Chandigarh, November 27
Kurukshetra, the religious capital of Haryana, has also become a home to Presidents of three important political parties of the state.

The President of the Haryana unit of the Indian National Lok Dal, Mr Ashok Arora, used to run a milk business in Kurukshetra before he joined politics. It was an Assembly byelection during the Janata Dal rule in the beginning of the nineties, which saw the emergence of Mr Arora on the political scene of the state. Along with the Kurukshetra byelection, the (in)famous Meham byelection was also held. Though there was a demand from the people of Kurukshetra that the then Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, should contest from there, the latter chose to contest from Meham, where Mr Anand Singh Dangi had thrown him a challenge.

True to his nature of never shying away from a challenge, Mr Chautala contested from Meham, though at Kurukshetra he would have won hands down. The Meham byelection became (in)famous for its mayhem when the byelection was countermanded following alleged large-scale rigging. Mr Chautala's loss was Mr Arora's gain. A political naive became the first-time MLA. Though he suffered electoral set-backs on a number of occasions, Mr Arora's rise in the INLD continued. Ultimately, he was nominated as President of the Haryana unit of the party by Mr Chautala.

Dr Ram Prakash, Acting President of the Haryana Congress, too became MLA for the first time from Kurukshetra when he defeated Mr Arora in 1991. Dr Ram Prakash, a university teacher-turned-politician, was earlier Pro Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University. He was nominated as the Working President of the Haryana Congress after the party formed the government in the state in 2005. Since Mr Bhajan Lal quit as President of the Haryana Congress when his men were ignored in the party organisational set-up, Dr Ram Prakash, a close confidante of the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had been acting as the President of the party.

Now, Mr Atam Prakash Manchanda, who was practising as an advocate at Kurukshetra, has become the President of the Haryana unit of the BJP. He had been the Vice-President of the party since long. Considered to be a choice of the RSS, Mr Manchanda has emerged as the dark horse who pipped many senior and powerful leaders to the post. Certain people feel that Mr Manchanda has been selected to head the BJP in Haryana so that if in future some important leader from another national party decides to join hands with it, there should not be any ego problems on either side. However, others feel that Mr Manchanda has been chosen by the RSS as part of its strategy to woo the Punjabi community, which had been a pocket of strength for the BJP, at least till the veteran party leader, Dr Mangal Sein, was alive.

There are certain similarities among the three. They are considered to be sober and soft-spoken. Neither enjoy the power a president is expected to enjoy in his party. With the presence of Mr Chautala looming large, Mr Arora is considered to be a show-piece to placate the Punjabi community.

Dr Ram Prakash, naturally, cannot throw his weight around with the organisational matters of his party being tightly controlled by the high command. 

Ambala, November 27
Twelve-year-old Renu's mother died six months ago. She has no memory of her father. Now, living with her grandmother and aunt in a hutment on the outskirts of the city, she cries in silence, complaining to God for being unkind to her. Her family comprises young cousins and aged relatives with one generation ( of her parents) having been wiped out by AIDS.

“We were told, my son Nathu (name changed) had died of ‘tapdik’ (tuberculosis). He succumbed to the disease a few years ago. His wife Bimla (name changed), too, died of similar symptoms a few months ago. Nathu was a farm labourer and could not afford to take a day off to visit a hospital for treatment. He, however, did go to a local private doctor who gave him a cough syrup. He was rapidly losing weight and often went to work in poor health till he failed to get up one morning”, recounts Nathu’s mother Savitri, who now takes care of her granddaughter.

Doctors at the local Civil Hospital say that both Nathu and Bimla may have died of AIDS. Since they were not tested, it is not possible to pinpoint the cause of their death. But they showed signs of tuberculosis, the most common infection that strikes an HIV positive person.

“In many cases, these patients are mistaken to have died of tuberculosis or fever from unknown etiology” says Dr Umesh Lamba, Additional Director , Haryana State AIDS Control Society.

"We're sitting on a volcano," says a spokesperson of a Gurgaon-based NGO.People. "AIDS has infiltrated homes across the state. The tragedy is that since the symptoms may take seven to 10 years to appear, those who cannot afford good medical care die undiagnosed”.

With awareness levels rising, there are a few cases where men or women have volunteered to get themselves tested and got appropriate medical help. Rani (name changed) was married to Karan (name changed) of Ambala for barely a month when she discovered that her husband was suffering from a serious venereal disease. It took a lot of persuasion and coaxing on her part to get Karan - a truck cleaner - to agree to a medical examination at the local Voluntary Training and Counselling Centre (VCTC). The test result shattered her. Her worst fears turned true-her man had tested positive for HIV.

