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Farmers up in arms against acquisition of land in Jhajjar
Gorakhpur N-power plant
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Bibipur to play bigger role in anti-foeticide campaign
High BP may do good to frail old people: Expert
Ghewar sale leaves other sweets behind
UK varsity honours educationist
Govt move to construct hostel on playing field resented
Gorakhpur N-plant
Decorated sepoy Virender rewarded with Rs 5 lakh
HAU suggests measures to tackle rainfall shortage
Ambala waste treatment plant lies in disuse
Camp for polio patients in Ambala soon
Implement public welfare schemes, elected representatives told
Preparation for Judicial Services Exams
Crime scene in Kurukshetra reviewed
State to establish ASHA resource centres
Legal literacy camp for slum women
Forest Dept mulls acquiring land for forest cover
Faridabad MC staff pledge to intensify struggle
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Farmers up in arms against acquisition of land in Jhajjar
Jhajjar, July 23 The farmers have recently threatened that they would not let the government to acquire their precious land at any cost on the name of development. The state government was trying to spoil their future by acquiring their fertile land for developing HUDA Sectors here, they alleged. A meeting, which was convened by the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti at Saini Dharamshala here recently to decide the further course of action against the government’s move to acquire their land, unanimously resolved that farmers would sit on a fast-unto-death if the government did not rollback its decision of acquiring their land soon. “We are ready to make all sacrifices to protect our fertile land from the clutches of the state government. We will not tolerate any anti-farmer policy of the government which pushes the innocent and poor farmers on the path of destruction,” said Mahabir Gujjar, president of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti. He said the government was trying to make the farmers unemployed by snatching their fertile land in the name of development, but they would not let this intention of the government fulfilled and oppose the move strongly. “We met with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son MP Deepender Hooda several times to urge that their land should not be acquired as they have no other source of income to earn their livelihood except this land,” said the farmers during the meeting. Former MLA Ajit Singh Kadian said the state government was not leaving any stone unturned to devastate the farmers by acquiring their fertile land. “With the acquisition of the fertile land of the farmers, those tall claims of the government have been exposed. The government claimed to have embarked upon several policies for the overall development of the farmers in the state,” he said. Ram Kishan Dagar, Sat Prakash, Malkhan Singh were among those who expressed their views on the occasion and resisted the government’s decision of acquiring land of the farmers for developing HUDA Sector here. Notably, the government has acquired hundreds of acres of land for developing various HUDA sectors here. The acquirement process has almost reached the final stage despite stiff opposition of the farmers in this regard.
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‘We will not surrender land at any cost’
Sushil Manav Tribune News Service
Gorakhpur (Fatehabad), July 23 The 1,313-acre five-kanal 19-marla agriculture land falling under Gorakhpur village acquired for the upcoming nuclear power plant starts from this point where the farmers have been running kitchen for those sitting on dharna to stop government officials from entering their fields. The dharna site is located on the bank of a canal called Fatehabad branch that originates from Kajalheri Head and goes towards Sirsa after passing through Fatehabad district. Sidhmukh branch, another offshoot of the Kajalheri Head runs parallel to Fatehabad Branch and eventually goes towards Rajasthan. The fields get enough irrigation water from Fatehabad branch and even the upcoming nuclear power plant will get 360 cusecs water for cooling its reactors from this canal. “This is among the most fertile lands of Haryana, where farmers have been getting three crops a year. The land provides livelihood not only to 847 farmers being uprooted by the project, but also to hundreds of farmers from some neighbouring villages, who irrigate their fields from tubewells installed on this land,” said Hans Raj Siwach, president of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti spearheading the agitation by Gorakhpur farmers. “The land has 187 ‘dhanis’ (small houses in the fields where farmers live with their families) and more than 150 tubewells,” said Harpal Singh, a former MLA and president of the Ilaqa Bachao Samiti (Save the Area Committee). Of these, nearly 60 tubewells have been installed by farmers from neighbouring villages Jandli, Siwani, Jhalnia and Chandrawal by purchasing small pieces of land ranging between a few marlas to a kanal each. From the tubewells, these farmers carry water to their fields located at a distance of eight to 10 km through underground polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes. “The underground water here is very good and available at a depth of 150 ft, while in my village, the subsoil water is deep and not fit for irrigation,” said Ramesh Jaglan, a farmer from Jandli situated at a distance of 8 km from here. Bhale Ram, another farmer from Jandli, said if the government succeeded in its endeavour to ‘take away’ this land, crops on over seven to eight thousand acres of Jandli, Jhalnia, Chandrawal and Siwani irrigated by these tubewells would be lost and not merely on these 1,313 acres. Farmers are firm that they will not give their land even if they have to lose their lives in the struggle. Meanwhile, the authorities recently kept the office of the land acquisition officer opened despite a holiday, though only five farmers came to collect their cheques. Owners of nearly 250 acres, mostly from Badopal, had taken away their cheques worth over Rs 75 crore by Friday.
