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MC poll fever grips Gurgaon
Anti-foeticide drive gathers steam
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Road Mishaps: 1,700 die in state every year
Industrialist to fund renovation of Karna Stadium
Gurmeet wins poster-making contest
Youth held for exploiting girl
Beneficiaries to get pension from ICICI Bank
Natural farming catching up in Rohtak
Fortis opens fertility centre in Faridabad
Investiture ceremony held at Ambala school
Sports day: Kanchan wins 100-m race
Revised voters’ lists soon
Criminal tracking lab opened
Sonepat girls excel in MDU examinations
IT firm picks 8 students
Excise Dept registers
record revenue Smart cards to replace ration cards Judge visits institute for special children State to set up
specialised adoption agency Sex ratio in 24
villages alarming Motivating people to donate eyes Write to Prez on SYL, minister asks people
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MC poll fever grips Gurgaon
Gurgaon, May 12 A total of 378 candidates, including 132 women, are in the fray in 35 wards of the MCG, voting for which will be held on May 15. Hot weather notwithstanding, all forms of poll canvassing, from door-to-door campaigns to public meetings and shows of strength through cavalcades, are in full swing across the city. Loudspeaker-fitted auto-rickshaws beaming patriotic songs riddled with publicity slogans favouring some aspirant or the other remind one that patriotic fervour has also now been confined to poll campaigning. Printing press owners and makers of publicity material like posters, banners, hoardings and flex-boards etc are minting money, thanks to the advanced printing technology, practically every nook and corner of the city is covered with publicity material, claiming that the candidate in question is the best in the lot. Some candidates have also engaged drama troupes and stage street plays and rope in as many residents (read voters) in their wards as possible. The prevalence of money power is too evident to be missed out in the given scenario. Such gimmicks employed by the aspirants for the posts of municipal councillor makes one wonder whether the elections are going to be held for a local body or for the state Assembly or Parliament. While the MCG candidates and their poll managers are going all out to reach out to the maximum number of residents and convince them to vote in their favour, the local administrative authorities are leaving no stone unturned in ensuring effective implementation of the model code of conduct. Gurgaon District Magistrate PC Meena has enforced Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) in the MCG area, thereby prohibiting the carrying of weapons as a preventive security measure. Gurgaon Additional Deputy Commissioner VS Hooda, who is also the returning officer for the elections, said 50 duty magistrates and an equal number of supervisors had been appointed to keep a close watch on the law and order situation. Twelve assistant returning officers (AROs) have also been appointed. As many as 459 polling stations have been set up in the MCG area for smooth conduct of the poll. Of these, 78 polling stations have been declared hypersensitive, while 116 polling stations have been placed in the sensitive category. Nearly 2,300 officials have been deputed as presiding officers and polling officers. The employees on election duty can cast their vote before going on duty through service ballot available at the Vikas Sadan. The counting will be held at the polling station itself after completion of polling in the entire ward and the result will be declared on the same day.
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Anti-foeticide drive gathers steam
Fatehabad, May 12 Though the campaign is being carried out throughout the state from May 1 to May 15, District Information and Public Relation officer Dr Sahib Godara has taken some proactive steps to make the drive have a special effect. “We have prepared badges carrying the message ‘Betiyan Hamari Shaan’ and have been distributing these to villagers, students and teachers and asking them to don them on their shirts for conveying the message further,” said Dr Godara. He said while distributing these badges, a message was conveyed to them that the sex determination of an unborn child and female foeticide was a punishable crime. Oath against foeticide was administered to all during such meetings. Besides organising such functions in various villages of the district, the department had organised such functions in Government College for Girls at Bhodia Khera, Government Girls Senior Secondary School and Manohar Memorial College of Education at Fatehabad. Students in all these institutions had been participating in the drive with great zeal and enthusiasm, he said. Godara said over 24 hoardings had been prepared and installed on all prominent sites in the district. “Song and drama parties engaged by the department have so far given their performance in over 175 villages. Five parties engaged on a contract basis, four permanent parties of the department and one cinema unit are spreading the message of ‘Save the Girl Child’ throughout the district,” said Deputy Commissioner Vijay Singh Dahiya. Dahiya said the parties were also educating people on the Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act and its implications and had been urging them to shun such practices.
