Assandh (Karnal) March 28
Developmental schemes and other 
works worth Rs 500 crore have been sanctioned for the Assandh Assembly constituency by the present government and development works are in progress in all areas, said Chief Parliamentary Secretary Zile Ram Sharma here.

Speaking a felicitation function at Chirav village, Sharma, who is also an MLA from Assandh, said funds would not constrain the speedy development of the area as Chief Minister BS Hooda was fully aware of the needs of the people and he would leave no stone unturned to ensure expeditions execution of works.

He said the Chief Minister had announced schemes worth Rs 500 crore during his rally at the Assandh grain market on March 26 last year and woks are in progress. These included water supply and sewerage schemes, construction of 56-km-long roads, lanes to link the villages, bypass, five power houses, 12 delivery huts and two community health centres, he added.

“Assandh was less developed as compared to several other constituencies and my earnest effort is to bring it at par with other developed areas,” he said, adding that he had already got works amounting Rs 23.35 lakh competed in Chirav village itself.

Sharma said 5,000 MW of power would be added in 2012 and power projects worth Rs 44,000 crore were under implementation to ensure at least 22-hour uninterrupted power supply in the state. Claiming that the government was not discriminating with any area, CPS said the Chief Minister had waived electricity bills amounting to Rs 1,600 crore while the UPA government had waived loans of farmers in distress.

He announced a grant of Rs 10 lakh for the community centre, Rs 2 lakh each for Gadaria and Rajput chaupals, Rs 3 lakh each for Harijan and Valmiki chaupals and issued instructions to the officers concerned to allot 100 m plots to poor.

Chandigarh, March 28
Eco-tourism is fast coming up in Haryana as the Central Government has so far sanctioned eco-tourism projects involving an investment of Rs 10.42 crore for the state. The state government is also planning to constitute an eco-tourism society.

According to Haryana Forests Minister Ajay Singh Yadav, the Forests Department has taken a lead in developing beautiful nature camps at Thapali, Lal Munia Rest House and Morni fort in Panchkula district and Kalesar, Bansantor, and Herbal Park, Chuharpur in Yamuna Nagar district. Such facilities are also being planned for Bhondasi in Gurgaon district.

He says eco-tourism will also increase the influx of foreign tourists in the state. In this way eco-tourism would facilitate the causes of employment generation, conservation of local culture and environment, and development of forests and wildlife.

He says the state government is planning to constitute an eco-tourism society for the management and upkeep of such assets. It would help the department in creating awareness for the development and protection of forests and wildlife. It will also initiate a spark for sustainable development in the rural areas located close to nature camps.

Yadav says eco-tourism pertains to conscious and responsible efforts to develop, protect and preserve local flora, fauna and culture. Eco-tourism in India has grown significantly. Eco-tourism will provide an economic incentive to conserve a community culture, natural environment, cultural heritage, a potential resource for creating awareness in the development and protection of forests and wildlife in these areas. The job-creating potential of eco-tourism is tremendous and even illiterates can contribute a lot in this field. So, it acts like an engine for sustainable growth.

Inception of eco-tourism in Haryana may also serve as a demonstration model for people interested in the development of similar facilities with a natural ambience in the rural setup. For example, a banquet hall and camping facilities are going to be a landmark in the inception of nature camps in farmhouses and thus help increase green cover in the state. 

Gurgaon, March 28
The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG), which is shortly going to complete three years of its inception, continues to be an under performer with its performance leaving much to be desired.

Thanks to its primary focus on filling up its own coffers rather than addressing issues of public concern, the MCG has earned the reputation of being the “money collector of Gurgaon”.

The chronic inefficiency in its functioning is evident in view of the inadequate civic amenities and public infrastructure and the voices decrying the civic body as a den of corruption are also getting louder day by day.

While local residents’ welfare associations and opposition parties have been alleging irregularities in the functioning of the MCG, the local unit of the Congress Sewa Dal - an offshoot of the state’s ruling party - has also raised its voice against the corrupt practices and demanded the dismissal of corrupt MCG officials.

