Engg students victims of anomalies
From Ravi S. Singh
Tribune News Service

GURGAON, Nov 23 — If you want to open an institute to run professional courses and earn money without fulfilling the required norms, Haryana, especially Gurgaon, appears to be the destination. Such an incongruous phenomenon is the flipside of rapid development.

The development is seen by many as a damper to the avowed intention of the Haryana Government to make Gurgaon a cyber city.

Students, numbering about 250, of Anupma College of Engineering, a unit of Dr R.N. Gupta Technical Society and affiliated to Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, find themselves victims of anomalies. They are ruing the fact that they opted for the engineering course. The college is approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Ministry of Human Resource Development, and the Haryana Government.

Parents of the students have written to the AICTE and the Haryana Government, drawing attention to the “poor conditions” of the institute. They have pointed out that although two batches of students have been enrolled in the college, the authorities have yet to provided the basic infrastructure.

Incidentally, the college provides courses in electronics and communication engineering, instrumentation and control engineering and computer engineering.

The parents allege that only four lecturers have been employed for all three streams for the two batches. Consequently, three subjects have not been touched till now, though the annual examination schedule has been announced. The exams commence from the first week of next month. Moreover, only 20 per cent of the syllabi of the remaining subjects has been covered.

Also, the college has no laboratory and instruments due to which the students have not done a single practical in the current semester.

They further allege that the college has violated the prescribed norms of the AICTE and the “Standard Handbook” with regard to the number of staff and basic infrastructure like student activity centre, hostel requirements, furniture and library facilities.

According to them their wards have suffered ill-treatment at the hands of the founder of the college for raising the issues. The students have been “threatened” not to take up the issue with any administration. The parents and their wards find themselves in a catch 22 situation. The college authorities can mess up their careers as internal assessment does count in the final reckoning of the degrees.

The college started two years back. Till a few days ago, it was functioning in a rented place in Laxmi Bazar complex. The college authorities reportedly had to vacate the premises on account of court intervention. Subsequently, it was shifted to Bilaspur, about 25 km from here.

The students had no building but boundary walls for a college. For a few days they had to skip classes. For some days they attended the classes in the open. There was no toilets for male and female students.

Following complaints by parents, the college erected some rooms along the boundary wall with GI sheets as roofs. The rooms have insufficient light and ventilation. There is no electricity connection to the so-called complex. Also, it does not have arrangement for drinking water.

In its first year of operation, the college provided information in its prospectus detailing the facilities, which were misleading. For the admissions in the current session, it mentioned details about the college in the information brochure which do not exist. For example, the brochure’s front pages carries a glitzy frontview of the college at Bilaspur, when the fact is that the construction of temporary rooms began only a few days ago.

The students, on condition of anonymity, say some persons in Bilaspur are threatening them to move out from the premises as the college authorities have allegedly not made full payment for the land acquired.

Villagers told to pay power dues by Nov 30
From Jatinder Sharma

ROHTAK, Nov 23 — Last-minute efforts are being made by the district authorities to persuade the defaulting consumers to pay the outstanding electricity bills by November 30, the last date for allowing concession of remitting surcharge on the unpaid amount.

The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Rajesh Khullar, accompanied by senior HVPN officials and the Tehsildar today visited the most problematic villages in the district to explain implications of non-payment of the bills by November 30. These villages were Dhanar where 610 out of 612 consumers have not paid the power bills since 1992. Makrauli Kalan in which 74.2 per cent of consumers were defaulters and Sanghi, where 1373 out of 1773 consumers owe Rs 261.34 lakh to the HVPN.

Mr Dalip Singh, Nambardar of Dhamar, told the Deputy Commissioner that villagers had stopped paying electricity bills on a call given by former Deputy Prime Minister, Devi Lal, Mr Om Prakash Chautala and his son Ajay Chautala. These leaders then were in the Opposition but after coming to power they were now pressing for paying outstanding bills which had today swollen to Rs 204.23 lakh, he said.

Interestingly, the outstanding bills in this village pertained to domestic consumption only. Though the village boasts of having 350-odd tubewells, only one has a power connection. The remaining tubewells run on diesel.

