Chandigarh, November 6
Haryana State Teachers’ Eligibility Test-2011 passed off peacefully today amidst rumours of paper leakage. The result is expected to be ready in three weeks time and two different agencies would check and cross-check the result before it is declared.

At least 14 unfair means cases were registered, which include one case of impersonation at the Ambala Cantt.-47 examination centre. The impersonator was handed over to the police.

Videographed for the first time at all the 602 centres in 14 districts of Haryana, the test saw over five lakh candidates take the exam which would make them eligible for being selected as teachers in government schools of the state. While one lakh appeared for the examination for lecturers yesterday, 1.75 lakh candidates took the test for category I (class I to V) and the rest for category II (class VI to VIII) today.

Sources said that conducting the test with complete transparency was a challenge since, following a petition in the high court alleging imprersonation in earlier STET examinations, the court had sealed the record of the tests conducted in 2008 and 2009.

With the credibility of the Board at stake, officials of the Education Department, specially Principal Secretary Surina Rajan and the Board Secretary Shekhar Vidyarthi painstakingly introduced measures to ensure that the sanctity of the examination is not compromised.

Among the various checks put in place was the decision to have no centre in “sensitive” districts like Bhiwani, Jhajjar and Rohtak. While Board observers were posted at every centre along with an official of the district administration, police manned the entrance of the centres set up at CBSE schools and colleges and universities across the state.

In a bid to check impersonation, candidates were required to carry an identity proof and sign both before and after the tes.

The Board rejected nearly 5000 applications of candidates who had filled up forms from different districts with minor alterations in names in a bid to leave scope for impersonation. Also, none of the forms received after the cut off date was entertained.

Officials maintained that evaluation of papers had already started and the result would be out before the end of this month. The result preparation, too, would be videographed, they claimed.

In Haryana, there is a large shortfall of school teachers and a severe dearth of “well-qualified” teachers. With this test, the Department is hopeful of filling up the vacancies in government schools. 

New Delhi, November 6
The Supreme Court has come to the rescue of eight sisters of Haryana in a case in which their lone brother claimed absolute ownership of all the property following the death of their parents.

In 2003, three of the eight sisters had approached the Civil Judge, Ambala City, seeking division of the property in nine equal parts to be shared by the siblings. The three sisters contended that they were entitled to get three-ninth share of the ancestral property.

Their brother, Harish Kumar, however claimed that the property had been “self-acquired” by his father who had registered a Will on June 18, 2002 leaving the entire wealth to him.

While their father had died in 2003, their mother had passed away earlier. The father had arranged the marriage of six of his daughters. Two of the three daughters fighting for their share of property were not married.

The trial court rejected the three sisters’ claim as they failed to produce any evidence. Since they had not led evidence, their brother also did not produce any record.

The sisters challenged this ruling in the District Court, contending that they could not lead evidence because two of them were illiterate and the third woman, who was lettered had fallen sick. Further, their counsel never informed them about the need for their appearance in the court, they argued.

However, the district court dismissed their appeal, citing the 63 days of delay in filing it. Without losing hope, they knocked at the doors of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, but were unsuccessful again.

Unrelenting, they came to the SC challenging the HC’s order of December 2008 by which it had declined to interfere with the July 2007 ruling of the District Judge, Ambala.

An SC Bench comprising Justices Asok Kumar Ganguly and Gyan Sudha Misra, which heard their appeal, has now passed a judgment, holding out a ray of hope for the sisters.

Setting aside the HC verdict, the Bench ruled that the delay of 63 days “is not a delay for a long period and there has been some explanation for the delay. The HC should have, before passing the impugned judgment, considered the explanation for the delay along with facts of the case, the position of the parties, the nature of litigation and the period of delay.

“The HC should also have considered that it has been settled by a catena of cases that unless the delay is gross, explanation for the same should be liberally construed. It appears that the HC has not been able to consider all these relevant facts in their correct perspective.”

The SC directed the HC to hear the sisters’ appeal “as expeditiously as possible.” 

Chandigarh, November 6
The renovated Guru Gobind Singh Museum of Martial Arts at Kapal Mochan township in Ambala district will be thrown open to the public from November 7.

Renovated at the initiative of the Panjab Digital Library (PDL), Chandigarh, Shri Guru Harkrishan International Centre of Excellence for Museum, Jagdhari and Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh, the museum is a virtual treasure trove.

Davinder Pal Singh, PDL Executive Director, Parampal Singh, chairman of the Sri Guru Harkrishan Singh International Centre of Excellence for Museum Education, and PC Sharma, in charge, outreach activities of the Art gallery, furnished the information at an interaction here.

Heritage materials like coins, paintings, manuscripts, photographs, maps and newspapers would be on display at the museum, they informed. Since most government museums on the Ambala-Jagadhari area were non-functional due to inadequate staff, an effort had been made to renovate the Guru Gobind Singh Museum of Martial Arts at Kapal Mochan, added Parampal Singh.

