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State first to adopt UN’s green project
Rain exposes official claims
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IGNOU offers free education to
prisoners
Area norms fixed for educational institutes
Child labour schools C’wealth Games
SSA fails to make impact in state: Study
Demand to lower marriageable age stirs debate
Kaithal gets Rs 4 cr for renovating Navgrah kunds
Units outside MC limits struggle
French delegation visits renewable energy park
BSNL subscribers a harassed lot
Dons bring laurels to KU
Parking a big problem in Yamunanagar
Linguist Jagdeva Singh passes away
No role in case against Chautalas: Congress
Pawan Garg joins Cong
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State first to adopt UN’s green project
Panipat, July 8 Under the said project, which has been funded by the European Union, afforestation work has been carried out on 370 hectares of sand dune areas belonging to 27 farmers in eight villages of the Ellenabad block of Sirsa district namely Gudiakherha, Umedpura, Madhosinghana, Bharutwla, Pohadkalan, Nimla, Malekan, Dhani Sheranwali. Started in 2008, about 300 hectares of land has already been brought under plantation, which has not only ensured monetary benefits to the farmers, but also earned the nation carbon credits from the industrialised nations in lieu of reducing carbon emissions into the atmosphere. The project is being implemented under the Kyoto Protocol, which has so far been adopted by 187 nations. The Kyoto Protocol provides for quantified emission limitations and reduction commitments for the developed countries and mechanisms to facilitate compliance with these targets. It lists six greenhouse gases, including Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6). The country had acceded to the Kyoto Protocol in August 2002 and one of the objectives of acceding was to fulfil prerequisites for the implementation of Clean Development Mechanism. Under this project, developed nations were to invest in emission reduction measures wherever it was feasible across the globe and in this case, the European nations had chosen to fund the project in the state. Haryana Minister for Forests Capt Ajay Yadav said the state has got registered a pilot mini CDM project, which was being implemented in true spirit. He stated that only those lands qualify for the CDM, which have not been cultivated since 1990 or which have remained bereft of forest cover for the past 50 years. Further, the land should not have been under the purview of any other project being implemented in that area. The minister said the project was most likely to be a milestone for starting and funding other CDM projects in the country.
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Rain exposes official claims
Sirsa, July 8 Sirsa and Fatehabad were no exception, where all roads and streets remained submerged for over two days after the rain stopped. Drainage of the towns put to test by the rain failed
miserably. The public health authorities were found wanting to clear stagnant water on
roads and in certain residential areas. Even when sewers were found chocked at Fatehabad, the public health authorities said their sewer-cleaning machines were out of order. The condition in rural areas was no better as most villages were seen deluged after
the rain. "Unplanned development in various parts of Haryana is responsible for the situation," said Krishan Swaroop, secretary of the state unit of the All-India Kisan Sabha. Haryana has witnessed large-scale unplanned development due to its strategic location near the NCR. Encroachments of the common and shamlat land in
villages have made them flood-prone. He alleged that the authorities went for quick-fix solutions and not long-term policies to prevent the accumulation of water.
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IGNOU offers free education to
prisoners
Karnal, July 8 The jail inmates would not be required to pay any examination fee or late fee and all undertrials or short-term prisoners will also be given the same benefit with the condition that after coming out of the jail they will be treated as normal students and have to pay subsequent fees wherever applicable, said Dr Ashok Sharma, regional director, IGNOU Regional Centre, Karnal. IGNOU had recently extended various other concessions, including free of cost distribution of prospectus and study material to prisoner students. A study centre of IGNOU would be opened in jails and the jail staff or their wards can also opt for joining the study centre by taking admission and paying full applicable programme fee, provided the study centre in jail offers that particular programme and jail management permits the aspirants to study there. The jail staff or their wards will have to purchase prospectus by paying the requisite fee. IGNOU has 40 study centres in various jails throughout India at present and besides counseling classes, IGNOU conducts examinations in the jail itself. As many as 21 examination centres were established for term-end examination held in June 2010. Former Deputy Commissioner of Delhi Police, Dr Kiran Bedi successfully started the move to educate prisoners in Tihar jail which has now emerged as one of the biggest jail centres of IGNOU. In Haryana, under the Karnal centre, the first study centre was established at District Jail, Karnal, in January 2010 and 106 prisoners took admission. More and more jail inmates are coming up with a motto to “attentively study now and effectively rehabilitate later by acquiring knowledge and skills”. A centre of IGNOU at Sirsa jail is in the offing while Kurukshetra Jail has also approached the university to establish centre in the jail premises. IGNOU has earned the distinction of becoming the only university in the country to have come forward to take care of this section of society and providing them with an opportunity to restart the study and make for the loss.