The village comprises nearly 1100 households all of whom consume power though only 612 of them have metered supply. The rest have drawn power direct from the transmission lines that criss-cross the village.

Mr Dalip Singh, speaking on behalf of the villagers, expressed inability in paying the outstanding bills as the farmers in Dhamar were under debt and had no other source of income. He pleaded for remission of outstanding bills and assured timely payment of bills in future.

Following interaction between the consumers and the HVPN officials, it was observed that the villagers alone cannot be blamed for non-payment of bills. The officials of the HVPN were equally responsible for the present day situation.

Nearly 90 per cent of the electricity meters in Dhamar were either burnt or damaged but none of the HVPN official has visited the village to redress the problem in the past four or five years. But the consumers were getting bills regularly, a mystery that the HVPN officers failed to unfold.

Many consumers, whose houses had collapsed during the devastating floods in 1995 and had no meters, were also getting bills regularly. Daya Nand of Makrauli-Kalan complained his house was damaged nearly four years ago and he had no power in the new house. Even then he was being billed by the power corporation.

His was not the lone incident. Similar complaints were heard in almost every village visited by the Deputy Commissioner. Mr Khullar directed the HVPN officials to hold special camps in these villages on Friday and Saturday to rectify the bills so that villagers could clear the outstanding dues.

Residents of Dhamar village, requested the Deputy Commissioner to allow them two days time to take a collective decision about the payment of such bills. After two and a half hours of discussions with the Deputy Commissioner, the defaulting consumers appeared willing to clear the due amount.

The turnout of defaulting consumers in the durbar at Makrauli-Kalan, the native village of Zila Parishad Chairman Dharam Pal Singh, was very poor. The defaulting consumers shied away from the meeting where the Deputy Commissioner warned that such consumers may be denied the facility of a ration card, driving and arms licences.

Girls outshine boys in matric exams
From Our Correspondent

BHIWANI, Nov 23 — The Board of School Education, Haryana, today declared the result of matriculation supplementary examinations held in September. The pass percentage of girls is 70.34 while that of boys is 60.09.

The board Chairman, Mr Sher Singh Rori, told mediapersons that the result would be published in four Hindi dailies. It could also be seen at the Internet site http://haryana.nic.in. The result would also be available at the offices of the District Education Officer, the District Public Relations Officer, district-level coordination centres of the board and the board head office here.

The board secretary, Mr R.P. Gupta, said 70,026 candidates had appeared in the examination out of which 44,179 passed and 12,792 were placed in compartment. Out of the 49,543 boys who appeared in the examination, 29,772 were declared pass and 8,605 were placed in compartment. Out of the 20,483 girls who appeared in the examination, 14,407 passed and 4,187 got compartment.

He said the fail, compartment and reappear cards of the candidates would be sent after a week of declaration of result and pass certificates would be sent within a fortnight.

Those who wanted to appear for compartment, reappear, improvement and additional subjects could send their forms by December 9 and after that with a late fee of Rs 200 by December 24.

Govt dismisses 22 striking employees
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 23 — Continuing its action against the striking employees belonging to the general categories and backward classes, the Haryana Government today took the extreme step of dismissing 22 employees for allegedly violating the provisions of the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA).

An official spokesman said here the action against the employees had been taken under Article 311(2) of the Constitution and Rule 7 (2) (b) of the Haryana Civil Service (Punishment and Appeal) Rule, 1987.

The dismissed employees are Mr Sube Singh Yadav, Mr N.K. Sharma, Mr Vinod Jain, Mr N.K. Swami, Mr Risal Singh, Mr Prithvi Singh Loyal, Mr Partap Singh Sangwan, Mr J.S. Joon, Mr Ram Gopal Nagpal, Mr Des Raj Lamba, President of the Haryana General Category and Backward Classes Employees Welfare Organisation, which is leading the agitation; Mr Parminder Kumar, Mr Prem Chand Chillar, Mr Balbir Singh, Mr Kiran Swami, Mrs Promila Sharma, Mr Mahabir Sharma, Mr Manmohan Singh, Mr Ram Avtar, Mr Ram Chander, Mr Shankar Lal, Mr Deva Ram Varma and Mr Ishwar Nath Sharma.

