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Security Lapse
Herbal park needs booster dose
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Gangwa’s nomination
Surprise power cuts no more
No stopping child marriages
32,312 in fray for PRI elections
Power losses in Rohtak, Jind, Jhajjar high
Power Supply
Rajya Sabha – A rest house for ‘rejected’ leaders
Health authorities gear up to curb vector-borne diseases
Rs 19 cr for sanitation in Y’nagar villages
Function to mark Gulzarilal Nanda’s birthday
Geeta Vidya Mandir bags first three positions in B.Sc (final)
205 Chhotu Ram varsity students placed
Drug mafia targets students
CDLU to start new session from July 23
Wipro selects 20, TCS 9
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Security Lapse
Bahadurgarh (Jhajjar), July 1 The range police will serve notices on the erring owners of hospitals to put in place proper security measures within a specified time to ensure the safety of patients undergoing treatment there. V. Kamaraja, IG, Rohtak Range, stated this while interacting with mediapersons during his visit of this industrial town. "It is the moral responsibility of any hospital to make sure the safety of its patients and their attendants within the hospital as they charge hefty fees for giving medical facilities but, unfortunately, a majority of the hospitals in the area neither have security guards nor have close-circuit TV cameras (CCC) at various points to capture the movements of persons moving in the hospitals," said the IGP, adding that the hospitals had also not been keeping any record of visitors coming to meet the patients. V.Kamaraja said the owners would be directed to depute security guards not only at the main entrance but also outside the wards so that strange persons could be barred from entering without proper checking. They would also be asked to install CCTV cameras, besides maintaining a record of visitors coming to the hospitals. The IGP maintained that the police would carry out raids from time to time to check security measures at the hospitals. It may be recalled that Rakesh, aka Kala, was gunned down while undergoing treatment in a private hospital here. The killers had stormed the hospital from the main entrance and fired upon Rakesh from close range before fleeing.
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Herbal park needs booster dose
Yamunanagar, July 1 The ambitious project was inaugurated by the then President APJ Abdul Kalam in 2003. The aim was to conserve medicinal plants for research and to train farmers in herbal plantation and also to promote tourism. The park is situated at an ideal location and has a lake and recreational facilities for children. The park was built with much enthusiasm as more than 300 species of medicinal trees, herbs, shrubs and aquatic plants were planted. These include rudraksh, ashwagandha, sarpagandha, safed musali, brahmi, vach, chitrak, shatavari, isabagol, tulsi, amla, bael, jatropha, turmeric etc. The government had assured to provide Rs 60 lakh for its maintenance every year. However, the amount has been reduced considerably. Last year, only Rs 5 lakh was provided. A visit to park reveals that the much of the area is still not developed for tourism promotion. Log huts meant for the stay of tourists are in bad shape. Besides, the park also lacks manpower required for the promotion of herbal plantation. Other factors contributing to its neglected state include lack of publicity by the Tourism Department and lack of resources for its development, care and maintenance. Only a few local residents visit the park despite the fact that it was meant to attract tourists from across
the country. District forest officer Rajesh Gulia said, “We have sent a proposal to the state government to grant Rs 70 lakh for parks this year for various development activities and for its promotion. Besides, from now on, the log huts and conference halls made under eco-tourism project at the park will be maintained by the municipal corporation”.
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Gangwa’s nomination
Hisar, July 1 For one, the INLD has given an out-of-turn promotion of sorts to this district which gave the party only one of the seven Vidhan Sabha seats in the last Assembly poll against four to the Congress. The INLD has exploited the failure of the Congress to give this district representation in the Bhupinder Singh Hooda Cabinet. Those who won on the Congress ticket included heavyweights like Savitri Jindal, who was a minister in the Hooda Cabinet in its first term and former minister Sampat Singh, who crossed over to the
party from the INLD just before the poll. But, none of the Congress legislators was rewarded with a Cabinet berth due to political compulsions in the wake of the poll results. This caused much consternation among voters in this district. The INLD has exploited this anti-Congress feeling by nominating Gangwa for the Rajya Sabha. The move is sure to erode Congress base in the district. Gangwa's selection is also a strong rebuff to Sampat Singh, who spent more than three decades in various avatars of the INLD since 1977. Sampat Singh was nominated to contest the Hisar Lok Sabha seat last year but he lost narrowly to former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal. Subsequently, he quit the INLD. The INLD then put up Gangwa against Sampat Singh from the Nalwa Assembly seat which the latter won. This was Gangwa's maiden electoral contest. By elevating Gangwa, Om Parkash Chautala has not only snubbed Sampat Singh, but also created a strong political rival in Gangwa for his former protege. The INLD supremo has also collected additional brownie points since Gangwa belongs to a backward class. The Congress nominated Birender Singh, a Jat, who had lost to Chautala from Uchana Kalan in the last Assembly elections. This provided Chautala an opportunity to woo the backward classes. Even otherwise, the Rajya Sabha poll and the choice of Birender Singh as the Congress nominee has given Chautala a handle to create an impression that Hooda is becoming irrelevant. The INLD is now likely to project that the next Assembly poll will be a contest between Chautala and Birender Singh sans
Hooda.
