H A R Y A N A

Birender may replace Hooda
Chandigarh, July 11
Mr Birender Singh, who is rumoured to replace Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda as President of the Haryana Congress, said today that he would not like to comment on the issue till his name was formally announced by the high command.

Undeclared blackouts make life miserable
Yamunanagar, July 11
The residents of the district have been going through the ordeal of undeclared blackouts. Frequent power failures have been causing inconvenience to house holders as well as entrepreneurs of this town.

Arrested spy stayed in Fatehabad for 4 years
Fatehabad, July 11
Bashir Khan, a spy working for the ISI, who was recently arrested by the Rajasthan police from near the border in Sri Ganganagar district stayed at Fatehabad town for four years without being noticed by the intelligence agencies. 

Marriage row snowballs
Fatehabad, July 11
The row over the marriage of a girl, Suman, of Beniwal “gotra” and belonging to Mochi village in the district, to a boy, Baljor, of Sheokand gotra and belonging to Kakrod village in Jind district, has snowballed into a big controversy with elders of both gotras convening mahapanchayats.

Villagers lock up govt school
Poor show by students in exams
Tandwal (Ambala), July 11
In an unprecedented move which highlights the sorry state of academics in government schools, Government Senior Secondary School at Tandwal village was locked up this morning by villagers after poor results.

List of fake institutions released
Chandigarh, July 11
The Haryana Department of Higher Education has cautioned the people against 22 fake institutions in the states of Bihar, Delhi, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and UP.

Ragging: KU to punish offenders
Karnal, July 11
Kurukshetra University has banned ragging in any form on the campus and in all its affiliated colleges . A meeting of senior functionaries of the university, presided over by Mr R.S. Chaudhry, Vice-Chancellor, last evening decided that anyone indulging in ragging was liable to be expelled from the university and no appeal against such expulsion would be entertained.

Shopkeeper, brother assaulted
Kurukshetra, July 11
Tension gripped residents of the town when at least eight motor cycle-borne persons, armed with firearms, sharp-edged weapons and lathis, today assaulted a readymade garments shop owner, Sachin, and his brother on the Railway road. One of them is said to have opened fire with a countrymade pistol.

Son of bank official shot dead
Kurukshetra, July 11
Five unidentified men shot dead Ranjeet Singh , a son of the Chairman of Primary Land Development Bank, Mr Joginder Singh, at Khandur Kalian village on the G.T. Road, the police said today.

Birender may replace Hooda
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 11
Mr Birender Singh, who is rumoured to replace Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda as President of the Haryana Congress, said today that he would not like to comment on the issue till his name was formally announced by the high command.

“It is true that the party high command is considering a change in the HPCC chief’s post and my name is in the reckoning for the job. But I shall not like to say anything more on the subject till the high command announces its decision,” Mr Birender Singh said when he was contacted in Delhi.

The faction opposed to Mr Birender Singh meanwhile claimed that he was being supported by Mr Bhajan Lal, CLP leader and arch enemy of Mr Hooda. A party insider, who is against Mr Birender Singh, claimed that MLAs loyal to Mr Bhajan Lal had met Ms Mohsina Kidwai, AICC General Secretary, and urged her to replace Mr Hooda by Mr Birender Singh. Mr Bhajan Lal reportedly gave up the race for the Congress President’s post when the name of Mr O.P. Jindal, MLA, was propped up for the post by certain Congress leaders.

This was, however, denied by Mr Birender Singh. “No MLA has met Ms Kidwai to argue my case. Rather five Hooda loyalist MLAs met Ms Sonia Gandhi on Monday. I have no idea why they met her,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Hooda, whose position is stated to be under threat, is trying to convey the impression that there is no cloud over his leadership. He has called a meeting of the party MLAs and office-bearers at Chandigarh on July 15. Mr Hooda is also scheduled to go to Kandela village (Jind) on July 17 to give Rs 1 lakh as compensation to the family of a BKU agitator who died recently at a Rohtak hospital due to bullet injuries sustained in police firing.