A spokesman of the employees told TNS on the phone that their strike would continue.

The employees had withdrawn their strike last night and their five leaders had informed the Chief Secretary in writing that they had decided to unconditionally withdraw their pen-down strike with immediate effect. The letter was signed by Mr Lamba, Mr Sangwan, Mr Joon, Mr Rameshwar Khasa and Mr N.K. Sharma.

However, the employees continued their strike today also as they accused the government of betrayal. A spokesman of the employees said that the letter of withdrawal was given only after an government had assured them that the judgement of the Supreme Court in the Ajit Singh Janjua case would be implemented. So much so, he said, the Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr S.Y. Quraishi, and the Additional Principal Secretaries to Chief Minister, Mr D.S. Dhesi, and Mr Sanjeev Kaushal, showed the office file relating to the reversion orders, which, the officers allegedly said, would be issued in the morning.

However, in the morning, the employees said, the Chief Secretary withheld the reversion orders. 

39 engineers’ career at risk just for a JE
By Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 23 — The Haryana Government has put the career of 39 young engineers at stake to protect the interests of a junior engineer, who is closely related to the first family of the state.

This is the allegation levelled by the young engineers, who despite being selected by the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) in a process which stretched to four years, are not being appointed as Assistant Engineers in the Public Works(B & R) Department by the state government. To add insult to the injury, the government had asked the young engineers to get themselves medically examined and their antecedents were verified by the police. These are two pre-requisites for the appointment.

After they failed to evoke a favourable response from the powers-that-be, despite several meetings with high-ups, including the Chief Minister, the young engineers today finally knocked at the doors of the judiciary as a last resort. The validity of the recommendations made by the HPSC will expire on November 30.

A Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court comprising Mr Justice A.B.S. Gill and Mr Justice V.S. Aggarwal, before which a writ petition filed by them came up today, issued a notice of motion to the respondents for November 27.

The petition contended that the HPSC advertised six posts of Assistant Engineer (Civil) in the PWD in 1996. The number of posts was increased to 39 by a corrigendum issued by the commission in September, 1999. The petitioners were recommended for appointment by the HPSC on May 31, 2000, after holding a screening test and interviews. The government asked the petitioners for their medical examination and character verification in the second week of August.

On August 21 the state government promoted 43 junior engineers, draftsmen and tracers on an ad hoc basis against the posts meant for direct recruits with the condition that the officers so promoted would be reverted to their original posts as and when direct recruits joined their posts.

The young engineers said since the validity of the HPSC recommendations would expire on November 30, the petitioners would have no legal right to appointment after that and the ad hoc promotees, who had no hold right to held the posts, would continue in service. They alleged that to accommodate ad hoc promotees the state government was delaying the matter. The continuation of ad hoc promotees, they said, was in violation of the statutory service rules.

Terming the government action as “totally arbitrary”, the petition said while quoting rule 9 of the Punjab Service of Engineers Class II PWD (B&R) Branch Rules, 1965, that in the case of ad hoc promotions the government bypassed the entire procedure laid down in the rule.

The petition alleged that the government was not reverting the ad hoc promotees because a junior engineer, Mr Rajinder Singh Lamba, who was closely related to the persons in power in Haryana, was one of the ad hoc promotees. The petitioners said it was in order to promote Mr Lamba from Class II to Class III that the promotion orders of August 21 were passed.

The petitioners maintained that even the office file itself says that if “the appointment letters before November 30 are not given to such direct recruits whose character and antecedents have been verified and medical fitness received, it will result in incorrect denial of appointment to these direct recruits...It will infringe their right to receive appointment. It will not be possible for the government to defend such a situation, were it to reach the courts of law, in view of the fact that the posts for the appointment of the direct recruits already exist but have been utilised by the government for making promotions of the junior engineers and other categories of the employees, which in the present circumstances of the case is inadvisable.”

Among other pleas, the petitioners also urged the court to summon the record of the case.

Haryana expects bumper wheat crop
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 23 — Haryana again expects bumper crop of over 96 lakh tonnes of wheat in the coming rabi season.

