Hisar, January 17
Haryana's first veterinary university has come into being here. Named after Lala Lajpat Rai, the university will function from the Haryana Agricultural University campus here.

Dr Hardeep Kumar, a 1984 batch IAS officer, has been named as its founder Vice-Chancellor. He is a veterinary graduate from Punjab Agricultural University. He later did his MBA from Birmingham. He will continue to be Financial Commissioner and Secretary, Department of Animal Husban-dry and Dairy Development, Haryana.

Dr Hardeep Kumar met the Vice-Chancellor and senior officials of the HAU to work out modalities. He has been allotted an office in the Haryana Veterinary Council building located on the HAU campus. The Registrar will function from an office in the College of Veterinary Sciences. The remaining offices of the university will function out of the Giri Centre.

He said the mandate of the university was to establish a bridge between the veterinary scientists, dairy farmers and cattle breeders. It would take another month or so to work out the details. The government was expected to sanction budget for the new varsity from the next financial year beginning April. Research on various aspects of veterinary sciences and animal husbandry would be given a fillip once the university became fully functional.

Kumar said the university's Board of Management and Academic Council would take some time to come into being. Due representation would be given on these bodies to renowned veterinarians, social workers, women and industrialists. Progressive farmers too would be nominated to various university bodies.

The recruitment of staff for the new university has been a subject of animated discussion among HAU employees. Many fear they would be allocated to the new university. There are others who welcome shifting to the new varsity. However, the newly appointed VC said nobody should have any fears in this regard.

The government had announced plans to establish the university two years ago. It decided to name it after Lal Lajpat Rai in April last year. However, the notification was issued in December last year.

The new university has been set up on a suggestion from the Indian Veterinary Council and the Centre to focus on research on veterinary-related topics.

Hisar, January 17
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam(DHBVN) has decided to check all meters of low-tension (LT) industries in its area, comprising Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani, Mahendragarh, Rewari, Gurgaon, Mewat, Palwal and Faridabad districts, to curb theft of electricity.

Sudhir Rajpal, Managing Director, DHBVN, said in the beginning, the industrial energy meters of one operation subdivision would be checked by the DHBVN staff after which the work could be outsourced to a third party for the whole area under jurisdiction of the nigam.

He said the DHBVN had detected 12,000 cases of power theft during the current financial year and imposed over Rs 30 crore as a penalty on the erring consumers. The teams that detected theft cases had filed FIRs against about 7,000 consumers who failed to pay the penalty in time.

The teams of Hisar operation circle had detected 4047 theft cases, followed by Faridabad(3097), Bhiwani(2167), Gurgaon(2034), Narnaul (808) and Sirsa (357).

The field officers had been asked to launch a drive to prevent completely power theft in the DHBVN area. Targets had also been given to officials of the operations and vigilance wings.

Rajpal said that the nigam was serious about curbing power theft as this was the main reason for overloading of the system and interruptions in power supply. The officers had been asked to lodge complaints against consumers stealing power in designated courts under the Electricity Act, 2003.

Yamunanagar, January 17
The state government has drawn up an ambitious plan under the National Agricultural Mission Programme to revolutionise the process of harvesting the potato crop by providing mechanised potato diggers to farmers at subsidised rates.

The Horticulture Department would provide 102 potato diggers to the farmers across 10 districts, including Yamunanagar, Karnal, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Palwal, Fatehabad, Sirsa, Jind and Bhiwani, and farmers opting to buy it would be offered a subsidy of 50 per cent.

According to sources in the Agriculture Department, a project in this regard has been finalised and mechanised potato diggers are ready to be delivered to the farmers. The process of distribution of the machines is expected to begin soon.

This would help farmers save labour and time as presently, the farmers have been digging potatoes manually which is a cumbersome exercise. The introduction of the mechanised diggers would revolutionise the process of harvesting the potato crop.

Bhajan Singh and Mohan Singh, both farmers of Udhamgarh village, said, “Potato is a crash crop and it gets good returns. The crop gets ready for marketing in a short span, but its harvesting remains cumbersome as farmers generally employ labour for harvesting the crop. If tractors are used for harvesting potatoes, a major part of the produce gets damaged”.