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Surprise power cuts no more
Hisar, July 1 Nigam managing director Sudhir Rajpal said two key consumers had been identified for each feeder who would be informed telephonically about power cuts, shutdowns, breakdowns and load shedding. These consumers will then pass on the information to other consumers. The nigam has also provided a toll-free telephone number 1912 for registration of complaints from a landline BSNL telephone. The number is operational at all district towns where Bijli Suvidha Kendras (BSKs) are located. The consumers can also register their complaints through SMS. One special mobile number will be kept at each BSK for this purpose. Once a consumer sends a message about his complaint, he will get an automated reply about the serial number of his complaint and approximate time to be taken in attending to the complaint. Taking a serious note of complaints relating to change of burnt or defective meters, the nigam has designate one officer for each operation circle to guide consumers and co-ordinate with different offices for their prompt replacement.
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No stopping child marriages
Sirsa, July 1 The information reach the authorities only when the complainants have some enmity with the family going for child marriage. Otherwise, the village brotherhood prevents people from coming forward with any such complaint. Marriages of minors are being solemnised with impunity despite laws to the contrary, particularly in the areas bordering Rajasthan. “Marriages of girls at a tender age is hazardous for their health,” opines Dr Ravi Kanta, a gynecologist from Hisar. “Teenaged girls are not in a position to endure the perils involved in pregnancy. Private parts of teenaged girls are too tender to bear the burden of deliveries and hence incidents of abortions are more. Mortality rate during pregnancies is also on the higher side in such cases,” she adds. “The manner in which young girls are being raped and molested in society, parents find it a better alternative to marry their girls at a younger age rather than having to face ignominy in future,” says Balbir Kaur Gandhi, secretary, district unit of the All-India Democratic Women Association. She said simply enacting laws was not sufficient to bring about social changes. “The government needs to provide atmosphere conducive to the safety of women, in case it wants such social evils to eliminate, she adds. “It has been a tradition in this part of Haryana to marry children at a tender age. I was married, when I was a student of seventh standard,” says DR Chaudhary, a member of the Haryana Administrative Reforms Commission, who was born and brought up in Chautala village of this district, situated on the Rajasthan border. “In our times, two friends sitting over hookah used to decide marriage of their young ones, sometimes even when the child is still in the womb,” Chaudhary reveals. He feels that if people of Haryana, particularly from the areas bordering Rajasthan, have the propensity to be relieved of responsibilities of marriages of their children as early as possible. He says the tradition is more rampant in Rajasthan where hundreds of young children are married off during Teej
festival.
“However, the consummation of marriages, which is after “gona” occurs only after the couple has attained maturity,” he adds. Chaudhary feels that time has changed now and traditions and customs too should witness some transformation. Inderjit Singh, state secretary of the CPM and a social thinker, says education has direct bearing on the age at which people marry their children. “Areas of Rohtak, Sonipat and Jhajjar have witnessed some social reforms as these were touched by the Arya Samaj movement. Educational institutions came up quite early in that area, leading to the spread of education. However, the areas of Sirsa and Fatehabad remained educationally backward and hence child marriage is still prevalent,” Inderjit Singh says. He says people go for early marriages for the fear that their daughters might fall in love and bring embarrassment to the
family. Inderjit says proximity to Rajasthan is also a reason behind the trend as child marriages are quite a vogue in that state.
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32,312 in fray for PRI elections
Chandigarh, July 1 State Election Commissioner Dharam Vir said that 395 panches, 68 sarpanches, 20 members of panchayat samitis had been elected unanimously. No Zila Parishad member had been elected unanimously. As many as 130 Zila Parishad members are to be elected. He said 6,649 polling stations would be set up for these elections to enable 34,47,296 voters to exercise their right to vote. Dharam Vir said the elections of sarpanches would be held through EVMs, which would also be used for conducting elections of the Zila Parishad members in Panchkula and Karnal districts.