This was observed by a high-level meeting presided over by Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala, held to review arrangements being made for the procurement and storage of rabi crops in 2001-2002, here last evening.

Mr Chautala said he would urge the Centre to ensure speedy clearance of stocked foodgrains in the State to make available adequate room for wheat to be procured in the ensuing season. He hoped that timely rainfall would help boost production of wheat even further.

Mr Chautala asked the Commissioner and Secretary, of the Food and Supplies Department, Mr Dharamvir, that in addition to constructing more plinth areas to stock wheat, the issue of storage of wheat be taken up with the Deputy Commissioners to utilise those covered areas or suitable open space, which were not being put to any other use. It was decided that plinth area to store 25.68 lakh tonnes of wheat would either be hired or arranged in this process. It was also informed that 1.80 lakh bales of gunny bags had already been ordered through the Director General of Supplies and Disposal of the Centre and these would be available in time to store wheat.

The Chief Minister suggested that instead of purchasing repeatedly wooden crates to stock bags of wheat, crates made of plastic should be tried on experimental basis by the Food Corporation of India as these would last longer than wooden crates.

Mr Dharamvir said that arrangements for procuring 42.50 lakh tonnes of wheat were being made and the Food Corporation of India was also being asked to make arrangements to procure 15 per cent of its share of the total expected procurement. He said all wheat procuring agencies would ensure availability of required quantity of polythene cover by March 31 next.

It was informed that all wheat procuring agencies would need cash credit limit of about Rs 3000 crore which would be arranged through the Reserve Bank of India.

Battalion celebrates Hilli Day
From Our Correspondent

HISAR, Nov 23 — The 8th Battalion of The Brigade of The Guards celebrated Hilli Day — its battle honours day — here today.

The battalion had invited all retired members of the unit to relive the moment of glory of the victory at Hilli during the 1971 war for liberation of Bangladesh. The officers and men paid homage to those members of the unit who had laid down their lives for the country. The celebrations end tomorrow with a reunion.

The battalion was raised at Kota on October 1, 1963. It was baptised with bullets sweat and blood in the hills of Nagaland and Manipur in counter insurgency operations. It earned its first decorations — a Sena Medal and two Chief of The Army Staff’s Commendation Cards here.

During the 1971 Indo-Pak war for liberation of Bangladesh, the battalion captured a formidable enemy bastion named Hilli. It was honoured with the Battle Honour ‘Hilli’ and Theatre Honour ‘East Pakistan 71’. The battalion had the unique distinction of being awarded three Maha Vir Chakras, two Vir Chakras, one Sena Medal and three Mention -in-Despatches for the battle for Hilli.

In recognition of its role in the capture of Hilli, it had the honour of marching on Rajpath up to the Red Fort during the victory parade on Republic Day in 1972. It was later given the honour of representing the Indian Army in the Inter Services Guard of Honour for the inauguration of Amar Jawan Jyoti at New Delhi. The President presented the ‘colours’ to the battalion on March 16, 1973.

This battalion has served with distinction in Operation Meghdoot (Siachen) from June 1988 to July 1989, Operation Rhino (Assam) from September 1991 to October 1993, Operation Hifazat (Manipur) from November 1993 to January, 1995 and Operation Rakshak III (Jammu and Kashmir) from April, 1996 to October, 1996.

The battalion has to its credit a total of 48 awards including three MVCs, two VCs, one Shaurya Chakra, two Sena Medals, two VSMs, three Mention-in Despatches, 13 COAS Commendations and 20 GOC-in-C Commendations. The unit has also been awarded the COAS Citation for its commendable performance in Operation Rhino.

The unit arrived at Hisar under the 57 Armoured Brigade of the 33 Armoured Division in December 1996 for conversion to mechanised profile. The unit is now a fully mechanised battalion.

Those who were decorated after the Hilli capture included: Lt Col Shamsher Singh, 2nd Lt Shamsher Singh Samra, Lance Naik Ram Agrah Pandey (Mahavir Chakras) and Sub Raj Bahadur Singh and Capt Vishnu Swaroop Sharma (Vir Chakras). 

