• Order on GPF papers submission
• Computer 'class' for Principals
• Navratra mela from March 18

Villagers persuaded to pay power bills
From Our Correspondent

HISAR, Feb 12 — Under the "defaulting bill collection campaign" of the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN), a number of residents of Kanhari village, near Tohana deposited their pending power bills yesterday. This was achieved through the persuasion of the district Administration and officers of the HVPN, according to Mr R.S. Malik, Superintending Engineer, Operation Circle, Hisar.

Mr Malik said over 300 consumers of the village had not been paying the bills since 1994. In a talk between villagers and the district Administration at the village on February 9 they agreed to pay the bills of the whole village.

Mr Satyabir Singh, sarpanch, Mr Mahender Singh Panch, Mr Nathu Ram, president of the Block Congress, Mr Mahatab Singh president of the District Bharatiya Kisan Union and many others deposited the amount due to them. However, villagers expressed their inability to deposit some more sum due to them immediately on the plea of intensive damage to kharif crop. The HVPN has changed two damaged transformers in the village and restored power supply fully.

The Superintending Engineer said the HVPN had achieved success in the collection of pending bills in a number of villages under the Hansi operation division also. During the past two days, the HVPN had collected Rs 1.85 lakh from Kungar village, Rs 1.50 lakh from Sorkhi village, Rs 85,000 from Kharkhara village Rs 3 lakh from Sisar-Kharbala village and Rs 1 lakh from Khera village.

The HVPN has also reportedly persuaded residents of Puthi, Sukhpura, Madanheri, Bhaklana and Ugalan villages for the payment of bills.

Mr Malik said a special campaign for the collection of defaulting amount had been launched at Fatehabad and Tohana on the pattern of Hisar.

MDU VC seeks action against Registrar
From Our Correspondent

ROHTAK, Feb 12 — The Vice-Chancellor of Maharshi Dayanand University, Lieut-Gen (retd) O.P. Kaushik, has reportedly sought withdrawal of Mr Ashok Khemka, Registrar of the university, for his alleged misconduct and misbehaviour with the Vice-Chancellor.

According to sources, in a letter written to Mr Ram Sahay Verma, Chief Secretary, a couple of days ago, the Vice-Chancellor had alleged that Mr Khemka "has been extremely casual in his approach and tends to be disdainful". He has appealed to the authorities to initiate a disciplinary action against the Registrar.

Meanwhile, members of teaching and non-teaching staff of Maharshi Dayanand University, including senior professors, Deans, Deputy Registrars and members of the executive council have reportedly come openly in support of the Vice-Chancellor.

In a joint statement signed by over 250 employees and officials of the university, a call to maintain the dignity of the university, has been made.

The Vice-Chancellor was addressing an emergent meeting of Deputy Registrars, Assistant Registrars and other senior officials of the university today.

It is learnt that Mr Khemka would meet the Governor and Chancellor of the university to put his case before them.

Meanwhile, the Scheduled Caste and Backward Class Employees Welfare Association in a meeting held here today criticised the Vice-Chancellor for not adopting the reservation policy. Some students from various colleges also took out a procession demanding the removal of the Vice-Chancellor.

The teaching community here has expressed concern over the alleged interference in the university affairs by the government.

Teachers said that during the tenure of Mr Kaushik, the International Environmental Conference declared this university as the best administered university. He was also responsible for vacating hostels from unauthorised occupants and curbing activities of anti-social elements.

Withdraw price hike, demands Chautala
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Feb 12 — Mr Ajay Chautala, President of the youth wing of the Indian National Lok Dal, (INLD) today reiterated his party's demand for the withdrawal of the hike in the prices of the essential commodities distributed through the public distribution system.

Addressing a series of public meetings in the villages of the Sonepat Assembly constituency, he said the party had already protested against the hike and continued with its threat to withdraw support to the Vajpayee government. The hike, he said, would badly affect the weaker sections of society.

Flaying the Congress, Mr Chautala said the kranti rally to be organised by the party at Jind tomorrow was to misguide the people of the state.

He came down heavily on the Bansi Lal government for not providing the much-delayed compensation to farmers whose crops were damaged because of the floods water logging and untimely rains last year. There were a large number of farmers, who had not been able to cultivate any crop for the third consecutive year, he said, adding that even the much publicised scheme of crop insurance had only remained on paper.