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Power losses in Rohtak, Jind, Jhajjar high
Karnal, July 1 AT&C losses were 68.79 per cent in Jind, 61.35 per cent in Rohtak and 43.30 per cent in Jhajjar which enjoy strong political patronage, while northern districts of Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Karnal and Ambala had low AT&C losses at 18.94, 19.45, 20.33 and 22.69 per cent, respectively. Experts in the power sector maintain that AT&C losses of such a high magnitude could not be due to the technical reasons and theft of power was the main cause. If these losses are reduced by plugging leakages and thefts, the revenue of the UHBVN would increase significantly, they observe. While the UHBVN has drawn up an ambitious plan to reduce AT&C losses from 1.5 per cent to 10 per cent to reduce aggregate the losses by 3 per cent, 32.16 to 29.16 per cent, during the current financial year, the losses of Jind, Rohtak and Jhajjar districts would be reduced by 10, 9 and 5 per cent, respectively, and still remain much high at 58.79, 52.35 and 38.30 per cent, respectively. Arun Kumar, managing director, UHBVN, said AT&C losses would be reduced from 18.94 per cent to 17.44 per cent in Kurukshetra, 19.45 per cent to 17.95 per cent in Yamunanagar, 20.33 per cent to 18.33 per cent in Karnal and 22.69 to 20.69 per cent in Ambala operational circle, comprising twin districts of Ambala and Panchkula. Under the reduction plan, losses in Kaithal circle would reduce by 2.5 per cent from 25.76 per cent to 23.26 per cent, in Panipat from 28.35 per cent to 25.85 per cent and in Sonepat from 29.06 per cent to 26.56 per cent. It was an irony that AT&C losses were so high in some districts of the state and the mute question was that why the UHBVN had not been able to bring down the losses when a state like Himachal Pradesh with 100 per cent rural electrification and difficult topography could bring down these losses to less than 20 per cent and was constantly improving its performance. Arun clarified that it was a bit difficult to minimise the losses in higher percentage where the losses were less and targets have been fixed on the basis of losses existed in 2009-10. The areas with high percentage of losses have been given higher targets, which were achievable and necessary for the financial health of the Nigam. To achieve the target, the field officers have been directed to intensify theft detection and temporary/permanent disconnection campaign. Simultaneously, electro-mechanical meters of industrial and non-domestic consumers having higher load would be replaced on a priority basis with electronic meters in a phased manner, he added.
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Power Supply
Faridabad, July 1 A quick interview with a cross-section of office-bearers of the Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs) as well as individual residents of the city reveals that power position in comparison to the supply position about a month ago has improved. Residents and their welfare associations in the residential areas attribute the improvement to the personal initiative of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, whose government had been facing flak on erratic and low quality of power supply. According to them, power cuts are still imposed, but they are generally scheduled ones, much unlike what they witnessed in March-April this year. Also, cuts are of lesser duration, which were manageable with the help of inverters and generators. Earlier, there were umpteen number of unscheduled cuts in a day and one never knew when the supply would be restored. The common view among the residents was that the current duration of supply was for about 18 hours a day as compared to less than 12 hours supplied about a month ago before the municipal polls held on May 20. The situation improved during the run-up to the elections and has remained that way since then. However, going by the bitter experience of the past several years, they are keeping their fingers crossed on the continuity of the present improved situation. Ravi Kapoor, general secretary of the RWA (HUDA Sector 30) and Subodh Nagpal, general secretary of the RWA (Sector 29) say the situation was of much concern in March-April. According to them, residential sectors were now getting about 18 hours power supply and cuts imposed were generally in the night hours. Kapoor, who had come to settle in Faridabad after shifting house from the Hanuman Road in Cannaught Place, New Delhi, about 25 years ago, said during his stay in the city, this was the best year as far as supply of power was concerned here. According to him, a few months ago his residential sector got new transformer, which has minimised the occurrences of local faults. However, he lamented that the department appears to be running short of linesman on account of which there are delays in sorting out faults. TD Jatwani, president of the Confederation of Residents’ Welfare Associations in Faridabad, and Naresh Airon, an office-bearer of Spring Fields Colony, also echoed the same views. They say, the present supply was much better than what it was earlier. However, they qualified their appreciation of the government saying that it must work to bring more improvement in the system. The overwhelming feeling was that the government collects the highest amount as taxes from Faridabad. Hence, the city deserves even better facilities as far as civic amenities like supply of power was concerned.