3 partially blinded by hooch
From Our Correspondent

ROHTAK, Nov 23 — The police has rounded up several persons in connection with the death of six villagers on Tuesday after they consumed hooch. A case under Sections 320, 326 and 328 was registered today in this connection.

The deceased have been identified as Jagbeer, Hoshiar Singh, Raj Singh and Om Veer of Ritoli village and Azad and Daya Kishan of Kabulpur village. Besides, Sumer Singh and Narayan of Ritoli village and a third person, who were blinded in the incident, were admitted to the PGI here.

According to sources, Om Veer and Rajpal of Ritoli village had been selling hooch in the neighbouring villages for the past eight years after the shop in the village was closed down on the directions of the panchayat.

On Tuesday the villagers consumed hooch on the occasion of the marriage of the daughter of Ishwar Singh of Ritoli village. After a few hours, several of them started vomiting and complained of dizziness but, the villagers did not seek help for fear of ill-repute.

Expressing grief over the incident, Mr Krishan Murti Hooda, a former minister, charged the district police of patronising anti-social elements who indulged in the hooch business. He demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident.

The Rohtak SSP said a special team had been constituted, headed by Meham DSP Rajinder Singh, to conduct a thorough investigation into the tragedy. While most of the victims were said to be middle-aged, two of them had retired from para-military forces, one from the BSF and the other from the CRPF.

Reports from the PGIMS said Mohinder Singh, a resident of Kaboolpur village, was admitted to the PGIMS today complaining of partial loss of vision.

According to medical experts, the partial blindness had occurred due to formation of formaldehyde produced as a result of methyl alcohol found in spurious liquor in place of ethyl alcohol.

Adjust staff of sick units, Coop Dept told
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 23 — The Cabinet sub-committee on disinvestment and privatisation in public sector and cooperative sector undertakings, led by the Town and Country Planning Minister, Haryana, Mr Dhirpal Singh, has asked the Cooperative Department to draw up a proposal for the transfer or adjustment of the surplus staff of various sick cooperative sector undertakings. The committee has also asked for the liquidation of certain units and the adjustment of the staff in a time-bound manner.

At a recent meeting here, the committee reviewed the performance of the small cooperative institutions and suggested the liquidation of the Haryana State Cooperative Weavers Apex Society, Panipat and the Harco Fed and the adjustment of the employees in other cooperative institutions and central cooperative banks. The committee was of the view that the work presently done by the Harco Fed may be assigned to Hafed.

The committee said the Housing Federation may be merged with Haryana State Land Development Bank after obtaining the approval of its lending institutions. The committee had also suggested that the Haryana State Cooperative Labour and Construction Federation may continue its operations but 40 of its surplus employees may be adjusted in other cooperative institutions.

The committee expressed concern over the high number of surplus employees in the Haryana State Minor Irrigation and Tubewells Corporation Ltd (HSMITC). Since the employees had put in, on an average, more than 20 years of service, it suggested that the Chief Secretary and the Irrigation Commissioner work out a complete package for absorbing the surplus employees in government departments, boards and corporations and other agencies as had been done in case of surplus employees of municipal committees.

Rs 1.26 cr to fight animal diseases
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 23 — The Haryana Government claimed today to have formulated a Rs 1.26 crore project for making Haryana livestock disease-free zone in the next five years.

The Commissioner and Secretary of Animal Husbandry Department, Mrs Veena Eagleton, said the scheme had been forwarded to the Centre for approval. Under this project stress would be laid on controlling the foot and mouth disease and eradicating Haemorrhagic septicaemia disease popularly known as “gal ghotu”. She said cold chain facilities along with procurement of foot and mouth disease vaccine would be strengthened and vaccination of the livestock of the state against contagious diseases taken up on a war footing as these cause heavy production losses and mortality.

She said to encourage and promote the breeders, Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala would disburse Rs 45 lakh as incentive to 948 farmers of the state whose animals’ milk yield was above 12 litres at a function to be held at Kurukshetra on November 27.

She said in April this year also Rs 32 lakh had been given as incentive money under the same scheme. She said out of 948 farmers to be given the incentives, 122 were those whose animals’ milk yield was between 12 litres and 15 litres, 588 farmers with 16 litres and 18 litres and 238 farmers whose animal milk yield was above 18 litres.

