Panipat, May 5
With the recent census again bringing to fore the issue of skewed sex ratio in the state, the authorities here have come up with a novel idea of using “bhajan mandalis” (singing groups) to spread the message against the social evil.

These groups of local folk singers have been engaged by the district administration to draw the attention of the general public, especially in the rural areas, to the fact that the imbalance in the sex ratio could have far reaching consequences for the coming generation.

The groups have come up with their own compositions that are recited in the typical Haryanavi style to inspire the audience and even convince some to get rid of the age-old belief that goes against having a girl child.

The latest campaign which was being promoted hard by deputy commissioner JS Ahlawat is also being used to publicise a number of schemes chalked out by the state government for the welfare of the women folk.

The DC said in the times, when stringent laws like the PNDT Act had failed to yield results, they had come up with an idea of using these bhajan mandalis to propagate the message against foeticide. He said the failure of the laws in bringing about positive changes had made it certain that until there was an enormous shift in the approach of the general public towards the girl child, this menace could not be eradicated completely from society.

He said the singing groups, which were know for their persuasive style of conveying ideas, were thought to be a potent instrument that could be used to persuade the people. However, it still remains to be seen whether the bhajan mandalis have the desired impact on the patriarchal mindset of the people or not.

Meanwhile, the district did register a slight improvement in the sex ratio over the last one decade. While the sex ratio in 2001 was 829 females per 1000 males, it was recorded at 861 in the 2011 census. The population of the district also registered an increase as it rose from 9,67,449 in 2001 to 12,02,811 in 2011. 

Kurukshetra, May 5
Asha Hooda, chairperson, Indian Council for Social Welfare (ICSW), Haryana, exhorted women of the state to fight tooth and nail social evils like female foeticide. If there are no girls left in society, the very existence of the humanity would be endangered, she has said.

Asha Hooda, who was speaking at a function organised by the ICSW, and AYUSH Department at Sri Krishna Government College of Ayurveda, here, said progress was followed by some evils as well. Ultrasound machines which should be used for the detection of various diseases in the human body were being misused to determine the sex of the unborn child, she said, adding that earlier, girls used to be killed after their birth, but now they were being killed in the womb.

“People across the country come to the holy city of Kurukshetra to worship goddess Bhadra Kali. They also worship girls on “Ashtami”. It is regretful that the people of the same society do not hesitate in killing the girl child. No religious ceremony could be performed without women. Equal status has been granted to women in our civilisation and culture. Our heads hang in shame when we hear about the incidents of female foeticide. We should all take a pledge to eradicate this evil which is a stigma on our civil society.”

She said no other state in the country had implemented so many schemes for the uplift of women as had been implemented by the Haryana government. Citing the examples of Kalpana Chawla and Indira Gandhi, she said these daughters had made their country proud.

She also released two books on “save girls” written by Sangeeta Nehra, assistant director, AYUSH.

Speaking on the occasion, Health Minister Rao Narender Singh said such awakening programmes should be held in each district of the state under “save girl” campaign. The menace of female foeticide must be eradicated at all costs. He urged the people to disseminate the message to every household.

Karnal, May 5
The police plans to keep tabs on traffic rule violators, vehicle thieves and other anti-social elements through CCTV cameras to be installed on PCR vehicles.

“The first pilot project launched by the Karnal police on an experimental basis has been a success and the experiment will be extended by another week to gather more information and see the results,” Rakesh Arya, SP, who recently returned from Australia after undergoing training there, said.

These state-of-the-art cameras can click at least 200 visuals per second and are equipped with a unique tracking system through which they can capture images of moving vehicles, covering the make of the vehicle, its monogram, number-plates and the driver’s face.

PCR vehicles would also be fitted with the global positioning system to help identify the location of stolen vehicles.

A data base of one-month recording would be available in the police control room as well as the office of the city DSP. The cameras would not only keep vigil on anti-social elements but would also keep tabs on policemen and their behaviour.

The unique feature of the CCTV camera is that it can record activities within a distance of 50 metres in all weather conditions, day and night.

“The results are positive and we will continue the trial for a few more days,” Arya said, adding that if the experiment worked well, they would recommend installation of CCTV cameras in PCR vehicles throughout the state.