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Road Mishaps: 1,700 die in state every year
Madhuban (Karnal), May 12 He exhorted transporters to ensure that the drivers were properly trained, possessed valid driving licence and given proper rest at regular intervals during long journeys. The DGP, who also inaugurated a national-level seminar at Harshvardhan Auditorium here, expressed concern over the fact that more than 1,700 persons died in road accidents in the state every year and emphasised the need for proper reflectors on trucks, buses and other transport and non-motorised vehicles. The number of persons killed in road accidents involving buses, trucks, vans and three-wheelers was less than half in the neighbouring state of Punjab and much was needed to be done for road safety in the state, he said and sought the support of transporters in bringing down the deaths in roads accidents substantially. BS Sandhu, Additional DGP, Law and Order, said the United Nations General Assembly had proclaimed the period 2011-2020 as the decade of action for road safety with a goal to stabilise and then reduce the forecast level of traffic fatalities around the world. More than 100 governments had cosponsored the United Nation’s resolution establishing the decade of action and doing the work to achieve this ambitious objective through an action plan with simple targets like improving the use of helmets, seat belts, promoting safer roads and protecting vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists, Sandhu added. In his presentation, Inspector General (Traffic and Highways) SS Kapoor highlighted that 1.3 million people died in road accidents in He said 90 per cent of the deaths occurred in the developing countries and the cost on account of these accidents to the global economy was estimated at Rs 4,50,000 crore. In India alone, road accidents account for 1.27 lakh deaths and 4.67 injuries and the gravity of the situation could be gauged from the fact that India with 1 per cent of world’s vehicles accounts for 10 per cent accidents. The number of deaths per 10,000 vehicles in the US was 1.6 while in India it was 14, eight times more, he disclosed. RK Gulati, secretary, and Trilochan Singh Dhillon, senior managing committee member of the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), Satpal Singh, state president, Truck Union Haryana and Tasveer Singh, state president, Haryana Cooperative Bus Society, also spoke on the occasion and assured full cooperation to the police. The state transport authorities and road safety officers from different NGOs took a pledge to reduce the fatalities in road accidents in the state by 50 per cent of the forecast level of 8,100 in 2020.
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Industrialist to fund renovation of Karna Stadium
Karnal, May 12 The renovation of the stadium included flooring, extension of stage and the construction of pillars and staircase. Best Foods Limited will also look after the maintenance and renovation work of Maharana Partap and Dr BR Ambedkar roundabouts, Clock Tower at the Railway road and statues of Bhagat Singh at the Railway road, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in cloth market, Rajiv Gandhi in Sector 9, Sahid Tajindera Pal in Model Town, Madan Lal Dhingra in Sector 13 and Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru in Karna Park for five years. The Deputy Commissioner said the swimming pool on the premises of the stadium and the historic Karna Taal would be maintained by the Sports Department and HUDA, adding that HUDA had already spent Rs 41 lakh on the construction of five taals (lakes), which would be maintained by the Municipal Corporation. She assured that the administration would make all possible efforts to restore the pristine glory of Karna Taal and ensure proper cleanliness and sanitation in the city. Urging philanthropists to come forward voluntarily to take up such development projects to give a facelift to the city, Kasani said a number of steps had been initiated by the administration to maintain proper sanitation and keep the town clean.
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Gurmeet wins poster-making contest
Rewari, May 12 The following were declared winners:- Poster making: Gurmeet Singh-1; Sudesh-2; and Renu Mittal-3 Slogan writing: Pawan Kumar-1; Trishna Mittal-2; and Nancy Sharma-3 Junkyard: Ravi and Trishna, Nitin and Meena-1; Sompal and Kiran, Ravinder and Jai Singh-2; and Bharat, Ankit and Sukirti-3 Photography: Anubhav Bhasin-1; Ashish Chhabra-2; and Sompal Singh-3 Subsequently, a function was held in which Prof. RS Jaglan, registrar of GJU, distributed prizes to Addressing the gathering, which comprised senior professors, officials and students of the university, Prof. Jaglan said Indian civilisation, which was among the oldest civilisations of the world, had its ardent admirers all over the globe. Simultaneously, he asserted that while such competitions afforded valuable opportunities to the participants to hone their talents, they also ensured ample dissemination of prevailing social trends among the public.