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Bibipur to play bigger role in anti-foeticide campaign
Jind, July 23 “The village had received invitation from students of both universities to hold awareness campaigns in their respective institutions, following which we have decided to convert our initiative against female foeticide into a mission,” Sarpanch Bibipur Sunil Jaglan said. A few research scholars of DU, who attended the July 14 Khap Mahapanchayat in Bibipur, had invited the villagers to hold an awareness campaign in their institution, he said. “Though we have started our efforts to hold the campaign in both varsities, the dates are yet to be finalised,” Jaglan said. “We do not want to strict ourselves to a village, but the intention is to generate awareness in other parts of Haryana as well,” he added. A Khap Mahapanchayat held in Bibipur on July 14, attended by leaders of over 300 khaps from Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, took a stern stand against foeticide and demanded that murder charges be slapped against those who indulge in the ‘heinous act’. The mahapanchayat, a conglomeration of various caste councils, saw a large number of women participants. Appreciating the efforts of Bibipur residents, especially women, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on July 15 announced Rs 1 crore for the development of village. Hooda said the initiative by the village would inspire others to bring about positive social changes not only in Haryana, but in other parts of the country as well. — PTI
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High BP may do good to frail old people: Expert
Rohtak, July 23 Stating this, Dr Amar Singhal, senior cardiologist and director, Cath Lab, of a hospital in New Delhi, said among older people chronic hypertension was the most common. “At such an age, blood vessels loose their elasticity, making it harder for the body to pump blood effectively. Higher BP could be a compensatory mechanism to overcome this loss of vascular elasticity and keep fresh blood pumping to the brain and heart,’’ he observed. Claiming that “when it comes to blood pressure, 'one size fits all' doesn't really hold and thus for elderly, frail individuals, the primary focus should not necessarily be on getting their blood pressure down. Some of the medications used to treat high blood pressure, including diuretics and beta blockers, may confer more risk than benefit on this group,” remarked Dr Singhal. He said according to the findings of a study, published recently in a reputed journal of Internal Medicine, persons aged above 65 years having high blood pressure were 62 per cent less likely to die over a five-year period as compared to those who had normal blood pressure. In the study, he said, the researchers used data gathered from 2,340 people over the age of 65. Participants answered questions about their health, and were also asked to walk 20 feet at their normal pace. Participants who walked at a rate of 0.8 metres per second were classified as healthy and in this group, those with high blood pressure were more likely to die over the study period than those with normal blood pressure. Among those who walked at a slower rate, there was no relationship between blood pressure and mortality rate.
