Hisar, October 2
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today appealed to the voters to ensure victory of the Congress candidate in the Hisar Lok Sabha byelection and in return promised speedier development of the area.

Addressing election meetings in several villages of the Uklana assembly segment, he said the Congress had stood by the poor and the downtrodden and as such this party alone could ameliorate their lot.

He said people’s elected representative must be a forceful leader who could take up their cause at the highest level to ensure development of the area. He said Jai Prakash was such a leader. He assured that if elected Jai Prakash would look after the interests of the farmers.

Hooda accused the opposition parties of contesting the byelection for their own personal gains. However, the Congress did not believe in such politics. It had, therefore, put up an able candidate to safeguard the interests of the people of Hisar.

Former union minister and Congress legislator from Ambala City Venod Sharma, too, pitched in for garnering support for Jai Prakash. He toured several villages of the Bawani Khera assembly segment.

Addressing a meeting in Mundhal village he said people must use their logic and analytical skills before they decided to vote. The exercise of franchise was an important action and voters must decide to vote for the best party and the best candidate.

He said Congress nominee Jai Prakash was the right choice and appealed to voters to ensure his victory by a huge margin.

Sharma said the HJC-BJP and INLD nominees were trying to divide the community on caste lines and the voters must not allow this to happen.

Chandigarh, October 2
Penury could not hold him back . Small wonder, then, that Salman Ali , son of a singer in a band from Neem Khera village in Mewat district, shone at the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs reality show where he was pipped to the title by Azmat Hussain of Jaipur .

The celebrations continue at his house in Neem Khera where he’s been the talk of the village since he cleared the auditions. “The entire village, glued to their television sets, erupted into celebration as soon as the results were announced,” says Jamshed Khan, a villager.

But it is his paternal uncle, Mohd Haroon, a peon at a government school, who narrates the story with pride. “His father used to sing whenever the village band was called for a marriage ceremony while his mother managed the household. While his elder brother is almost illiterate, it was 13-year-old Salman, who would chip in by singing at jagrans,” Haroon says over the phone from the village.

He goes on to explain that Manoj Sharma, son of a priest used to take Salman to sing at jagrans and Rs 300 that he earned for one night would be a great help. “There would be seven to 10 such functions, thereby earning a substantial sum for us . It was Salman, who was instrumental is this entire story,” the uncle explains.

Manoj told Salman about auditions for the reality show in Delhi. Since Manoj knew the family could ill-afford such expenditure, he himself took Salman to Delhi .

“Once Salman cleared the audition, we knew he would excel. As the show progressed, we became certain that this stage belonged to him. Members of our community chipped in with whatever little money they could offer to fund Salman’s trip to Mumbai,” Haroon said.

Since the family did not own a television set, all, including Salman’s parents, would go to the market to watch the show. “Lots of other villagers would also gather to watch television at a local shop. As Salman consolidated his position, a local shopkeeper sent us a television set as did Youth Congress boys. Every time the programme ended, we were convinced that the title would go to Salman,” Haroon remarked.

While Salman’s parents left for Mumbai to watch the final, members of the joint family who stayed back continue celebrating the singer’s feat. “Salman’s father is likely to be back tomorrow while the singer will come back around October 11. Everybody is very proud of Salman,” the uncle concludes. 

Rohtak, October 2
“Small changes in day-to-day life could prevent the life-threatening heart disease to a great extent. Quitting smoking, taking part in outdoor activities, proper diet and a timely checking of cholesterol and blood pressure could make a huge difference,” said an eminent cardiologist, Dr BB Chanana, on World Heart Day.

Heart disease and stroke have emerged as the world’s leading causes of death, claiming 17.1 million lives each year. The deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in India had also quadrupled in the past 40 years and according to the WHO estimates, 60 per cent of the cardiac patients worldwide will be Indians with a majority in northern Indian states like Punjab and Haryana by 2020.

It is estimated that India could stand to lose $237 billion (Rs 11,850 crore) because of the CVD between 2005 and 2015. “The number of patients at the OPD of the PGIMS here has been on the rise as around 200 patients visit the heart OPD daily, claimed Dr KS Lallar, a senior cardiologist here.

Supporting the theme of One World, One Home and One Heart, Dr Chanana, working with Maharaja Agarsen Hospital in Delhi, emphasises on the steps required be taken at home to reduce chances of heart attack and stroke. The risk of coronary Heart disease was cut by half after quitting smoking. Claiming that while the diet low in saturated fats and salt but high in vegetables and fruit reduces the risk, physical exercise and outdoor activities, too, needed to be increased as a majority of urban families liked to spend time before TV and computer. Just 30 minutes of moderate activity on most - if not all — days of the week can help prevent heart attacks and stroke, he added. 

Panipat, October 2
The partner states, which own the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), are all set to challenge the recent move of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to bring the board under its jurisdiction.

