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False pride, land greed behind khap panchayat’s order
Lawyers oppose Gotra Khap panchayat edict
Special teams to check power thefts
Pawan Beniwal to be produced in Sirsa
Sangwan rules out alliance
with INLD
Farmers rue slow lifting of paddy
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Pak varsity, HAU to share expertise in farming
Congress leader killed in road mishap
Undertrial shot at in court
One killed, 3 hurt in accident
Six injured in firing during clash
Miscreants kill watchman, take away 350 cylinders
Man shot at
City journalist in press panel
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False pride, land greed behind khap panchayat’s order
Asanda (Jhajjar), October 12 Enquiries by The Tribune reveal that close relatives of Rampal, who belongs to the Dahiya gotra, made some derogatory remarks about the Rathi gotra a few months ago after a late night binge. The remarks centred a round Sonia’s suspected Rathi origin. The Rathis, who outnumber the Dahiyas in the cluster of villages around Asanda, took offence and succeeded in organising a khap panchayat, which handed over the verdict on Sunday. Residents of Asanda and nearby villages say these relatives deliberately made the remarks as they were eyeing Rampal’s five acres in the village. They were under the impression that Rampal and Sonia would prefer to leave the village than to accept the panchayat verdict, as had happened in the case of another couple from Jiondhi village four years ago. They erred on two counts. The first was that Rampal did not have the resources to begin life afresh at some other faraway place as he was completely dependent on his small land holding for survival and so shifting was ruled out. The second was that they underestimated Sonia’s attachment to the family and her resolve to fight it out, the villagers said. As for the panchayat, the villagers say, its leaders had believed that Sonia’s father would never back her in her hour of crisis since he had severed relations with her after the marriage. But, Sonia’s father has come out in support of his daughter and has threatened to drag the panchayat and Rampal to court if the decision is forced on Sonia. The panchayat also failed to anticipate the support for Sonia from an unexpected quarter – Rampal’s three sisters. They not only provided a sanctuary to the beleaguered Sonia in their home after the panchayat’s verdict, but also vowed to keep her and Rampal united in Asanda village itself. It is learnt that Sonia's attachment to her sisters-in-law has its roots in a psychiatric problem she had a few years ago, which probably stemmed from an unhappy childhood. She was sent to a relative in Delhi for treatment. When counselling did not work satisfactorily, she was taken to one of Rampal’s sisters, who had some experience as an exorcist. Sonia was ultimately cured by her. It was during her treatment when she was under depression that she met Rampal and fell in love with him. The three women had first demonstrated their support to Sonia when her father opposed the marriage plans. They first tried to bring him around, but when the efforts failed, they arranged a court marriage at Sonepat, relatives said. Sonia has also drawn support from the husbands of her three sisters-in-law. Villagers say normally men do not support their wives in such matters, preferring to avoid any involvement in the controversy. Meanwhile, social and political organisations have begun to come out in support of Sonia. Mr
Inderjit, secretary of the Haryana CPM, said no sane person could deliver such a verdict which, he said, reflected a
medieval mindset. Condemning the panchayat action, he said such a mindset had no place in modern society. The Haryana unit of the Students Federation of India condemned the verdict and appealed to all political and social organisations to oppose the decision and pave the way for Sonia and Rampal to live happily. It also demanded a ban on convening of such unlawful panchayats in the future. It threatened to launch an agitation if the panchayat insisted on imposing its will. |
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Lawyers oppose Gotra Khap panchayat edict
Fatehabad, October 12 In a press release issued here today, Mr Devi Lal, convener of the state unit of the AILU said that it was a matter of serious concern that dogma of medieval times was still prevalent in this state while the world had entered the 21 century. Terming the diktat of the Gotra Khap panchayat as illegal, he said that there was no place for Gotra Khap panchayats in the present-day society. He said that it was the duty of the legitimately elected panchayat of the village to step in and oppose the edict passed by the “self-styled panchayat”. Mr Devi Lal demanded that the state government should take immediate action against those guilty of issuing illegal edicts so that civil rights of its residents could be preserved. He called upon all right-thinking people to come forward and oppose the diktat of the Gotra Khap panchayat issued at Asanda so that rule of law could prevail in Haryana. |
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Special teams to check power thefts