In Yamunanagar, an estimated 3,300 hectares is under potato cultivation. The process of harvesting the crop is already on these days and it would reach its peak in the beginning of the next month.

Jhajjar, January 17
Will you believe that the Haryana government doesn’t have the record of its officials who have been nabbed while accepting bribes during the last decade? Since every official activity of every government department is kept in the record, it is obvious that the information pertaining to corrupt officials should also be in the government’s record, but it is not so.

You will have to believe that the government neither has any compiled information about the number of officials facing corruption charges nor how much among them have so far been either punished or acquitted by court.

This revelation has recently been made by none other than the Vigilance Department, Haryana, whose prime work is to nab those government officials indulged in illegal activities while disposing 
of a Right to Information (RTI) application.

But the RTI applicant, Subhash, coordinator of the Haryana Suchna Adhikar Manch, is not content with this reply hence he has filed an appeal before the First Appellate Authority against the reply of the state public information officer (SPIO) of the Vigilance Department wherein he apparently showed himself helpless for furnishing the sought information regarding the officials facing corruption charges.

Significantly, the SPIO did not also hesitate to say that the sought information is not covered under the provision of the RTI Act.

Actually, by filling an RTI application with the requisite fees, Subhash wished to know that how many government officials have been apprehended on corruption charges during the last decade, how many among them were placed under suspension and have been reinstated till date, how much cases in this regard are pending before the court and how many officials among them have so far been punished or exonerated.

“I was stunned to go through the reply of the department wherein the SPIO clearly mentioned that the sought information could not be supplied under the RTI Act-2005 as the same does not exist and needs to be generated. Therefore, it is not covered under the provision of the Act as provided in Para-9 of the letter of the Government of India, Ministry of Personnel, PG and Pensions Department of Personnel and Training, New Delhi,” said the applicant.

He maintained that it was the accountability of the Vigilance Department to furnish him a complied report of the officials caught red-handed while taking bribes as such sort of actions come under the RTI Act, but the department failed to do so hence I had to file an appeal against the SPIO before the First Appellate Authority in this connection.

Gurgaon, January 17
The matter of overflowing sewage in Sector 10 was raised at the monthly meeting of the District Grievances Committee held under the chairmanship of Haryana Power Minister Mahender Pratap Singh here recently.

The minister was informed that the commuters were facing much inconvenience as the road from Hero Honda Chowk to Basai Chowk via Umang Bhardwaj Chowk had been in bad shape for a long time. Badshahpur MLA Rao Dharampal, who was present at the meeting, also supported the issue.

Taking the matter seriously, the minister directed the local HUDA authorities to complete all work on the road by the end of March and make temporary arrangements to evacuate sewage for providing immediate relief to the residents.

It would be pertinent to mention here that the work of laying a master sewerage line is on and construction of a storm-water drain had been going on on this stretch for a long time.

The meeting was informed that an FIR had been registered against a local property dealer, Gaurav Yadav, on charges of cheating his clients who wanted to purchase immoveable property in Gurgaon.

The inquiry officer said Yadav, who operated an office by the name of Filby Estate in Sector 47 of Gurgaon, was found to be cheating the prospective buyers.

One of the buyers said he gave a cheque for Rs 2,10,700 to Yadav for buying some stamp papers, but he duped him and purchased the stamp papers for some other person with that amount.

The matter was probed by district revenue officer PD Sharma, who reported that Yadav was found involved in six such cases of fraud and FIRs had been got registered against him in all six cases.

In another case, a Station House Officer (SHO) was suspended and departmental action initiated against him for registering a case of theft against a labourer, Rakesh, on a false report of his employer.

Rakesh, a resident of Ward No. 13 in Jatauli, alleged that his employer had influenced the SHO, who harassed him for no fault of his. Rakesh was subjected to undergo a lie detector test, which he cleared successfully. However, when his employer was asked to undergo the same test, he did not turn up.

Rakesh’s mother, who accompanied him to the meeting, told the minister that as her son had been rendered jobless for about six months now, the family was in dire straits.

On hearing this, the minister announced to give Rs 10,000 to the family from his petty grant fund.

Mahender Pratap Singh also ordered that the library security charges of Rs 5,000 should be refunded by the management of Chodhary PSM College to a student as under the rules of Haryana Government, there were no provision for charging a security deposit for issuing books to the students.