According to experts in the power sector, the move was likely to jack up generation costs at the hydro station, which will result in a hike in the power tariff in the partner states, including Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

The CERC, in a recent order, had directed the BBMB to make appropriate applications for approval of tariff for its generating stations and transmission system by the commission. The commission in a suo- motu petition had decided that the BBMB was a generating company, owned and controlled by the Central Government, and it was also involved in inter-state transmission of electricity. Accordingly, regulation and determination of tariff for generation and inter-state transmission of electricity by the BBMB was the prerogative of the central commission.

The BBMB has an installed capacity of 2,804.73 MW from the Bhakra-Nangal and Beas Project and has a transmission network of 3,735 km of 400 kV, 220 kV, 132 kV and 66 kV transmission lines for supply of power to Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

At present, partner states get their tariff approvals from the state electricity regulatory commissions. Their share of power from the BBMB power houses and payments made to the board towards its expenditures are duly shown in their annual revenue requirements before the regulatory commission.

These states get power from the BBMB’s power houses at about 30 paise per unit. A senior power engineer said that in case the tariff for generating units and transmission lines was going to be decided by the CERC, it was likely to result in an increase in the cost of power in the region.

A senior official connected with the power sector said the interpretation of the CERC that the BBMB was a Central Government project like Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) was not based on facts. The generating stations and the allied transmission lines were owned jointly by the partner states and the BBMB was only managing the states’ assets on their behalf. The Central Government provided no fund for the BBMB as it did for the DVC, he said.

Another senior official of the power sector confided with The Tribune that the matter had been taken up with the partner states and they would be challenging the decision within the mandatory 60 days. He said the CERC, in one of its own orders dated September 11, 2006, (order no. 116/2005), had clearly stated that the generation stations under the BBMB were intrastate power houses and the latest move was in contradiction of these observations.

Yamunanagar, October 2
The second day of the 4th HIFF (Haryana International Film Festival) was dedicated to the world of dreams that cinema nurtures. The day began with a session on children’s cinema and attempted to address serious issues associated with children’s world. K Bikram Singh, producer of films like “New Delhi Times”, “Andhi Gali” and a 13-part series on Indian contemporary painters, “A Painters Portrait”, said, “Our sociologists have failed to pay attention to the way the adult world has taken over the world of children, through TV and popular culture. Children are forced to absorb the adult world, which is noisy, aggressive and competitive and leaves no space for children’s imagination to grow.”

Later, Bikram took a session on the language of cinema, in the context of screening of “Blackboards”, a film about Kurdish refugee teachers who walk miles between borders “hawking education”, a commodity which has few takers. The film by Iranian film maker Samira Makhmalbaf won Special Jury Award at Cannes in 2001.

For the children’s films session “I Am Kalam” was screened, a film that narrates the story of a poor child who works in a dhaba and yet dreams of going to a school. The heart-rending tale of a child’s struggle to keep faith in his dreams against all odds touched a deep chord among the young audience. The film has been invited to 15 international festivals across the globe.

Making Of An Actor, another session, addressed by popular actor Manoj Bajpayee, traced the journey of an actor, who chased his dream to be an actor, beginning from Bettiah, a small town in Bihar. The actor known for his memorable roles in films like “Bandit Queen”, “Satya”, “Zubeidaa”, “Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar”, “Pinjar”, “Rajneeti”, etc, told the young gathering of film lovers that the strong medium of films, which in the 1990s had forgotten to address the audience of the small town and villages was now going back to the issues of these places. Film-makers like Anurag Kashyap, Saurabh Shukla and Vishal Bhardwaj had brought small-town sensibility to celluloid. Bajpayee said getting a national award for acting was his dream and he got it for “Pinjar”, a film that was based on a novel by Amrita Preetam.

On Saturday evening Birender Singh, MP, announced a grant of Rs 10 lakh for Haryana International Film Festival, lauding their ceaseless effort. 

Karnal, October 2
Buying brides from distant states and selling them to persons desperate for marriage is nothing new in Jatland of Haryana, but it is now becoming a thriving business for unscrupulous agents .

These agents get such brides married to wife seekers against hefty sums but these girls leave in-laws’ houses to be married again after some time.

In an interesting case, a 25-year-old woman, her mother and an agent were booked under Sections 420 and 406, IPC, by the Assandh police for duping a person, Mahavir Verma, who had paid Rs 40,000 and jewellery for getting his son married through these agents. The accused were sent to 14 days’ judicial custody on Thursday.

Soniya (25), her mother Santosh, a resident of Raiwala in Dehradun district, and agent Shinder, a resident of Kheri Sarfali village, Karnal district, were arrested on the complaint of Mahavir Verma. Verma alleged that he met Ramphull (another agent) for the marriage of his divorced son. Ramphull introduced Verma to Soniya, her mother and Shinder. The trio asked him to pay Rs 50,000 in two days otherwise the mother-daughter duo would leave. However, they later settled the matter for Rs 40,000.

The wedding was solemnized at Shiv Mandir in the presence of two agents and a few family members. However, the girl started throwing tantrums after a few days. During two months of married life, she stayed in her in-laws’ house for just 15 days. Fed up by his daughter-in-law’s blackmailing , Mahavir reported the matter to the police. The girl promised to behave after police intervention but was back to her old ways after a few days.

