Chandigarh, May 27
Cracking the whip on non-performing government schools, the School Education Department has puts nearly 100 heads on notice, seeking an explanation for poor results of board classes.

The heads of government middle schools have been given a week’s time to explain the poor results for Class VIII and X examinations conducted by the Haryana Board of School Education, Bhiwani, in March this year.

The results were declared over a week back.

Sources said heads of schools with result below 40 per cent had been served the notice. The percentage has deliberately been kept high because 20 per cent marks in each subject are set aside for internal assessment.

According to information on the board website, a handful of schools, including Government Model School, Sayad Chhapera and Government High School, Jani, in Karnal have got zero per cent results.

In the high school category, nearly 90 schools have performed below the 40 per cent mark while 37 schools have produced a pass percentage below the set limit. Yamunanagar seems to be the worst off with 18 schools in the district placed below 40 per cent and nine schools getting less that 40 per cent in the middle school examination.

The poorest performance is by Government High School, Mandebri, with a pass percentage of 22.58 per cent and 17.65 per cent in the Class X and VIII examinations, respectively.

Mewat, too, has not done too well in the examinations. In the matric exam, Government High School, Meoli, Kaithal, has a pass percentage of 5.56 per cent where only one student has passed.

In Ambala, Government High School, Bakhnaur, has a pass percentage of 15 per cent while the Kharawar school in Rohtak has a pass percentage of 16.67 per cent.

A number of schools in all districts are placed in the 20 to 30 per cent category. In the middle school results, most schools which have under-performed are in the 25 to 35 per cent bracket.

The Government Middle School, Shahchoka, in Mewat has a pass percentage of 6.25 per cent.

There are four schools in the below 40 per cent category.

Sources in the board said the results of 30-odd schools are awaited.

Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal said the notices had been served to all schools which had performed poorly. “However, they have been given a chance to explain because the poor outcome could have been on account of shortage of teachers or any other reason.”

Chandigarh, May 27
Less than two months after one of the convicts in the Manoj-Babli honour killing case was sentenced to life imprisonment, the deceased groom’s mother Chanderpati wants him to face the gallows.

In her revision petition, she has asserted Gang Raj’s sentence should be enhanced from life imprisonment to death penalty. Gang Raj was allegedly heading the khap meeting that invalidated the marriage.

The marriage was against the bhaichara norm, he had ruled and annulled the alliance. Chanderpati submitted that Gang Raj had masterminded the plot to assassinate Manoj and Babli and he deserved the same sentence awarded to other convicts.

She said Gang Raj had evaded arrest for a long period and even DSP Puran Chand had made a statement in the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class, Karnal, on March 10, 2008, that he was presenting the challan without arresting Gang Raj because there was apprehension of deterioration of law and order on his arrest.

Chanderpati has prayed that the sentence of driver Mandeep Singh, should also be enhanced to life imprisonment, if not death sentence, as he had participated in the crime and failed to inform the police and save the couple. Additional District and Sessions Judge Vani Gopal Sharma had on March 30 handed down death sentence to five - the deceased Babli’s brother Suresh, uncles Rajender and Baru Ram and cousins Gurdev and Satish.

Karnal, May 27
Puran Singh, a key witness in a case pertaining to violent clashes between people of Sakoda and Pahna villages near Traveri on November 17, 2008, escaped a murderous attack when he came out of the court of the ADJ after recording his statement.

As soon as Puran Singh, who gave a statement against the main accused, Bhupinder Singh, alias Ladi, booked under Section 307 of the IPC, reached the parking, he was attacked allegedly by the rival party with swords, lathis and axe. Puran Singh’s supporters, who were also present there, counter-attacked following which a clash took place.

Puran Singh was injured in the clash and rushed to the trauma centre.

Later, DSP Surinder Bhoria and SP Rakesh Arya took stock of the situation.

The accused also took away a double-barrelled gun and the car of one of the relatives of Puran Singh and fled.

The police recovered sharp-edged weapons and firearms from two cars parked on the court premises.

