity yet so neglected. MDD Bal Bhavan, an orphanage at Phoosgarh village, which provides shelter, food and education to 86 orphans, is crying for attention.

The orphanage comprising 45 boys and 41 girls in the age group of 2 to 18 years, is being managed by a team of 15 staff members, two widow wardens, three full-time volunteers.

The government had been providing yearly aid of Rs 4.98 lakh for 75 kids but no funds were released last year on the pretext that the relevant file had gone missing.

The number of children has increased to 86 and the orphanage is surviving with support of social organisations and volunteers to meet the monthly expenditure of Rs 2.5 lakh.

The orphanage is managed by “The Mission to the Desperate and Destitute of India”; a charitable society started in 1999 by a Keralite couple, P R Nath and his wife, and two children in a rented accommodation.

It is still running in a rented accommodation for which he pays Rs 11,000 per month.

While the finances are squeezing and the government is not forthcoming to help, the caretakers are striving hard to fulfill the criteria fixed by the government to have sufficient space in proportion to the number of inmates.

The orphanage has identified one quila land for Rs 60 lakh, including registry, and Rs 35 lakh has been raised with efforts of volunteers. But, bridging the huge resource gap of Rs 25 lakh by March 31 is a daunting task.

PR Nath, the founder of the orphanage, says: “Our mission is to make all children stand on their feet, overcome the complex of being deprived, face the world with courage and determination and settle well.”

The orphanage had also solemnised marriages of two girls in December. The education of 15 children has been sponsored too.

It has started a charitable dispensary, pulse polio centre, vocational training centre and Balwadi on its campus. The inmates have been trained to fight social evils, create awareness about environment, health and education. Even a physically challenged girl takes part in social and cultural activities.

These children aim high in life. Vandana, who scored 82 per cent marks in Class X, wants to become an IAS officer while two-year-old Lavi welcomes every new face with a smile and open arms. Little Gaurav and Deepak see MS Dhoni as role model and wish to become cricketers.

Chandigarh, March 22
Haryana has instituted five awards for senior citizens.

According to Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Geeta Bhukkal, Rs 5 lakh has been earmarked for these awards to be given on International Old Age Day on October 1.

The awards have been categorised as the centenarian, best mother, courage and bravery, best panchayat and life- time achievement awards.

The centenarian award will be given to a person above 90 years of age who is still working and contributing a lot to society. The best mother award will be given to an aged mother who has worked in odd conditions to help her children realise their dreams.

The courage and bravery award will be given to a senior citizen who has set an example of bravery while working in difficult situations. The best panchayat award will go to a panchayat, which has done a pioneering work for the betterment of senior citizens.

The life-time achievement award will be for a senior citizen who has worked for the welfare of aged people and made a lot of contribution in this field. 

Gurgaon, March 22
Admission to the three-year diploma courses being offered in 90 polytechnics affiliated to the Punjab State Board of Technical Education and Industrial Training will be made on the basis of a joint entrance test (JET) to be held on May 22.

The prospectuses for JET are available at the Sector 14 branch of HDFC Bank here. This facility has been made available for the local students for the first time at Gurgaon.

The admission will be made for more than 43,000 seats, 15 per cent of which have been reserved for outside candidates on an all-India basis. 

Fatehabad, March 22
Various educational projects are coming up in the district. Some of these have already been completed while others are at different stages of development.

CG Rajini Kaanthan, deputy commissioner, told The Tribune that Fatehabad was among five towns of the state where Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangthan (KVS) would open its school soon.

“Eight acres of land for the school has already been provided by Gram Panchayat, Matana, just behind the police lines,” he informed.

He said a team of the KVS led by Har Gopal, education officer, had okayed the site and Shailja, principal of KV, Hisar, had been appointed nodal officer for the Fatehabad project.

The DC said though the project was likely to take three years to complete, he had given the building of the newly constructed Government Primary School in Sector 3 of the Haryana Development Authority for a period of three years, so that that the school could be opened from the coming academic session.

Kaanthan said Navodya Vidyalaya, which was functioning from Government Senior Secondary School’s building at Kharakheri village for the past some years, had now been shifted to its new building.