At a meeting of the Sewa Dal held here recent, Inder Singh Saini, chief organiser of its local unit, asserted that they would not tolerate rampant corruption in the civic body any longer.

As per a recent report of the NASSCOM Regional Council, Gurgaon is poor in terms of local connectivity, power, social infrastructure, security and hygiene.

The report titled “Gurgaon: The Promise of a Global Business Destination” compares Gurgaon with cities likes New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Noida. As per the report, Gurgaon is among the worst in terms of power and poor in terms of local connectivity.

The report brings to light the issues like increase in congestion in the past 2-3 years, water shortage, increase in criminal activities and high cost of operations among various other things.

Chandigarh, March 28
Haryana has created the maximum employment opportunities under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS).

According to P Raghavendra Rao, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Development and Panchayats, it became possible because of the effective implementation of the MNREGS and because of the optimum utilisation of the funds available under the scheme.

The state government has also constituted a high-level task force committee to review the scheme periodically. The small and marginal farmers have also been included in the scheme.

Rao has directed his subordinates to ensure that the families given job cards under the scheme must be provided employment.

He has also issued instructions to the officers concerned to offer possession of residential plots to eligible families under the Mahatma Gandhi Grameen Basti Yojna and also to execute gift deeds in their favour, where shamlat land is available.

Rewari, March 28
Lalu Prasad Yadav, former Railway Minister and former Chief Minister of Bihar, unveiled a statue of a social activist, the late Rao Bishamber Dayal Khaira, at Ramjas Nagar Colony in Dharuhera recently.

He also laid the foundation stone of Ahirwal Bhawan, which will be constructed by Bishamber Dayal Charitable Trust.

Earlier, Lalu, who was the chief guest at a social function held under the auspices of the Trust, was accorded a rousing reception by the trustees, functionaries of social organisations and elders of various villages.

Paying homage to Rao Bishamber Dayal, who was a native of Khaira village in the Najafgarh area of Delhi, Lalu complimented his son, Rao Ajit Singh Khaira, for installing a statue in memory of his father.

Later, talking to mediapersons, he criticised the Haryana Government for its large-scale acquisition of farmers’ land. He said if at all farmers’ land had to be acquired, it must be acquired at the market rate.

Regarding yoga guru Baba Ram Dev’s tirade against politicians for their alleged involvement in corruption, he said it would be advisable if he confined himself to teaching yoga.

Faridabad, March 28
The industry here wants immediate improvement in infrastructure, especially sewerage system, in the industrial estates. The industrialists also want upgrading of two sewerage treatment plants (STPs) as they were now proving to be inadequate. Poor condition of roads in the industrial estates here is also a cause for concern to the industrialists.

The industry was of the view that the growth of infrastructure had not kept pace with the growth of the city. With the overall sewerage system of the city proving to be inadequate in the present context, sewerage lines in the industrial estates connected to it were also adversely affected.

The issues relating to infrastructure, particularly sewerage system, STPs and roads, were also raised by industrialists in their recent interface with Haryana Minister for Labour and Employment Shivcharan Lal Sharma, organised by the Faridabad Industrial Association (FIA).

The industrialists alleged that poor sewerage condition was the main reason behind air pollution and foul smell in the industrial estates. The Minister assured the industrialists that their concerns would be addressed at the earliest. Rather, he asserted that roads would be repaired only after the sewerage system was strengthened.

There were a number of industrial clusters in industrial sectors, including sector 24, 25, 58, 59, 6 and DLF. Sewerage lines in all of them remained choked causing back flow of sewerage waste in factory premises. The situation worsens during the rainy season.

A representative members from the industry said sewerage pipelines were laid when Faridabad city was established. They were now proving to be thin. Drains were not de-silted at regular intervals which impinged on the drainage of sewerage of the city. The main drains, including the Gochi drain, needed to be cleaned up as a first step before the sewerage pipes were laid again.

The industrialists, while taking up the issue of poor sewerage system with the Minister, pointed out that workers and labour force in the industrial units were forced to work under insalubrious conditions on account of air pollution. Due to choked sewerage, industrial discharge does not get drained in a timely manner. Foul smell emanates from sewerage systems, especially when there was back flow in the premises during the rainy season.