A case under Sections 148, 149, 323, 324, 307, 379, 427 and 506 of the IPC has been registered against five persons - Ranjit Singh, Gagan Singh, Harbir, Bhupinder and Resham Singh, all of Sakoda village.

They are at large and a hunt has been launched to nab them.

Jind, May 27
The outbreak of water-borne diseases has made the district authorities sit up.

While special health teams consisting of doctors and paramedical staff have been constituted, the department has started distributing chlorine tablets in various colonies. As many as three lakh tablets have been distributed in the town in the past three days. Deputy Commissioner Abhay Singh Yadav says officials of the public health engineering department have been directed to ensure supply of treated and safe drinking water in all areas of the town and conduct a survey to check leakage in pipelines.

Ram Niwas, a resident of Saini Mohalla, had died of diarrhoea on Tuesday and hundreds of others reportedly admitted to various hospitals.

While sensitive areas have been identified, a medical post has been set up in one of the localities. The post will be manned by a doctor, a pharmacist and a nurse. An isolation ward has been set up in the Civil Hospital with doctors and staff on round-the-clock duty.

Teams consisting of two supervisors and 30 multi- purpose health workers have been constituted and assigned the work of creating general awareness on water-borne diseases and the steps to prevent these. In the past couple of days, the department has taken 16 samples of water from various parts of the town and sent these for examination.

Chandigarh: Public Health Department officials say surveillance will continue and possible sources of contamination plugged. Police help would be taken for the same wherever required.The disinfectant dose would be continued since the water samples tested have shown the presence of twin oxide in the area. Two service connections leakages in Jhanjh Gate area have been disconnected. Samples for bacteriological testing during supply hours are being collected from the affected areas. Results of the same will be received after five days of incubation.

Sirsa, May 27
The extreme hot conditions prevailing in the area have become the bane of cotton-producing farmers in the district known as the cotton bowl of Haryana.

Farmers fear that if the conditions continue for some more days, it will land them in trouble as the money and labour spent on sowing the crop will go waste.

The cotton crop of farmers is wilting away as leaves burn due to the scorching heat prevalent in the area.

“Our cotton crop is under a big strain due to these hot conditions. Temperature higher than 40° C is not suitable for cotton. However, the mercury has been soaring above 47 degrees, making it difficult for crops to survive,” said Gurjeet Singh Mann, a progressive farmer from Kirpal Patti village of Sirsa.

He said the farmers, who sowed their crops, in the last 20 days, were the worst sufferers.

“I sowed my cotton in the middle of May and when the plants started growing, its leaves got burnt due to the scorching heat. I had no option but to invest more on seeds and water by sowing more seeds. Watering the fields at this stage also leads to growth of weeds and hence spending extra money on labour for its removal,” Mehta maintained.

He said the farmers, who managed to sow their cotton crop in the last week of April or the first week of May, have a little danger to their crops as plants had already come up in their fields.

“However, a big majority of farmers are like me, who sowed their crops on or around May 15 as it is not easy to prepare the fields so early after harvesting wheat in April,” added Mehta.

Ravi Singh Punia, Joint Director (Cotton), Agriculture Department, Haryana, however, said the situation was not that gloomy.

“Though the hot conditions are damaging the cotton crops, but those farmers, who sowed their crops in the last 20 days, are being affected. Out of the total 3.13 lakh hectares area under cotton cultivation in Haryana, hardly 20,000-30,000 hectares come under this category,” Punia claimed.

He said the conditions started improving a bit today and weather predictions suggest that the temperature would come down in the coming days.

Sirsa, May 27
Scarcity of drinking water has aggravated in several areas in the town. With the mercury soaring, life has become difficult for residents.

Residents of wards 26 and 27, comprising JJ Colony and Jan Kalyan Colony, today held a demonstration and blocked road near the industrial training institute for over two hours against the shortage of drinking water in their area.

The residents also raised slogans against the authorities.

