Jind, July 19
The meeting of the zila parishad here today witnessed uproarious scenes like the state Assembly and ‘suspension’ of three members from the House.

The Leader of Opposition, Chautala, who came to attend the meeting as an MLA, was among those who were asked to leave the House by the chairperson of the zila parishad. This has perhaps been the first time that an MLA and a former Chief Minister was asked to leave the meeting following a commotion.

The meeting had been convened to discuss and allocate funds for development in various wards in the district.

It later adopted a resolution unanimously to authorise the parishad chief to decide the allocation of the funds to the tune of Rs 31,91,200.

It is reported that Chautala, accompanied by members whom the INLD supported, including Parminder Dhull, reached the meeting venue at the DRDA hall at around 10 am. Since several members, including the chairperson herself, had reached the hall late, Chautala took them to task for the delay.

The start of the meeting was marked by protests and counter criticism from both sides as the INLD members demanded voting on the agenda itself.

The commotion resulted in the chairperson, Veena Deswal, ordering three opposition members, including Chautala, to leave the House for creating “disturbance”.

While no one was evicted from the meeting, the disturbance at the meeting stopped after some time due to intervention by some leaders, including the Congress MPs from Sonepat, Jitender Malik, and Sirsa, Ashok Tanwar.

The members agreed to authorise Deswal to allocate funds. A resolution was adopted in this regard.

The differences between members of the ruling and opposition parties over the issue of allocation of additional funds to the zila parishad chief were also resolved later and all members approved it unanimously.

Hisar, July 19
Union Minister Selja said the Food Security Bill would be introduced in Parliament in the next session.

Addressing a dhanyavaad rally at Uklana, she said this legislation would ensure that no citizen faced hunger because of poverty. She said the Bill was in line with the Congress’ stress on ameliorating the lot of the common man.

She announced a grant of Rs 1.25 crore for development of the Uklana constituency. These funds would be allocated out of the MPLAD fund by Rajya Sabha member Ishwar Singh. She also announced a grant of Rs 25 lakh for a gaushala at Uklana.

The rally had been organised by her close associate, Naresh Selwal, Congress legislator from Uklana. Selwal said Uklana was a backward constituency and it took him great efforts to get funds sanctioned for various projects.

Rajya Sabha MP Ishwar Singh and former minister Jagdish Nehra were among those who spoke.

Fatehabad, July 19
As the deadline for notification under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act for the Gorakhpur Atomic Power Project inches closer, the authorities and farmers are gearing up for a face-off.

The notification issued under Section 4 of the Act for acquisition of over 1,313 acres of land on July 29, 2010, will lapse if the one under Section 6 is not issued by July 28.

All farmers has refused to part with their land and some of them have launched an agitation against the project.

However, soon a group of farmers later agreed to give their land on certain conditions, thanks to efforts by Prahlad Singh Gillankhera, Chief Parliamentary Secretary.

The authorities claim that owners of over 900 acres has given written undertakings to give their land while those owning over 200 acres has given their oral consent to the project.

Sanjay Gumasta, project manager, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, said these farmers visited his office regularly and requested him to hasten the process of acquisition.

Hans Raj Siwach, president, Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, spearheading the agitation against the project, however, belies the official claims. “We have the support of a large majority of farmers, who will lay down their lives but not yield an inch of their land,” Siwach said.

The farmers’ agitation is more than 340 days now and they have braved all weathers, lost two colleagues, but have not retracted their steps. The toughening of stance by the farmers is adding to the concern of the authorities, who have held several meetings to assess the possible fallout of the notification.

Sources revealed that the police apprehended a law and order problem once the notification was issued.

Sirsa, July 19
The police today unravelled the mystery of a blind murder and arrested the father-in-law of the victim, whose sliced and half-burnt body was found in a drain near Jamal village in the district on July 15.

The police today said that the accused, Om Parkash, a resident of Baruwali village in Rajasthan, killed his son-in-law, Vinod Kumar, because the latter allegedly used to harass his daughter.

Om Parkash has confessed to committing the crime, said a police spokesperson.

Giving details of the crime and the police action, SP Satinder Kumar Gupta said the accused, Om Parkash, had married off his daughter to the victim seven months ago.

But due to marital discord, the couple had been living separately for the past five months.

Om Parkash has alleged that Vinod used to harass his daughter and due to that she lived with him (Om Parkash) in her parental home in Baruwali.

Vinod came to meet Rekha stealthily at about 11 in the night, when he had an altercation with Om Parkash, who allegedly hit him on his head with a lathi killing him on the spot.

The accused, according to the police, first tried to burn the body to remove all evidence of the murder and when he failed to burn the body completely, he cut it into pieces with the help of a saw and dumped these into a drain near Jamal.

Vinod’s brother, who identified his body, was married to the elder sister of Rekha.

Sohna (Gurgaon), July 19
M. Shashidhar Reddy, vice-chairman, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), has called upon the state governments to give special attention to reproductive health during disasters.