Chandigarh, March 28
The Haryana Kisan Ayog, constituted under the chairmanship of Dr RS Paroda, has invited suggestions from the farmers, farmer groups and members of the general public to meet the mandate of the ayog.

A spokesman for the ayog said problems of the farmers along with suggested options, if any, could be sent to the member secretary, Haryana Kisan Ayog, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, before April 30, 2011. The suggestions could also be forwarded through email at rsdalal1@gmail.com <mailto:rsdalal1@gmail.com>

He said the main objective of the ayog was to study the problems of farmers and suggest measures to improve their lot by suggesting specific steps for increasing productivity, profitability and sustainability of the farming system.

Also, it aimed at bringing improvement in the current input use efficiency and delivery systems for seeds, farm chemicals and credit, making the quality and cost of farm commodities globally competitive, increasing the flow of rural credit to farmers and attracting or retaining educated youth in the farming sector.

He said the ayog was already having consultations with research experts, development officers and farmers by organising meetings. 

Sonepat, March 28
The Murrah buffalo of Hoshiar Singh of Singhua village in Hisar district and the exotic cow of Baldev Singh of Gulab Kheri village in Karnal district were adjudged the best animals of the two-day state-level livestock exhibition. The winners were given a cash prize of Rs 1,26,100 each.

Besides these two animals, two other animals - Haryana breed cow of Dharam Pal of Imlota in Bhiwani district and Shahiwal cow of Khurana farm in Rohtak district - were also declared the breed champions of the exhibition. The owners of these two animals also got a cash prize of Rs 26,100 each.

The exhibition was organised by the Animal Husbandry and Dairy Department of Haryana at HSIIDC complex, Rai, recently. As many as 554 animals in 47 categories participated in the exhibition which concluded recently.

Six animals in each category were also given cash incentives by Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary of the Department Hardeep Kumar at the closing day of the exhibition.

Talking to The Tribune, Director General of the department Dr KS Dangi said the department had undertaken an ambitious programme for the conservation and propagation of superior Murrah germ plasm for the past more than five years with emphasis on the production of Murrah quality bulls.

“The main objective continues to increase per animal productivity through fast genetic improvement of the world famous Murrah buffalo, popularly known as the “Black Gold of India,” he added.

Field performance milk recording and Murrah field progeny testing were the two components of the programme, he said and informed that cash incentives ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 was being given on the basis of milk yield of Murrah buffaloes and the owners of these buffaloes were under the obligation to breed such buffaloes through artificial insemination and rear their male calves.

The state had been given a target of producing 20,000 Murrah bulls against the national target of 40,000 bulls of the national project for cattle and Murrah breeding and the department had already reared 17,000 such bulls, he added.

Dr Dangi also explained that an elaborate programme to test the milk transmitting ability of the bulls to its daughters had been undertaken in the state.

“The programme is being run in 63 villages of six districts covering more than one lakh breedable buffaloes for test mating,” he said and added that test mating for the first set of 25 bulls had already been completed and test mating for the second set of 25 bulls was in progress.

Ambala, March 28
The health authorities have launched a campaign to check the misuse of ultrasound scanning units in the district. A team of the Health Department, headed by Dr Sangeeta Goyal, deputy CMO, recently raided three nursing homes and clinics in Ambala Cantt and sealed ultrasound scanning units for allegedly violating PNDT Act.

The raiding team also visited two other ultrasound centres in the town, namely JK Ultrasound and Rajiv Ultrasound. The team issued necessary instructions to JK Ultrasound regarding record-keeping. The rooms of the doctors and the ultrasound machine in the centre were found locked although a large number of patients were present at the centre.

Earlier, a health team raided Bansal Nursing Home, Naraingarh, following complaints regarding conducting of pre-natal sex determination test. The officials also raided Gian Nursing Home and Raj Nursing Home at Dosarka in this district.

During the raid, Dr Goyal and Dr BB Lalla found a suction pump, medical equipment and medicines used in the termination of pregnancy. Incidentally, both the Gian Nursing Home and Raj Nursing Home were being run by a couple having no requisite medical qualification.