Undeclared blackouts make life miserable
Our Correspondent

Yamunanagar, July 11
The residents of the district have been going through the ordeal of undeclared blackouts. Frequent power failures have been causing inconvenience to house holders as well as entrepreneurs of this town.

On a visit to the local market yesterday, fumes by diesel-operated power generators installed in front of the shops and showrooms assailed the nostrils. The carbon dioxide and other lethal gases being emitted by these generators have been causing serious health problems.

The unannounced power cuts which last for nearly three hours at times have brought down the industrial output.

Mr Anal Pal Bantra, an entrepreneur, alleged that the quality of power was not up to the mark.

Mr Bharat Garg, president of the Yamunanager-Jagadhri Chambers of Commerce and Industries, categorically stated that the electricity board management should give top priority to supply power to industry because no industry could survive without power. Mr Garg pleaded to the Chief Minister, Haryana, and higher authorities of the department to provide power in this part of Haryana.

Mr Garg said most of the power cuts were due to poor maintenance of distribution lines. He said in many areas, age-old copper conductors were being used and there were number of joints in these conductors due to which tripping was very frequent.

The residents have demanded that the Haryana Government should explore the possibility of purchasing power from local industrialists who have their own captive power generator turbines which would help to improve power position to some extent. According to a press note issued by the district public relations office, in order to strengthen the transmission and distribution system in the state, various works of Rs 700 crore were being implemented at present. In Yamunanagar district, the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam had spent Rs 2626.76 lakh for setting up three new substations. Beside this, the nigam would also spend 395.40 lakh for the augmentation of four substations in the district and Rs 214.94 lakh had been spent for the installation of new transformers, metres, service connections and distribution lines. It was stated that 220 kv sub-stations at Jorian (Yamunanagar) would be commissioned by the end of the July.

Arrested spy stayed in Fatehabad for 4 years
Our Correspondent

Fatehabad, July 11
Bashir Khan, a spy working for the ISI, who was recently arrested by the Rajasthan police from near the border in Sri Ganganagar district stayed at Fatehabad town for four years without being noticed by the intelligence agencies. During his stay here, he kept changing jobs and houses. He served four different masters as a truck driver. He had a driving licence issued from Sangaria in Rajasthan and got his ration card made from Fatehabad.

According to sources, Bashir Khan was a resident of Lahore in Pakistan. His real name was Hazi Mohammad Akram. The ISI had sent him to India to collect information regarding installations of strategic importance. The motive behind his stay at Fatehabad was to collect information regarding Air Force station at Sirsa and send information to his masters in Pakistan. He came to Fatehabad in April 1999 and introduced himself as Bashir Khan from Kikranwali village in Rajasthan. He told people here that he had retired from the Rajasthan police. He married a Hindu woman in Rajasthan. The woman had relatives in Fatehabad. Bashir came to Fatehabad and started working as truck driver. He told his employers that as he had married a Hindu woman, his relatives in Rajasthan had severed their relations with him.

Bashir remained here till February, 2002, and during this period he worked with four different employers as a truck driver. After leaving Fatehabad, he started driving trucks in the Hanumangarh area. But unfortunately for him, a man was crushed to death under his truck under the Chautala police station and he was arrested. He was freed on bail but he jumped the bail. When the police checked his antecedents, it was found that he was not Bashir Khan. The intelligence agencies laid a trap and arrested him.

On inquiry it was found that on the driving licence issued from Sangaria Bashir Khan had mentioned his father’s name as Munir Mohamad, resident of Kikranwali village in Hanumangarh district. He had mentioned his date of birth as September 1, 1977. While applying for the ration card, he had mentioned his name as Bashir Khan son of Syed Khan. 

Marriage row snowballs
Sushil Manav

Fatehabad, July 11
The row over the marriage of a girl, Suman, of Beniwal “gotra” and belonging to Mochi village in the district, to a boy, Baljor, of Sheokand gotra and belonging to Kakrod village in Jind district, has snowballed into a big controversy with elders of both gotras convening mahapanchayats.