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Area norms fixed for educational institutes
Chandigarh, July 8 As many as 10 acres each will be required for colleges and engineering and technology colleges. As many as 2.5 acres each will be required for a pharmacy college and a hotel management & catering technology and applied arts & crafts For architectural degree colleges, five acres of land will be required and for an MBA/MCA institute, land should be 1.25 acres. Similarly, one acre plus 0.25 acre for each additional course will be required for B.Ed/M.Ed./D.Ed./JBT courses. For a polytechnic and medical college with hospital, five acres and 25 acres of land will be required, respectively. These area norms have been approved for educational institutions in residential colonies being developed by HUDA, colonisers and change of land-use cases in controlled areas as well as municipalities.
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Child labour schools
Panipat, July 8
It is especially meant for those children, who want to earn while studying. Besides formal education, moral education is also imparted to the wards of labourers. Children in the age group of nine to 14 years are enrolled and efforts are made that they pass class V within three years. At present, 53 students are getting education in the rehabilitation centre. After imparting basic education to these students for three years, they would be admitted to regular schools for further studies. The arrangements for stay have also been made within the school campus. Vocational training and computer education are also imparted to the students. The music classes will also start shortly. Besides formal education, the students are also imparted technical training for mobile and electrical repair etc. As many as 62 child labour schools were being run in Panipat
district. As many as 3,100 children, who earlier worked as "child labour" have been enrolled in these schools. Already 498 children have been brought into the mainstream by getting them admitted to various regular schools. These child labour schools have 186 teachers, who themselves attend training camps periodically. A 15-year-old boy, Arjun, who is living in the rehabilitation centre, says that earlier he used to wander at the local railway station and work as a sweeper but he had got a new life now. He hopes to become a doctor one day. He got an opportunity to appear in the Class VIII examinations conducted by the Open Board thanks to the rehabilitation centre. Now he will be admitted to class IX in a regular school.
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C’wealth Games
Gurgaon, July 8 A meeting was held here recently under the chairmanship of Joint Commissioner of Police Alok Mittal to discuss the security arrangements. Representatives of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), New Delhi, CRPF, National Security Guard (NSG), private hospitals and various government departments attended the meeting. Mittal later maintained that foolproof security arrangements would be made in Gurgaon city as well as at the CRPF shooting range at Kadarpur. He said adequate number of police personnel would be deployed to keep a vigil on the security arrangements in all local marketplaces, hotels, guest houses, metro stations, shopping malls and other crucial spots. “Mock drills will be carried out before the onset of games to see the level of preparedness,” he said, adding that an emergency response plan would be prepared with the help of various departments as well as public representatives. All government departments in the district have been asked to designate an officer as nodal officer on the behalf of that department for the games. Brig BK Khanna from the NDMA gave a presentation on the preparation of a disaster-management plan for a department or organisation. Civil surgeon Parveen Garg was asked to present a medical management plan at the next meeting. The plan would contain information about the number of hospitals in Gurgaon, doctors of different specialities, number of beds available, ambulances and other facilities at various
hospitals.
Rajnish Ahlawat from the CRPF apprised the meeting that a small four-bedded hospital had been established at the CRPF shooting range in Kadarpur where four doctors would be deputed. “Apart from this, two ambulances would remain stationed at the CRPF camp to address any medical emergency. Mittal asked the officials concerned to prepare a map of the shooting range and ensure that a proper fire-fighting mechanism was in place. DSP GS Rawat from the Telecom Wing of the Haryana police was asked to examine communication network at the CRPF campus. Mittal pointed out that for efficient communication between the officials deputed for the games, representatives of the departments and organisations concerned could be provided with walky-talky sets as well.