Panchkula, October 12 The UHBVN authorities have constituted 26 teams, comprising of two retired employees of the state Power Utilities each, for detecting unauthorised power connections in Panchkula, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Karnal, Panipat, Rohtak, Jind and Sonepat. While four such teams have been set up each for the Ambala (including Panchkula), Kurukshetra (including Kaithal), Rohtak (including Jhajjar), Yamunanagar and Sonepat circles, three teams each have been set up for Karnal (including Panipat) and Jind circles. The authorities suspect that a large number of such cases are there in urban areas, and a special enforcement drive will help detect these cases. The retired employees of the department have been chosen for this drive, because the authorities feel that these unauthorised connections could not be possible without the help of the employees of the board. It is estimated that Haryana Power Utilities loses about Rs 125 crore a year because of rampant power theft, which includes unauthorised connections. Officials say that almost 40 - 50 percent of power generated is lost each year because of transmission losses and power theft, with the latter accounting for 50 per cent of the total losses. Special checking teams will begin work next week in detecting cases where metered power supply is being taken by a consumer, though he is not paying tariff to the
authorities. The teams have been constituted by Superintending Engineers of each circle of UHBVN, and after detecting the unauthorised connections, will report these to UHBVN authorities. Each team member will be paid Rs 100 per connection for each case of power theft detected by them. We have asked the concerned SEs to devise a daily feed back system of the progress made by these teams, informed a senior officer of the UHBVN. It may be noted that the UHBVN authorities had earlier asked all consumers indulging in power theft through such unauthorised power connections, to voluntarily disclose these connections ,and get a regular power supply by September 1. The Power Utilities had then decided to affix responsibility on the staff for any unauthorised connections detected in their areas. Other than recovering the entire defaulting amount from the consumers, it has been decided that an additional 25 per cent of this amount will be recovered from the staff for ignoring the theft in their areas and causing losses to the department. While 10 per cent of the amount will be recovered from meter readers, 10 per cent from the staff of the concerned complaint centre (assistant foreman, lineman, assistant lineman), 3 per cent from junior engineers, 1 per cent from SDOs and 0.5 per cent from Executive Engineers. |
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Pawan Beniwal to be produced in Sirsa court today
Chandigarh, October 12 Pawan was arrested by the Delhi police along with a dreaded criminal, Prabhjinder Singh alias Dimpy on October 5. Both are politically well connected in Haryana and Punjab. According to informed sources, Pawan, who is a product of a public school of
Mussoorie, is a proclaimed offender in a number of cases in Sirsa district. The sources say about half dozen criminal cases are pending against him. The sources say on the request of the Sirsa police, a Sirsa court issued the production warrant against Pawan and asked the police that he should be produced before it on October 13. The Sirsa police reportedly approached a Delhi court for seeking the custody of Pawan on the strength of the production warrant. However, the sources say, the Delhi court ordered the Delhi Police to produce Pawan in the Sirsa court. Interestingly, Dimpy had escaped from the custody of the Sirsa police in 2001 after he was brought from Punjab in connection with a case of robbery in which his name was not mentioned in the FIR. He was brought to Haryana on the basis of the statement of a witness. When he was sent in judicial custody, he got himself admitted in the Kilianwali hospital, from where he escaped. The Sirsa police, however, has not sought the custody of Dimpy so far despite at least two cases, including one concerning the escape from lawful custody, against him. The sources say since the Punjab police had sought the custody of
Dimpy, the Sirsa police did not seek his arrest. The sources say it will be for the Sirsa court to decide if Pawan is to be sent to judicial custody in Haryana or in Delhi. If he is kept in Haryana, it will be a tough task for the state police to guard him, given his high connections. Dimpy was wanted by the CBI in connection with the kidnapping of a Bangalore business man, Mr Nirmal
Jaipuria. It is said that Rs 10 crore was demanded as ransom for the release of Jaipuria in 1997. He was allegedly involved in a number of sensational kidnapping cases and murders. Since 2001, the Haryana Police had been launching campaign after campaign to arrest proclaimed offenders and those who had escaped from lawful custody. It is no mystery why the police could not arrest Dimpy and Pawan. Such is the power of political connections. |
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Sangwan rules out alliance
with INLD
Sonepat,
October 12 He
was talking to mediapersons at Gohana, near here. Reacting to a
statement of the Akali Dal supremo Parkash Singh Badal, urging the
Haryana BJP to forge alliance with the INLD, Mr Sangwan said Mr Badal
should come to Haryana and see himself the anti-Chautala sentiments of
public in the state. “Any alliance with the INLD will be politically