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Rajya Sabha – A rest house for ‘rejected’ leaders
Chandigarh, July 1 However, over the years political parties have reduced the status of the Rajya Sabha to that of a rest house. The political parties send such members to the Rajya Sabha who fail to make to the Lok Sabha or the State Assemblies. Their failure to be elected to the legislature in the general election becomes their qualification to be a member of the Rajya Sabha, the tenure of which is six years (against five years of the Lok Sabha and the Assemblies) and, further, does not face the fear of premature dissolution. In many cases, the political parties send those members, who, the
parties are sure, can never win popular elections. The recent example of this attitude comes from Haryana. Both Congress and the INLD have nominated such leaders for the Rajya Sabha. Given the respective strength of the two parties in the State Assembly, their election to the Rajya Sabha is certain. Moreover, there are two seats and only two contenders. The Congress has fielded a veteran leader of its Haryana unit, Birender Singh, who has a long political and administrative experience to his credit. More than once, he has been a claimant to the post of Chief Minister. First, he was a serious contender for the coveted post in 1991 when Birender Singh was the president of the party at that time. However, when time came for the election of the Leader of the Legislature Party, Bhajan Lal tipped Birender Singh to the post. Unfortunately, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated between the polling and the declaration of the result. This also changed the fortunes of Birender Singh. It is widely believed that had Rajiv been alive, Birender would have led the state. Birender Singh was again a strong contender for the post of Chief Minister in 2005 but the top honour went to Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Last year Birender Singh lost the elections to Om Prakash Chautala of the INLD and he was out of the race for the post of Chief Minister. INLD nominee Ranbir Singh Gangua is the president of the party’s Hisar district unit. He too lost the last Assembly election to Sampat Singh of the Congress and Jasma Devi of the Haryana Janhit Congress from the Nalva constituency. Many leaders who are now members of the Haryana Assembly feel that Birender Singh and Gangua have won even after being defeated just a few months ago.
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Health authorities gear up to curb vector-borne diseases
Sirsa, July 1 “As many as 32,272 cases of malaria were reported in the state in 2009 as compared to 35,683 cases in 2008. In 1996, more than 1 lakh cases of malaria were reported,” said a spokesperson for the Health Department. However, a study on the “Disease Pattern of Haryana” by Dr Rajeshwari, an associate professor in Kurukshetra University, had revealed that vector-borne diseases constitute a major share of total patients in the state after diarrhoea in the category of communicable and preventable diseases. Districts like Mohindergarh, Kurukshetra, Hisar, Panchkula and Sirsa have a sizeable number of patients suffering from malaria, said the study. Dr Rajeshwari says even these figures, being from the state-run health services, do not reflect the real picture as only a minuscule number of patients visit government hospitals and dispensaries. “Departments like the Panchayat, the Education, the Women and Child Development have played a vital role in preventing the spread of vector-borne diseases, particularly malaria, in the past too,” said the spokesperson. “Periodic updated reports in respect of identification of spots or places where water kept on accumulating during rainy season are being sought from all municipalities and the help of the Panchayat Department for ensuring the drainage of water from below the water taps, household sewerage and avoiding water logging around dwellings is being taken,” he added. Pregnant and lactating mothers are more susceptible to such diseases. As this group regularly visits anganwaris, the workers there will advise these women for taking appropriate measures for the prevention as well as prompt diagnosis and treatment. The Education Department will also help in controlling the outbreak of these diseases by creating awareness through children. As a part of the strategy, teachers would give dictation on malaria or dengue-control measures to the children of classes III to VII. The dictation, so given, would be used as homework for the students to disseminate the message to the parents for taking preventive action, prompt measures in their households and get immediate radical treatment in case of fever from the nearest health institution. Inter-school quiz competitions on the prevention and control of vector-borne diseases would also be organised by the Education Department. The health authorities are also planning to popularise mosquito nets and
other protective measures for the control of malaria and dengue. The Fisheries Department will also be roped in to identify ponds in villages and introduce Gambusia fish that feasts on pupa and larva stages of mosquitoes in such ponds, the spokesperson added.
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Rs 19 cr for sanitation in Y’nagar villages
Yamunanagar, July 1 So far, a total of 29,000 toilets have already been constructed for such families and 60 gram panchayats have won the “Nirmal Gram” puraskaar in the past three years for total sanitation. This year, the district administration has also recommended the names of another 125 panchayats that have become open defecation-free. “The total sanitation campaign is being taken up vigorously in the district as volunteers have been campaigning from door to door to educate people about cleanliness. A special provision has also been made to construct toilets in each school and anganwaris of the district,” additional deputy commissioner Narender Singh told The Tribune. “We have decided to construct toilets in 611 anganwaris at a cost of Rs 31 lakh, women sanitary complex at 50 new places at a cost of Rs 76 lakh and Rs 35 lakh will be spent for cleanliness drive in the rural areas,” he added. The ADC said by launching aggressive campaign “we have set a goal to make the district open defecation-free from next year. All BDPO’s, CDPOs, women organisations and anganwari workers have been working hard in educating people about the need of hygienic conditions in each village. Besides, a team of volunteers in each block has been campaigning door to door. “As part of the campaign, we have been organishing different programmes in each village which are addressed by different officials to educate people and answer their queries. Now we are visiting different villages every week to interact with people about the scheme and also to get feedback,” he added.