On the demand of the residents of Gudhana village, the minister directed the Secretary, Regional Transport Authority, to allot one more route to the cooperative transport societies.

Of a total of 18 complaints put up before the minister, 13 were disposed of on the spot.

Rewari, January 17
Finance, Irrigation, Forest and Environment Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav distributed cheques worth `1.23 crore among 390 beneficiaries of various welfare schemes at a function held in the Bal Bhawan here recently.

They included 338 beneficiaries of Indira Awas Yojna, 46 beneficiaries of Housing and Slum-Dwelling Scheme and 6 beneficiaries of the Integrated Subsidy for Housing Project.

Addressing the gathering, the minister urged them to make good use of the money to construct houses to ensure better living conditions for their families.

Later, the minister also distributed copies of the panchayat telephone directory, recently brought out by the District Rural Development Agency, among the councillors of the Zila Parishad, functionaries of block panchayat samitis and village panchayats.

Chandigarh, January 17
As many as 4,861 cases of juveniles in conflict with law were pending adjudication in Haryana till December 12 last, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has been informed.

As a petition filed in public interest by an NGO, Voluntary Health Association, came up for hearing, a Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Augustine George Masih was informed that the Women and Child Development Department had already requested the Home Secretary to issue instructions to the police not to register FIRs in petty offences committed by juveniles.

Hardeep Singh, deputy secretary, Haryana Women and Child Development Department, added instructions had also been issued for the speedy disposal of cases involving juveniles.

The petitioner had earlier sought directions to spike inquiries or cases pending before the Juvenile Justice Boards in Haryana and Punjab for more than the stipulated period of four months in view of the observations made by the Supreme Court.

The Bench was also informed by Rajnish Kumar Jasra, deputy director of the Punjab Women and Child Development Department, that 287 juvenile cases had been disposed of during the first three quarters of 2010 whereas 287 cases were pending in the first quarter of 2010 before the Juvenile Justice Boards.

As many as 745 cases were pending in the second quarter and 514 were pending in the third quarter ending September 30, 2010.

Sonepat, January 17
Deepa Malik of Bhainswal Kalan village, who won a bronze medal in javelin throw in the recently concluded Para-Asian Games in China, was welcomed by the district administration as well as residents of her village and other adjoining villages on Saturday.

Congratulating her, Jagbir Malik, MLA, said that the village was proud of her success and wished her more success in future. “Deepa Malik has become a role model for other physically challenged women who had sent out a message that disability is no bar in achieving the target,” he said, assuring all government help to her.

Deputy Commissioner Ajit Joshi said Bhainswal Kalan was known for sports activities not only in the district and the state, but also at the national level as sportspersons from the village had given outstanding performances in the national and international events. He asked the village youths to avail the benefits of government schemes launched for promotion of sports. Thanking the people for according a warm welcome to her, Deepa Malik said she was feeling very happy in coming to her in-laws’ village with a medal.?

“Though I was disabled after a few years of marriage, I made up my mind to move ahead and took part in nine international events during last three years with the blessings of my in-laws,” she said. Praising the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government for helping sportspersons of the state, she pleaded that disabled sportspersons should also be given cash incentives on the pattern of other sports personnel.

Rewari, January 17
HPCC spokesman Ved Prakash Vidrohi has taken an exception to the way in which the name of Congress MP (Gurgaon) Rao Inderjit Singh, former Minister of State for Defence Production, was being maligned by the print and electronic media as well as his political adversaries here in the Kandivali land issue in Mumbai.

The land has reportedly been on lease with the Central Ordnance Depot of the Army since 1942.

Furnishing plain facts at a press conference here today, Vidrohi said that the above piece of land measuring 5,166.5 sq mt was sold to a private company - Neo Pharma Private Limited - for Rs 5.94 crore by the the Maharashtra Government in June 2007.

Following the possession of the land by the company vis-à-vis its principal organisation Kalpataru Properties in July 2007, the Defence authorities filed objections via letters on July 23, 2007, August 23 and August 28.

Consequently, the collector of Kandivali conducted an inquiry on the site in the presence of representatives of the Army as well as the company following which the claims and objections of the Army were rejected and the land was eventually handed over to the company on September 5, 2007.