Only a day earlier, Deputy Commissioner Yudhbir Singh Khaylia had appealed to the residents, asking them not to resort to road blockades for the redressal of their grievances.

He had also warned that criminal cases would be registered against the violators and had assured that the authorities would listen their grievances sympathetically.

“We have not seen a drop of water in our taps for the past six days. Several representations to the public health authorities have failed to move them,” alleged Reshma, Santosh, Nimo, Maya, Babli and several other women from JJ Colony.

“Earlier, we had been receiving water laced with sewage due to leakage in pipes,” they alleged and added that several residents from these localities had been suffering from water-borne diseases.

Later, a sub divisional officer of the public health department reached there with police and assured the residents that their problem would be solved soon.

Meanwhile, there is an acute shortage of drinking water in the General Hospital in Sirsa.

“There is virtually no water in the hospital for the past one week and we have been bringing water from outside for our patients,” said a person attending to his kin in the hospital.

The Civil Surgeon, Dr OP Hooda, admitted that there was a crisis and added that efforts were being made to improve the situation.

TC Gupta, Executive Engineer of the Public Health Department, maintained that water supply for 90 minutes a day was being given to the hospital.

“Earlier, the supply was sufficient for them, but now with the conditions becoming hot, it has become insufficient,” he said.

Gupta added that efforts were on to resolve the drinking water problem in wards 26 and 27, residents of which, he claimed, had been demanding the installation of an additional tube well connection.

Sirsa/Fatehabad, May 27
District and Sessions Judge Dr Shiva Sharma today visited three homes for senior citizens and differently abled in the town following directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Accompanied by Chief Judicial Magistrate, Sirsa, Naresh Kumar Singhal, the judge first visited “Disha”, an institute for differently abled children in the town.

He interacted with the children and also talked to institute’s director Geeta Kathuria and secretary Surinder Bhatia to know their constraints.

The judges later visited “Kasturba Gandhi Vridh Ashram”, a home for senior citizens, and inquired about the well being of its inmates. They also went to “Shravan”, a home for hearing impaired, and took stock of the facilities and problems faced by inmates there.

In Fatehabad, District and Sessions Judge Raj Kumar Tewatia visited “Baghban”, a daycare home for senior citizens in Fatehabad.

Tewatia listened to the problems being faced by senior citizens and assured them to take up their matter with the authorities concerned.

“I will submit a report to the High Court regarding the facilities available and the problems needed to be addressed,” said Dr Sharma.

He said this was not a one-off visit to these homes and he would be visiting all such homes on monthly basis and submit his report. He expressed satisfaction at the functioning of “Disha”, but said the organisers had told him that they had not been receiving government grants regularly. “We will take up the matter with the appropriate authorities,” said the judge.

Gurgaon, May 27
An advertisement by the local Municipal Corporation to entrust the job of catching stray pigs from the city and selling these outside the municipal limits on contract has been bitterly criticised.

The advertisement mentions an open auction for grant of the contract on May 31. In its enthusiasm to rid the city of stray pigs, the corporation did not realise it would be offending the sensibilities of animal lovers.

The authorities are now under fire over the move which stinks of cruelty.

Condemning the drive, the Haryana chapter of the People For Animals (PFA) has said they will not let this happen under the pretext of city beautification.

In a statement here today, the chapter termed the move as illegal, pointing out that the pigs were natural scavengers and, hence, useful.

“The auction notice does not state what will happen to the animals after they are sold to parties outside the municipal limits. Hence, there is every possibility of these animals being sold to slaughterhouses,” it has been stated.

Bilaspur (Gurgaon), May 27
Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia has exhorted parents and teachers to inculcate good moral values in children so that they grow up to become model citizens and contribute to the country’s progress.

Pahadia was addressing a gathering after inaugurating a study centre of the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) on the premises of Shaheed Amar Singh Public School here today.

The Governor asserted that at a time when the country was passing through a phase where development was hindered more by internal disturbances than outside threats, it was the moral duty of the parents and the teachers to ensure that the children grew up as responsible citizens and played a proactive role towards nation-building.