He urged the state government to review the budgetary allocations and divert more funds to combat natural calamities in the state.

Expressing concern over the deteriorating law and order situation and poor conditions of roads, he blamed the state government for it. He accused it of misleading the people on the power front.

Earlier, addressing a press conference here, he charged the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, with betraying the people as he had failed to fulfil the promises made to the people before the Assembly elections.

Mr Chautala said the government was doing nothing to improve the sanitary conditions in cities and villages.

Referring to the programmes, he said the party would hold a students' convention on February 26 at Bhiwani and a youth convention on March 13 at Dadri.

Jaundice outbreak in Palwal
Tribune News Service

FARIDABAD, Feb 12 — Jaundice has spread in a big way in the Palwal and adjoining areas, 30 km from Faridabad. The cause is stated to be contamination of water.

According to official sources over 130 persons are suffering from hepatitis. Blood samples have been sent to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) for tests to identify the type of hepatitis. The NICD is likely to take one week to report back. However, the actual number of people suffering from the disease could be much higher.

Out of 96 samples of water tested so far as many as 25 had been found positive.

Water supplied by the Public Health Department in Palwal is seldom chlorinated. Leaking water pipes, overflowing sewers, faulty drainage system and raw water of hand pumps have contributed to the contamination resulting in the spread of contagious diseases. The localities badly affected by jaundice are Sheikhupura, Jhabbar Nagar, Pirwali Gali, Agra- chowk etc.

The situation in the Faridabad Municipal Corporation area and Ballabhgarh is no better. The Central Ground Water Board has already declared drinking water supplied as highly contaminated. The danger of jaundice spreading to Faridabad can not be ruled out.

The health authorities said 10 teams of doctors with the senior medical officer of Palwal as overall in charge had been set up to undertake extensive survey and provide treatment. More than 11,000 tablets had been distributed among people to contain the disease and chlorination of water was being done.

Flesh racket at railway station busted
From Jai Prakash Mann

AMBALA, Feb 12 — A flesh racket operating at the cantonment railway station for the past several months has been busted.

According to information, certain persons dressed as eunuchs had been acting as pimps and prostitutes and solicited "customers" at the railway station. The entire "operation" was conducted at the yard where railway coaches were parked for the night. The coaches were used by the prostitutes as a haven and did not arise the suspicion of passersby.

On a tipoff, the new Superintendent of government railway police, Haryana, Mr Attar Singh Ahlawat, ordered a raid on Wednesday. Two plainclothesmen Mr Anil Dhawan, Deputy Superintendent of railway police, and Mr Bagicha Singh, Inspector, led two police parties. The policemen acted as decoy customers. When the prostitutes began to solicit them, they managed to arrest six persons , including five women, in this connection.

Mr Ahlawat disclosed that those arrested had been identified as Geeta from Bihar, Chhamiya from Lucknow, Gudiya from Ambala city, Rekha from Rajoura and Anju from Ambala city. Om Parkash, who had been working at the MES office in the cantonment, was also nabbed. A case had been registered against them.

The gang was reported to be consisting of over 20 persons. Offices of the government railway police (GRP) and the railway protection force were located nearby. A police post of the GRP was set up at the railway station itself. Investigations were being made into the suspected connivance of certain policemen.

While most of the prostitutes had been operating from platform number 1, some of them worked on platform number 7. The "flesh trade" would start as soon as night descended and continued till the wee hours of the morning. Most of the customers were said to be Army jawans posted at the cantonment and other passengers.

Sources said some of the customers were deprived of their belongings but no complaints were made for fear of being exposed.

Surprisingly, no action had been taken earlier though the pimps functioned openly. While some of them had been nabbed the others escaped.

Money extortion: details of phone calls sought
Tribune News Service

GURGAON, Feb 12 — Fresh from nabbing members of a notorious inter-state gang operating in Delhi and Haryana a few days ago, the police here is now under pressure to unravel the details of phone calls made to businessmen in which money was demanded by some miscreants.

According to the police, so far calls have been made to about six businessmen, including doctors running nursing homes.

The callers reportedly claimed to be of "D gang" (Dawood Ibrahim). They claimed that they were local agents of the Dubai-based gangster. The money demanded was Rs 10 lakh from each businessman. The callers have warned that in case the money was not given, the businessmen concerned would not be allowed to live in peace.