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Youth held for exploiting girl
Rewari, May 12 The youth was then produced in the court of ACJM RK Jain who remanded him in judicial custody. Sources said the girl, who worked in a private company in the local Brass Market, incidentally came into contact with Amarjit who, too, was employed in another such office in the vicinity of the girl’s office. Consequently, Amarjit, who promised marital alliance, developed illicit relations with the girl who was continually exploited sexually by him. But recently when Amarjit stayed aloof from the girl, she went to his residence and insisted on tying the nuptial knot. However, when Amarjit expressed his inability to do so, the jilted girl filed a complaint on April 22 following which the police registered a case of rape and cheating under Sections 376, 420 of the IPC against Amarjit.
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Beneficiaries to get pension from ICICI Bank
Sonepat, May 12 Under the directions, ICICI Bank and FENO will disburse pension to the aged persons, widows and destitute women, physically challenged and to the beneficiaries of Ladli scheme from May 13 to 18 at the predetermined time and places. These companies had taken contract for not only disbursing pension to the beneficiaries of all 32 wards of Sonepat and as many as 24 villages of the district, but also to prepare their smart cards and open their accounts so that they could draw the pension from the bank itself next time.
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Natural farming catching up in Rohtak
Rohtak, May 12 Dr Rajinder Chaudhary, professor, Department of Economics, MDU, who led the team, claimed that the result of the harvest of some of the Rabi crops had showed that the produce had been very good and proved morale boosting for farmers who skipped the use of chemical fertilisers in the irrigation process. Citing an example, he said one of the farmers, Narain Singh of Lakhanmajra (Rohtak), got a yield of about 67 kg of turmeric from just three kg of seeds. “This (yield) is at least 21 times of the quantity of the seeds used and it has heralded a new trend. This farmer is given a prize of Rs 25,000 by the Department of Agriculture for his excellent work,” Dr Chaudhary added. Claiming that he did not face any problem, the farmer said he would be going for the cultivation of this crop on a larger scale as its production cost was lower and the produce was healthy to consume. He said he intended to process it and sell turmeric powder for better returns. Natural farming would be getting popular due to growing awareness of the consumers regarding the menace of chemicals in crops, vegetables and fruits, he added. According to him, he fetched a yield of 16 quintals of wheat per acre this season and he had been using the natural way of irrigation for almost all types of farming, including horticulture crops. He has also grown guava for which he was able to get a price of Rs 35-40 per kg by selling the produce directly from his farms without the involvement of any middlemen. Dr Chaudhary, who has been spearheading a campaign for the promotion of natural farming in the region, said he proposed to hold a training camp on issue from May 13 to 15. He claimed that Jaiwant of Mungan village harvested about 68 quintals of potatoes from an acre without using any chemical fertiliser or spray. He had identified some deficiencies as well like the use of too much water for such a crop. One could get a produce of about 120 quintals per acre if some precautions were taken, he added. “The problem of weed was also addressed and I did not face much problem at all,” Jaiwant told the team. It is, however, observed that those farmers who had stopped using urea, but could not undertake manual weeding operations, did face problems as the yield was affected adversely. Subhash of Bharan village, who opted for natural farming for wheat for the first time, said he would continue this practice next year as well.
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Fortis opens fertility centre in Faridabad
Faridabad, May 12 Addressing the gathering, Facility Director, Fortis Escorts Hospital, Faridabad, Sukhmeet Sandhu, said: “There is a growing demand for assisted reproductive services in Faridabad. The launch of Fortis Bloom Fertility Centre is sure to bring hope and fulfillment to the lives of many couples who would not otherwise be able to have children”. Dr Nandita Palshetkar is of the view that the present success rate of Fortis Bloom Fertility Centres has reached up to about 50 per cent per attempt in women less than 35 years of age.