Paying tributes to martyrs of the country, Pahadia observed that our soldiers faced great difficulties in safeguarding the country’s frontiers and did not hesitate in making the supreme sacrifice for the sake of the country.

He pointed out that Amar Singh, after whom the school had been named, was a soldier in Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army and had laid down his life during the country’s freedom struggle. The students of the school should also imbibe the spirit of patriotism, he maintained.

NIOS Chairman SS Jaina, who was also present on the occasion, underlined that dropout students or those who could not pursue their regular studies could take exams through the NIOS. The NIOS certificate was valid throughout the country, he added.

Earlier, school principal RK Singh, chairman Samarjeet Singh and managing director Shakuntala Choudhary welcomed the guests. Patoudi MLA Gangaram, HPCC spokesman Khazan Singh, Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Rajender Kataria and DCPs Anil Dhawan and Palaram were also present.

Panchkula, May 27
The state government will establish senior citizen clubs in all cities and an annual financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh will be given to each club. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda announced this yesterday after inaugurating a physiotherapy centre set up by the Chandigarh Senior Citizens Association at Arya Samaj Mandir, Sector 9, here. Hooda said day care centres and old-age homes would also be set up in all villages of the state and 1,000 such homes would be set up in the first phase.

He said a sum of Rs 15,000 would be given to each club for the purchase of furniture.

Karnal, May 27
Pratap Singh, an inmate of the Karnal jail undergoing sentence in a rape case, was allegedly found murdered under mysterious circumstances on the jail premises here today.

His body was found near the jail wall.

He was sent to work last night, but he did not return, jail authorities said.

The jail authorities were not sure whether he was murdered or he had consumed some poisonous substance but the postmortem report confirmed that he was hit and strangled to death.

Jail Superintendent Jagjit Singh said Pratap Singh was murdered as per the postmortem report and the case would be thoroughly investigated.

Pratap Singh, who was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment, was allowed two-and-a-half-year remission and he would have been free after two months. Kabul Singh, brother of Pratap Singh, alleged that he was murdered and there were injury marks on his body.

Blaming the jail authorities of negligence, he said it was not possible that an inmate was murdered inside the jail premises and authorities had no clue about the crime. The police is investigating the case.

Panipat, May 27
The state government has allocated Rs 2.35 crore for laying new sewer pipelines in the city, which has been facing an acute drainage problem due to the ever-increasing pressure on civic amenities with the rising population.

Disclosing this, Deputy Commissioner Vijay Singh Dahiya said the Public Health Department had already received the first instalment of Rs 30 lakh for the project and the rest would be released as the work progressed.

There had been a few instances where sewage overflowed and entered city roads as the old drainage system failed to flush out the water effectively. The sewage also entered water pipelines in certain localities, resulting in the spread of water-borne diseases.

Besides, the administration has also taken up a drive to clean sewer pipelines along the NH1 and elsewhere in the city. The DC said the drive would be completed before the onset of the rains.

Dahiya said the officials concerned had been asked to undertake a survey to identify sewer pipelines that needed immediate repairs or replacement so that corrective measures could be put in place.

Faridabad, May 27
A police constable was today sent to 14 days of judicial custody for allegedly raping a girl.

The constable was arrested last evening and today produced in a local court from where he was sent to judicial custody.

The constable was booked on a complaint of the victim.

The accused had allegedly raped the complainant in a house at the local Sainik Colony, where she had take shelter on Tuesday. He was posted in Sainik Colony area.

The complainant, a resident of NIT-5 here, said four youths forcibly took her away in a car when she had gone to the market to purchase milk on Tuesday. They later dumped her in the local Sainik Colony in the night. She reached gate number 4 of the colony and told the private security guard about the incident.

The guard urged her to take shelter in a house in the colony as it was late in the night. She further alleged that a constable entered the house and raped her. She said the constable also threatened her of dire consequences if she made his act public.

The victim and her parents lodged a complaint on Wednesday, following which the girl was medically examined and the constable was arrested.