After the marriage was solemnised, members of the Beniwal community from Kakrod village objected to the marriage on the plea that many of their girls were married at Mochi village and Suman was in a way like their daughter and they could not accept her as a daughter-in-law. They directed Suman’s father, Mr Krishan Kumar Beniwal, to dissolve the marriage.

Mr Krishan Kumar, however, refused to comply with the orders.

Subsequently, a mahapanchayat of the Beniwal “khap” was organised in Hisar on July 7. Suman had threatened to commit suicide in case she was asked to dissolve her marriage. Perhaps, scared by her threats, the mahapanchayat did not stick to its earlier stand and rather than ordering the dissolution of the marriage it imposed a fine of one paisa and announced the social boycott of Mr Krishan Kumar.

To counter the orders of the Beniwal khap mahapanchayat, a panchayat of the Sheokand khat has been called on July 21 at Kakrod village. Leaders of the Sheokand khap have declared that the panchayat would announce the social boycott of some Beniwal families living at Kakrod village as these were “responsible” for keeping the Suman-Baljor marriage issue alive. The announcement has precipitated the matter further and has started threatening the social fabric of various khaps in the state.

The Haryana Kisan Sabha today expressed concern over the developments and criticised the decision of the Beniwal khap to ask the girl’s father to dissolve the marriage.

Meanwhile, the Mochi Wali panchayat has expressed concern over the developments and has convened a meeting on July 12 to discuss the matter. The sarpanch, Mr Mahaveer Kularia, has asked the Beniwal mahapanchayat to review its decision and has asked the Sheokand khap not to deteriorate the situation further.

Villagers lock up govt school
Poor show by students in exams
Rahul Das
Tribune News Service

Tandwal (Ambala), July 11
In an unprecedented move which highlights the sorry state of academics in government schools, Government Senior Secondary School at Tandwal village was locked up this morning by villagers after poor results.

The villagers took the decision of locking up the school after the students of the school did not fare well in the three board examinations of middle, matric and class XII in the past three years. The gram panchayat expressed unhappiness about the poor showing in the board examination by the students of the Senior Secondary School at Tandwal village near Barara, located about 35 km from here.

A visit to the school showed that a big lock had been put up on the main gate of the government school and nobody was allowed to enter the school premises. Even the teachers were forced to sit outside.

The villagers said although the government school was about five decades old, the results had never been this bad. “This may lead to the government school losing its senior secondary status,” a panchayat member said. They also claimed that there was “politics” amongst the teachers which was also harming the students.

They pointed out that the pass percentage of the students was abysmally low. In middle school (class VIII), out of 147 students who took the board exams, only 27 students passed, while there were 7 compartments. In matric (class X), out of 103 who took the exams, 19 students managed to clear the exam, while there were 12 compartments. In class XII, 37 students who took the exam, seven students who passed while there were 14 compartments.

The villagers added the students were unwilling to further study in this school. “There have hardly been any fresh admissions in the school. The deterioration has set in over the past three years. We demand that the complete staff of the school should be changed so that there is improvement in academics,” a panch, Mr Om Prakash, said.

Children from at least four villages study in the Government Senior Secondary School. The villages include Raomajri, Gelari, Chail Majri and Tandwali. A student said he was planning to shift to a different school so that his studies did not suffer.

However, Government Senior Secondary School Principal, Karnail Singh said there was no “politics” among teachers. “There is irregular attendance by the students. Also, atleast eight posts in the school are lying vacant. The vacant teachers post include two maths, two social studies, one science and one Hindi lecturer,” he said.

Mr Karnail Singh said he had taken over as the Principal in January this year. “We are ready to give admissions. Incidentally, admissions are taking place now even though the results were declared sometime back,” he said. “Also, one of our class XII students had secured 70 per cent marks,” he added.

While the number of students in the lower classes may be high in the school, the same is not the case with higher classes. In class XI, there is barely one admission till now and only three students have taken admission in class XII. In class VI, there are 75 admissions, in class VII, 92 admissions, in class VIII, 75 admissions and in class X, 18 admissions have taken place.