“Considering the fact that at any given point of time, pregnant women comprise 5 per cent of human population, it is important to realise that their special needs have to be considered while preparing disaster-management plans at the state and district levels,” he said while addressing the gathering at the inaugural session of training in “Minimum initial service package for reproductive health in disasters” here today.

Participants from 10 states of the northern region are attending this four-day training programme organised by the NDMA in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).

Reddy maintained that the country’s response to disasters in general was good enough and cited examples of nearly 6.5 lakh people being evacuated during the 1990 cyclone and around 5.5 lakh people during the 2009 floods in Andhra Pradesh.

The minimum initial service package (MISP) for reproductive health is a priority set of live-saving activities and forms the starting point for reproductive health programming which needs to be sustained and built upon.

At the end of the four-day training programme, a state-specific module will be prepared to carry this forward into a meaningful and purposeful initiative.

Chandigarh, July 19
Haryana Housing Minister Satpal Sangwan yesterday said that it had been decided to provide houses and flats to homeless people under the BPL housing schemes.

A budget provision of Rs 359.8 crore had been made during the current financial year whereas the department had spent merely Rs 17 crore for the construction works during 2004-05.

Sangwan said to provide housing facility to the homeless people under the scheme, more than 2,4000 houses would be constructed and out of these, 5,520 flats were under construction. He said that 6,146 houses were constructed at a cost of Rs 390 crore during the past six years and the 11,334 houses or flats were being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 500 crore.

He said dwelling units were being constructed in Sector 43 of Gurgaon, Sector 6 of Dharuhera and Matloda in district Panipat at a cost of Rs 49.76 crore, Rs 26.35 crore and Rs 9.17 crore respectively.

Construction work of houses for various categories had been completed at housing colonies, Sonepat and Bhiwani, and allotment would be made soon, he added.

Karnal, July 19
Coming to the aid of the elderly people, who do not have any support system to assist them in routine, the district administration has decided to provide them with a ration at the doorstep.

Neelam Kasni, Deputy Commissioner, said: “The district Food and Supply Department has been asked to ascertain that elderly people do not have to go to ration depots to get commodities. Instead, work out a strategy to deliver the ration at their doorstep.” She said those interested in availing this facility could register themselves with the department till August 10.

The DC added that the department had also been asked to make certain that elderly people were provided with LPG refills the same day. She said the initiative, the first in the state, was aimed at providing the much-need relief to elderly persons.

She said the department had also been asked to ensure that anybody applying for a ration card was provided the same within a stipulated time.

Chandigarh, July 19
With a view to improving the teaching skill of teachers and provide quality education to children, the state Education Department has proposed a strategy to evaluate teachers, an official spokesman said.

The proposed strategy has been uploaded on the department’s website and all stakeholders have been invited to send their comments through post or an e-mail for a complete representation of teaching practices and to identify areas for improvement, he added.

Evaluation will be placed within a growth-orientated and fair framework and the evaluation experience will be non-threatening and beneficial for all parties especially the students. The objective of the strategy is to ensure that teachers improve their teaching.

Under the proposed scheme, the teachers will be evaluated on three counts -- self-appraisal, management's evaluation and grading and management's suggestions. Of the total 100 marks, 50 marks will be for students' results, 20 for assessment of the Principal and 10 each for assessment of the School Management and Development Committee (SDMC) besides additional professional qualifications acquired and minimum training attended during the year.

The evaluation would be done twice a year at the end of each semester. It would be class based, i.e. if all children in a class were rated above a certain level, the marks would be allocated accordingly.

The SDMC would have members from the parents, the community, local bodies, panchayats, teachers and even students.

Chandigarh, July 19
The coordination committee of the Haryana Congress will meet, after over a year, in Delhi tomorrow. The previous meeting was held on May 20 last year. It will be presided over by AICC general secretary in charge of party affairs in Haryana BK Hariprasad.

According to party spokesman Ved Prakash Vidrohi, the meeting was delayed because the general secretary in charge of Haryana Prithvi Raj Chavan became Chief Minister of Maharashtra and it took some time for a new person to take his place.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will attend the meeting from a position of strength. The dissidents in the party had been criticising the land acquisition policy of the state in the past. But after Rahul Gandhi appreciated it before UP farmers, the dissidents will have to think twice before criticising it at the meeting.

The dissidents may raise the issue of giving share to party workers in the government by appointing them to various posts. Hooda is unlikely to oppose the demand at the meeting. He knows it is he who has to implement it. And he will take his own time. The impending Hisar Lok Sabha byelection can always be cited as one of the reasons for the delay.

The committee, among other things, can discuss the names of possible candidates for the Hisar byelection. But there is no platform within the Congress to take a final decision on such issues.

As is customary in the Congress, after hearing various speakers, Hariprasad will conclude the meeting with an appeal to all to remain united.

Many in the party feel that that this may be the last meeting of the committee, which will be reconstituted after the appointment of the new president of the Haryana Congress. The term of the present president, Phool Chand Mullana, expired almost a year ago.