very harmful for the BJP and with the INLD, the BJP, would also become
target of public resentment,” he said. He even went to the extent of
charging Mr Badal stating that he in Punjab and Mr Om Prakash Chautala
in Haryana wanted that the BJP should remain a small partner in their
alliance and did not rise as an alternative to the Congress in these
states. “But the BJP’s central leadership is of the firm opinion
that the party will come up to the expectations of the people only when
it goes to poll on its own on all the Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in
these states,” he said. On HVP — Congress merger he said it, would
ultimately benefit the BJP in the long run. He also chided the Chief
Minister Om Prakash Chautala for trying to create differences and
groupism in the villages by holding the Panchayati Raj institutions’
election before the due date. |
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Farmers rue slow lifting of paddy
Kaithal, October 12 Farmers, while cursing nature that has played truant, say they could have got some relief if the authorities had taken steps to expedite the purchase of paddy. The entire stock of paddy lying in the market for the past few days has gone wet and purchase and lifting has come to a standstill. Almost all mandis are flooded with rainwater and may damage the paddy. The slow lifting of paddy already purchased has resulted in accumulated of stock in the market. The standing paddy crop has been flattened in many areas and farmers are bound to suffer losses. Similar reports have been received from
Cheeka, Pundri, Dhand, Siwan, Kalayat mandis and a dozen purchase centres. Overflowing sewers in certain mandis has made matters worse. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr
H.S. Malik, said the administration was helpless before nature. Everything possible was being done to streamline paddy purchase in the district, but the process had been derailed by the rains. |
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Pak varsity, HAU to share expertise in farming
Chandigarh, October 12 This was decided following a meeting here today between Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and Agriculture Marketing Minister of Punjab Province in Pakistan Rana Mohammed Qasim Noon. Mr Noon, who was accompanied by the Parliamentary Secretary, Agriculture and Marketing, Mr Rana Aftab Khan, had called on the Haryana Chief Minister this morning. The Pakistani Minister sought assistance of Haryana for improving the agriculture sector, including marketing, in the larger interest of the farmers of Pakistan. Mr Noon said since both Pakistani Punjab and Haryana had similar climate and soil, it would be appropriate if HAU and Agricultural University of Faislabad in Pakistan share expertise by signing an agreement. The Chief Minister appreciated the proposal of Mr Noon and offered all assistance of the state government in this regard. Mr Noon would lead a 5-member delegation of Pakistan to CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, on October 14 to see for themselves the advances made by the university in agricultural research. The delegation of Pakistan would include the Special Secretary, Agriculture Marketing, Capt Mohammed Usif the Additional Secretary, Agriculture Marketing, Mr Ahmed Sayeed, and the Director, Agriculture Marketing, Dr Rafiq-Ur-Rahman. They would be accompanied by the Haryana Agriculture Minister, Mr Jaswinder Singh Sandhu and senior officers of the Agriculture Department. Mr Noon said agricultural experts and scientists of both Haryana and Pakistani Punjab should visit each other’s areas and share experiences and research to further improve the agriculture sector. Haryana Finance Minister, Sampat Singh, Town and Country Planning Minister, Dhirpal Singh, Agriculture Minister, Jaswinder Singh Sandhu and senior officers of the state government were present during the meeting. |
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Congress leader killed in road mishap
Hisar, October 12 On the way, a blue bull suddenly came in front of their vehicle, due to which the driver lost control and the vehicle overturned. Both Krishna and her husband were injured in the mishap. Krishna, who was admitted to a private hospital, succumbed to her injuries today. A condolence meeting was organised today by the Hansi unit of the Congress to mourn her death. Meanwhile, Surender (27), a worker at an industrial unit on the Delhi road here, was killed while working in the factory. His body has been sent for a post-mortem examination at the local Civil Hospital. |
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Undertrial shot at in court
Bhiwani, October 12 The intended target, Jitender Jogi of Petwad Baas village in Hisar, had been undergoing imprisonment in the Hisar jail. Senior police officials arrived on the scene and took the stock of the situation. A meeting was held, attended by all working Judges. The police registered a case and started investigations. The incident put a question mark on the security in the judicial complex. About a year ago, a few armed persons had opened fire on an undertrial in a court room when proceedings of the case were on. The Sessions Judge had had a meeting with the Deputy Commissioner and walls were built around the courtrooms. There was a proposal to put metal detectors on the gates, but it was later withdrawn. |
