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Chautala ecstatic over INLD victory in Rajasthan BJP clamour for parting ways with INLD may get louder Food for thought for PM It was all chaos outside the Haryana regional office of the Food Corporation of India here today. A long queue started forming outside the corporation’s office late last night in anticipation of the FCI’s offer of wheat in the open market. Board plugs loopholes to check copying The Haryana School Education Board has decided to set up five control rooms equipped with the internet, and telephone facilities. Besides, flying squad teams have also been provided. |
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6 earthen dams to be built Devirupak scheme revised The Rohtak District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum president Jagdish Chopra has resigned from his post. According to sources, Mr Chopra sent his resignation letter to the Haryana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission secretary at Chandigarh yesterday. 
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Chautala ecstatic over INLD victory in Rajasthan Yamunanagar, December 5 Referring to the development works undertaken in the last four years, the Chief Minister asserted that development of the state had become possible due to implementaion of innovative schemes and time frame fixed for completing the same in a systematic way. Regarding the completion of Yamunanagar Thermal Power Plant, he said global tenders have been floated and the work on the same would soon be started. The seventh unit of Tau Devi Lal Thermal Power Plant at Panipat would be commissioned by October, 2004, while the eighth unit would be completed by February, 2005. Two transport nagars would be brought up, besides three timber markets, one each at Jorian, Chhachhrauli and Saharanpur, he said. Mr Chautala said DIET would have all basic facilities for providing training to junior basic teachers and oriental languages teachers as well as refresher courses for the in-service teachers. The state government had also implemented insurance scheme to provide security to all students, teachers and non-teaching employees of the government schools, he added. Under the “Sarv Siksha Abhiyan”, a sum of Rs 145 crore would be spent in the state during the current year with a view to bring qualitative change in the education system in the State. He also said the foundation stone of the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) to be constructed at a cost of Rs 1.50 crore at Tejli village near here today. The Chief Minister also said that under the “Sarav Siksha Abhiyan”, Rs 3.54 crore would be spent to provide artificial limbs and hearing aids to the physically challenged persons in the state. Launching the state-level scheme here, he distributed 36 tricycles, 135 artificial limbs, 16 wheelchairs and 13 hearing aids to children. Mr Chautala also flagged off a well-equipped ambulance provided by the Ministry of Road Transport and National Highways to the District Red Cross Society, which would provide prompt services to the injured persons on the national highway-73 between Saharanpur and Saha. The Chief Minister laid foundation stones of various development activities on which over Rs 10 crore would be spent in the district. Later, Mr Chautala inaugurated a fire station at Gulabgarh which would have two fire brigades. |
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BJP clamour for parting ways with INLD may get louder Chandigarh, December 5 Mr Krishan Pal Gurjar, leader of the party’s legislative wing in the state, who is also one of the most vocal critics of Chief Minister and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala, said they would urge the party’s central leadership to take note of the anti-incumbency mood of the electorate which helped the BJP sweep the polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. “If we tie up with the INLD for the Lok Sabha elections in Haryana, the BJP candidates may have to bear the brunt of the anti-incumbency factor against the INLD. We can do better if we contest the coming Lok Sabha elections on our own in Haryana”, Mr Gurjar said. He, however, added that he would abide by the high cammand’s decision on this issue. Mr Ganeshi Lal, President of the Haryana BJP and a former minister, told TNS over the phone from Delhi that it was actually the development agenda of the NDA Government headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee which had impressed the voters of the three states. “It was not the anti-incumbency factor but the Vajpayee-led government’s performance which had fetched the votes for us”, the BJP chief of Haryana said. The party’s victory in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Mr Ganeshi Lal said, had given a boost to the morale of the party’s supporters and sympathisers in Haryana. Mr Ganeshi Lal indicated the situation was ripe for impressing upon the party’s top leadership to contest the Lok Sabha poll without striking an alliance with the INLD. |