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Investiture ceremony held at Ambala school
Ambala, May 12 On this occasion, the school vested trust and confidence in the newly elected office-bearers, school head boy, head girl, sports captains, cultural captains and four house captains. The house captains pledged to maintain discipline in the school campus. They assured the school staff to follow their directions and suggestions. Principal of the school Michael D’Souza took oath from the newly invested office-bearers to carry out their duty and responsibilities of their office with all honesty and obedience. He said this responsibility would add leadership quality among them. He asked them to uphold the rich cultural and traditional values of their school and the country. Rajinder Nath, the chairman of the school, stressed that the students should fulfill the dreams of their parents. The Editorial Board with Film Documentary Club Members interviewed the parents present on the occasion. A card-making competition was also held to mark the importance of the Mother’s Day.
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Sports day: Kanchan wins 100-m race
Ambala, May 12 The results of various events are: 100 m race: Kanchan was declared first while Pooja and Naman got second and third position, respectively; 200 m race: Neena, Shilpa and Poonam got first, second and third position, respectively. In three-legged race, Nitu was declared first, Khushboo remained second while Isha got the third position. In relay race, Jagdeep-Kanchan, Vanita-Shalini and Navan-Navjot were declared first, second and third, respectively. Bharat Bhushan Jain, chairman of the college management committee, asked the students to take active part in games as it would help them in their carrier. Mudita Bhatnagar, principal, expressed hope that the students would continue to bring laurels to the institution. Mani Sapra, a lecturer of this college, also advised the students to take active part in sports.
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Revised voters’ lists soon
Rewari, May 12 While the voters’ lists previously published on January 5, 2011, would form the basis for these modified lists, elections to the posts (seats) lying vacant in the above village panchayats would be subsequently conducted on the basis of these revised lists, said Ajit Balaji Joshi, deputy commissioner-cum-district returning officer, Panchayat. He said while the preliminary (draft) revised voters’ lists would be published on May 17, claims and objections in respect of the desired rectification would be entertained by 3 pm on May 20. After due settlement of claims and objections, finally revised voters’ lists would be published on May 28, he added.
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Criminal tracking lab opened
Karnal, May 12 Inaugurating the lab, district police chief Rakesh Arya said the CCTNS established network between police stations throughout the country. The process was in its initial stage and by 2012, the system would become fully functional in the country, he said, adding that the software would provide all information about the criminals. The software would provide the record of all police stations online, which would enable the cops to nab the culprits. As many as 123 policemen had been imparted training till date and more were being trained, the SP added.
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Sonepat girls excel in MDU examinations
Sonepat, May 12 According to college principal Dr Jyoti Juneja, out of the total 500 marks, Hema got 451 marks, whereas Priti secured 392 marks. Besides these two top positions, the college students had bagged 13 other merit positions in the 1st, 3rd and 5th semester examinations of B.Sc (biotech). In the 1st semester examination, Tannu with 389 marks got the second position, whereas Vishakha with 376 marks, Poonam with 370 marks and Anshul with 361 marks were placed at the fifth, sixth and seventh positions of the university merit list, respectively. In the 3rd semester examination, the college girls got four merit positions which included Nikita at the second position with 400 marks, Anshu Sindhu with 396 marks at the fourth position, Sonia Gupta at the ninth position with 385 marks and Mohini Chauhana also managed the 14th position by securing 376 marks. Besides Hema Sharma at the top position, Richa Yadav and Mahak Gulzar jointly shared fourth position each securing 435 marks. Seema got the seventh position with 427 marks and Pooja Malik with 424 marks earned the 10th position. Other merit holders of the college in this semester examination included Jyoti and Monika at the 13th and 15th positions, respectively. The girls were sincere in their studies and it was their firm determination to take them among the meritorious students of the university, the principal said and attributed their success to the college teachers as well as the family members of the students.