Rewari, May 5
With the commencement of the new financial year, while the state government through its Excise and Taxation Department has been ardently implementing a policy to replenish its coffers by opening liquor vends at gainful spots in the rural areas, numerous village panchayats have taken up the cudgels against such liquor vends.

Interestingly, the agitating villagers have started roping in school students, particularly girls, to lend pungency to their drive seeking removal of liquor vends in the vicinity of village school or temple.

In one such case, village elders, led by sarpanch Urmila Yadav, held a dharna recently near the tehsil office at Kosli demanding the removal of a liquor vend from village bus stand. Stating that the liquor cabin there was a bane of girl students as well as women passengers, the sarpanch explained that in September last year, when they urged the authorities to remove the liquor vend, the latter had sought its continuance till March 31, 2011. “But now when the authorities reopened the vend in disregard of their assurance, we had to launch a stir for its removal,” she added.

Later, Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda, along with Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal met the protesting villagers and gave them a patient hearing. Deepender directed the SDM as well as department officials to address their concerns expeditiously.

Similarly, schoolchildren along with villagers presented a memorandum to the deputy commissioner and sought the removal of a liquor vend in Bishanpur village, near Bawal.

They complained that the presence of tipplers at the vend had been causing inconvenience to the girl students and village women.

Meanwhile, DC Ajit Balaji Joshi said after due verification of the complaints, appropriate action would be initiated.

Panipat, May 5
Ahead of the monsoon season during which the district has to face the fury of the raging Yamuna almost every year, the district administration is gearing up to curtail the damage caused by floods.

Deputy Commissioner JS Ahlawat said the administration had identified the flood-prone villages along the banks of the Yamuna. Orders had been issued to strengthen the river banks in these villages. As many as 27 spots had been identified where the river generally breaches to inundate the fields and villages. Reinforced barriers would be constructed at these spots to limit the damage, Ahlawat said.

The Deputy Commissioner, who undertook a survey of over 24 villages along the river in the district, interacted with people and sought suggestions to deal with floods. He directed the officials concerned to address the villagers’ complaints before the rainy season.

Irrigation officials had been asked to raise the height of the bridge over drain No 2 passing through Sanjoli village to facilitate the draining out of excessive waters during the raining season.

Irrigation XEN Azad Singh said the stretch between Adhami village and Mirajapur was hypersensitive as far as floods were concerned and the department had drawn up a detailed plan to deal with any situation this time.

Last year a number of villages in the Sanuli segment of the district were hit by floods after a breach had occurred in one of the embankments of the Yamuna between Pathargarh and Tamashabad villages. This had led to inundation of over 400 acres of farmland in the area. The villages affected by the floods included Sanuli Khurd, Tamsahbad, Pathargarh, Rana Majra, Navada Aar, Navada Paar, Ramda Aar, Adhmi, Jalmana, Goyala, among others.

Rewari, May 5
A function was held under the joint auspices of the Haryana Labour Welfare Board (HLWB) and the State Labour Department for the distribution of bicycles among industrial workers in Bal Bhawan here recently.

While Haryana Labour and Employment Minister Shiv Charan Lal Sharma was the chief guest on the occasion, deputy commissioner Ajit Balaji Joshi presided over it. Besides, Ram Swarup Jaanbaz, vice-chairman, HLWB, was the guest of honour.

As many as 90 workers, employed in various industrial units of the district, were given bicycles by the Minister who informed that earlier, bicycles were distributed among 315 and 42 industrial workers of Gurgaon and Mewat districts, respectively.

Enumerating various schemes launched by the state government for the welfare of workers, the Minister said now workers, with a monthly remuneration below Rs 5,000, were being given bicycles. Besides, all such workers were also being given a financial assistance of Rs 2,000 to cover the expenses of school uniform, books and stationery of their daughters, the maximum number being three, who were studying in classes V to VIII.

The Minister also specifically mentioned about the newly introduced Chief Minister’s Labour Excellence Award Scheme, which, he said, was providing fine cash incentives to distinguished workers at the state and the district level.

Stating that cordial relations between proprietors and workers were a sine qua non for hassle-free functioning of industrial units, Jaanbaz advised industrialists to ensure espousal of workers’ interests.