The district has also got fund from the Centre for the setting up of a polytechnic at Dhangar village. “Six acres has already been provided for the project by the village panchayat,” he said.

Besides, under the public private partnership (PPP) model, four industrial training institutes would be set up in four administrative blocks of the district.

Despite all these projects, the district lacks institutes like the District Institute of Educational Training (DIET), which almost all districts of the state can boost of.

Similarly, there is no provision for studying science subjects at the postgraduate level or law at the undergraduate level.

Sonepat, March 22
With a view to expediting the development work of Rajiv Gandhi Education City, near Rai, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has set up offices of superintendent engineer and executive engineer here.

In the first phase, the area earmarked for the education city is about 2,000 acres and estimates worth Rs 90 crore have been prepared and approved for carrying out preliminary works such as construction of roads, laying of water supply and sewerage pipelines, construction of main clear water storage tank of 17.18 lakh gallon capacity and providing sewer water disposal scheme.

Deputy commissioner Ajit Joshi said there were about 40 educational plots with sizes ranging from 2.42 acre to 165.23 acre. Besides, there was a provision for hostel, staff housing, hotels, multiplex, shopping arcades, medical centres, post offices, police station etc. "There is also provision for a convention centre, seminar rooms, an art gallery, auditorium, weekly market, a food court and an international university centre," he added.

Claiming that the city would be designed as zero flood zone, he said a lake having a plan area of 12.50 acre and about six metre deep had been proposed at the centre connected with surface rainwater pucca drains of the area. Sufficient rainwater harvesting system making full use of water for recharging of groundwater would also be provided.

The city plan also has provision for sewer water management and sewer treatment plant with tertiary treatment and the treated water will be recycled for greenery and toilets, he said.

An amount of Rs 56 crore has already been spent on development works till December 2009. It included Rs 11.35 crore for the construction of 60-m wide roads, Rs 16 crore for the construction of 30-m wide roads, Rs 7.88 crore for laying sewer pipelines, Rs 3.12 crore for the construction of drain for sewer water disposal and Rs 56 lakh for road drainage work.

The DC said the main objective of the government was to provide world-class education facilities to students of the state at one place with 25 per cent reservation for Haryana students. As many as eight reputed educational bodies have already been allotted plots here. A number of foreign universities and educational institutions had also shown interest in setting up their wings at the city, he added.

Yamunanagar, March 22
While delivering a lecture on Budget at DAV College for Girls here, MM Goel, chairman Department of Economics, Kurukshetra University, said here today that we need to be pragmatic in replacing lip service to the farmers by a concrete plan of action. This is how we can create a road map for sustainable growth in agriculture sector.

Goel said to enhance sugarcane production, the proposal of a technology mission on sugarcane was alright along with enhanced cane prices for early, mid and late varieties to Rs 210, Rs 205 and Rs 200 per quintal for the crushing season of 2010-11.

But, the sugar mills need to announce procurement price in advance instead of announcing the so called bonus that has no rationale, causing rifts among the cane growers, Goel said.

In general, the procurement prices should be announced by all agencies, including CACP, in addition to Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for various products as it was done earlier for buffer stocks by the FCI, he added.

Dr Goel said to provide life insurance to the state through education with efficiency, sufficiency, equity with enhanced allocation of Rs 5946.29 crore was required for growth. However, to bring a drastic change in the education system, there was a dire need for bureaucrats to take academicians in confidence before making any policy.

"This is the right time when the bureaucrats should change their mindset and take academicians in confidence for the missionary mode of the drastic changes, time and again which is essential for smooth sailing of educational reforms," he added.

On power sector, he said the target of making Haryana a power surplus state appeared to be ambitious without public cooperation. The public needed to adopt zero tolerance against power theft despite the augmentation of the transmission network with doubling the availability to all sectors of the economy through 20.6 per cent increase in the resource allocation of Rs 4,642.71 crore during 2010-11.

Kurukshetra, March 22
Two students of the department of English of Kurukshetra University have been selected as foreign language teaching assistants (FLTAs) under the Fulbright Fellowship Programme.