The phone call phenomenon started about 10 days ago.

According to the district police chief, Mr Khusi Ram Dahiya, all efforts are being made to nab the miscreants.

So far the police has not been able to get any clue. However, the police feels that there was a strong possibility of a local gang behind the racket.

The issue has come to fore after a doctor, owning a private hospital, was fired upon a couple of days ago by two scooter-borne persons outside his hospital. The doctor and his wife had a miraculous escape. The doctor, later, received a phone call. The caller warned him of a fresh bid on his life if he did not part with Rs 10 lakh. The doctor was among those persons who had received calls for the money.

Panel proposes terms for admission tests
From Our Correspondent

ROHTAK, Feb 12 — A six-member subcommittee of the Haryana Cabinet recently proposed to the state government that the condition of passing plus two examination from Haryana only should be made compulsory for admission to medical colleges, dental colleges and ayurvedic colleges of the state.

Candidates who pass their plus two examination from Haryana and Chandigarh are at present eligible for entrance test for admission to these colleges.

The subcommittee was deputed to decide the eligibility criteria for admissions to nearly 550 seats of these colleges. It opined that the students from Haryana were lagging behind as they had to compete with students from Chandigarh.

The subcommittee headed by the Home Minister, Mr Mani Ram Godara, included Mr Siri Kishan Dass, Town and Country Planning Minister, Prof Ram Bilas Sharma, Education Minister, Mr Om Prakash Mahajan, Health Minister, Dr Kamla Verma, Local Bodies Minister and Mr Vinod Marya, State Minister for Medical Education.

The state government is likely to approve the proposal soon as the admissions to the MD and MS courses are already getting late.

Meanwhile, the state government has authorised a high-powered committee comprising six senior administrative officials for conducting entrance tests to these colleges. Earlier the authority to conduct these tests was vested with the Maharshi Dayanand University.

More power stations at Bhiwani, Kurukshetra
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 12 — The Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) augmented five existing sub-stations at a cost of Rs 2.15 crore last month as part of its ongoing programme to provide 24-hour power supply in the state.

An official spokesman said here today that a 16 mva transformer was commissioned at 132 kv sub-station at Digawan Jattan at a cost of Rs 102 lakh, benefiting the villages of Digawan Jattan, Kari, Singhani, Bardu, Badheera, Dandma , Kharkari, Bithan and Sirsali in Bhiwani district. Another 12.5 mva transformer was commissioned at 66 kv substation at Shahbad at a cost of Rs 12 lakh, ensuring power supply to the villages of Sudhpur, Katlauhari, Dangali, Yari-Yara, Dig and Shahbad town area of Kurukshetra district.

Similarly, two 5 mva transformers were opened at a cost of Rs 18.5 lakh and 33 kv sub-stations at Nakipur and Degoh, benefiting the villages of Nakipur, Nangla, Pahari, Denkora and Cheher of Bhiwani district and Dehoh, Gothara and Dhollu villages of Hisar district by improving in the voltage.

Another 8 mva transformer was also commissioned at 33 kv sub-station at Lohani at a cost of Rs 81.5 lakh which would benefit the villages of Lohani, Lalhana and PH No. II of Bhiwani district, he added.

Hathni Kund barrage may be ready by June
From Ashwani Dutta

YAMUNANAGAR: Chief Minister Bansi Lal's direction to complete the Hathni Kund barrage by May has inspired Irrigation Department officials to accelerate the pace of construction.

Mr Bansi Lal, Chief Minister, who was here on Republic Day, met Irrigation Department's officials during an "At Home" function and asked them to complete construction, much before the September deadline.

The need for the barrage arose because of floods on September 3,1978 in the Yamuna in which the Tajewala headworks, over 126 years old, faced the threat of being washed away.

The Haryana Government entrusted construction work to the Hindustan Construction Company, Mumbai. A memorandum of understanding was signed on May 13,1994, between the beneficiary states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, UP and HP.

After the commencement of construction work on this barrage on October 14,1996, there have been many hurdles and natural calamities which affected the progress of the construction. The first setback was the floods on August 3,1997, in which machinery and materials worth crores of rupees were submerged. The construction area was covered by silt which took a considerable time to clear and repair the machinery.