Kurukshetra, May 5
Kurukshetra-born Dr Ritu Madan, an alumnus of Gita Niketan Senior Secondary School, Kurukshetra, has brought laurels to her school by presenting her research results at a five-day first annual meeting of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) concluded at San Diego in California, US, recently.

She was one of the top five young investigators invited from all across the world to present their research findings.

Dr Madan is interested in the subject of diabetes and elucidating the mechanisms that lead to progression of the disease.

In her research paper, she has pointed out that there may be an increased tendency towards clotting of blood in small blood vessels, which predisposes to long-term consequences of diabetes. She says her research is an important advance in understanding the pathogenesis of several long-term complications such as kidney disease, eye disease and neuropathy that arise as a consequence of diabetes.

Her discovery might open up doors to further research looking at various interventions that might help prevent these complications from developing. Because of the importance of Dr Madan’s research findings, the AACE highlighted the results of this research in its media briefing too.

As per a survey, 285 million people worldwide are affected by diabetes and this number is expected to hit 438 million by 2030. It accounts for five per cent of deaths worldwide. Diabetes has no cure and can lead to serious and long-term complications, including kidney damage or failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, neuropathy and amputations. One can avoid these problems by keeping one’s blood glucose levels to as normal as possible but this can be difficult, the survey adds.

Sirsa, May 5
The declining sex ratio in Haryana is a matter of grave concern and this is going to have great negative impact on our society, Dr Shamim Sharma, Executive Director of the JCD Vidyapeeth, stated this, while delivering an extension lecture on women empowerment in the National College of Education here, recently. The lecture was organised by the women cell of the college.

She said scarcity of brides was already being felt in rural Haryana, where a large number of bachelors could be seen idling away their time on village streets. The trend of procuring brides for money has also not remained a new phenomenon in Haryana now, she added. Dr Shamim said the figures of Census 2011 also did not provide any reassurance, as the things had gone from bad to the worse in several areas of the state.

She added that if the present trend continued, our children would not be able to decipher the meaning of relations like - chachi, mausi, bua and sister. Not to speak of these relations, when women would not be there, even mothers would not remain. Dr Shamim, who has written several books, including one on the female foeticide “Ajanmi Bacchi ki Apni Maa ke Naam Chitthi”, said the patriarchal mindset of the society was responsible for the depleting sex ratio in our society.

“Most of us adopted a hypocritical attitude, when it comes to women. We call her the avatar of Lakshmi, but have kept her away from wealth for several centuries. It is only now that some women have been able to achieve economic independence through their sheer hard work. Similarly, we pretend that we do not drink a glass of water in our daughter’s marital house, but we do not feel any shame in depriving our daughters their legitimate share in her father’s property,” Dr Shamim said about the mindset of the society towards the fairer sex.

She said women could play a vital role in changing this mindset, as they still comprise slightly less than half of our society. She administered an oath to girls that they would not allow female foeticide to happen in their respective families.

Panipat, May 5
DAV Public School, Thermal Colony, organised a book release ceremony to felicitate upcoming authors of the school.

The ceremony, which was graced by Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar as the chief guest, was presided over by PC Mittal, chief engineer, thermal plant and chairman of the school. Besides, Prithivi Raj, IG, was also present as the guest of honour.

The books released on the occasion included “Lab Manual of Foundation of IT” by Ruchi Chawla, “Lab Manual of Information Practices” by RP Rathi, HoD of computer science, “Lab Manual on Biology” by Rajni Chandan, “Lab Manual on Physics” by Alka Aggarwal, “Sample Paper on Economics” by Madhu Singla and a book on physical education by Poonam Ahlawat.

Tanwar lauded the efforts of the school management in promoting writers. He appreciated the role of education as well as good teachers in the formation of better society. He said the role of education in building of a nation could not be over emphasised. While commending the management of the DAV, he said the institutions were making a significant contribution by imparting quality education to the students and enabling them in achieving their goals in life.

Dr D Vidyarthi, regional director of the school, welcomed the guests and read out the message sent by Dr C Prakash, vice-president of the DAVCMC, New Delhi, in which he had congratulated the budding authors.

Prithvi Raj said the role of a teacher and his contribution in nurturing the talent of learners was of utmost importance in a society.

Later, all authors were presented mementoes by the chief guest. Those who attended the ceremony included principals of various DAV schools in the region along with publishers of the books.