A university spokesman said the students, Urvashi Kuhad and Nidhi Khatana, were among 15 candidates selected from all over India for this programme. Both would be joining FLTAs from 40 other participating countries to visit the US. “Both M.Phil students in the department of English will leave for the US in August for a period of nine months. While Urvashi will go to the University of Texas in Austin, Nidhi will join the University of Pennsylvania”.

Lieut Gen DDS Sandhu, vice-chancellor, congratulated the students and the faculty of the department of English. “It is an honour for the university that our students have won Fulbright fellowship and will represent the university at the international level,” said Dr Sandhu.

Prof Brajesh Sawhney, chairman of the department, and a Fulbright alumnus, informed that the Fulbright FLTA programme was sponsored by the US Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by the Institute of International Education.

Hisar, March 22
The annual two-day Kisan Mela of CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, will begin from March 24. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will inaugurate the event.

Dr KS Khokhar, vice-chancellor of the university, said the theme of this year's Kisan Mela would be improving the health of cultivable soil. The mela would be organised at the Research Farm of the university located on the Bal Samand Road, Hisar. Farmers would be apprised of practical knowledge of maintaining the nutrient value of the soil and also to make the barren, sandy and saline land productive.

He said besides farmers from neighbouring states, people associated with agriculture development and representatives of multinational companies would also participate. A large exhibition on agro-industry would also be organised during the event. New technologies developed by various departments of the university in the fields of agriculture, animal husbandry and rural development would be exhibited.

Dr HD Yadav, director, extension education, said national and multinational companies participating in the mela would also showcase their products. Special arrangements for the scientific tests of soil, irrigation water and diseased plants would also be made.

He said the main attraction of the mela would be the sale of hybrid seeds of Kharif crops. Several sale counters had been made to make the hybrid seeds available as per the needs of the farmers. The farmers could also buy advanced agricultural implements, literature on agriculture and pesticides. Women would be provided information related to home development and other related fields in a simple language. The other attraction of the mela would be competitions of healthy crops and healthy livestock. On both days, debates would be held and farmers winning the competition would be awarded. 

Rohtak, March 22
Phool Singh (72), a retired official of the Education Department, felt helpless and feared for his life on Tuesday night when a person knocked his door and challenged him to open the gate, besides hurling abuses on the victim for reasons unknown and for no fault on his part.

The senior citizen who called up the police control room and the nearest police station failed to get any help from them. “The incident, which made me spend a sleepless night, happened around 10.15 pm”, claimed Phool Singh, who lodged a formal complaint with the police yesterday.

Living alone in Sector-1 here, the retired deputy director of the Education Department told The Tribune that he got frightened when a person, who had perhaps been in a drunken state, knocked the main gate of his house and asked him to open the gate in a forcible manner. “The person had not only threatened me with serious consequences but also hurled abuses on me and my family,” he said.

“I called up the police control room at 9996464100 and 100, but they told me to call the police station of Sector-1 at 9813155935, but the person there asked me to report a complaint,” claimed Phool Singh, who added that this response from the police made him to sulk and wait for the dawn.

“But I could hardly sleep as I live alone and the fear of someone barging into my house and assaulting me haunted me,” he said. Claiming that he could identify the accused, Phool Singh demanded action against him and ensuring proper safety for senior citizens like him. SSP Anil Kumar Rao said the matter was not in his knowledge so far but claimed he would investigate the matter and strict action would be taken against the erring officials.

Kurukshetra, March 22
The first-of-its-kind Surgery Package Programme, launched by the Haryana government on July 1, 2009, has rewritten the concept of healthcare delivery system in state sector making surgical experience cost-effective, affordable and hassle-free. It is getting good response from the people of the state. In just seven months - July 2009 to January 2010 - the programme has attracted more than 48,000 persons and made a profit of about Rs 57 lakh.

Disclosing this here recently, a spokesman for the Health Department said more people were coming to government health institutions to avail themselves of the benefits of the package deal. An internal audit was underway to consolidate the claims. All surgeries were free for BPL cardholders and residents of urban slums notified by the local and urban bodies.