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SSA fails to make impact in state: Study
Sirsa, July 8 The study by the Economic and Statistical Analysis (ESA) Department found that out of the 100 students of class II, 91 were not able to write five correct words in English and 83 were not able to write five correct words
in Hindi. The ESA was assigned the evaluation study of the SSA by the state government to ascertain implementation and impact of the programme to identify bottlenecks in its implementation and to suggest corrective measures. A sample of 180 students, 100 of class II and 80 of class IV, from 20 educational institutions of four districts namely Ambala, Fatehabad, Mohindergarh and Rohtak were taken by adopting purposively sampling technique. Of these 180 students, 102 were girls and 78 boys. As far as reading of words is concerned, only seven out of 100 students were able to read five complete words in English and 16 out of 100 students were able to solve four sums given to them. Out of the 80 students of class IV, only 24 were able to read and 23 were able to write a para in English. The staff position in these four districts was not found satisfactory as 17 out of the 74 posts in the schools covered under the survey were vacant. The SSA was launched in Haryana from April 2002, although it was started in 2001-02 with its pre-project activities. Sixteen districts of Haryana were covered under the SSA during 2002-03 while the rest were added between 2003-04 to 2008-09. An amount of Rs 1,10,802.55 lakh has been utilised against Rs 1,43,390.56 lakh sanctioned during 2002-03 to 2008-09. The SSA includes the training of teachers, provision of free books to all girls and SC students, computer aided learning for students and several other benefits. However, out of the 100 students of class II taken under survey, only 36 students were provided books at the start of academic session while others were given in the middle of the session. The ESA has given several recommendations, including full utilisation of funds, effective publicity of the SSA, qualitative teachers training and provisions for an effective monitoring of the programme for its success.
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Demand to lower marriageable age stirs debate
Sirsa, July 8 Om Parkash Mann, state president of the Mahasabha, has said in a recent statement that the move is necessary to ensure that couples did not elope and marry against the wish of their parents. He said the demand would be discussed in the Sarva Khap Panchayat to be held at Meham Chaubisi Chabutra in Rohtak on July 17. "The step will prevent youths being killed by their families. When girls bring shame to their families by running away, parents sometimes take the step of killing them out of rage," Mann reasoned and said khap panchayats had no role in honour killings. "Why they ask for lowering girls' marriageable age to 15? They should demand the age to be lowered to five or six so that there is no chance of girls falling in love before their marriage," mocked Dr Reicha Tanwar, director, Women Studies and Research Centre, Kurukshetra University. "It is ridiculous that some people are still living with a medieval mindset, while researches have proved that child marriages are not only harmful for the mother's health, but also detrimental to child's growth," she added. Dr Tanwar said it was a shocking as well as unscientific demand. Krishan Swaroop, leader of the All-India Kisan Sabha, said there was nothing unexpected in the demand of the Mahasabha. "Reactionary and obscure forces like the All-India Jat Mahasabha have the proclivity to rotate the wheel to the reverse side," he added. "Even the right to vote is granted at the age of 18 then how can the right to marry, which is an even greater responsibility, be thought at a lower age?," Swaroop asked. Dr Jagmati Sangwan, president of the state unit of the All-India Democratic Women Association, and director, Women Studies Centre of Maharshi Dayanand University, described the demand as retrogressive. "The age of 15 and 17 is the time when children make their career. Education availed at this age makes them capable of getting employment. Burdening them with marriage will take away from them the opportunities to shape their career," she said. Meanwhile, the latest demographic indicators provided by the Health and Family Welfare Ministry suggest that the national average age of marriage for girls was 20.6 in 2008, against 18.3 in 2001. In 2006-07, a National Family Health Survey-3 had reported that more than 50 per cent of the women in India were married off before 18. Men, however, got married at a median age of 23.4. This means that while there is a general awareness in the society on this issue throughout the country, some retrogressive forces like khaps and mahasabhas continue enforcing their medieval mindset on the people. Citing the Population Council estimates, Dr Rajeshwari, an associate professor in the Geography Department of KU, said more than 100 million girls worldwide married before 18. Some of these girls married as young as eight or nine and many married against their will. According to UNICEF report on "State of World's Children" (2009), 40 per cent of the world's child marriages take place in India. It also reported that 47 per cent of Indian women are married before 18, with 56 per cent in rural areas. "While in many societies, adolescence means an opening up of opportunities, for girls in case of rural India, it often means a closing down of opportunities and personal freedom even today,” she added.