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Sonepat senior citizens pledge bodies
Sonepat, July 1 Dahiya had given undertaking for the donation of his body to the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak, in March 2003; whereas Sumer struggled for around two years to get his will accepted by the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, in 1996. Talking to The Tribune, Dahiya said people in the country are generally reluctant to donate their body parts and these vital organs are consigned to flames. Organs of donated body can give a new lease of life to a person as well as can be helpful in medical studies and research works. Sumer had categorically willed that instead of transplanting organs and other parts of his body, it should be preserved for medical students for study purpose. Sumer is an author of number of books and many a times, he has been awarded by the Haryana Sahitya Academy and other institutions.
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Function to mark Gulzarilal Nanda’s birthday
Kurukshetra, July 1 The university has established Gulzarilal Nanda Centre for Ethics and Philosophy at Nanda Sadachar Sthal. The centre has a library and a museum displaying the belongings and memorabilia of Gulzarilal Nanda. The vice-chancellor told mediapersons that the university is planning to make the centre a “Seat of learning in Indian philosophy and Ethics” to enable the scholars and citizens visiting the centre and the museum to know about Gulzari’s contribution to the Indian culture and society”. The programme, on July 4, would begin with recitals of a bhajan at Gulzarilal Nanda Sadachar Sthal and would be followed by quiz, essay writing, speech and declamation and poster-making competitions. A principled politician, who could not change himself to circumstances, lived in a rented house in Defence Colony in New Delhi from where he was evicted since he could not pay its rent. It was late in the life that an old friend, Sheel Bhadra Yajee, forced him to sign an application for the freedom fighter's pension of Rs 500 per month. Highly educated and cultured, Gulzarilal Nanda worked as a research scholar on labour problems at Allahabad University (1920-1921) and became a professor of economics at National College in Bombay (Mumbai) in 1921 and joined the Indian Non-Cooperation Movement against the British Raj. He was imprisoned for Satyagraha in 1932 and again from 1942 to 1944.
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Geeta Vidya Mandir bags first three positions in B.Sc (final)
Sonepat, July 1 Other two students – Asha Dhankhar with 84.21 per cent marks and Shradha Gandhi with 83.24 marks got the seventh and 11th positions, respectively. As many as five students of B.Com (final) of the college were among the top 15 students of the university, Dr Juneja added.
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205 Chhotu Ram varsity students placed
Sonepat, July 1 Bharat Electronics Limited selected seven students at a package of Rs 5.5 lakh while Sapient selected six at Rs 4.25 lakh package. Chahal said: “There had been cent per cent placement in three branches, namely electrical engineering, electronics and communication engineering and mechanical engineering, while computer engineering notched up 85.7 per cent placement.
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Drug mafia targets students
Kaithal, July 1 During preliminary interrogation, they revealed that they had brought the contraband from Punjab and had planned to supply it to
students of various colleges in Kaithal and Kurukshetra. The accused have been identified as Dharmender, alias Boxer, a resident of Kapurthala; Hardeep of Nakodar (Jalandhar); and Hazur Singh of Pabla (Kaithal). The arrests were made near Teek village of this district during routine checking. According to police sources, Dharmender, who is a sportsman, had met Hazur Singh in Beijing in 2005 where both had gone on a visit. They stayed together for a few days in that country and allegedly joined hands to deal in drugs to make it big. On their return to India, Dharmender reportedly introduced Hazur Singh to Hardeep, who also became their partner. The police is trying to find their links and bust the whole network.
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CDLU to start new session from July 23
Sirsa, July 1 Dr Ranga said chairpersons of various departments have been asked to submit their demand of additional teachers to the university authorities. He said the university has introduced some new courses in its curriculum from the current academic session with a view to providing specialised education to its students. These include five-year masters’ degree courses in economics and mathematics after the senior-secondary level. The new courses, he said, had been designed with a view to creating job opportunities for the students. The VC said new courses have also been added by the University Centre for Distance Learning looking into the demands of present times.
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