Besides all types of eye surgeries, caesarean section and cleft lip or palate were free for all sections of society. As many as 48,000-odd people, who availed themselves of the package up to January 31, 2010, included 5,400 BPL patients, over 300 patients from notified slum areas and 6,200 expectant mothers who had to pay no charges because free caesarean sections were done for them, he added.

He said before the launch of the programme, patients or attendants were asked to get all drugs and consumables required for surgery, making them run around to get them at odd hours. This exposed them to the risk of overcharging by chemists who would often provide them poor quality material.

The spokesman said under the programme, a patient had to just pay a one-time fixed cost after which everything was taken care of by the hospital. It covers the cost of everything right from the time surgery was advised till the time the patient was discharged. The surgeries were done at lower rates as compared to private set up.

Giving comparative rates of the programme and market rates, he said a caesarian, cataract (IOL), cleft lip or palates which were provided free in the package, cost Rs 20,000, Rs 12,000 and Rs 15,000, respectively, as per the market price. Similarly, hysterectomy costs Rs 3,500 under the package, whereas it costs Rs 20,000 in the market, cholecystectomy costs Rs 4,000 under the package, while it costs Rs 15,000 in the market, lap cholecystectomy costs Rs 5,000 under the package, while it costs Rs 20,000 in the market. Hernia and fistula surgery each cost Rs 12,000 in the market, against only Rs 3,000 and Rs 3,500 under the programme, he added.

The programme also covers the cost of any investigation required but not available in the hospital. The hospital procures drugs and consumables used for surgeries in bulk ensuring procurement of material at cheaper rates, the quality of which was ensured by the procurement committee, he added.

But the package did not cover costly and uncommon investigations like PCR, Surface Ag, TORCH test and uncommon and costly treatment like immunoglobulin, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, implants and prosthesis. Blood would have to be replaced by the donor but the cost of investigation for grouping and blood matching would be borne by the Directorate Health.

In case of any complications arising during or after the surgery, it would be managed within the hospital or any other health unit and the patient would not have to pay anything. If the patient had to be transported to a tertiary care institution, the directorate would bear ambulance expenses, but the expenses incurred in tertiary care institute or any other institute would not be the liability of the directorate and the Health Department, the spokesman added.

Sonepat, March 22
The department of science and technology of the state government has offered financial assistance on Rs 1 crore for the setting up of a renewable energy test centre at Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal.

HS Chahal, vice-chancellor, informed the centre would have various laboratories like energy efficiency testing lab, solar photo voltaic testing lab and solar thermal testing lab. “It will be a unique centre in North India which will provide testing facilities for recently developed renewable energy appliances,” he said, congratulating the centre chairman, Dr SK Singh, on this achievement of the University Centre of Excellence for Energy and Environment Studies.

Under this project, he said, financial assistance for the staff would be provided for three years and after that the university might charge testing fee and also raise resources by running various sponsored short-term capacity building courses in the area of energy efficiency and renewable energy, ECBC, green architect, repair and maintenance etc.

The VC also informed that the state renewable energy department, Haryana Renewable Energy Development Authority (HAREDA), Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, power utilities, and the department of architecture would help generate resources to conduct courses on short-term capacity building and also to train manpower in the area of renewable energy conservation.

Chahal disclosed that it had been decided to open four other centers of excellence which would cover areas identified as pertinent to present day and future needs of the country. The centre of excellence in highway safety would have academic programs, training facilities, research consultancy, motivational campaigns and a live traffic park to promote road safety education. “A trauma centre is being planned on NH-1 at Hasanpur village whose panchayat has already resolved to transfer land for use by the university to set up this centre,” he added.

A centre for estate management offering courses like master in landscape design and planning is also to be set up soon, he said and added that a centre for community development was currently working on projects based on providing medical care, plant seedling, education and training in waste management and wastewater management.

He also disclosed that the centre for business incubation was planned to play a nodal role in providing manpower both upstream and downstream the industry.