Yamunanagar, May 5
Guru Nanak Girls College, Santpura, Yamunanagar, organised its annual convocation recently. Dr R. Sahai, former director, NBAGR, Karnal, was the chief guest on the occasion. Dr Sahai congratulated all the degree recipients and their parents and appreciated the faculty members who have worked with dedication under the leadership of college principal Varinder Gandhi.

Stressing the role of women in society, he said it was impossible to visualise a progressive society when its women were uneducated.

Dr Sahai said women should take up new challenges and participate with vigour, talent and potential in political, social and economic upliftment activities of the country. Educated women must be in the forefront to fight against social evils like child marriage, dowry, female foeticide and drug addiction.

Manoranjan Singh Sawhney, general secretary of the college, said education for women was a dream of saint Sant Nischal Singh which he fulfilled by setting up Guru Nanak Girls College and other teaching institutions for girls. Principal Dr Varinder Gandhi read the college report and highlighted the latest teaching methods and new trends in their areas of research. Professors of different departments presented papers which were also published in reputed journals. Some of them also completed major research project under the UGC scheme.

As many as 900 degrees were awarded to the students of different streams.

Jhajjar, May 5
Dr Rohtas Yadav, the newly elected president of the Haryana State Medical Teachers’ Association (HSMTA), said promotion of research in medical science would be his priority and he would try to get all facilities done to doctors from the government side so that they could carry out their research work without any hindrance.

While interacting with mediapersons here recently, he said a memorandum in this connection would soon be submitted to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to mount pressure on him for meeting their demands.

“It is essential for a doctor to be updated with the latest development being taken place in medical science and new technology being used to diagnose diseases in curable stage, but it is unfortunate that doctors associated with PGIMS, Rohtak, are allowed to attend only one national conference in a year, whereas doctors posted at PGIMER, Chandigarh, can attend two national and one international conference annually,” said the president.

There was an urgent need to permit PGIMS doctors in the state for attending two national and one international conference officially in a year on the pattern of PGIMER, Chandigarh, so that they could be familiar with the newest study being carried out in the field of medical science, he maintained.

“Moreover, an amount of Rs 20,000 per annum has been fixed for research work for a doctor of PGIMS, Rohtak, which is very less. In this situation, how can you expect that a doctor should be well updated with novel research and development of medical science,” said Dr Rohtas, adding that the association would raise the issue before the government and also demand to enhance the research amount up to Rs 60,000, almost equivalent to PGIMER, Chandigarh.

Besides, efforts would also be made to get the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission pertaining to PGIMS doctors executed at par PGIMER, Chandigarh, he said.

“The state government has given the doctors of PGIMS, Rohtak, similar pay scales as to its employee, whereas special pay scales were recommended by the Sixth Pay Commission for the doctors posted at any PGIMS in the country. Hence, the association will try to get special pay scales done for which they are entitled as per the Sixth Pay Commission,” said Dr Rohtas, adding that PGIMER, Chandigarh, had already given pay scales to its doctors.

Fatehabad, May 5
Ashok Kumar Meena, Additional Deputy Commissioner, will conduct an inquiry into the allegations of highhandedness against SDM Baljit Singh. Deputy Commissioner Vijay Singh Dahiya ordered the inquiry after workers of various LPG dealers, who were on strike, submitted a memorandum to the DC demanding action against the officer.

The workers alleged that the SDM slapped a worker of Balaji Gas Agency during a surprise checking of its storehouse, hurled caste-related abuses on him and humiliated him by garlanding him with packets of “bhujia”.

Ending their strike after a meeting with the DC, the workers of LPG dealers said Dahiya had assured them of a complete inquiry as well as action on its report by May 18 and they maintained that their agitation would be intensified if no action was taken against the SDM.

SDM Baljit Singh has already denied the allegations and claimed that the LPG dealers were agitated because he had tried to stop their irregularities. Meanwhile, activists of the “Jan Satyagrah Morcha” today announced their support for his action against the LPG dealers.

Over 20 activists of the morcha led by its president Bhawani Singh met the SDM in his office and supported him for his “proactive” approach against dealers.