Vidrohi further said at the behest of the then Minister of State for Defence Production Rao Inderjeet Singh, his personal secretary Abhilaksha Likhi wrote a letter on November 15, 2007, to the Army chief’s secretariat requesting that the matter be brought to the COAS for appropriate action.

When the Maharashtra Government had handed over the possession of the land to the company in September 2007, how could a letter written by the minister’s secretary to the Army chief two months after that affect the land transaction?, Vidrohi asked.

Asserting that Rao’s name was being dragged unjustifiably in the so-called Kandivali land scam, he urged his critics to have a peep in Rao’s 34-year political career, which, he claimed, was far from dishonest dealings.

Kurukshetra January 17
A condolence meeting of the teaching and non-teaching staff of Kurukshetra University was held near the administrative block on January 14 to mourn the death of Dr Amarjeet Singh Kaang, Dean, Academic Affairs, in Chandigarh following a heart attack on January 11.

Dr Kaang joined the university about 30 years ago and founded the Punjabi Department. He held various prestigious positions in the university, including that of Director, Public Relations.

The meeting also mourned the demise of Mr Magesh Kumar, an assistant in the Directorate of Distance Education.

Vice-Chancellor DDS Sandhu was among the teaching and non-teaching staff present in the meeting.

Sirsa, January 17
The Haryana government has taken up the matter of pollution of the Ghaggar with the Central Pollution Control Board as it involved more states than one. Haryana Minister for Environment Capt Ajay Singh Yadav revealed this to mediapersons here recently.

The pollution in the Ghaggar is quite high and The Tribune had carried a story “Fish dying in Ottu lake, courtesy polluted Ghaggar” in these columns on December 20.

Yadav said the pollution of the Ghaggar was an interstate matter as effluents entered in the seasonal river from Baddi (Himachal), UP and Punjab, besides Haryana.

He said the government had written to the Central Pollution Control Board for taking remedial steps in this direction.

Ambala, January 17
Hundreds of advertising hoardings put up in a haphazard manner along with the main roads within the municipal limits of Ambala City and Ambala Cantonment have been posing threat to commuters. The advertisers, which also include some political parties, violate the norms prescribed under the Haryana Municipalities Outdoor Advertising Policy, 2010.

Besides, billboards of big corporate houses, a large number of hoardings bearing congratulatory messages for the New Year and birthday greetings to political leaders can be seen on both sides of the roads. Whatever be the occasion, flex boards have become a preferred mode of publicity these days. Various road safety agencies are of the view that the accident rate has gone up after the erection of advertising boards on busy roads.

The Municipal Corporation has earmarked specific sites where advertisements can be displayed. The corporation has authorised some agencies to put up hoardings along the roads, but there are many others who have installed hoardings without permission.

The Punjab and Haryana High court has already issued guidelines for installing hoardings along the highways but violations in this regard can be witnessed in the twin city.

As per the state advertising policy, hoardings along the roads will only be permitted if they are not a safety hazard. The advertising device shall not use a shape that could potentially result in its being mistaken for an official traffic sign. Besides, direct sources of light shall be shielded so that glare does not extend beyond the advertising device.

The policy bans the displaying of negative advertisements that promote nudity, ethnic differences, drugs, sexual overturn, violence and magic remedies. The policy disallows advertisements in and around national parks, historical monuments, cremation grounds and religious places.

It says the face of advertising board should be easily discernible to motorists and under no circumstances should the device contain information in text sizes which would necessitate the driver or passenger in a moving vehicle to stop, read and note down which is detrimental to the smooth flow of traffic and distracting for the driver.

With advertisements violating these norms, the MC and the National Highway Authority of India have adopted a lenient attitude.

Kurukshetra, January 17
The Eminent Scientist of the Year Award,, 2010, was conferred on Dr Ashu Chaudhary, assistant professor of chemistry, Kurukshetra University, by the National Environmental Science Academy (NESA), New Delhi, recently.

The award was given away by Padma Bhushan SZ. Qasim, president of NESA, New Delhi, at the 23rd annual conference of the academy held in New Delhi from December 27, 2010.

This award has been given to Dr Ashu Chaudhary for her outstanding contributions to bioinorganic chemistry.

