Rohtak, March 7
The brutal face of the police force and the apathetic attitude of the administration were exposed once again as medical students staging a peaceful demonstration were lathicharged by police personnel here today.

Nearly 20 present and former medical students were injured, six of them critically, in the unprovoked use of force by the personnel of the state police.

The Residents Doctors Association of the local Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) immediately struck work, paralysing the casualty, OPD as well as ward services.

The Haryana State Medical Teachers Association (HSMTA) has condemned the police action on peaceful demonstrators.

The students were marching towards the local residence of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to submit a memorandum demanding a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the MD/MS/MDS/PG diploma entrance exam conducted by Maharshi Dayanand University on February 24.

The protesters were stopped near the medical turn by police personnel deployed there. The police officials asked them not to go to CM’s residence, as his father was not well. They said the deputy commissioner or some other senior functionary would come and accept their memorandum.

The medicos agreed and waited there for the said official’s arrival. However, nobody reached the scene for more than an hour. Later, an ASP-level police official asked the protesters to hand over the memorandum to him and go back.

The medicos refused to do so and once again started moving towards the CM’s residence. On this, the police personnel charged at them with canes and lathis. Several medicos, including girls, were injured in the lathicharge while many were pushed into police vehicles parked there.

According to the protesters, the medicos who were stuffed into the police vehicles were mercilessly thrashed by police personnel inside the vehicles.

Sanjeev, an MBBS student, got unconscious after he was hit in his head. He also got fracture in his arm. Dr Ajay Chhikara got a nasal fracture and several others got multiple injuries.

The injured were rushed to the PGIMS. The RDA immediately went on strike for 24 hours, leaving the medical services paralysed. The RDA as well as the HSMTA have sought a CBI inquiry into the alleged irregularities in conducting the entrance examination.

The medical students have also decided to boycott their classes till their demands of cancelling the exam and ordering a CBI probe are met.

A meeting of the medicos was going on to decide the future course of agitation at the time of filing this report.

Chandigarh, March 7
Suspended Congress MP Kuldeeep Bishnoi has decided not to contest the disqualification proceedings initiated against him.

Expressing his willingness to “sacrifice” his seat and even his life for the cause of the common man, he said his “fight against the rich and mighty” would continue “at all costs”

In a reply to the Lok Sabha Speaker, following the issuance of a show-cause notice to a petition for disqualification filed by Avtar Singh Badhana, Bishnoi said: “If upholding the rights of the poor, speaking for the downtrodden, protecting the aam aadmi and the farmers and voicing one’s opinion on issues of importance is an offence, I plead guilty to the same.”

Bishnoi maintained that there had been a “systemised campaign” against him for raising the burning issue of special economic zones (SEZ) which violated the basic rights of farmers and farm labour.

Terming the disqualification petition against him by fellow MP Badhana as one facet of the campaign, the suspended MP asserted that it was just one way adopted to suppress his fight for the poor.

He termed his utterances on “corruption in high places”, the issue of SEZs, government inaction regarding the construction of the SYL, deteriorating law and order for the common man as execution of the liberty to speak one’s mind as was conferred upon him by the Constitution.

Listing his efforts, he said he had already sat on fast, gone on padyatras and raised the issues in Parliament. “My resolve is firm. I will carry on this battle to the end, even it I have to sacrifice my life in the process,” his reply stated.

Having a dig at the Congress and its workers as also its leadership, he remarked that the Congress culture “is one of sycophancy and prostrating before Madam,” an obvious reference to UPA chairman Sonia Gandhi.

“My detractors fail to realise that the Congress party was earlier an institution and not an individual,” he said, adding that to stifle dissent was to sound the death knell of democracy.

Unlike Bishnoi, who has expressed his willingness to forgo the seat without challenging the proceedings, his father and former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, and Congress MLAs Dharampal Malik and Rakesh Kamboj have moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the show-cause notice issued to them by Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker Raghuvir Singh Kadian. They are opposing the disqualification proceedings initiated against them.

Chandigarh, March 7
The Haryana government today reaffirmed its commitment to get the state’s legitimate share in the river waters through the SYL canal.