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Kaithal gets Rs 4 cr for renovating Navgrah kunds
Kaithal, July 8 This was stated by Haryana PWD and Public Health Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala while addressing a press conference here recently. He said the government was serious about the preservation of historical religious centres, archaeological sites and monuments. He said in the first phase, Budh and Surya kunds would be renovated and given a facelift and later the renovation work of the remaining kunds would be undertaken during this financial year. He said these kunds had not only historical value, but also were a good source of water storage. After their renovation, efforts would be made to store water in all kunds so that it could be used in times of dire needs. He said: "By rehabilitating these kunds not only the ancient cultural heritage will be preserved, but also we will succeed in maintaining religious heritage which is of paramount importance". He said for a better future it was important to understand the past. Talking about the rich historical, religious and cultural value of the Kaithal area, Surjewala said according to the historical research, Kaithal has remained the epicentre of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata periods and many historical and religious monuments find mention in that period. Surjewala said though efforts should have been started right from 1989 onwards when Kaithal was carved out as a separate district, unfortunately previous governments did nothing for the upkeep of historical and religious sites. Elaborating further, he said according to the available historical data, nine kunds, namely Budh, Veer, Shukra, Shani, Surya, Rahu, Ketu, Chander and Bhim kund connected with Navgrahs, were constructed in olden times. Though the remains of the first five kunds survived the onslaught of times, the last four were not in existence now. Those existed were filled with silt and sewer water which continued to flow into some of them, but now the flow of filth would be stopped completely and these centre of religious faith would be restored to the past glory. He said Shukra kund is in rectangular shape which is connected with a 'bawri' which remained a source of water supply to this kund. About 250 years ago, Chajju Ram Seth, a minister of the then ruler Bhai Udai Singh, got a temple constructed at this site following which this was also known as Chajju kund. Deputy commissioner Amneet P. Kumar, SDM Hawa Singh and XENs of various departments were among those present on the occasion.
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Units outside MC limits struggle
Faridabad, July 8 On account of the shortage of space and the lack of industrial estates, a number of industrial units mushroomed at various places. The most conspicuous growth was astride the Delhi-Mathura National Highway and towards Prithla near Ballabgarh. Units in the cluster near Prithla are in the category of medium and small scale and are mainly into manufacturing of auto parts. Also, a good number of them are exporting units and also have foreign clients. The issue was also raised here recently by industrialists vide the Faridabad Industries Association before Chief Secretary of Haryana Urvashi Gulati. According to an owner of an industrial unit, the certificate is the lifeline for any industry. It is a mandatory requirement to pay the taxes to the MCF. If an industrial unit did not pay the taxes to the MCF, it was just as well that it packed off, as proper documentation is an important component to run and sustain any kind of business venture.
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French delegation visits renewable energy park
Gurgaon, July 8 The delegation comprised Dr Dominique Campana, head of International Relations of a French agency for environment and energy management called ADEME, Bernard Aurelie, in charge for Asia, Dr Brahmanand Mohanty, regional advisor for Asia and Robert Angiolleti, senior advisor of the French agency. ADEME has been supporting the Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA) in energy management. While having a round of the energy park, the delegation members observed that the devices displayed at the park were quite helpful in making people understand how to make the maximum use of solar energy. The visitors maintained that they would advise the French government to establish such a park there as well. Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Rajender Kataria informed the delegation that the energy park had been set up in an area of 1.6 acres with an objective to create awareness among the masses about the new technologies developed in the field of renewable energy. "These technologies have been demonstrated through working models," he said and added that the park had a 10-KW solar power plant to cater to its entire basic energy requirements. BS Yadav, additional director of HAREDA, and park managers Bhavesh and Samit Jain were also present.