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Ghewar sale leaves other sweets behind
Rohtak, July 23 "We are preparing and selling around 250-350 kg of ‘ghewar’ daily and the demand has been rising. It is expected to remain high till Janamashtmi,” claimed Jitender Rathi, owner of a popular sweets shop here. "Most of the sweet shops in the region sell this seasonal sweet during the season that begins from the first week of July and continues till the end of August. But this time around, demand for ‘ghewar’ has crossed international borders before sales picked up in the region. It has been exported to Pakistan, Nepal and some Arab countries this season,” Rathi added. ”Ghewar is an integral part of an annual custom ‘seedha’ where a gift is sent to a married daughter by the parents on the occasion of Teej. The custom is followed in Rohtak, Sonepat, Jhajjar, Bhiwani, Hisar, Jind Panipat, Karnal and Sirsa,” said Rahguvender Malik, a well-known Haryanvi artist. Malik said the custom was common among all castes and communities in the region and it was a must for every parent to send it, notwithstanding their financial condition. Without the traditional sweet, the ‘seedha’ was considered incomplete or inauspicious, he added. "Though the rates of Ghewar range from Rs 100- Rs 500 per kg according to the quality of oil used, people are mostly buying it in Rs 150- 250 per kg range ,” said Virender, a local resident.
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UK varsity honours educationist
Panipat, July 23 The doctorate was conferred by Michael Gunn, Vice-Chancellor of the university, during a ceremony in Tristan State this month in the presence of the Mayor and other official members of the state. Aggarwal was elected vice-chairman of SD Vidya Mandir in 1992 and chairman of the ASIA Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT SD) in 2006 and 2009. During his leadership, APIIT SD grew from strength to strength with major investments in both infrastructure and facilities to support the imparting of high-quality higher education. “The award is also a recognition of the instrumental role APIIT has played in developing a growing partnership with Staffordshire University and delivering high-quality higher education courses and I am overwhelmed by the award,” Aggrawal said after receiving the award.
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Govt move to construct hostel on playing field resented
Karnal, July 23 Sore over the government’s move, sports lovers and locals are trying to persuade the authorities to abandon their plan, but the government is looking adamant to snatch the cradle of sporting heroes, which is the only open place in the area for the youth and the students to channelise their energies. “We are upset with the plans of the government and will do everything possible to frustrate their plans as alternate space is available for the construction of a hostel and the requirement can be met even by adding extra storey on the existing building,” said Abhay, a final year polytechnic student, here. He said the ground was the property of the Government Polytechnic, but everybody had unfettered access to the ground and the people of all hues enjoyed playing and watching others here. A teacher said a few of years ago when the government decided to built a hostel for girls, the institute was overcrowded and the classes were going on in two shifts (morning and evening shifts) to accommodate 4,500 students, but the evening shift was discontinued six months ago and the strength of the college was reduced to just 2,600, so there was no need for the hostel. The teacher added that the institute had ample land to construct a girls’ hostel. Adding two more storeys to the existing hostel building was another option and space was also available near the residential area where construction could be carried out. Jogesh Sharma, president of the Nilokheri Cricket Association, said the ground was used for training more than 40 sportspersons, who had participated at the national level in kabaddi, hockey, football, volleyball and even cricket and it was the only open place for the people, which couldn’t be ignored. “There are eight cricket clubs at Nilokheri and as far as inter-polytechnic meets are concerned, there are only three big grounds at Hisar, Jhajjar and Nilokheri to host the sports meets,” he added.
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Environment impact assessment takes back seat
Sushil Manav Tribune News Service
Fatehabad, July 23 All public attention was diverted to the protests announced by Kuldeep Bishnoi of the Haryana Janhit Congress and Abhay Singh Chautala of the INLD and many of those who wanted to participate in the pubic hearing failed to reach the venue, as the authorities advanced the proceedings and finished it off early. However, despite all this, some activists of the NGOs opposed to nuclear energy and a few others raised some important questions. The experts from Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) answered most questions on safety aspects of the project, but they had no satisfactory answer to questions relating to the acquisition of fertile land. Naveen Gulia, regional officer of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board, started the proceedings by seeking permission to start the hearing from Deputy Commissioner ML Kaushik, who was in the chair. Dr Raj Kumar Siwach, a reader at Chaudhary Devi Lal University, pointed out the failure of the authorities to provide copies of the EIA to different stakeholders one month prior to the meeting. Banwari Lal Sharma from Allahabad asked why this public hearing was being held with heavy police force at the venue. He did not receive any answer and the farmers started hooting the authorities asking them to go back. Rajinder Sharma, an activists of the Parmanu Virodhi Morcha from Hisar, asked why the NPCIL chose to acquire fertile land for its project. A scientist from the NPCIL replied that the Haryana government had identified this land in early 70s. Sharma asked why the authorities wanted to set up their project on land identified 40 years ago. The scientist replied that the NPCIL would work only on the land which was provided to it by the state government. An activist asked whether there will be an increase in radiation due to the nuclear plant. The scientist replied that radiation was present everywhere in our surroundings and the nuclear project would not lead to an increase in radiation levels. The public hearing lasted for less than one hour.