PDL has provided valuable exhibits, including Hukamnamas by Sikh Gurus, manuscripts of Ramayana, Bhagwat Puran, Panj Granthis between 1750 and 1850, to the museum. Texts of ayurvedic medicine, coins of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and other princely states of the region are also part of the exhibit.

The inaugural issue of Khalsa Akhbar Lahore (1886) was going to be displayed prominently, said Davinder Pal Singh. “Our primary objective is digital preservation of heritage material and making this material accessible to the people is the next step,” he said.

A four-day national workshop-cum-exhibition and a seminar on historical and socio-cultural prospectives on united Punjab began at the museum today. The national workshop, being organised in collaboration with the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Haryana, is coinciding with grand celebrations of internationally acclaimed fair to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Chandigarh,November 6
Beginning Monday, patients are set to have a harrowing time in government hospitals for four days. While November 7 and 10 happen to be gazetted holidays, members of Haryana Civil Medical Services

Association(HCMSA) have decided to avail mass casual leave on November 8 and 9, thus crippling the hospitals till Thursday at least.

Services at primary health centres and community health centres will be completely paralysed while emergency and post-mortem services will be available at district headquarters on “voluntary basis” on November 8 and only “life-saving” services on November 9, doctors warned.

Worse, doctors have threatened to proceed on an indefinite strike after November 10, if their demands are not fulfilled.

President of the HCMSA, Rajesh Khyalia, told The Tribune over phone that despite repeated representations to the state government, no headway had been made in the implementation of demands of the association already accepted by the state government on June 6,2010.

Among other issues, the doctors are agitating for merger of the non-practising allowance(NPA) with the basic pay for all purposes, modification in the “lop-sided” postgraduate policy, rectification of the entry-level pay scales with effect from January 1,2006, a uniform policy for increments to the specialists, faster promotions at senior levels and filling up of vacant posts.

Rao Narinder Singh, Health and Medical Education Minister, however claimed that the medical fraternity was getting a much better deal in Haryana. He asserted today that the demands were under active consideration of the state government. “I have asked Navraj Sandhu, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Health, to hold a meeting with doctors on November 7 to find an amicable solution to the problem,” he added.

But while the Health Minister claimed that a meeting between the representatives of HCMSA and senior officials of the Health Department is slated for November 7, HCMSA president Rajesh Khyalia claimed on Sunday evening that the association had received no invitation for talks with the state government. 

Jhajjar, November 6
Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal would launch a national-level right to education campaign from Mewat on November 11 to make people aware of their right to education.

Education, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Geeta Bhukkal disclosed this while redressing the public grievances here today. She said it was the right of every child to get education first to eighth standard. To provide free and compulsory education to every child was among the top priorities of the state government.

"The children are being given uniforms and mid-day meals, besides free education. The right to education has been an Act and right to education campaign is being launched to make people aware of this Act," said the minister, adding that the state government had implemented a number of schemes to provide quality education to children in government schools.

Later addressing at a function organised to mark the 34th death anniversary of freedom fighter late Rao Mangli Ram Vaid at Khatiwas village here, Geeta Bhukkal said people were indebted to our great freedom fighters who sacrificed their all at the altar of the freedom of the country. We should follow their footsteps and work to strengthen the unity of the country.

Paying tributes to Rao Mangli Ram, she said Rao Mangli Ram made valuable contribution to the freedom struggle. He participated in the non-cooperation movement, satyagraha and a number of other movements launched by Mahatma Gandhi. 

Yamunanagar, November 6
The district administration has made elaborate preparations for the Kapal Mochan fair scheduled to begin from November 8. Hectic preparations are on for the three-day fair which draws lakhs of devotees from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, UP, Delhi and Uttarakhand.

Ashwani Maingi, sub-divisional magistrate, Bilaspur, and convener of the fair, said all arrangements for the mela had been completed. He said tents had been pitched on 50 acres for the stay of pilgrims by private parties as well as the administration.

He added that all three “sarovars” had been cleaned and a team of sweepers had been deputed round-the-clock to ensure civic amenities.

Rohtas Verma, general manager of the Haryana Roadways, and Brij Pal, DI of Yamunanagar, said about 60 buses had been pressed into service to ferry passengers during the mela. These included 50 from Ambala depot, 10 from Yamunanagar depot and 25 for Aad Badri from Kapal Mochan.

He said adequate arrangements had been made to ensure proper facilities for the pilgrims. He said a fleet of 55 buses of Kurukshetra depot had also been pressed into service.

Mitesh Jain, SP, Yamunanagar, said the fair had been divided into five segments and each segment had a duty magistrate and police force to ensure proper law and order.

Civil Surgeon VK Sharma said four doctors in each segments, along with other staff members, had been deputed and life-saving drugs had been kept at the mela site.

According to sources, Kapal Mochan is a symbol of unity and integrity of people of different religions. The place is equally important for the Hindus and the Sikhs.