In recognition of her meritorious research work, Dr Chaudhary was also given the Young Scientist Award, 2009, by the Indian Council of Chemists (ICC) for her paper in inorganic chemistry.

She was also honoured by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, when she delivered a lecture on “organometallies in cancer therapy.” 

Sonepat, January 17
State BJP president Krishan Pal Gujjar has criticised the Haryana government for its land acquisition policy saying farmers are the ultimate losers of their fertile agricultural land.

“The farmers whose land has already been acquired are so far not getting the promised annual royalty of Rs 15,000 per acre,” he said.

While talking to mediapersons here, Gujjar alleged that the SEZ policy of the state government had failed completely as not a single SEZ had come up and the companies were being repeatedly given extensions. It was claimed that lakhs of youth would get employment, but neither SEZs came into being nor anyone got employment, he added.

“The BJP has been demanding White Paper on the release of land after notifying Sections 4 and 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, but the government has not responded,” he said and added that a number of areas in the state had been discriminated in the land acquisition policy. He was of the opinion that instead of acquiring the fertile land, the government should acquire barren land for industrial and SEZ purposes and the farmers should be paid market rates even if the land was acquired for community welfare works like the construction of roads, railway tracks, community buildings etc.

In reply to a question, he said there was a possibility of mid-term Lok Sabha poll because of the exposure of a number of scams. Regarding Haryana, he said it would depend on the decision about the membership of five HJC legislators who defected to the Congress soon after the Assembly elections. When asked to comment on the statement of senior BJP leader ID Swamy that political alliance was necessary for coming to power, Gujjar explained that it was in reference to the last Assembly elections. “The party’s main agenda today is to strengthen its base in the state,” he added.

Former MP Kishan Singh Sangwan, state media in charge Rajiv Jain, MLA Kavita Jain, district president Manoj Jain, state general secretary Deepak Mangla and senior leader Lalit Batra, district press secretary Vikki Bhardwaj were also present on the occasion.

Ambala, January 17
To give qualitative inputs to its employees for increasing efficiency and productivity, the ICL Group of Colleges organised a function on its Sountli campus, here, recently. Lean management expert Dennis P Hobbs from the US was the chief guest.

Sources said Hobbs, with his vast experience in quality improvement in manufacturing process, provided services across the globe to various MNCs.

Hobbs said lean management as a manufacturing strategy gained prominence for the production of goods economically even in lower volume and in less time and space. “Its main aim is consistent quality improvement by efficiently focusing on getting the right things to the right place at the right time and in the right quantity to achieve perfect work flow while minimising waste and being flexible and able to change. He stressed and highlighted lean management skills for improving the overall performance and profitability of the ICL Group of Colleges.

Hobbs congratulated the ICL staff for maintaining the level of excellence as a whole unit and gave qualitative inputs to various employees for increasing efficiency and productivity at work. Sanjeev Chadha, president, ICL Group, said “Lean management is an attitude which aims to make the work simple enough to understand, different and innovative and manageable to make high profit out of it. It is a present-day instance of the recurring theme in human history toward increasing efficiency, decreasing waste, and using empirical methods to decide what matters rather than uncritically accepting pre-existing ideas”.

NP Sharma, CEO, along with JS Virk, director, business development, were also present on this occasion.

Kaithal, January 17
A Lok Adalat under the aegis of the District Legal Services Authority was held at Khanpur village in the district recently.

Additional District and Sessions Judge AK Shori presided over the proceedings. CJM-cum-secretary, DLSA, Rajesh Garg was also present on this occasion. As many as 25 land mutation cases were settled.

Addressing litigants and officials, Shori said people should take recourse to lok adalats to get their cases settled expeditiously. He said the feeling of mutual brotherhood prevailed among the litigants as the cases were settled with their mutual consent.

He also highlighted the provisions of free legal aid which was available to the poor and various sections of society. — OC

Sonepat, January 17
Dr KP Hussain, a United Arab Emirate (UAE)-based industrialist of the Indian origin, has decided to set up a rose processing plant at Harsama Malcha village in the district. This was stated by him during his visit to the village recently.