Kaithal, March 22
Shamsher Singh Surjewala, president of the All-India Kisan Khet Mazdoor Congress, has suggested that state government departments should send lists of 25 to 30 vacancies to the Haryana Staff Selection Commission at a time to combat unemployment.

Addressing a press conference here recently, he said at present the departments send requests to fill only two or three vacancies, which was insufficient. He said the departments should first procure the list of applicants for various posts from their district offices and then forward them to the commission.

Surjewala, who is also former chief of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, said different departments were getting thousands of applications for various posts, but only two or three persons were finally selected. “I also strongly feel that if a department is in the need of an officer or employee, it should be allowed to recruit suitable persons for these posts on an ad hoc basis,” he said, adding that interviews could be held for such ad hoc appointments by the concerned departments themselves.

The departments should paste the lists of ad hoc posts on their notice boards and when a big number of posts accumulate, their lists could be sent to the staff selection commission. The veteran congress leader said his aim was not to put a question mark on the style of functioning of the commission as it only invites applications from different boards for filling vacant posts. 

Kurukshetra/Karnal, March 22
The Haryana government has formulated a policy to implement the Supreme Court orders to remove/relocate/regularise the unauthorised constructions/ structures raised by religious institutions through due process of law.

All Deputy Commissioners have been directed to effectively implement the policy and take prompt action to comply with September 29, 2009, order of the Supreme Court in the case Union of India Vs Gujarat and others.

Under the policy, all unauthorised constructions by religious institutions will be removed/demolished through due process of law and fresh and upcoming encroachments by way of unauthorised religious constructions shall not be allowed under any circumstances and removed.

Further, no unauthorised construction shall be carried out permitted by religious institutions on the public street, park or other public places after and in case of constructions raised prior to September 29, 2009, in the name of temples, mosques, churches and gurdwaras. Each case will be decided on merit. However, no such unauthorised religious structure on restricted belt of scheduled roads, which came up after the commencement of the Punjab Public Premises and Land (Eviction and Rent Recovery) Act, will be regularised.

Unauthorised religious buildings/ structures being used by any individual for his own personal interest/gain will also be demolished.

Pankaj Aggarwal, Deputy Commissioner, Kurukshetra, who issued necessary directions to revenue staff and officers of departments whose lands had been encroached by religious institutions, to submit the list of illegal religious structures under their respective jurisdictions by March 7.

The government has decided to constitute committees headed by respective Deputy Commissioners with the SDM concerned and town planner and also the secretary of the department to recommend the cases for regularisation of such structures if it deemed it fit to the high-powered committee headed by the Divisional Commissioner and the DC and departmental secretary as members.

The high-powered committee will consider the case keeping in view the market rate of the land, collectorate rate and paying capacity of religious organisation and decide each case on merit. 

Karnal, March 22
The public sector banks (PSBs) must focus on human resource development and go in for rapid modernisation to maintain their competitive edge over private banks, observes Dr D.S.Sangwan, chief manager, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Regional Office, Karnal, in his book on “Human resource management in banks”

Public sector banks have greater reliability as compared to private ones but when it comes to human resource management, skill upgradation and modernisation, there is a huge deficit.

"We need to boost the number of employees, provide better training facilities and recruit more young people at senior-level posts”, Dr Sangwan adds.

Dr Sangwan has advocated performance-linked appraisal and incentives to improve the performance of public sector banks. The performance-based appraisal was a way to improve the staff structure and make them more competent while the non-performance based management system acted as motivation for the staff “who do not work”. 

Faridabad, March 22
The Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) has proposed to give a new lease of life to a big nullah which passes through the district before it merges with the Yamuna, said Mahtab Singh Sehrawat, commissioner of the civic body.

While speaking at an interactive session with the industrialists organised by the Faridabad Industries Association (FIA) recently, Sehrawat revealed that the MCF had sent a Rs 25-crore proposal to the government for first phase of the project.

The nullah, which was once a virtue for this industrialised city, has now become its bane. It once acted as a natural drainage system for the city. Now, it is full of sewage and plagued with high pollution. Also, at umpteen places people have encroached upon its areas on both sides.