Sources disclosed that the doctors running the nursing home did not have a valid licence. The Naraingarh police has registered a case under the PNDT Act in this connection.

Meanwhile, in view of the worsening sex ratio, the Health Department has decided to further intensify its campaign against private practitioners and nursing homes indulging in pre-natal sex determination tests and illegal termination of pregnancies, the sources said.

Dr Satish Aggarwal, chief medical officer, Ambala, said the department would take strict action against the culprits and intensify its campaign against such practices. In the past six months, the department had raided several private nursing homes and clinics and taken cognisance of violations of the PNDT Act.

Surinder Kumar, who runs a social organization, said the raids were a laudable step as the state was lagging behind the national average in sex ratio.

However, there are still many who feel that the authorities can detect the violation of the law, provided they are honest in their efforts.

Kurukshetra, March 28
Peeved at the indifferent and callous attitude of the Haryana government towards their main demand for issuing a comprehensive notification regarding the implementation of revised UGC pay scales to university and college teachers in toto, the Haryana Federation of University and College Teachers Organisations (HFUCTO) has decided to convene a general house meeting on April 10 to chalk out the future plan of action for the acceptance of its demand.

The executive of the HFUCTO, which met here to discuss the issue, also decided to initiate the process for revamping the organisation to make it more effective. The state government had implemented the revised UGC pay scales, but made several deviations in the recommendations and the notification issued by the Union HRD Ministry on December 31, 2008, and subsequent notification issued in June 2009.

The UGC had made it clear that the recommendations had to be implemented as a composite package which also included raising the retirement age to 65, but the government only implemented the pay scales and left other issues unaddressed.

The meeting discussed the latest situation of the notification and deemed it fit to convene the general house meeting of HFUCTO, comprising the Kurukshetra University Teachers Association (KUTA), the Haryana Government College Teachers Association (HGCTA) and the Haryana College Teachers Association (HCTA), at Kurukshetra on April 10.

Union leaders claimed that the teaching fraternity of Haryana was united and collectively working for the implementation of the UGC Regulations - 2010.

Kaithal, March 28
INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala has lashed out at the state as well as the Central Government for delay in having a dialogue with Jat leaders who had been demanding reservation in the OBC category.

Chautala, who was here recently, said Jats had decided to postpone their agitation after talking to the Chief Minister, who had assured them to constitute a commission to consider the demand.

Chautal said had the government taken a serious note of his suggestion on this issue during the recently concluded Assembly session, the situation would not have arisen. He said Jats in Haryana deserved reservation in jobs as in some other states, but there should not be reduction in reservation of seats for SC, ST and other communities while granting reservation to Jats. The benefit of reservation should also be granted to other economically backward sections of society, he added.

Chautala also flayed the Union Government for not taking any action to save tonnes of rotting wheat lying in the open. He said no doubt, Prime minister Manmohan Singh was an honest man, but he looked other way when many of his Cabinet colleagues indulged in corruption.

Jind, March 28
The district police has announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh for information about the accused involved in the murder of a businessman at Narwana about 10 days ago. The police has so far failed to make any breakthrough in the case which has led to resentment among the trading community.

A delegation of the Haryana Vyapar Mandal recently met the Chief Minister and demanded immediate action to nab the accused.

It may be recalled that a cloth merchant, identified as Lakshmi Narayan, a resident of Narwana, was shot dead by an unidentified person who had come to his shop at about 8 pm. The accused fired at the trader from a close range and fled the spot after closed down the shutter of the shop.

Since there is no eyewitness, the family and the police have no clue about the murderer. The district police chief has announced the reward of Rs 1 lakh for information about the accused. The name of the informer would be kept secret, claimed an official spokesperson.

Meanwhile, Ramesh Gupta, a businessman, said, “The incident has not only created panic among the trading community but also exposed the working and functioning of the police in ensuring safety of locals, especially the traders”. He said failure of the police to nab the accused spoke volumes of the law and order situation. This is not the first case which has given a headache to the police. The murder of three women at Khokri village of the district in May last is still a mystery, although the case, which was handled by the crime branch, was handed over to the CBI.