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Food for thought for PM Chandigarh, December 5 Four tricolours, each three-metre long, have arrived here from Karnal, Sonepat, Jind and Ambala. Ms Dheera Khandelwal, Director, Women and Child Development, said such parcels from other districts of Haryana would also reach shortly for presentation to the Prime Minister. The exercise was part of a nation-wide programme to apprise the Prime Minister of how children look at the world around them. The flags were set up in schools or other prominent places on November 14 and children were invited to articulate their thoughts on these. Students of Oxford Public School, Jind, were particularly vociferous about gender discrimination. “Female foeticide must stop. The girl child may one day become someone like Kalpana Chawla or Mother Teresa”, wrote Monica Radu of this school. Pooja, another student, wrote society should stop discriminating between male and female children. Parents were admired in most flags. However, there were also a few who thought otherwise. Nisha, a student of Siba Shiksha Sadan Vidyalaya, Sonepat, “wrote father and mother should not fight. It scares children. A student of Ambala wrote to the government, “please give us good jobs when we grow up”. Another student wanted the government to bring down the prices of commodities and ensure that all its elected functionaries were well- educated. The scroll from Ambala does not give any information about the writers’ names or their schools. Deenesh Meena, a student from Karnal, advocated the banning of Hindi movies, saying that “the films inspire boys to become gangsters and girls to go around in skimpy clothes”. A somewhat similar statement came from Neha, a class IV student at Shambhu Dayal Modern School, Sonepat, who appealed to her teachers to “dress less fashionably”. The removal of disparity between urban and rural schools and private and government schools, introduction of the same curriculum in all schools across the country, free education for poor students were popular themes in all four districts. |
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A day of chaos at FCI office
Chandigarh, December 5 Interestingly, the corporation issued advertisements only in today’s newspapers offering a limited quantity of wheat to be sold in the open market in certain states. Since the corporation had announced the scheme earlier, many interested businessmen had kept bank drafts ready. The FCI had earlier announced that money would be accepted only from the day the formal advertisement would be published. Many businessmen had engaged rickshaw-pullers to stand in the queue on their behalf since midnight last night. A dispute arose when certain persons formed another queue. The FCI authorities called the police, which failed to resolve the dispute. Mr T.C. Gupta, Senior Regional Manager, FCI Haryana, had to intervene to prevent the situation from taking an ugly turn. He personally accepted the applications. He found that many persons in the queue had no demand drafts or even applications. They were keeping the seats warm while their associates were busy in getting bank drafts. Wheat is to be allotted on a first come, first served basis. The money will be accepted for six more days. The corporation has offered 58 rake-load of wheat for various states. Informed sources say the demand is primarily for states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and North-eastern states. There are not many takers for states like Rajasthan, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal. Mr Gupta said the scheme was for selling wheat of the 2000-01 and 2002-03 crop year and would remain open for two months. It is learnt that on the first day of the scheme, the FCI collected about Rs 40 crore as 25 per cent earnest money for 84 rake-load of wheat. The rest is to be paid by the buyer in the state where wheat would be delivered to him. Under the scheme, a buyer saves on handling charges, besides getting a 30 per cent subsidy on freight. The sources say in certain states a buyer may get a margin up to Rs 1 lakh per rake. |
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Board plugs loopholes to check copying Bhiwani, December 5 A spokesman of the board said many steps were being initiated by the board for improving the standard of education in the state. He said adequate number of police personnel would be deputed outside the examination centres to check the outside interference in the examinations. He said the duties of superintendents and examiners would be changed on random basis. Moreover, the examination duties for the teachers would be compulsory and strict disciplinary action would be taken against the shirkers. The spokesman said a campaign against copying was being made a people’s movement. He said 8969 cases of copying were detected in 2003 examinations out of which 169 students were found innocent while others were punished and made ineligible to appear in the board examination for one to two years. He said in order to strengthen the evaluation system orientation courses for the examiners and chief examiners were being started. Under this programme, seminars were being oganised at the divisional level in which over 2,000 examiners and chief examiners would participate. A seminar was organised today for over 500 examiners of Gurgaon, Rewari, Mahindergarh and Faridabad districts at the State Educational Research and Training Council, Gurgaon. Similar seminars for the examiners from Rohtak, Sonepat, Jhajjar, Panipat and Jind districts would be held on December 18 at Rohtak and of Hisar, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Bhiwani districts on December 24 at Hisar. |
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6 earthen dams to be built