She decided to return to her parents' house. Furious at the VCTC staff for revealing his HIV status to his wife, Karan made all efforts for a rapprochement. For three months, Rani ,who had tested negative, did not relent. But when tested again after a window period of three months, she too tested positive. This clinched the issue and the two decided to come together once again. Dr Lamba says truck drivers, sex workers and intravenous drug users clubbed with migrant workers in the National Capital Region constitute the most vulnerable groups in the state. Though Haryana falls in the low-risk states, it has identified around 40,000 HIV positive cases, mainly concentrated in the NCR.

Five districts of Faridabad, Gurgaon, Sonepat, Jhajar and Rohtak are believed to have a higher number of HIV positive cases. Jind appears to be on the top with the ART Centre receiving over 30 cases during last month alone, according to Dr Subhash Juneja in charge of the ART Centre.

According to Ms Pooja, a counsellor at the ART Centre, 14 patients did not return for treatment this month. This put the centre staff in a spin, trying to contact them and cajoling the relatives to bring them back. It is mainly women who fail to return because their families consider domestic chores more important than their treatment.

To be continued

Chandigarh, November 27
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today came down heavily on the ADGP (CID), Haryana, Mr P.V. Rathee, for having failed to control or even intervene during the alleged misbehaviour of his inebriated security personnel with a lady Judge of the High Court and her staff.

During hearing of the suo motu contempt proceedings against the Haryana Government and Mr Rathee, the court observed that IPS officers have to combine intelligence with exposure. "The Indian Police Service training teaches you how to conduct yourself. If this is the behaviour, then even 'thanedar' can be appointed DGP," the Bench of Acting Chief Justice S.S. Nijjar and Mr Justice S.S. Saron told Mr Rathee.

Thereafter, the Bench told him to go through the 58 instructions issued by the High Court in the Namit Kumar case and then file his reply.

It may be recalled that on November 19, some drunk Haryana Police personnel accompanying ADGP Rathee allegedly misbehaved with Mrs Justice Nirmal Yadav and threatened her security staff.

The incident took place on the busy Ambala-Chandigarh highway.

In a complaint submitted by Haryana Police Constable Udaibir Singh, posted as personal security officer (PSO) with Mrs Justice Nirmal Yadav, it was stated that on November 19, when the Judge was on her way back from Delhi in her official car, a rashly-driven Haryana police Gypsy overtook the Judge's car near the Baldev Nagar Camp. The personnel sitting in the Gypsy also made threatening gestures to the occupants of the Judge's car.

After alighting from their vehicle, the police personnel allegedly misbehaved with the occupants of the Judge's car and told them that they were doing pilot duty with Mr P.V. Rathee, ADGP (CID), Haryana.

Despite being informed about the identity of the VIP passenger traveling in the car, who is a sitting Judge of the High Court, the cops continued to misbehave with the occupants and even threatened them, the complaint says.

Thereafter, the Judge intervened and talked to Mr Rathee. She also asked him to get his security officials medically examined to check whether they were drunk. She also asked him to take appropriate action against the erring officials.

Today, after a short hearing, the Bench adjourned the matter to December 12.

Bhiwani, November 27
In order to provide all sorts of facilities to the slum areas of the town, the local municipal council has identified 21 slum dwellings. A sum of Rs 28.92 crore will be spent for this purpose.

Talking to the mediapersons here today, Deputy Commissioner Mohinder Kumar said under the beautification scheme of small towns, all amenities like clean drinking water, better sewerage system, cemented streets and roads, drains, streetlights, latrines and community centres would be provided in these slum colonies.

He said the council had initiated work at Haluwas Gate New Basti, Shiv Nagar Colony, Dhani Gujran Ravi Dass temple, Sanjiv and Brijwasi Colony, behind Guwar Factory Basti, Durga Colony, Hanuman Dhani, Friends Colony, outer area of Dadri Gate, Tiba Basti Haluwas Gate, Kumharan Mohalla, Azad Nagar, Balmiki Basti, Labour Colony, Chiranjivi Colony, Krishna Colony , Teliwara, Kumharan Mohalla Nunsar pond, PS Azad Mohalla, Shyamiyan Dhani and Khari Mohalla.