Sonepat, March 28
Justice Pramod Kohli of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Administrative Judge for the Sonepat Sessions Division inspected the district jail at Sonepat recently and inaugurated a music room and a jail library for the jail inmates. He also visited the jail kitchen and barracks of the inmates and enquired about the facilities being provided to them.

Showing satisfaction over the cleanliness of the jail premises, Justice Kohli asked the jail authorities to ensure that free legal aid service was provided to the needy and eligible undertrials so that they were not denied the justice just for the want of legal aid. He also obtained information about the progress in the cases of jail inmates.

Superintendent of the prison JK Chillar presented a booklet regarding various social and cultural activities performed during the year and also briefed about various activities like yoga camps, sports and cultural activities, education of illiterate prisoners by disciplined and educated prisoners, daily spiritual teaching by Brahma Kumaris, art of living camps, etc., being regularly conducted on the jail premises.

The main objective of these activities was to change the negative attitude of the inmates and to bring down the level of stress and anger so that they could become a useful citizen of society after their release from the jail, he explained.

Dr Bharat Bhushan Parsoon, District and Sessions Judge, and Major Phalit Sharma, Chief Judicial Magistrate, accompanied him during the jail visit.

Jhajjar, March 28
Communication skills of students studying in government colleges is being improved through language labs in order to make them proficient and technically sound so that they don’t have to face any difficulty in grabbing employment opportunities, especially in the corporate sector where special focus is given on communication skills of the employees, besides intelligence.

Haryana Education and Social Welfare Minister Geeta Bhukkal stated this while addressing a gathering of students at the 51st convocation function of Pt. Nehru PG Government College here recently. As many as 156 postgraduates and graduates from various streams were awarded degrees at the function.

She informed that as many as 25 language labs had already been set up in different colleges of the state, while planning of some more labs was in pipeline so that students could be trained for achieving their goals along with the study.

“For the overall development of students and uplifting the level of education in the state, the Congress government has taken so many steps which are turning out to be effective ones in bringing a noteworthy change in the educational system,” she said, adding that focus was being given to strengthen the foundation of primary education as the future of students depended upon the basic learning to a large extent.

Encouraging the people present at the function to launch a drive for eliminating foeticide through spreading awareness among the masses in this regard, Bhukkal said significant difference between the birth rate of boys and girls was a blot on the face of society, which must be washed off at the earliest to maintain gender balance by protecting girl child.

At the end of the programme, the Minister gave away prizes to the students who achieved remarkable achievements in the field of education, culture, NCC, NSS and sports during the past academic session. Earlier, college principal Dr Azad Singh Duhan presented the annual report of the college and students enthralled the gathering by presenting colourful cultural programmes.

Sirsa, March 28
Two littérateurs from Sirsa are among those chosen by the Haryana Sahitya Akademi for awarding them for their works. The akademi has announced to honour outstanding writers of books for 2009 and 2010 at a sahitya puraskar samaroh to be organised in Chandigarh tomorrow.

Monica Gupta, a television journalist, has been chosen for her book on children literature, “Main Hun Mani”, while Lalit Kumar Jain, a lecturer in Punjabi from Government National College, Sirsa, (presently on deputation to Government College, Ellenabad) has been selected in the translation category for translating Prof Narinder Singh Kapur’s Punjabi book “Tarkved” into Hindi language.

Monica has been writing short stories and short plays since childhood. Many of her short plays have been broadcast on AIR from Jaipur and Rohtak stations.

Her compilation of short plays, “Samay Hi Nahin Milta”, got her grant from the Akademi for publication. “Main Hun Mani” is the story of a seven-year-old girl Mani who herself narrates her story in a simple style.

In an incident, Mani’s father takes her to the market on his scooter, where she asks for several kinds of fruits, but her father refuses to buy those and finally, gets her papaya that she does not like. Next day, she fell ill and her father again takes her to the market and gets her all those items she had asked for the previous day.