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BSNL subscribers a harassed lot
Kalka, July 8 They said the department had not issued bills for the months of May and June which had put extra burden on them. Besides, they had to face disconnection due to the new software. They also alleged that local BSNL officials did not pay any heed to their complaint and asked them to approach to the Ambala office. When they went to Ambala, no official was available to hear their grievances. Meanwhile, sources in the Ambala office revealed that the new software was complicated comparatively to the old system and required more training for the staff. It would take some more time for its smooth functioning, they added.
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Dons bring laurels to KU
Kurukshetra, July 8 Prof. Goel has a number of publications in national and international journals tom his credit. Dr KR Aneja, Professor, Department of Microbiology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, has been invited by the President and Executive Chairman of EPS Global Medical Development, Montreal, Canada, as a guest speaker at the EPS Global Ist International Infectious Diseases Conference to be held in Shanghai, China, from September 10 to 11 to present his research paper. A university spokesman said: "Prof Aneja has been working in the area of medical and pharmaceutical microbiology, especially the control of ear and oral pathogens and dermatophytes by medicinal plant products that could be developed into commercial drugs, a novel strategy to combat infectious diseases without having side-effects on humans". EPS is a Canada-based organisation, which highlights worldwide medical academic exchanges.
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Parking a big problem in Yamunanagar
Yamunanagar, July 8 Moreover, a large numbers of trucks and tractor-trailers ply daily even on internal roads in both industrial towns Yamunanagar and Jagadhri, adding to the problem of parking. In view of the alarming rate of accident deaths, the administration needs to work to make proper arrangements for parking, besides controlling heavy vehicular traffic on internal roads. The commuters have to face a tough time while passing through the Model Town market, markets near Fountain Chowk, railway road, and the kitchen utensils market in Jagadhri, especially in the evening. A large number of vehicles can be seen parked outside shops and also on roads. Traffic cops should be deployed in all markets to streamline traffic and also prevent people from parking their vehicles on roads. Besides, the plying of heavy vehicles, including trucks, buses and tractor-trailers on the internal roads should be stopped . The administration should launch an awareness drive to educate people about the traffic rules.
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Linguist Jagdeva Singh passes away
Rohtak, July 8 He served in various capacities in a couple of institutions, including Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, as pro-Vice Chancellor from August, 1977, to October, 1979. He opened the Department of Linguistics at Kurukshetra University. He migrated to the USA in 1982 where he remained active for three decades during which he authored “Haryanavi ki Prastavit Lipi” and “Karka”. He was felicitated in 2001 by the Haryana Sahitya Academy and the Kurukshetra University faculty for his achievements. MDU Vice-Chancellor Ramphal Hooda and Prof Baldev Singh were among those who expressed deep regrets at the the death of Prof. Jagdeva Singh.
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No role in case against Chautalas: Congress
Chandigarh, July 8 Recently, his younger brother Abhey Singh had made a similar allegation. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had said while law would take its own course against the Chautalas, the Congress had nothing to do with the case. In a separate statement, Haryana Congress spokesperson VP Vidrohi said it was wrong to say that the ruling party was trying to falsely implicate the Chautala family in various cases to shift the public attention from its alleged failures in the state. He claimed that if the Chautalas were facing legal action, they themselves were to be blamed. Had they not indulged in criminal acts when they were in power, there would not have been any cases against them. The ED case, he said, was the outcome of a CBI probe against the Chautalas, which was ordered by the Supreme Court in what had come to be known as the JBT teachers’ recruitment scam. Even before the apex court, it was an IAS officer’s petition and the Congress was nowhere in the picture. Vidrohi said the fact was that by blaming the Congress, it was the Chautalas who were trying to divert public attention from their “misdeeds”.
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22 cases decided at lok adalat
Kaithal, July 8 He said gramin lok adalats were being held to provide expeditious justice to litigants so that they could save their precious time and money. He called upon litigants to avail the facility of lok adalats to settle their pending cases. He threw light on various aspects of free legal aid to specific categories of persons. A number of advocates also assisted the court in the settlement of cases.
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