Talking to the media in the village, Dr Hussain, chairman and managing director of the Fatima Medicare Group, said he came to India to participate in the conference of the NRIs in Delhi and he utilised this stay in gathering information about the cultivation of rose crop in the NCR.

After his interaction with former sarpanch of the village, Satish Kumar, and knowing that Harsama Malcha was one of the leading villages of the NCR in cultivating roses, he, along with his friend Dr Milton Francis, planned a visit to the village to have on-the-spot assessment before commencing his project, he added.

“To begin with, we are thinking of setting up a rose processing unit and later the company can plan to set up a medicinal and perfume manufacturing unit in the area,” he said. Praising the quality of the roses being cultivated in the area, he said there were the possibilities of the export of roses to Arab countries and this would benefit the farmers of the area also.

He disclosed that he would send a team of the company specialists to the village for the study of all aspects of the proposal before submitting a study report on the project to him.

Welcoming him on the occasion, chief parliamentary secretary Jaiveer Balmiki assured him that the state government would extend every possible help for setting up the unit.

During the visit, they interacted with farmers and obtained new techniques being adopted by them in cultivating rose crop.

Panipat, January 17
It has been six decades since Independence and the old industrial area of the city has finally got some attention from the state government. The government has finally released Rs 4 crore to provide basic amenities here, including a sewer system.

More than 400 industrial units spread over 242 acres had been struggling against all odds to keep pace with the changing market scenario, that too without any basic infrastructure. The area till date has no direct supply of drinking water and no sewer system.

It was in 1948-49 that the government had held auctions to provide plots to industrialists. The state Industrial Department was entrusted with the task of looking after the area and to provide basic amenities. At that time there were no facilities available here.

In 1987, despite protests by industrialists, the old industrial area was handed over to the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC).

Following this, the manufacturers approached the state government seeking remedial measures. The government assured them that a high-powered committee would soon be constituted to look into the matter. Though sewer lines were laid in some parts of the industrial area, due to no upkeep, the whole system collapsed.

Later, the government formulated a common policy to upgrade facilities in the industrial areas of Panipat, Sonepat, Yamunanagar and Bahadurgarh. However, the policy failed to yield any positive results for the industry.

During the tenure of the last NDA government, the industrialists managed to get a grant of Rs 2.56 crore passed for water and a sewer system. However, the department concerned failed to submit an estimate report and the grant lapsed, leaving the manufacturers high and dry.

Interestingly, the manufactures of Panipat had submitted a plan for provision of drinking water and a sewer system in the old industrial area to the department concerned way back in 1948, but till now no department had come forward to execute the plan.

Now, the government has asked the HSIIDC to undertake the project to lay a sewer system in the area at an estimated cost of Rs 1.75 crore. Besides, a sum of Rs 25 lakh has been set aside for streetlights and the rest would be spent on roads, drinking water and beautification of certain parts of the areas, including a park.

The HSIIDC has already got a survey conducted and the work is likely to start within a month, sources in the corporation said.

Rewari, January 17
With the name of Rao Inderjit Singh, MP, a former union minister of state for defence production, making rounds in Mumbai’s prime defence land scam, politics in the Ahirwal region of Haryana has come to a boil.

Rao Inderjit Singh is the elder son of former union minister Rao Birender Singh, the founder of Rampura House, which remained the pivotal point of Ahirwal politics during the past six decades.

Thus, while the scam has provided ammunition to Rao’s political adversaries, the MP too is frantically at pains to explain to his critics and supporters about his innocence.

Taking a serious note of the scam, the 47th Mahapanchayat of the Ahirwal region, held recently under the chairmanship of former legislator Raghu Yadav, the founder president of the regional political outfit Sarvajati Janata Panchayat, adopted a resolution seeking a high-level probe into the land scam as well as the expulsion of Rao Inderjit Singh from the Congress.

Asserting that the land which was sold to a private company for Rs 5.94 crore by the Maharashtra government in June 2007, had been on lease with the Army since 1942, Yadav alleged that the decks for the possession of the land by the company were cleared only after Rao Inderjit Singh’s personal secretary sent a communication to the then Army Chief Deepak Kapoor in November, 2007.

Stating that Rao’s questionable entanglement in the deal had brought disgrace to the Ahirwal region, a celebrated nursery of soldiers, Yadav, in the light of AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s recent comments on corruption, asked if the polemical (controversial) Rao’s linkage to the Congress could still be kept intact?