Deputy Commissioner, D.D. Gautam said he would look into the matter. “I have called the school Principal and the DEO tomorrow. Also, the lock was opened up following tehsildar Mr Godu Ram’s visit to the school,” he said.

List of fake institutions released
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 11
The Haryana Department of Higher Education has cautioned the people against 22 fake institutions in the states of Bihar, Delhi, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and UP.

Expressing serious concern over the mushrooming of such institutions, Mr Dhanpat Singh, Director Higher Education, said the degrees or diplomas or certificates awarded by these institutions would neither be valid nor recognised for academic or employment purposes. The list of such institutions had been released by the UGC.

The list of fake universities and institutions released by the UGC included Maithili University, Vishwavidyalaya Darbhanga, Bihar; Commercial University, Delhi; Delhi Vishwavidyalaya, Model Town, Delhi; UN University, Delhi; Vocational University, Delhi; St John’s University, Kishanattam, Kerala; Raja Arabic University, Nagpur; Keswarwani Vidyapith, Jabalpur; and DDB Sanskrit University, Puture, Tamil Nadu.

Other such institutions listed in UP included Mahila Gram Vidyapith Vishwavidyalaya (Women’s University) Prayag, Allahabad; Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi Jagat Puri, Delhi; Indian Education Council, Lucknow; Gandhi Hindi Vidyapith, Prayag, Allahabad; National University of Electro Complex Homoeopathy, Kanpur; Netaji Subhash Chandra University, Achaltal, Aligarh; UP Vishwavidyalaya, Kosi Kalan; Mathura, and Maharana Pratap Shiksha Niketan Vishwavidyalaya, Pratapgarh. The Bhartiya Shiksha Parishad; Lucknow, had also not been recognised by the UGC but the issue regarding it being a fake university was in the court.

Ragging: KU to punish offenders
Our Correspondent

Karnal, July 11
Kurukshetra University has banned ragging in any form on the campus and in all its affiliated colleges . A meeting of senior functionaries of the university, presided over by Mr R.S. Chaudhry, Vice-Chancellor, last evening decided that anyone indulging in ragging was liable to be expelled from the university and no appeal against such expulsion would be entertained.

The Vice-Chancellor told The Tribune today that any institution or college failing to curb ragging would be dealt with severely and its affiliation with the university could be cancelled.

Mr Chaudhry said a committee of teachers would be formed in every department which would watch the activities of students during lunch hours as well as in hostels. He said orders had been passed to keep a close watch on all anti-social elements and their entry into the university campus had been banned. Intensive patrolling on the university campus would be carried out.

In order to check ragging in the hostels during night time, it had been decided that the Dean, Students’ Welfare, the Chief Warden and the Deputy Chief Warden would undertake night patrolling.

All introduction parties of students on the campus had been banned and it had been decided to approach the Director, Tourism, not to allow such parties at tourist places unde the jurisdiction of the department in Kurukshetra, he added. 

Shopkeeper, brother assaulted
Our Correspondent

Kurukshetra, July 11
Tension gripped residents of the town when at least eight motor cycle-borne persons, armed with firearms, sharp-edged weapons and lathis, today assaulted a readymade garments shop owner, Sachin, and his brother on the Railway road. One of them is said to have opened fire with a countrymade pistol.

The assailants also beat up both the brothers, who sustained injures.

Following the shooting incident, shopkeepers pulled down the shutters of their shops and blocked traffic first on the Railway road and then on the flyover.

However, normal traffic was restored after the DSP, Headquarters, Mr Anil Dhawan, reached the flyover. The cause of the attack is said to be the registration of an FIR against them yesterday.

The police has registered a case in this connection and seized one of the four motor cycles used by the assailants, who are said to be absconding.

Son of bank official shot dead

Kurukshetra, July 11
Five unidentified men shot dead Ranjeet Singh , a son of the Chairman of Primary Land Development Bank, Mr Joginder Singh, at Khandur Kalian village on the G.T. Road, the police said today.