But, being ill, she was not able to eat those and by the time she was all right, the fruits perished. Further, the taste of her mouth was too bitter to anything tasty due to the intake of medicines. There are several other simple incidents narrated by Mani in the book.

Dr Mukta, director, Haryana Sahitya Akademi, informed that the other writers, who would be honoured on this occasion included Rajender Sarthi (Sonepat), Mahender Nain Singh (Faridabad), Prof Rohini Aggarwal (Rohtak), Jagbir Rathi (Jind), Rama Kanta (Rohtak), Kamlesh Malik (Sonepat), Anju Dua Gemini (Faridabad), Veenamani (Rohtak), Hari Krishan Dwivedi (Kurukshetra), Pratibha (New Delhi), Madhu Kant (Rohtak), IJ Nahal (Hisar), Madan Gopal Shastri (Hisar), Manoj Chhabra (Hisar), Sumer Chand (Sonepat), Ghamandi Lal Aggarwal (Gurgaon), Kiran Kapoor (Karnal) and Dr Deepika Rani (Kaithal). Each writer would be given a cash amount of Rs 21,000 and a certificate.

Sirsa, March 28
Experts from different fields shared their views in a three-day personality development camp organised at Rashoba College of Education, here, recently.

While inaugurating the camp, Dr Yudhbir Singh Khyalia, deputy commissioner, exhorted the students to channelise their energy in positive and constructive activities.

He said teachers should have a friendly attitude towards students so that the students could freely discuss their problems with them.

Dr Shamim Sharma, executive director, Jan Nayak Chaudhary Devi Lal Vidyapeeth, who presided over the session, said hard work was the key to success in any field.

She said dreams were seen with the eyes, but could only be realised with hard labour. She said students till now had been kept on the periphery in the education system, but the time had come when “we shift them to the centre stage”.

Kumud Bansal, chairperson of the college, spoke on ecological intelligence. Dr Ved Beniwal, Dr Parveen Garg and Dr Rajesh Gupta addressed the students on health and nature care.

On the second day of the camp, Virender Chauhan, chairperson of the journalism and mass communication department, spoke on the impact of media on society.

He said people were bombarded with media reports and it was up to them to choose what they was relevant. He said media played a vital role in shaping the mind of the people.

The day witnessed a panel discussion on the role of women in shaping the future of India. Pankaj Chaudhary, additional deputy commissioner, Dr Nivedita, in charge of the education department of Chaudhary Devi Lal University, and Krishna Fogat, municipal councilor, were the panelists.

Chaudhary said women were coming in the forefront in almost every field and exhorted parents to provide good education to their daughters.

She also spoke on the schemes for the welfare of women launched by the state government. She said parents in most families still wanted their daughters to go in easier fields like education, although women had proved that they could excel in any arena.

Yamunanagar, March 28
Guru Nanak Girls College, Santpura, Yamunanagar, organised an Inter-State College Shabad Gayan Competition in which 18 teams from different states participated. The programme started with the college “shabad gayan”.

On the occasion, Dr Varinder Gandhi, principal of the college, honoured the chief guest Karamjeet Singh and said: “With the blessings of Sant Nischal Singh, the college organises such competitive events from time to time”. She said under the guidance of college president Sant Karamjeet Singh and general secretary Sardar Manoranjan Singh Shwney, youth could acquire good moral and religious education along with academic education which was the motto of the college.

She further added that on one hand, college organised modern technical seminars in different fields, and on the other, religious seminars and shabad kirtans were also internal soul of the college events to guide and motivate the students and attach them to their culture and religion.

The competition was organised by the Music Department of the college in which all shabads were sung by the participants from different states like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.

Gurmat College, Patiala, won the gold medal by securing the first position in the competition. Guru Nanak Girls College and DAV college won the silver and bronze medals with second and third positions, respectively. Dr Jaswant Singh, Beete Singh and Kulwant Singh Chandan were the judges of the competition.

Caption: Karamjeet Singh, president of the college, honours the team members of Gurmat College, Patiala, who won the gold medal by securing first position in the competition at Yamunanagar.