Mr Mohinder Kumar said 15,815 metre-long pipeline would be laid at a cost of Rs 158 lakh to provide clean drinking water in these dwellings. Likewise, 62,289 sq ft-long sewerage line would be laid.

Sonepat, November 27
It was only partial success for the district administration when it managed to convince nearly half of the agitating farmers to lift their 57-day-old indefinite dharna on last evening.

The other group of farmers, however, criticised the administration for adopting the divide-and-rule policy and firmly declined to lift their dharna being staged at the G.T. Road crossing near Badhkhalsa village in protest against acquisition of their land for setting up the Rajiv Gandhi Education Society.

Differences among the agitating farmers, who staged the dharna under the banner of the Bhumi Adhigrahan Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, surfaced when the Deputy Commissioner, Ms Neerja Shekhar, assured that 80 per cent land of the village would not be acquired for the purpose.

While one group of the farmers announced to lift the dharna and uprooted tents, the other opposed it and again pitched tents and started the dharna. Though the move has divided the samiti, it has not been a complete success of the administration.

Hisar, November 27
Specific directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court notwithstanding, a large number of hoardings as well as advertisement boards have been put up along the main road as well as other roads in the city.

Quite a few of these hoardings display announcements regarding government functions and rallies, with the local administrative authorities remaining oblivious of their responsibility in this regard for obvious reasons.

Ironically, some hoardings dotting the roadside these days contain pictures of the Haryana Governor, the Chief Minister and the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development.

It would be interesting to note that the Department of Urban Development is directly responsible for ensuring implementation of the court's directions in this regard.

In the civil writ petition (7639/1995) in the case tilted "Nimit Kumar vs Chandigarh Administration and others", the High Court had observed that "all signboards/hoardings, neon signboards and advertisement boards facing the highways, main roads and side roads/lanes shall be removed.”

The state authorities had been directed to comply with the directions which were issued in public interest. Such hoardings distract the attention of the vehicle drivers, thereby increasing the proneness of road accidents. However, a number of such hoardings and advertisement boards still continue to dot the city roads in violation of court orders and ignoring the safety of residents.

Another significant fact regarding the matter is that whenever such violations are reported in the media, the boards and hoardings are removed, but the frame structures on which these are put up remain intact. New hoardings are displayed on these huge structures after some time.

Chandigarh, November 27
Cold and fog claimed lives of three persons in Haryana and higher reaches of Himachal had experienced another spell of snow today. 

Rickshawpuller identified as Ashok Kumar, succumbed to cold in Yamunanagar town of Haryana. His body was found lying near the rickshaw in the morning, a report from Jagadhri said. 

In another incident motorcyclist identified as Sunil (26) was killed when his vehicle hit a rickshaw due to poor visibility due to fog on the Jagadhri-Bilaspur road last night. 

In yet another accident due to poor visibility, a pedestrian, identified as Shammi (30), was killed when hit by a vehicle at Sadora village in Yamunanagar district. He was crossing road when there was fog. 

People groaned under cold at various places in Punjab and Haryana as the minimum temperature stayed one degree to three degrees below normal following overcast sky. Cold winds blew across the region in the day. 

The minimum temperature dipped to 3.2 degrees celsius at Narnaul in Mahendergarh district, turning it the coldest place in Haryana. Karnal with 6.6 degrees celsius, three degrees below normal, was the second coldest place in the state. Hisar, however, showed one degree above normal temperature at 9.1 degrees. 

Cold conditions prevailed in Punjab with Patiala and Ludhiana recording the minimum two degrees below normal. Patiala recorded 7 degrees and Ludhiana 7.1 degrees. Temperature also fell at Amritsar registering 7.5 degrees celsius. 

Several areas in Himachal were reeling from cold weather conditions. People in tribal districts of Lahaul Spiti and Kinnaur and Pangi valley and Bharmaur area in Chamba district were facing biting cold wave following fresh snowfall in these areas. The minimum temperature hovered below freezing point in the tribal belt. Cold winds lashed Shimla recording a minimum of 5.7 degrees celsius. 

Chandigarh and adjoining areas in Punjab and Haryana were also under cold weather conditions with the minimum temperature dipping to 6.4 degrees, three degrees below normal. 

The Weather Office has predicted light to moderate rain or snow at many places in Himachal and rain or thundershowers at few places in Punjab and isolated places in Haryana in next 24 hours. — UNI