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Decorated sepoy Virender rewarded with Rs 5 lakh
Sonepat, July 23 Virender Singh, serving in the 3 Mahar Regiment of the Army, was part of the team, which had surrounded a group of terrorists in Sanjhipur village of Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir on May 11, 2010. The terrorists resorted to indiscriminate firing to escape from the village. In the Army operation, 11 terrorists were killed and two Army personnel lost their lives. Despite receiving bullet injuries, Virender continued to attack the terrorists till the operation was over and later he was honoured with the Sena Medal by the Army for his bravery and courage. Under the policy of the state government, all those military personnel of Haryana who are decorated with gallantry awards, are given cash incentives as honorariums of different amount for different awards. The Secretary of the Zila Sainik Board, Major DPS Badhwar (retd), and family members of Virender were also present on the occasion.
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HAU suggests measures to tackle rainfall shortage
Hisar, July 23 According to the advisory, this year, the monsoon has arrived late and is so far scanty. This is worrying the farming community, especially in rainfed areas. To combat this situation, the Dryland Agriculture Department of the university has suggested According to the advisory, in case there is three to five weeks’ delay in rains, sowing of cluster bean varieties HG 365, HG 563 and HG 2-20 should be ensured by the end of July. Pulses (moong and moth) should be sown by the In such a situation, farmers’ priority should be ‘moong’ and ‘bajra’ only and application of the recommended dose of fertilisers. Some of the land may be used for fodder by sowing cowpea. In already sown bajra crop, farmers should harvest every third row for fodder and make furrows in harvested row for rainwater conservation. When there is a six to seven weeks delay of rains, as far as possible, cluster bean sowing should be avoided and the moisture conserved for rabi sowing. However, some area may be used for cowpea as fodder. In case of long dry spell of two to three weeks after sowing, farmers should undertake mechanical weeding or hoeing by wheel hand hoe to keep the crop weed free and to conserve soil moisture. In case of four to six weeks dry spell, apply light irrigation if available. Harvest third row of bajra and use it for mulching as green fodder. When monsoon withdraws early, farmers should apply a light irrigation, if available, at grain-formation stage. Scientists have advised farmers not to go in for sowing of kharif crops after August 15 and the best option is to conserve the moisture for next
rabi crops.
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Ambala waste treatment plant lies in disuse
Ambala, July 23 In order to bring down the pollution level in the city, which at present has attained an alarming proportion, a solid waste treatment plant at Patvi village had been planned so that the city could get rid of tonnes of solid waste being generated here everyday. However, the local civic authorities failed to operate the plant leaving the residents high and dry. According to the proposal, the plant was to treat 150 MT of solid waste each day, besides generating 5 MW power in an environment-friendly manner. Initially, an amount of Rs 12 crore was spent on the plant, which also had advance flue gas control systems to take care of sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides. The project was to be completed in August 2008, but was delayed due to various reasons and even when it was completed, the civic authorities could not operate it because there was no proper approach road to the plant site. Though Kumari Selja, MP, had taken up the matter with the local administration and also sent a formal communication to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for his immediate intervention about two years ago, nothing happened so far. However, garbage collection vehicles bought as part of the project were left to rust and none are functional anymore. The plant had also hit ministry hurdle, as it was denied environmental clearance. The SWTP, if operated properly, could have proved to be a boon for the city, which is already under the grip of a large-scale pollution. Most of the localities in the city have heaps of garbage and foul smells being emitted from these heaps have become a part and parcel of everyday life of the resident of the city. BJP legislator Anil Vij said it was a major issue concerning the masses which needed to be addressed at the earliest. He said the matter had even been raised by him in the state Assembly a number of times and the local unit of the party had recently launched an agitation against the ‘step-motherly treatment’ being meted out to Ambala, in which the issue of the SWTP was on the top of the list. Meanwhile, Deputy Commission Shekhar Vidyarthi said the administration was working on the issue and it was mostly likely that the plant would be put back into operations with a week or so. He said the matter had been taken up at the highest level and a solution was being worked out.