Hisar, May 5
The next academic session slated to begin in July in state universities and colleges could have a stormy beginning thanks to a notification issued by the state government regarding pay scales of teachers in violation of guidelines used by the University Grants Commission and the Union Ministry of Human Resources.

The notification issued after protracted stir by the teachers and their numerous meetings with the Chief Minister has left most of the important issues unaddressed, leading to a strong resentment among the teachers who feel cheated by the bureaucracy.

Dr Sandeep Rana, president, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, said the bureaucracy had indiscriminately modified or denied benefits to the teachers in violation of the UGC norms. Besides, the bureaucracy had completely let down the Chief Minister who had promised teachers that Haryana would stick to these norms.

He said it was apparent that the new guidelines would ensure that there was no promotion or direct recruitment of teachers for the pay band 4 for associate professor and professor.

Dr Rana lamented that the new guidelines had deviated from the UGC and MHRD guidelines for directly recruited readers and professors on or after January 1, 2006. Additional increments for higher qualification such as M.Tech, M.Phil, LLM had been denied. As per the UGC and MHRD notification, the entry-level pay of directly recruited readers should be Rs 23,890 with AGP of Rs 8,000 and for professors Rs 43,000 with AGP of Rs 10,000. However, there was no mention of this in the state government notification.

Moreover, in the new guidelines, advance increments for PhD at entry level had been reduced to four instead of five and that too only for the teachers who had completed PhD with NET. However, if a person entered service on the basis of Ph.D. as eligibility qualification, he would not be entitled to any advance increments.

Besides, the UGC guidelines provided for five increments to all candidates who possessed a PhD degree at the time of recruitment. There was no mention about incentives for M.Phil, M.Tech, LLM, M.Pharma and equivalent degrees in the notification.

Rana said incentives for higher education were granted by the UGC to attract more and highly qualified persons to the teaching profession in order to improve the standard of higher education and to promote excellence. The increase in the age of superannuation to 65 years with re-employment up to the age of 70 years for in-class teaching was meant to address the acute shortage of teachers and to retain highly qualified and well experienced teachers in order to maintain high academic standards.

Rana said there was a major flaw in the notification regarding the implementation of PBAS (Performance-Based Appraisal System) based on API (Academic Performance Indicators) system for promotion under Career Advancement Scheme. As per the UGC guidelines, the total points required under API system for Category I: (teaching, learning and evaluation) activities was 75 out of 125 which had been increased to 110. For Category II: (co-curricular activities) it had been increased to 30 instead of 15 out of 50 per year.

This would result in teachers clamouring for points instead of devoting themselves to real teaching and research activities. Moreover, no indicators or scoring system had been mentioned for the teachers of science stream. The teachers would be required to maintain a daily diary which would increase their burden of non-teaching activity.

Even the norms for direct recruitment of professors had been ridiculously modified by making it mandatory for them to have authored 10 books. No weightage for research publication had been given to them.

Rana said the notification had been drawn up in a very casual manner by the bureaucracy as there was no coherent relationship between the provisions and footnotes. He said if a proper notification was not issued, teachers would have to resort to agitational approach to get their due.

Kurukshetra, May 5
On the occasion of “Akshaya Tritiya” falling on May 6 and following special public demand, the India Post has introduced two new gold coins weighing 10 grams and 50 grams each from this month.

Stating this here recently, superintendent, post offices, Kurukshetra division, JK Gulati, said “Akshaya Tritiya” was considered as equal to “Dhan Teras” - an auspicious occasion to purchase valuable metals, including gold and silver. Gold coins of half gram, one gram, five gram, eight gram and 20 gram denominations were already being sold by post offices throughout the country, he added.

Gulati pointed out that on the purchase of every 10 gram gold, half gram gold coin would be given free and this scheme could be availed up to June 30.

He further claimed that these coins were 99.99 per cent pure gold coins with Swiss guarantee and temper-proof packaging.

Sirsa, May 5
The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has sanctioned a project under the Entrepreneurship Development Cell (EDC) Scheme for the financial year 2010-11 to the JCD College of Engineering.

Dr Shamim Sharma, executive director of the JCD Vidyapeeth, said a grant of Rs 5.50 lakh has been sanctioned for the project proposal submitted by Prof Gurcharan Dass, principal, JCD College of Engineering.