Meanwhile, Rao Inderjit Singh is now hectically engaged in what can be considered as a damage control exercise. Stating that he had nothing to do with the land deal, as it is a matter of the estates wing of the Defence Ministry whereas he was then holding its production-related portfolio, he said. “It is a well-planned conspiracy in which my name is being dragged, which matter should be probed by an agency.

Taking up the cudgels against such allegations, HPCC spokesman Ved Prakash Vidrohi also held a press conference here recently in which he described his alleged involvement in the scam as a deep-rooted conspiracy. Simultaneously, he urged his supporters to have a peep into his 34-year long political career while vouchsafing to its guiltlessness.

Kaithal, January 17
Sanjay Goyal, associate professor of physics in the local RKSD College, presented a paper entitled “Climate Change and Over Exploitation of Groundwater in Kaithal District of Haryana” at the Hydrology Conference - 2010 at San Diego, California, US, recently.

He also presented another paper entitled “Hydro-climatic Variability and Trends in Upper Beas Basin, North Western Himalayan Region” jointly authored with Dr Omvir Singh of the Department of Geography, Kurukshetra University. The visit was funded by the UGC, New Delhi. The conference was organised by The Elsevier’s Journal of Hydrology and sponsored by the UNESCO’s Division of Water Sciences.

More than 200 scientists from all over the world participated in the conference. The objective of the conference was to create a platform for discussion on the new paradigms around the management of water resources and its societal and economic implications.

Goyal has worked on the evaluation of groundwater resource using geophysical and GIS methods for his doctoral work under the supervision of Dr Bhagwan Singh Chaudhary at the Department of Geophysics, Kurukshetra University.

He highlighted the problems of fast depletion of groundwater levels and deterioration of its quality due to overexploitation in Kaithal. The availability of irrigation water in adequate quantity and suitable quality is of vital importance for the district.

Prof Goyal emphasised that due to the unpredictable nature of the south-west monsoon and limitations of the canal-based supply, the availability of surface water for irrigation is not sufficient. Therefore, a majority of the cultivated land is irrigated using groundwater. Due to physiographic conditions, high-population density and intense agricultural activity, there is a tremendous pressure on the groundwater resource.

Unrestricted and excessive pumping has resulted in further lowering of level in most parts of the study area, particularly in the fresh-quality zone. Rising water table and salinity conditions prevail in certain pockets in southern parts. Moreover, a general deterioration in the quality is also being experienced throughout the district. Thus, a potential threat to the quality and the availability of groundwater has been visualised in the region. For the sustainability of the resource, scientific planning and mitigation strategy is urgently required in the area.

Sirsa, January 17
It is often believed that development is the best way to contain population growth. Haryana is one of the economically developed states and yet the demographic parameters are not keeping pace with its economic development.

A study “Demographic Transition and Correlates of Population Growth in Haryana: A Spatio-Temporal Analysis” by Dr Rajeshwari, associate professor in the Department of Geography, Kurukshetra University, reveals that despite development, Haryana lags behind in demographic parameters.

The study says some districts of Haryana, which are at higher stage of demographic transition, have contained their population at the cost of girl child.

The study tries to capture variations in the progress of different demographic indicators in Haryana since its inception in 1966. It also tries to present the consequences of existing demographic situation and the socio-economic factors associated with its variation across districts. The study shows that despite being economically developed, the state has high population growth.

“It is not because of growing economy that generates a continuous migratory pressure. It is largely due to natural growth reflected by crude birth rate (CRB) and total fertility rates (TRF). These are higher than the surrounding states and hence, the study suggests that economic development in itself has not been able to contain population growth in Haryana.

Dr Rajeshwari says temporal analysis reveals that over a period of 40 years, the CBR and TFR have declined. So is the crude death rate and infant mortality rate. However, the gap between the two is high and hence the state is in the beginning of third stage of demographic transition.

“It also shows wide inter-district variations. The district-wise variations, however, do not show any spatial pattern or contiguity,” she adds.