According to Hindu mythology, Lord Shiva took a dip at the “sarovar” here. Lord Rama and Lord Krishna also believed to have visited this place. For Sikhs, the place holds importance as Guru Nanak Dev ji visited this place. Guru Gobind Singh also stayed here for 52 days. 

Ratia, November 6
Accusing various political parties of ignoring Hasanga village in the matter of development, villagers today threatened to boycott the bypoll.

Ratia and Adampur are going for bypolls on November 30. The villagers served a three-day ultimatum to the political parties contesting the byelections and warned that not a single villager would cast his or her vote, if their voice was not heard.

Giani Ram, the acting sarpanch, presided over the meeting, which was attended by a panchayat samiti member Satyavir Singh and a large number of villagers. “Not a brick has been laid in the name of development in the past 40 years in our village. The pipeline for potable water laid in 1987 has not been changed yet leading to leakages at several places,” alleged Giani Ram.

The villagers alleged that politicians promised a health centre and veterinary hospitals during elections, but nothing had been done on the ground. The villagers clarified that their anger was not against any particular leader or the party, but against all, who have ruled the state in these years.

Sirsa, November 6
The CPM today held demonstration against corruption, rising prices of essential commodities, recent hike in the price of petrol and DAP fertilisers.

CPM activists started their procession from the party’s office in Khairpur and marched up to the local bus stand raising slogans against the Central and the state government.

Earlier, addressing the party workers in the district convention of the CPM, Ram Kumar Bahbalpuria, a state committee member of the party, alleged that the UPA government was driving the nation towards bankruptcy by its anti-people policies.

He alleged that the government had been opening areas like education, health, retail sector, banking and even defence to foreign companies and has been shirking its social responsibility of helping the poor in agriculture, food and petroleum products.

Bahbalpuria alleged that an unholy alliance of political leaders, industrialists and bureaucrats was cornering the wealth of the country much to the detriment of the poor.

Harpal Singh, a former MLA, alleged that the Congress government in Haryana was finishing job avenues in the state by encouraging contractual system.

A seven-member district committee of the CPM was elected on this occasion and Raj Kumar Shekhupuria was re-elected the district secretary of the party.

Sirsa, November 6
Despite slow arrivals, over 3.74 lakh quintals of cotton has been so far arrived in different grain markets of Sirsa.

An official spokesperson said the authorities collected revenue of over Rs.6.77 crore in the form of the Haryana Rural Development Fund (HRDF) and market fee from the purchase of cotton crop.

He said Sirsa grain market has recorded a record arrival of 1.81 lakh quintals of cotton, followed by 86,845 quintals at Kalanwali, 45,393 quintals at Dabwali, 54,624 quintals at Ellenabad and 6,009 quintals at Ding.

Sirsa district accounts for almost one-third of the total cotton produced in the state. The spokesperson said cotton was sown over an area of 2.10 lakh hectares in Sirsa district out of the total 5.98 lakh hectare area under the crop in the state. He said the Agriculture Department had set a crop production target of 24 quintals per hectare against last year’s production of 19.5 quintals per hectare. Lower prices of cotton prevailing in the market had slowed down the arrival of crop in the mandis this year.

Jind, November 6
Two young farmers of the district have been able to reap a good harvest from the BT cotton crop which had become a victim of the pest known as Curl Leaf Virus without depending on the use of costly pesticides and resorting to an indigenous method of providing nutrition in the form of a locally prepared mixture of some chemical-based fertilisers.

The above-normal production of the cotton in the fields of these farmers has also attracted the attention of the officials of the Agriculture Department, which has decided to conduct a detailed study of the success achieved on this front.

“I had sowed BT cotton in their fields this time as its farming appeared quite lucrative despite the fact that such a crop required good care and use of costly pesticides,” claimed Ashin, hailing from Nidani village and engaged in farming. But after spending about Rs 3,500 on the seeds and other inputs, I got stumped when I noticed that the entire crop in the field was found to be affected by Curl Leaf Virus one day after the plants had acquired a height of about three feet, he told Manbir Singh, who runs a full-time workshop on farming in the village, known as Kisan Khet Pathsala.

Though he felt quite demoralised and was even open to the suggestion put by some others that the crop affected acutely by the pest (virus) was required to be uprooted and replaced by crop like bajra as there was hardly any option left for him. But, according to Manbir, both Ashin and Krishan, who had reported this problem, agreed to work on the home-made remedy suggested by him. The farmers prepared a local solution containing one litre of water, five grams of zinc sulphate, 25 grams of urea and 25 grams of DAP and sprayed it in the field for at least five times and this worked wonder as the plants became healthier and provided heavy cotton bulbs. Each of the plant had around 69 cotton bulbs to ensure a production of about 680 kg of crop from the field having about 2,054 plants.

Similarly, Krishan will be getting a production of 780 kg from his field after adopting this technique.Dr RD Kaushik and Dr Yashpal Malik of the Krsihi Vigyan Kendra who visited the field have congratulated the farmers and the Kisan Khet Pathshala for this achievement.