She added that Haryana was the pioneer in the country to introduce insurance policy for all types of milch animals yielding 12 litres or above milk per day and also the bullocks with 50 per cent of the premium being paid by the board and rest being borne by the breeders themselves.

She revealed that at present Haryana ranked second in the country in per capita availability of milk which was 620 gm per day. Milk production had increased fourfold from 10.43 lakh metric tonnes to 43.73 lakh metric tonnes since the inception of the state in 1966. According to 1977 livestock census, the state had about 1.14 crore herd of livestock of which cattle population was 23.97 lakh and buffaloes 1.37 lakh, apart from 84 lakh poultry birds.

WB extends period of water project
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 23 — The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, today asked the Irrigation Department to ensure adequate supply of irrigation water during the rabi season, apart from filling up village ponds and oher water tanks in time.

The Chief Minister was reviewing the working of the Irrigation Department at a meeting here last evening, which was also attended by officers of the Haryana State Minor Irrigation and Tubewells Corporation and the Command Area Development Authority.

He said special stress should be laid on providing adequate water to the south-western parts of the state.

Mr Chautala also reviewed the progress of work on the world Bank-aided Haryana Water Resources Consolidation Project. It was revealed that the bank had conveyed its consent to extend the period of this project to December next year. A bank mission headed by Mr Keith Oblitas would review the project when it lands here on December 10.

Mr Chautala said work on the Ottu weir should undertaken on a war footing to complete it before the next monsoon or say by June next year. He also directed that the Pathrala dam and the Hathni Kund link channel should be completed by March, 2001.

Groom returns sans bride
From Our Correspondent

FARIDABAD, Nov 23 — A bridegroom and the marriage party accompanying him had to go back without the bride as the ceremony got cancelled at the last minute, at a nearby village in the district recently.

According to information the step-father of the bride stopped the marriage when the ceremony was on at Madipur village, claiming the girl was underage (16 years and six months). He called the police and showed it the bride’s date of birth certificate.

The baraatis and the bridegroom had completed several formalities, including the dinner and were preparing for main ceremony (saptpadi) when the police stopped the ceremony.

The complaint was lodged with the police by the step-father of the girl, who is having strained relations with his daughter and her mother. The baraat had gone from Ballabgarh town near here.

4 arrested in train dacoity case
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Nov 23 — With the arrest of four persons, the police today claimed to have solved a dacoity committed in the New Delhi-bound Himalayan Queen Express between Panipat and Sonepat railway stations on August 28 last.

Mr S.S. Deswal, DIG (Police), Railways and in charge of the committee force, told mediapersons here today that the arrested have been identified as Shaukat, a Muslim Gujjar of Kheri Gujjar village (Sonepat), Inderjit Pandit of Ganaur (Sonepat) and originally belonging to Amritsar, too, alias Jai Bhagwan of Bhanwar village (Sonepat) and Ram Dass, also of the same village. The arrested, he said, belonged to a gang of dacoits led by Brahampal of Kheri Gujjar village.

Other members of the gang include Jai Kishan, alias Jayasa Dhanak of Khubru village (Sonepat), Krishan, Pardeep, and Anil all from Naya Bans village (Sonepat). All of them are still at large.

During interrogation, the arrested told the police that Inderjit had a fertilisers shop at Khubru Adda, Ganaur and Shaukat owned a tractor repair shop in front of Inderjit’s shop. Brahampal is a tailor master. They had planned to commit the dacoity in the Himalayan Queen Express on the behest of the gang leader Brahampal. They travelled in the train between Ganaur and Panipat and vice-versa for three days before they committed the dacoity, and looted the passengers on August 28 on pistolpoint.

Mr Deswal also said the arrested also told the police that they boarded the train at Panipat and the looting of passengers continued for about 20 minutes. The culprits Krishan and Shaukat got down from the moving train at Diwana railway station and sustained injuries whereas the culprits Krishan, Inderjit and Jai Kishan got down at Ganaur railway station and fled.

Further investigations in the case were in progress. The police has launched a hunt to apprehend other gang members allegedly involved in the case.