For another project proposal submitted by Dr Kuldeep Singh, principal, JCD Institute of Business Management, and Dr Monika Bansal on the topic “Marketing Strategies and Potential of Handloom Export Units - A study of Panipat Cluster in Haryana”, the AICTE has sanctioned Rs 5.30 lakh.

Dr Shamim said it was a great honour for the institute and it would create an atmosphere of research and development.

The management of the JCD Vidyapeeth has awarded Dr Gurcharan Dass and Dr Kuldeep Singh with Rs 21,000 each for this achievement.

Chandigarh, May 5
Nearly eight months have lapsed since the Punjab and Haryana High Court decried Haryana’s move to practically reserve 67 per cent of the teaching posts for men, yet the state has done precious little to go back on the decision.

The available information suggests that the matter has even been raised in Parliament. Even though some of the mainstream parties in the state have not reacted to the order by the Bench headed by Justice MM Kumar, CPM Rajya Sabha member Brinda Karat raised the issue on March 1. She was joined by other members, including ones from the BJP. Beginning with a disclaimer that the issue had no political motive, she said reservation was being misused by the Haryana Government to deprive women of a level-playing field.

Raising the issue during zero hour, she said: “This is a new face of reservation. Thirty-three per cent reservation for women in jobs has been converted into 67 per cent reservation for men in Haryana.”

As the members demanded a clarification from the Haryana Government, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ashwani Kumar assured the MPs that the matter would be looked into.

The reservation issue was brought to the High Court’s notice by Ruchi Manglik and other petitioners. An exclusive report was carried by The Tribune.

The Bench of Justice MM Kumar and Justice Ritu Bahri asserted that: “The instant petition is directed against the advertisement inviting applications for the post of lecturer in school cadre (group-B).

“The Bench observed that 33 per cent posts have been reserved for women and 67 per cent for men. The advertisement has specified the number of posts for numerous subjects. As per the terms of advertisement, for example for the subject of chemistry, of the 21 posts meant for the general category, 14 posts have been reserved for men and seven for women candidates. It clearly conveys the impression that reservation is not only for women, but it is also for men.”

Referring to the state’s reply, the Bench observed that: “It conveys in unmistakable terms that any women having a higher merit would be entitled to be considered as a general candidate in their respective subjects and would be entitled to appointment if her merit is higher.

“In other words, women could also exceed the limit of 33 per cent and if they are in merit, they are to be given appointment on any of the 67 per cent posts set apart for the general category. There is, thus, no reservation for male candidates, but reservation to the extent of 33 per cent is to be made for the female candidates.”

Panipat, May 5
On the occasion of World Asthma Day, a public service initiative was taken by a pharmaceutical company, Cipla, which organised an asthma awareness camp during which doctors highlighted measures that should be taken in managing asthma.

As per a study conducted by the Chest Research Foundation (CRF), compliance to asthma medication regime was quite poor and an estimated 62 per cent of asthma patients under treatment for at least a year did not have their disease control.

Highlighting the reason of non-adherence to medications, Dr Anant Madan (physician) from Madan Hospital said, “The treatment was usually faltered after a few months in both adults and children.

Many patients discontinued with their medication after the symptoms subsided following taking of medicine. He said the problem in such cases could aggravate leading frequent asthmatic attacks.

Commenting on poor asthma control among patients, Dr Sunil Gupta said the patients who did not take their medication regularly were at higher risk of getting an asthma attack. Uncontrolled asthma not only caused irreversible damage to the lungs but could also even lead to hospitalisation, loss of work and even death, he said.

The most effective asthma treatment was inhalation therapy which comprises “controllers” for regular use as prescribed and “relievers” for emergency treatment. Unfortunately, patients in the country had a psychological barrier to inhalers as they felt that inhalers could be addictive. He said there was a need to propagate that inhalers were safest, most effective and highly affordable in managing asthma.

Dr Sundeep Salvi, director, Chest Research Foundation, said inhaled drugs could help about 90 per cent of the asthma patients to control their problem. He said more than 70 per cent of asthma patients did not use their inhalers correctly and the resultant poor control was blamed on the medicine. Patients had been known to forget correct technique even after using the inhaler for several years, he added.

The doctors emphasised on the proper use of medicines and regular check up to keep the problem under control.