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IT firm picks 8 students
Panipat, May 12 More than 150 students of the college participated in the drive out of 31 were shortlisted for the final interview following which 10 were given appointment letters. The selected students would be joining soon after completing their course. All selected candidates would be undergoing a four-month training during which would be getting as stipend of Rs 14000 a month. ML Gupta, chairman of the college management, RC Gupta, planning director, Dr BR Marwah, executive director, Dr MMS Sodhi, principal, along with RN Aggarwal, registrar, congratulated the students and assured that the institute would continue to help the students get placed in high-profile companies and reap the benefits of the high quality education gained at the college.
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Excise Dept registers
record revenue Sonepat, May 12 This was claimed by AS Ahlawat, deputy excise and taxation commissioner, Sonepat, while talking to The Tribune here. The total tax collections during the period were to the tune of Rs 719 crore against Rs 563.60 crore previous year, he added. Listing out the collection details, Ahlawat said the growth of tax collection under the CST Act was 30.3 per cent, in luxury tax collections 38 per cent, under the Entertainment Act 18.5 per cent and it was 21 per cent growth in the collections under the PGT Act. The deletion and recovery from old arrears was to the tune of Rs 14 crore during 2011 against Rs 10 crore in 2009-10, an increase of 25 per cent, he said, adding that the total deletion and recovery from the current arrears was of Rs 31 crore. Ahlawat said intensive roadside checking was conducted in the district to curb tax evasion and as many as 880 cases of tax evasion were detected under the HVAT Act during the year. Tax and penalty to the tune of Rs 5.04 crore was recovered in these cases and it was the highest in the state, he added. Similarly, the commissioner said, as many as 786 cases of tax evasion were detected under the PGT Act and the tax and penalty of Rs 1.35 crore were realised. Besides, tax collection at TCP Kundli was Rs 8.61 crore against Rs 7.19 crore previous year, he added. “All out efforts are being made to provide facilities like quick disposal of applications regarding new registration certificates and cancellations, availability of various statutory forms, timely disposal of the assessment cases to the entrepreneurs and traders by the sales tax office,” he said and claimed that as a result of the congenial atmosphere, as many as 1051 new industrial and trading units got themselves registered in the sales tax office,
Sonepat.
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Smart cards to replace ration cards Chandigarh, May 12 According to Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Food and Supplies, Navraj Sandhu, initially a pilot project for this facility will be launched in four blocks of Ambala, Sonepat, Sirsa and Gharaunda of Karnal district. To start with, camps would be organised in 75 villages of Gharaunda block to get the forms filled. The process of holding camps would commence next week and biometrics of consumers would be recorded. To get ration, the consumer would insert the smart card in a machine at the ration depot which would let the consumer know his allocation quantity of ration and its price. On the basis of this, the depot holder would give ration. Similarly, the depot holder would have to follow a similar process to get his stock. The new system is being introduced for ensuring transparency in the public distribution system. The smart card would be linked with the unique identification card.
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Judge visits institute for special children Bhiwani, May 12 The District Judge knew about the activities run by the organisation from its principal Sharda Devi. As many as 14 children are taught how to improve their behavioural attitude. “We give training in making toys, candle and clay modelling to the children just to attract them towards self-employment,” said Sharda Devi. President of the “Prayas” Rishi Parmar, Prem Chand Goyal, Nand Kishore Kamra, Dr KD Sharma, Ajit Tanwar and members of the organisation were also present on the occasion.
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State to set up
specialised adoption agency Chandigarh, May 12 Orphan and abandoned children would be registered and admitted to the agency. Apart from this, the agency would have online database of all admitted children, prepare report about their education and physical examination, counselling before and after the adoption of children, completion of court formalities for their adoption and placement, obtain their birth certificate, and would undertake other such works. A cradle baby reception centre would also be set up in the complex of the agency in which all essential facilities would be provided to infants. The prime objective of the centre would be to provide safety to orphans and abandoned children till their adoption. To find such children, the agency would also set up cradle points at all primary health centres, hospitals, nursing homes, short-stay homes and “swadhar” reception
centres.