The nullah has become shallow on account of large amount of garbage and non-biodegradable waste being constantly dumped into it. For most part of the year, it remains choked and instead of acting as natural drainage system, the water from it now backflows in various parts of the city during the rainy season.

According to the MCF authorities, there will be pucca embankments on its both sides. Also, encroachments would be removed and road laid along its sides. The nullah starts from Neelam flyover in AC Nagar in the heart of this city. The water accumulated in it from AC Nagar gathers steam and the momentum continues building up on account of water and sewage from NH-1, NH-5, part of NH-3, Badkhal village, Nawada etc. Later, water in the nullah passes through Bata flyover and passes near the thermal power station, Autopins (Jhungees), Munjesar, Hardware-Sohna road, Jawahar colony, Sanjay colony and Ballabgarh-Sohana road before it merges with the Yamnua. It passes through the industrial sectors in Faridabad.

In response to the attention drawn towards the lack of civic amenities in some areas, the commissioner told the industrialists to cheer up as plans were afoot to make Faridabad a world-class city. He cited a number of examples where the MCF had gone ahead with development plans in spite of shortage of funds.

Sirsa, March 22
During a special campaign launched by the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam, 1,059 cases of theft of electricity were detected in the area of Operation Circle, Sirsa, by the nigam.

The nigam imposed a penalty of Rs 1.25 crore on the erring consumers.

Sources said here that 337 consumers were found committing theft by tampering with their meters while 722 were stealing power by directly connecting cables to the system of the DHBVN.

Officials have asked the police to lodge FIRs in 722 cases while the rest have made payments immediately after detection.

He said eight teams had been raised to detect theft of electricity and recover the defaulting amount under the special drive in Sirsa district.

Rohtak, March 22
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has assailed and opposed the reported move of the Centre and some state governments to provide reservation based on religious lines. It has asked the Centre to stall such efforts as it claimed that such a policy could flare up fighting among different communities.

Stating this, Surender Kumar Jain, secretary and spokesperson of the VHP, said here today that the issue of allowing reservation on the religious ground was serious as it could create problems at the ground level due to opposition from communities whose share it could take.

Quoting the Andhra Pradesh government’s reported move to provide about four per cent of reservation to Muslims from the existing quota, he said while this had been an irrational move in all terms, he claimed that the categories of the SC, the ST and the BC could be offended due to the provision eating up their share in the reservation and they could come out on roads in protest leading to a serious law and order problem.

He said the parishad had written to UPA chief Sonia Gandhi to warn about the fallouts of such a step.

He said the state government there had been trying to provide a quota to Muslims under the provisions of the Justice Rangnath Commission.

According to the VHP leader, the issue of the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya had still been very much alive and it could also get warmed up in the near future as all those concerned, including the senior leaders of various Hindu bodies and organisations, would be assembling for detailed discussion and to formulate the next strategy in the next couple of months.

Yamunanagar, March 22
The District Rehabilitation Centre, run by the District Red Cross Society, organised a T20 cricket match between physically challenged persons of the district and rest of Haryana here. The match was held under the banner of the Haryana Sports Association.

“The aim of the event was to bring out hidden abilities of physically challenged persons. By winning the match, they have proved that they are equally able as normal person and are not a burden on their family or society,” said Dr Amit Kumar Aggrawal, deputy commissioner, and president of the District Red Cross Society.

The physically challenged team of Yamunanagar won the toss and elected to bat first. They gave the target of 133 runs to the rest of Haryana team. The Yamunanagar team won the match by one run. Sourav was elected man of the match and was awarded a cash prize of Rs 500. The winner team was given a cash prize of Rs 4,100 and the runner-up Rs 3,100.

Sourav said, “I wanted to set an example for the physically challenged persons that we are not less in any field as compared to normal persons”.

Parveen Kumar, captain of the Yamunanagar team, said he was working as accountant and was not dependent on his family and instead taking care of his family members.

DR Sharma, secretary, District Red Cross Society, who organised the match, said more such tournaments and other events would be organised in future.