During the 1997 floods the coffer dam of the Hathni Kund barrage was also washed away and 11 senior HCC executives including works manager S.P. Thosar, were trapped in the barrage working area but were later rescued. After hard work and extra efforts, the loss was recovered and construction activities were resumed.

Again on October 18, the construction activities were paralysed when around 5.41 lakh cusecs of water flowed in the Yamuna, which washed away the temporary coffer dam.

When this newsman went to the site he was informed by the barrage's Executive Engineer, Mr S.L. Sharma, that they were confident that the work would be finished before May 31. They were taking no chances because they expected early monsoon showers this year.

Meanwhile, work on the link channel, downstream of Hathni Kund barrage, has started. Larsen & Toubro, a leading construction company, had been chosen by the Haryana Irrigation Department to construct the Rs 30-crore project.

The Western Jamuna Canal (W.J.C.) link channel is required to be constructed to connect the new WJC head regulator with the existing canal. Land for the channel has been acquired, except for a small area, which has been notified.

The pre-qualification documents of WJC link channel have been approved by the World Bank. The clearance of forest, falling in the alignment of the channel, has been given by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

The channel would take off from the western head regulator (Haryana side) downstream of Hathni Kund barrage with a carrying capacity of 20,000 cusecs.

Larsen & Toubro officials are hopeful of completing the work within the scheduled time. It has agreed to complete the earthwork of the channel by June 30.

Work on western head regulator of the barrage has been completed. The barrage has 18 bays — of 18 metres each — out of the 10 bays serving as spillway. Five bays have already been completed and work on the rest is going on war-footing. Now work on the eastern head regulator has been taken up and is progressing at a fast pace. Work upstream in respect of earthwork and laying of the concrete is in progress.

Mr S.L. Sharma, Executive Engineer, says that 85 per cent of the excavation work, 70 p.c. of the concrete laying, 80 p.c. of the reinforcement and gates and 70 p. c. of gearing has been completed.

Mr R.K. Ailwadi, Chief Engineer (Irrigation) when contacted said the entire earthwork of the link channel would be completed by June 30 and the structure within the 15-months' stipulated time.

The fourth powerhouse of 16 MW of Western Jamuna Channel will also be undertaken with the completion of the link channel. It is learnt that funds to construct the powerhouse are being arranged either from Japan's O.E.C.F. (Overseas Economic Corporation Fund), or from financial institutions in the country.

Computer 'class' for Principals
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Feb 12 — Principals of several prestigious schools of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula will once again be students tomorrow to learn about computer-aided education in the classroom.

The "class" for the Principals and their colleagues will be held in Multimedia Theatre of Hansraj Public School here tomorrow where NIIT has organised a presentation on a series of "learning through exploration discovery and adventure (LEDA)" compact discs at 3 p.m.

According to Mrs Rajani Thareja, Principal of Hansraj Public School, which has been making use of NIIT software for the past one year, the content of LEDA series is syllabus-based in a manner which can be readily integrated in the classroom for children in the age group of three and half year and above.

Mrs Thareja says, the presentation "Classroom of the next millennium", will show how computers can turn into stimulating and guiding teachers providing phenomenal advantages to students.

The Home Secretary of Chandigarh, Mrs Anuradha Gupta, who also looks after the Education Department, will also attend the presentation.

Navratra mela from March 18
From Our Correspondent

PANCHKULA, Feb 12 — The eight-day Navratra mela at Mata Mansa Devi Temple will begin on March 18. A meeting to review arrangements in this regard was chaired by the Financial Commissioner of Local Bodies, Mr M.K. Miglani.

The Deputy Commissioner, Ms Saroj Siwach, Administrator (HUDA), Mr Devinder Singh, Chief Executive Officer of the Mata Mansa Devi Pooja Sathal Board, Mr H.S. Pannu were among those who attended the meeting.

Order on GPF papers submission
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 12 — The Haryana Government has directed all heads of department to ensure submission of General Provident Fund papers of the retiring employees six months before their retirement so as to enable them to receive their final payment in time.

It is the duty of the department concerned or the office to prepare the necessary papers well in time. However, stern action would be initiated against those found delaying such papers, the communication added. The application on prescribed proforma papers should be sent to the Accountant-General, Haryana. The Drawing and Disbursing Officers should be made responsible for timely submission of such papers.