Arrest in-laws: villagers
From Our Correspondent

KAITHAL, Nov 23 — Hundreds of people from neighbouring villages staged a dharna in front of the mini secretariat here today.

The dharna was held on the call of Janvadi Mahila Samiti to demand the arrest of culprits allegedly involved in the burning of a woman, Darshna, on October 28 at Amar Garh Colony here.

It was alleged that her husband and the other members of her in-laws’ family, including her mother- in-law, were involved in the murder.

Mother-in-law Karmo Devi is reportedly absconding.

The protesters alleged that the police had failed to arrest her in spite of their reminders to the authorities.

Mr Parbhat Ranjan Deo listened to the grievances of the protesters and assured them of action. He directed the DSP to arrest Karmo Devi.

The protesters, including large number of women, submitted a memorandum to Dr Mahavir Singh, Deputy Commissioner. They also threatened to start an agitation if the administration failed to arrest the culprits.

3 get 7 years’ RI for dowry death
From Our Correspondent

FARIDABAD, Nov 23 — The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr S.S. Lamba, has sentenced three members of a family to seven years of rigorous imprisonment on charges of causing a dowry death.

According to information, the court found Abdul Jabbar, his mother and his father guilty of murdering Rasmina, wife of Abdul, about two and a half years ago. The family members of Rasmina, a resident of Badarpur village in Gurgaon district, had lodged a complaint with the Ballabgarh police that she was strangulated to death by her husband, her mother-in-law and father-in-law for not bringing adequate dowry.

It was alleged the deceased was harassed regularly and died under mysterious circumstances in her in-laws’ house. It is reported that the medical report found that the woman died of strangulation while her in-laws claimed that she died after slipping. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 1000 on each of the accused.

Thieves break into court, steal files
From Our Correspondent

HISAR, Nov 23 — Thieves broke into the court of the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr Diwan Chand here last night. It is suspected that some important case files were stolen. However, the details of missing files are not yet known.

Mr Vipin Kumar, clerk of the court, said in his complaint that the thieves entered his room by breaking the door open. He said he was informed by the chowkidar about the broken door in the morning.

Mr Sandeep Khirwar, Superintendent of Police, visited the court. The police also brought in its dog squad and finger print experts.

The police has registered a case but no arrest has been made so far.

1,147 water theft cases detected
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Nov 23 — Officials of the Irrigation Department have detected 1,147 cases of canal water theft in Sonepat, Rai and Gohana water services divisions.

The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Sudhir Rajpal, told mediapersons here today that the department had sent 690 cases to the police for lodging FIRs against farmers involved in such cases, but only 139 cases were registered. He said as many as 58 challans were filed in various courts against farmers allegedly involved in these theft cases.

According to the Deputy Commissioner canal water had not reached 23 out of 41 tails in the district. These include 10 tails in Sonepat water service division and Butana distributory, Gangesar, Bichpari, Baroda and Banwasa tails in Gohana water service division of the district.

Judicial remand for SHO, SI
From Our Correspondent

REWARI, Nov 23 — SHO Ram Yadav and Sub-Inspector Lekh Ram, who were arrested on November 20 in connection with the custodial suicide by Sita Devi (38) and her daughter Sarika (18), have been remanded in judicial custody till December 4 by Mr G.S. Kotla, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate.

Meanwhile, Neeru, elder daughter of Sita Devi, said yesterday that her mother and her sister, along with their tenant Giri Raj were taken by the police to the Dharuhera police station at about 9.15 a.m. on November 19 for interrogation in connection with the murder of Ashok Agarwal, husband of Sita Devi. However, Giri Raj was let off at night while Sita Devi and Sarika were kept at the police station for about 30 hours till they reportedly consumed poison.

Confed to retrench 311 employees
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 23 — The Board of Directors of the Confed, which met here yesterday, decided to retrench 311 employees declared surplus by the federation. Mr H S Rana, Managing Director of the Confed, said that the process of retrenchment would start soon and the affected staff would be given retrenchment benefits (compensations and gratuity).