One finds the districts of Rewari, Sirsa, Sonipat and Yamunanagar and Panchkula at advanced stage of demographic transition. The southern districts of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Mahendragarh and three other districts namely Panipat, Kaithal and Fatehabad are demographically vulnerable.

The decline in CBR and TFR over a period of time also reveals a very disturbing feature. In almost all the districts, the decline is at the cost of distortion in sex structure. The age and sex pyramid reveals that female population has shrunk as compared to their male counterparts and this shrinkage is more pronounced in case of 0 to 6 years sex ratio.

Further, the districts, which are at higher stage of demographic transition, have contained their population growth at the cost of girl child. The analysis reveals that in these districts, the child sex ratio is highly distorted and which is invariably due to female feticide.

The study also attempts to assess the determinants of population growth in Haryana at broader level. The analysis shows that population growth has a negative correlation with female literacy and age at marriage.

The regression analysis further strengthened the argument that mere economic development is not in itself sufficient to control the population growth. It is the structural conditions in society i.e. raising the marriage age and female literacy - indicators of female autonomy and loosening of patriarchal values, which affect the demographic transition.

Chandigarh, January 17
The Gurdwara Election Commission (GEC) proposes to register parties intending to field candidates for the forthcoming election to the SGPC.

A spokesman of the Gurdwara Election Commission said here that the interested parties should intimate their names, addresses and other particulars, including the particulars of their office-bearers and also choice of three symbols in the order of preference to the Secretary, Gurdwara Election Commission, Kothi No. 23, Sector-8A, Chandigarh.

The list of symbols could be obtained from the office of the Gurdwara Election Commission, Chandigarh. The applications should be accompanied by a memorandum or rules and regulations of the association or the party, he added.

Sirsa, January 17
The five Assembly segments under Sirsa district have 7,39,609 voters registered on the new photo electoral rolls.

The rolls have 3,96,222 male voters and 3,43,282 female voters registered in the district, said District Election Officer CG Rajini Kaanthan here.

He said 18,884 new voters had been registered in the electoral rolls, making the new addition to 2.56 per cent.

Interestingly, the number of new voters between the age group of 18 and 20 years is only 5,378.

The DEO appealed to the voters to see the electoral rolls published by the authorities and fill Form 6 before the electoral registration officer in case their names were missing.

Similarly, Form 7 could be filled to file objections to any name in the roll and Form 8 for any ambiguity in individual’s particulars. He said January 25 would be observed as “National Voters Day” throughout the state when photo identity cards would be distributed to the new voters.

Meanwhile, 5,28,051 voters have been registered in the final photo electoral rolls published by the district authorities in Fatehabad for the three assembly seats of the district. Fatehabad Additional Deputy Commissioner Ashok Meena said the number was 4,99,739 in the previous voters list.

Kurukshetra, January 17
The court of Dr Neelima Shangla, Additional Sessions Judge, Kurukshetra, has awarded life imprisonment to Gurmeet, Mangat Ram, Batheri (wife of deceased Gyani Ram), Mamtesh, alias Mamta, and Karmo, all residents of Rawa village and Premo, a resident of Kaserla village in Ambala district, under Sections 302, 323 and 147 of the IPC.

As per the case history, Gyani Ram went to Kaserla to bring his wife Batheri on June 20, 2007. She had gone to Rawa. Thereafter, he went to Rawa where he found his son ill.

He told his wife Batheri that he would provide medical aid to him. On this, Batheri directed him to go away and threatened that otherwise he (Gyani) would be killed. The deceased returned the same night and again went to Rawa, where acid was administered to him by mixing it in liquor by the accused.

In his last statement, Gyani has narrated the aforesaid version.

He further stated that on the same night at 8 pm, he went to Rawa, where the accused gave him severe beating and administered acid mixed in liquor and had thrown him in the fields.Somehow, he left the place and came on a road and fell down. Some passers-by got him admitted to Sidharath Hospital, Shahabad.

Later, Gyani Ram shifted to PGI, Chandigarh and LNJP, Hospital, Kurukshetra. He died on December 9, 2008, as his vital organs were burnt due to the acid which he consumed.

After hearing the arguments, the court awarded life imprisonment to all the accused, along with a fine of Rs 51,500 each. In default of the payment of fine, they shall further undergo rigorous imprisonment of three years. The sentences will run concurrently.