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Camp for polio patients in Ambala soon
Ambala, July 23 He said the club would also provide free crutches to the needy patients. Around Rs 10 lakh will be spend on the 7-day camp, he added. The club is also planning two projects to harvest rainwater at the Ambala Cantt and the government hospital on which Rs 2 lakh would be spent alongwith setting up of environment-friendly pyres at Rambagh road crematorium. The club will also get new toilets constructed at Government High School, Mahesh
Nagar, the president said.
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Implement public welfare schemes, elected representatives told
Kaithal, July 23 This was stated by Deputy Commissioner Chander Shekhar while addressing a meeting of the representatives of Panchayti Raj Institutions at Pundri recently. Dinesh Singh Yadav, ADC, Rajesh Khoth, DDPO, Rajbir Dhiman, DRO and Dr Surendra Nain also addressed the meeting. The Deputy Commissioner gave a call to constitute teams comprising the best sarpanch, best teacher and best students in respective blocks and work for the betterment of society and help in the execution of development projects so that the benefits could reach the targeted people. He sought the cooperation of public representatives to check encroachment on public land, proper distribution of old-age pension, check female foeticide, planting trees, closure of illegal liquor sale points, maintaining cleanliness and maintenance of peace in villages. ADC Dinesh Singh Yadav said steps would be taken to ensure that names of undeserving persons were not included in BPL list and those who were not entitled should be identified and their names be deleted from the list. He said steps would be taken for the effective management of waste materials. Rajesh Koth, DDPO, said 100 yard plots had been allotted to SC families as per the government scheme in a large number of villages. Dr Rajbir Dhiman, DRO, said land records had been computerised in this area and advised lambardars not to identify wrong persons for petty gains. CMO Nain said child mortality rate should be brought down. He stressed upon the need for taking recourse to proper medical advise for pregnant women and adoption of proper institutional delivery system.
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Preparation for Judicial Services Exams Our Correspondent
Sonepat, July 23 According to Prof Vimal Joshi, head of the Law Department, this step was taken on the initiative of Vice-Chancellor of the university Dr Pankaj Mittal in the interest of the law students. Its main objective was that the law students, while continuing their regular studies, could prepare themselves for the judicial services examinations being conducted by the Public Service Commissions of different states. He said two teachers from the Law Department Ashok Kumar and Priyanka Jain were selected as civil judge-cum-judicial magistrate in the judicial services examination recently conducted by the Haryana Public Service Commission. “Along with regular studies, activities like mute courts, case discussions, quiz, presentations, seminars, debates etc are being organised at the centre,” he said, adding that prominent lawyers from various parts of the country were being invited to deliver lecturers on law-related matters.
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Crime scene in Kurukshetra reviewed
Kurukshetra, July 23 The financial crime in charge, Sub-Inspector Sita Ram, said 82 property-related cases were settled and Rs 60 lakh, which was got from the complainants fraudulently, was returned to them. CIA staff in charge Inspector Rajesh Kumar said his team recovered public property of Rs 42,28,000 during the past month and challan branch in charge Sub-Inspector Balwan Singh said during this year a fine of Rs 42,93,800 was realised by challaning 10,344 persons. The excise in charge, Assistant Sub-Inspector Suresh Kumar, said a fine of Rs. 1,15,400 was imposed on those who were selling liquor illegally during last month and 691 bottles of liquor and 75 kg ‘lahan’ were seized from them. Women’s cell in charge Sub-Inspector Kusum Lata said 68 complaints were received out of which 33 cases were solved and 18 families were rehabilitated.