In the meantime, the Pravasi Suraksha Vahini, an NGO, which started investigating the trio’s antecedents , came to know that they used to dupe people by getting Soniya married who would then start throwing tantrums to force her exit from the in-laws’ house .

NGO president Raj Singh Chaudhry said duping innocent people on the pretext of marriage was a “business” for Soniya, who was already married more than five times in this manner. 

Fatehabad, October 2
Former Haryana minister and Congress MLA from Nalwa, Sampat Singh, yesterday emphasised the need to amend the Haryana Lokayukta Act 2002 to provide more teeth to the institution.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Sampat Singh said though the Haryana Government’s efforts in checking corruption by implementing the Act were laudable, the Lokayukta, he maintained, was toothless due to lack of necessary powers.

This, he said, was largely due the erstwhile Chautala government, who repealed the Haryana Lokayukta Act 1997 and passed the Haryana Lokayukta Act 2002, which left the institution of Lokayukta as a toothless tiger.

Not only this, the Congress MLA, who incidentally was part of the Chautala government at the time of repeal of the old Act, said the erstwhile INLD regime never framed Rules and let the institution remain a defunct body.

The Bhupinder Singh Hooda government in 2008 later notified the Rules, he said.

Sampat Singh suggested some amendments to make the institution of Lokayukta a more meaningful institution.

He said the Lokayukta should be appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of a committee comprising the Chief Minister, the Leader of Opposition, the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, a sitting judge of the Supreme Court and a representative of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

Similarly, the removal of the Lokayukta should only be on the recommendation of the Chief Justice of India on certain grounds.

Sampat Singh said the Act passed in 1997 gave powers to take suo motu cognisance to the Lokayukta, but the repealed Act of 2002 had taken away those powers making the institution weaker.

The Congress leader said under the Haryana Lokayukta Act 2002, the competent authority in the government had the option of accepting or rejecting the recommendations of the Lokayukta, which made the institution very weak.

Sonepat, October 2
Rich tributes were paid to the Father of the Nation, Mahatama Gandhi, and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on their birth anniversaries. Celebrations were held by various organisations and the Congress here today.

Around 970 patients were examined medically and treated at a free-of-cost

medical camp, organised by the Samaj Sewa Samiti. As many as 55 volunteers donated blood at the camp.

The Zila Sonepat Swatantrata Sainani Sangthan organised a “Samman

Samaroh” to commemorate the occasion. Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Sharma was the chief guest and the function was presided over by the chairman of the Haryana Swatantrata Senani Samman Samiti, Hari Ram Arya. MLA Kavita Jain, Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Aggarwal and district president of the sangthan Shanta Jain were among those who paid tributes to Gandhiji and Shastriji.

In a programme at the party’s office, the activists and office-bearers of the DCC led by DCC (Urban) president Pradeep Gautam paid floral tributes to Gandhiji and Shastriji. Gautam said the teachings of

Mahatama Gandhi on non-violence, communal harmony and social amity

were more relevant in today’s world. “Shastriji was a man of simple

living and high thinking and became a role model for the kisans and jawans during the 1965 Indo-Pak war and even after his death,” he added.

In a programme organised by the Jai Mazdoor Forum, its state vice-president, Dayan Nand Pacherwal, said Gandhiji would always be remembered for non- violence and Shastriji for his simplicity. 

Chandigarh, October 2
As per the new time table for supply of power issued by the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam, the industrial sector will get three-phase power supply daily for 10 hours. The supply will now be for six hours for the agricultural sector as against eight hours earlier due to a lower demand of power by farmers.

Superintendent Engineer RK Sharma said the industrial sector would now get power supply from 8 am to 6 pm.

The SE said three groups had been formed for the agriculture sector. Group A would get power supply from 12 in the night to 6 am, Group B from 6 am to 12 noon and Group C would get it from 12 noon to 6 pm. Similarly, two groups had been made for the domestic consumers in the rural

areas. The first group would get power from 3.30 am to 5.30 am and from 6 pm to 2 am. The second group would get power supply from 6 am to 8 am and from 6 pm to 2 am. 

Chandigarh, October 2
Haryana is one of the states to take up implementation of crime and criminal-tracking network and systems (CCTNS), a project of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, to create a platform for sharing intelligence and information about crime and criminals across the country.

DGP Ranjeev Dalal announced this after signing an agreement with Hewlett-Packard India Sales Private Limited to implement the project in Haryana.

Dalal said the CCTNS was a time-barred project costing Rs 55.04 crore and would be fully implemented by 2013. The Ministry of Home Affairs had approved Rs 31.39 crore for the project while the remaining amount would be contributed by the state government.

A sum of Rs 6 crore had so far been spent on this project. He said the CCTNS would prove vital for checking crime in Haryana where the majority of incidents were committed by migrants from other states. With the implementation of this system, information on all types of criminals would be available at the click of a button. Dalal said 15 computers would be installed in every police station to facilitate exchange of information speedily.