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Sex ratio in 24
villages alarming Fatehabad, May 12 At a meeting of the district committee, constituted under the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act, yesterday, concerns were raised over the fact and members discussed measures for taking corrective actions. Civil Surgeon OP Arya presided over the meeting, while the committee members, Usha Dahiya, Suman Siwach, Suvarsha Mehta, Preeti Bansal, NK Goyal, HL Gupta, and committee secretary Ramesh Chakarvarti attended the meeting. Arya informed that while some villages had shown excellent results, with 98 villages having a sex ratio of more than 1000, some others had shown depressing trends. In 23 villages, equal number of boys and girls were born in 2010. Meanwhile, under its ongoing “Save the Girl Child” campaign, the Information and Public Relations Department yesterday administered an oath against female foeticide to teachers and students of the Manohar Memorial College of Education here. Mamta Chaudhary, Principal of the college, said their students had adopted Bhirdana village in the district to make people aware of the ill-effects of the falling sex ratio.
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Motivating people to donate eyes Sonepat, May 12 He said the organisation had already organised more than 70 blood donation camps where as many as 4,000 units of blood had been collected. Surender Biswas, the founder of the organisation, has so far donated blood for 147 times and every other active member of Ahuti has also donated blood at least 40 times, he said and added that the organisation would make efforts for recording the achievement of eye donations in the Gunnies Book of World Records. — OC
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Write to Prez on SYL, minister asks people Jhajjar, May 12 The state Irrigation and Finance Minister, Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, said this while addressing a gathering at a programme organised by the Yadav Samaj at Sri Krishan Dharamshala on the Jhajjar-Gurgaon road here recently. He said the state government had been making all efforts to get its share of the SYL water. Accusing INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala of being hand in glove with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, he said Badal, at the behest of Chautala, was deliberately creating a hindrance in the court proceedings so that people of this region could not get the SYL water. However, the Congress government was determined to get the SYL water for the people of Haryana, he asserted. Capt Yadav said crores of rupees were being spent in the state to implement irrigation schemes. A sum of Rs 392 crore had been spent to construct the Hansi-Butana Link Canal for equitable distribution of water, he added. Earlier, he visited Bhindawas village where panchayats of the area honoured him by presenting him a turban. While listening to people’s grievances there, the minister directed the officers concerned to install permanent pump sets before the rainy season to drain out rainwater from the areas of Bhindawas, Khetawas, Charhwana and Shahjahanpur.
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Letter
After the recent superannuation of Meenaxi Anand Chaudhry from the post of the State Chief Information Commissioner (SCIC), the Hooda government will have to appoint new incumbent to the post, along with certain new Information Commissioners (ICs). If the past practice is followed, the current senior-most IC Asha Sharma would be appointed to the topmost, which would further reduce the number of ICs in the State Information Commission to two. Though Section 15(2) of the RTI Act - 2005 provides that maximum 10 ICs can be appointed, in recent years their strength in the State Commission has at the most reached at six which was in 2008. Even in Punjab, the present number stands at seven, including the SCIC. Though the RTI Act provides that the appointment of SCIC/IC would be made by a committee comprising the Chief Minister, the leader of Opposition and a Cabinet Minister, it must be ensured that retired IAS officers does not succeed in convincing the powers that be to get them adjusted in these positions. Babus always view this body as a post-retirement hub for their rehabilitation. It is pertinent to mention here that though the Act lays down that the persons of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media or administration and governance be appointed to such posts, it has been witnessed that the choice of the ruling elite has mostly confined to ex-bureaucrats as if they are possessing all such qualities. Of course, competent bureaucrats who had an illustrious service record with a habit of always upholding transparency in administration need to be appointed, but suitable persons from other walks of life also need adequate representation. I hope Hooda, who last year reduced the amount of cost for obtaining information under the RTI, would endeavour to make the search and selection of new ICs more broad-based. HEMANT KUMAR Ambala City Readers are invited to write to us. Send your mail, in not more than 200 words, at haryana@tribuneindia.com or write in at: Letters, Haryana Plus, The Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh-160030.
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Campaigning for the first-ever elections to the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) has assumed a feverish pitch, with the wannabe councillors trying every trick of the trade to woo the electors.