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State to establish ASHA resource centres
Chandigarh, July 23 While stating this here recently, a spokesperson of the department said the ASHA Resource Centre would be the nodal agency to organise meetings and do follow ups with the support of state programme management unit (SPMU) under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) state headquarters. Also, ASHA mentoring groups would be constituted at state, district and block levels, he added. He said the state-level call centre or helpline would be put in place for verification of records pertaining to pregnant women and newborn. Support mechanism would be developed at the state headquarters for beneficiaries, ASHAs and auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs). This call centre would identify the gaps in service delivery and provide feedback to district, block and periphery. He said it had also been proposed in the Programme Implementation Plan (PIP) for financial year 2012-13 to facilitate operationalisation of SMS-based work plans and verification and validating records of health providers and beneficiaries captured in Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) server across the state. He said the facility would be provided to all ANMs, lady home visitors (LHVs,) public health nurses (PHNs), ASHA and information assistants. He said a provision for reimbursement of monthly mobile charges of Rs 100 would be given for using personal mobile for tracking pregnant women and children and coordination with all stakeholders under the single reporting system.
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Legal literacy camp for slum women
Faridabad, July 23 The literacy camp was organised for women living in slums and they were made aware of their rights under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). Addressing the participants, Chief Judical Magistrate, District Legal Service Authority (Faridabad and Palwal), Rajni Yadav, assured them that the authority would do everything possible to protect their rights. Yadav said besides implementing schemes like the Legal Aid Clinic for Women, Help Line Services and the Model Scheme for Legal Aid Prosecution Counsel, free legal aid was made available by the authority to needy persons. Females must derive benefit of the service, he added. The coordinator of the DLSA, Ravinder Gupta, stressed the need for the empowerment of women. Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Faridabad, D. Suresh was the chief guest at the camp.
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Forest Dept mulls acquiring land for forest cover
Naraingarh (Ambala), July 23 State conservator of forests Ajay Kadyan said that given the fact that forest cover in the state was far below the national goal of one-third of the total land area of the state, the department was preparing a proposal to acquire panchayat land or any other land, wherever available, to plant more trees. He said that the proposal was at the initial stage, but if approved by the state government, it could go a long way in increasing green cover in the state, which has 4 per cent of its total land under forest cover, while 4 per cent of the area is under trees other than forests. Kadyan said that the Forest Department would grow trees on the land offered by the panchayats, which in return would generate extra income for villages as the panchayats would be allowed to axe these trees after they are fully grown and pocket the profits. The department would replant tree saplings on the same piece of land, he revealed. The state conservator said the state government had set a target to plant 5 crore trees during the current year. Half of them would be planted by the department itself and the rest would be supplied free of cost to NGOs, educational, religious and various government departments, he said.
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Faridabad MC staff pledge to intensify struggle
Faridabad, July 23 The federation served an ultimatum on the government to decide the matter by August 1; otherwise, the federation threatened to intensify its struggle against the government’s refusal to regularise them. “The next phase of the agitation against the government will be direct in nature,” Rattan Rohilla, general secretary of the federation, added. Rohilla described the proposal of the corporation regarding regularisation of services “half-baked”, which was rejected last month by the government. He alleged the government was never sympathetic to their demands. The employees had already carried out several demonstrations and dharnas in the past and it was last month when they went on a mass casual leave to lodge their protest. The federation also wrote a letter to the Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda regarding the workers, who were working from last 17-30 years with the Faridabad Municipal Corporation. In the letter, the federation pointed out the observation made by a high-powered committee, which said the employees were eligible for regularisation. The committee was constituted in November 2009 and was led by the chief secretary.
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