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One killed, 3 hurt in accident
Rewari, October 12 All four injured, including the driver, were admitted to Raman Munjal Hospital, Dharuhera, where the driver, Asad Ali, succumbed to his injuries. The three others were stated to be out of danger. They were going from Delhi to Jaipur . The police has registered a case of rash and negligent driving under Sections 279, 304-A of the IPC. |
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Six injured in firing during clash
Rakhsera (Panipat), October 12 The injured belonged to both the groups. They have been identified as
Dayanand, Maichand, Resham, Pala, Karnail and Jagir. While Dayanand has been referred to the trauma centre in Delhi, Maichand has been shifted to the Civil Hospital, Panipat, whereas the remaining four injured are getting treatment at government hospital at
Samalkha. The clash follows a dispute of 20-acre land between Dayanand and
Maichand. While the Dayanand group alleged that Maichand along with his men fired at them when Dayanand along with two agricultural labourers, Karnail and
Jagir, was working in his fields, the Maichand group had something else to say. According to the Maichand group, Dayanand accompanied by his companions attacked
Maichand, his men Resham and Pala, with lathis when they were busy in their fields. However, no FIR could be filed at Samalkha police station. |
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Miscreants kill watchman, take away 350 cylinders
Sonepat, October 12 The miscreants stormed the godown and tied all persons. They snatched cash and other valuables from them. When the watchman resisted them they killed him. They also injured the brother and father-in-law of the victim Majoj, alias Kala, Khanpur Kalan village. The miscrants reportedly scaled the wall of the godown. They were armed with pistols, knives and lathis etc. A case has been registered. |
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Man shot at
Rewari, October 12 After committing the crime, the assailants sped away in Scorpio vehicle towards Gurgaon. Later, Jaipal was brought to the local Civil Hospital where the doctors referred him to the PGIMS , Rohtak. A spokesman of the police said Jaipal was also involved in several cases of murder, attempt to robbery and violation of the Excise Act. A police party has been sent to Gurgaon to nab the criminals. |
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City journalist in press panel
Chandigarh, October 12 According to a communique of the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the tenure of the committee will be two years from the date of its first meeting. The first meeting will be held in New Delhi on October 15. |
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Youth Cong demands
Modi’s ouster
Ambala, October 12 The effigy of Mr Narendra Modi was burnt at Defence Colony. Mr Bhoom Singh Rana, president District Youth Congress rural, said the comments made by, Mr Narendra Modi, were a poor reflection of his opinion and he should be dismissed for making the same. Mr Tarun Chugh, said that the Youth Congress would continue to oppose Mr Narendra Modi till he did not apologise to the Sikh community. Mr Kehar Singh Dhamoli said the incident had proved that the BJP was not a secular party. |
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Engg college to host youth festival Ambala, October 12 According to the convener of the festival, Dr S.C. Gupta, the Vice-Chancellor of the Kurukshetra University, Dr A.K. Chawla will inaugurate the festival on October 14. The Advocate-General of Punjab and Haryana High Court, Mr Ashok Kumar Aggarwal, will award the prizes to the winners on the concluding day on
October 16. The chairman of M.M. Group of Institutions, Mr Tarsem Kumar Garg, will preside over the function. Mr Gupta, said around 600 students of 36 colleges would take part in various cultural competitions. Several committees were constituted for the management of the festival, he added. |
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Fancy dress competition held Ambala, October 12 The school Principal, Ms Reena Nagrath, said the competition was organised by Dayanand Sadan and Mathematics club. A maths project contest will be held tomorrow. The first prize winners were Simran, Anjali, Sheena and Akash, the second prize winners were Gagan Khanna, Gurujesh, Tushar and Khushbu while the third prize winners were Avi Jain, Merushikha, Ankit and Shivani. |
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Ambala jaycee bag 10 awards Ambala, October 12 Mr Manish Gupta, President of Ambala Central Jaycee, said they won four awards for excellence in training, one for establishing junior Jaycees, one award for holding training course and four other awards. |
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Student wins silver in weightlifting Ambala, October 12 |
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Office-bearers appointed Ambala, October 12 Following were the new office-bearers:- president — Jaspal Rana, general secretary — Jagmal Singh treasurer — Brij Pal Walia, senior vice-president — Om Prakash, vice-president — Kusum Lata, organisation secretary — Rajiv Kumar, chairman — Balbir Singh and convener — Mahinder Singh Saini. |
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