Meanwhile, an employee leader of the Confed said that a meeting was being organised by the employees of Confed on Sunday at Sir Chhotu Ram Park at Rohtak for launching an agitation against the government decision to retrench the employees. He said that crores of rupees would be needed for settling the retrenchment benefits of the employees, and requested the government to adjust the staff in other government departments rather than retrenching them.

Film on AIDS victims’ plight
From Our Correspondent

FARIDABAD, Nov 23 — AIDS which has become a subject of global concern, has attracted Bollywood also as “Hind Talkies”, a Mumbai-based film production company, will be producing a “feature film” on the life of an AIDS victim shortly.

Mr Siddharth Khanna, executive producer of the film titled “Hum Jee Lenge” (we will live), told ‘The Tribune’ here on Tuesday that the production of the medium-budget, film had already started.

Tau and son on rice grains

YAMUNANAGAR, Nov 23 — Dipak Syal, a Yamunanagar-based designer has drawn the portraits of the Tau and his son Om Prakash Chautala with his signatures on two separate grains of rice.

The Chief Minister was shown this piece of art here last evening by Mr Syal who brought these two portraits in a specially made device equipped with a magnifying glass to see the enlargement of these portraits.

The art pieces exhibited are a mixture of drawings, lithoprints and oil paintings.

In a letter to the Deputy Commissioner, the forum has alleged that the police had illegally demarcated areas to operators under the pretext of law and order problems. The forum also said that the consumers were a harassed lot and suggested that a committee comprising members of the district administration, cable operators, consumers and the police be formed to look into the quality of services.

Dr Haque has taken over the charge of the board, in addition to his duties as Secretary of the Central Wakf Council, New Delhi, a release said.

Draw of lots for plots on Nov 30
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 23 — The Haryana Urban Development Authority will hold a draw of lots for disputed plots in Sector 5, 12-A, and 21 of Gurgaon on November 30.

The Estate Officer has asked the owners of such plots to contact his office up to October 28 so that their grievances could be redressed.

Date for tubewell connections extended
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 23 — The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitaran Nigam (DHBVN) have extended the last date for submitting applications for new tubewell connections under “own your transformer” scheme, till December 8, an official press note stated today.

Plots turn into garbage dumps
From Narender Sharma

HISAR: Vacant plots in many markets here have been converted into garbage dumps by shopkeepers and residents of nearby colonies.

The Red Square and Green Square Markets, generally regarded as modern markets of the town, are losing their attraction day by day due to this garbage problem. There are many hospitals and restaurants in these areas which dump waste in the vacant plots which dot the markets. Rajguru Market, Ganesh Market and Guru Jambheshwar Market also face a similar problem.

These markets were developed by HUDA and the Improvement Trust. The HUDA authorities and the Municipal Council are responsible for maintaining cleanliness in these areas. However, they have not made efforts to remove the garbage or taken action against the defaulters.

The president of the Hariom Samaj, Mr Madan Lahoria, says shopkeepers and representatives of organisations of plot owners have met the officials concerned in this regard but to no avail. He has demanded that the authorities should provide adequate number of bins in the markets and ensure the removal of garbage on a regular basis.

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The General Officer Commanding of Hisar cantonment, Major-Gen Ivor Anthony Satur, has called upon parents to act as role models for their children. He was speaking at the annual prize distribution function of Army School here.

General Satur, who was the chief guest, said parents played an important role throughout the lives of their children. If they taught their children good things in life through example, the latter would become ideal citizens. He underlined the need for students’ participation in co-curricular activities which, he said, helped them develop their personalities.

Mrs Magdalen Satur gave away the prizes.

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Sir Chhotu Ram Institute of Engineering and Management will start functioning on the premises of the local CRM Jat Postgraduate College from the next academic session.

The Principal of the college, Mr Inder Singh Lakhlan, said the Master of Computer Applications course would be started from the next session. There would be 30 seats. He said the All-India Council of Technical Education and the state government had already given permission for the introduction of the course.

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The Municipal Council here has named Jahaj Pul, a prominent chowk, after a great freedom fighter, the late Parmanand Arya. The council adopted a resolution in this regard recently.

Parmanand was a resident of the town. He was born in Lahore in 1919 and his family came to Hisar before Partition. He participated in the Quit India Movement and went to jail many times during the freedom struggle.