Bharauli (Panchkula), December 5 Officials in the state Forest Department inform that construction work had already begun for the dams at Banswala, Turon and Dhandion in Panchkula, and Kansli, Thaska and Kathgarh villages in Yamunanagar district. These dams, to be constructed at a cost of over Rs 1 crore, will be operational by March, 2004. Mr S.K. Dhar, Project Director of the Haryana Community Forestry Project, informed since the project activities lay in the construction of water-harvesting dams and the protection of the associated catchment area with the participation of Village Resources Management Committees (VRMC), 18 such dams would be constructed here. Two dams, one at Bharauli and another at Ibrahimpur in Yamunanagar, were constructed in 2001-02, three other dams — Mirpur, Kaimwala (Panchkula) and Bhagwanpur (Yamunanagar) were constructed in 2002-03. These dams had a combined catchmwent area of 474 hactares, have not only increased the potential of agriculture by providing year round irrigation, but also helped in the overall economic upliftment of the people residing here. In fact, all these dams are being constructed after the success of the dam at Bharauli, which propelled the Forest department to take up the construction of these dams on a war-footing. This 14-metre high earthen water harvesting dam, with a catchment area of 90 hactares and a submergence area of 5. 13 hactares, was constructed in February, 2002, at a cost of Rs 31. 22 lakh. This has helped change the entire ecology of 232 hactares of barren land into lush farms of wheat, vegetables, and seed farms of radish, cauliflower and carrots. A visit to the once drought-hit village of Bharauli by The Tribune team today reveals a success story. The villagers say that two years ago, the only vegetation was wheat and fodders, but now with water being available, they have also had a successful paddy crop on about 16 hactares of the area. Says Mandeep Kumar, a farmer in this village” “We had never thought that we could cultivate our lands, but the water availability through the dam has helped in our economic upliftment”. However, there has been a problem of silt deposition in this dam and villagers say that silt is also enterinig their fields with the water from the dam. Dr S.S. Grewal of HCFP, says that a silt detention structure will be constructed on the catchment area of the dam, and villagers have agreed to chip in 50 per cent of the expense. In fact, all these dams are being constructed by the villagers themselves. Though the cost of construction is being borne by the Forest Department, the villagers create corpus fund for the operation of this dam. Each farmer is asked to make an initial contribution to the corpus fund, and is then assured water for irrigation. An 11- member committee of villagers, having women representation as well as members of the Scheduled Castes and backward classes, are constituted by the village panchayat to manage the water supply and maintenance of the dams. These dams are being constructed in the drought-hit areas. Because of the location of these villages on the foothills of Shivaliks, the ground water retention capacity is almost minimal. Subsistence being mainly through agriculture and dairying, water remains their only hope of survival. |
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Devirupak scheme revised Chandigarh, December 5 The scheme was introduced to stabilise population, check the declining sex ratio and popularise the one-child norm. A monthly incentive of Rs 500 was being given after the birth of the first girl child. A sum of Rs 200 was given after the birth of the male child while Rs 200 was also give after the birth of the second girl child provided the first child too was a girl. According to the revised eligibility conditions, a couple would have to get itself registered with the gram panchayat or municipal committee concerned the benefit will be applicable to men up to the age of 45 years and to women up to the age of 40 years. The benefit will be available if the terminal method of family planning is adopted before the youngest child attains the age of five years. In case neither of the partners adopts the terminal method of family planning after the birth of the first girl child, either of the two would have to adopt such a method before the youngest girl child attains the age of five years. None of the partners should be an income tax payee.
In case a couple is blessed with twins one of the partners would have to adopt the terminal method of family planning within five years of such delivery. If the twins are both girls, the monthly incentive would be the same as for one girl child. In all other combinations, the norm applicable for adoption of the scheme at the birth of the first male child would be applicable. |
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Consumer Forum chief resigns Rohtak, December 5 According to sources, Mr Chopra sent his resignation letter to the Haryana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission secretary at Chandigarh yesterday. Sources said Mr Chopra resigned in protest against the State Forum’s recent directions restraining him from pronouncing judgments, kept reserved by him. Although, the State Commission had allowed him to hear cases listed before him till the completion of his tenure, Mr Chopra preferred to resign on the ground that drawing salary without work was against his principles.
— UNI |
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Former BKU chief dead Sonepat, December 5 Representatives of various farmers organisations paid him tributes and attended his funeral. — PTI |
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Encroachments removed Karnal, December 5 Many signboards, shutters and illegal constructions were removed in the drive that was carried on for more than three hours. One JCB and few trucks were used in the operation. Heaps of malba lying here and there was also removed.
— TNS |
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