Though the commitment was reaffirmed by Governor A.R. Kidwai in his address to the assembly on the opening day of the budget session, it sounded customary reaffirmation. Kidwai did not elaborate how the state government would fulfill its commitment and how soon.

After making the customary reference to the contentious SYL canal, Kidwai went on to talk about other initiatives being taken by the government in the irrigation sector to “optimally and equitably distribute the available water”.

He said the construction of the Hansi-Butana link canal to provide water to the deficit southern areas of the state was on an advanced stage of completion.

However, he did not mention that the Bhakra main line canal, from where water would flow to the new canal, could not be punctured till the Supreme Court vacated the stay.

The capacity of the Western Yamuna canal was being increased from 13,500 cusecs to 20,000 cusecs at a cost of Rs 30 crore to utilize floodwaters of the Yamuna.

The Shahabad-Dadupur Nalvi canal, with a head capacity of 590 cusecs, was under construction at a cost of Rs 267 crore. It would utilise the surplus Yamuna waters for irrigation and for recharging groundwater.

To meet the drinking water needs of the National Capital Region falling in Haryana, a 500-cusec channel was being dug at a cost of Rs 225 crore.

The construction of the Kaushalya dam on the Ghaggar to meet the drinking water needs of Panchkula and neighbouring areas had been taken up at the cost of about Rs 99 crore.

Continuing special efforts of the state government to accelerate welfare of the SCs, Kidwai said the state’s Rs 6,650-crore plan outlay for 2008-09 would include Rs 1,433 crore SCs sub plan.

This allocation was 21.55 per cent of the total outlay as against SC population of 19.35 per cent in the state.

The government proposed a new scheme of financial assistance to non-school going special children from 2008-09 onwards.

Children in the age group of 6 years to 18 years would be provided financial assistance at a rate of Rs 100 in case of 40 to 70 per cent disability and Rs 150 per month in case of disability being above 70 per cent.

Kidwai said with a view to heal the psyche of children who were in conflict with the law and bring them back into the mainstream, it had been decided to upgrade the facilities in the existing observation homes by setting up workshops, libraries and playgrounds.

For this purpose, a new scheme namely “skill building and rehabilitation of juveniles” would be started this year.

At the outset, Kidwai welcomed the loan waiver scheme announced by the union government for small and marginal farmers.

He said as a result of “forward-looking and people-friendly” policies of the state government, Haryana had witnessed all-round prosperity and had achieved the highest per capita income in the country.

He said the development had moved far beyond economic growth, with its clear focus on social goals like improved quality of life, enhanced opportunities for better education and health, and welfare of weaker sections and marginalised groups.

Lauding the government’s performance in generating resources, Kidwai said during 2004-05, the revenue receipts were Rs 11,149 crore, which rose to Rs 13,853 crore in the next year, registering an increase of 24 per cent.

In 2006-07, the receipts showed an increase of 30 per cent and Rs 17,952 crore were generated.

During the next financial year, he said, the state expected the revenue receipts to be Rs 19,630 crore. This, he said, had been possible due to prudent fiscal management.

Kidwai said the state had received a foreign direct investment of Rs 10,500 crore and the sound economic fundamentals and excellent infrastructure had propelled Haryana into one of the most pro-business environments in the country.

He said 289 units had been registered with the union government as 100 per cent export oriented units. Out of these, 127 units had gone into production and would catalyse an investment of Rs 2,681 crore with employment for over 27,000 persons.

Exports from Haryana during 2007-08 crossed Rs 30,000 crore. The state witnessed an unprecedented flow of investment to the tune of about Rs 33,000 crore since 2005. Projects involving an investment of more than Rs 66,000 crore were also in the pipeline.

He said the state had received 92 proposals for setting up SEZs with an investment of more than Rs 2,00,000 crore.

Giving details about various new power projects, he said about 5,000 MW of additional power would be available to the state in the 11th plan.

While the total investment in generation, including private sector, would be about Rs 14,000 crore, the HPGCL would spend Rs 10,042 crore directly for adding to the generation capacity.

In the 11th plan, Rs 7,697 crore would be spent to upgrade the transmission system and Rs 6,577 crore to strengthen the distribution network.

Panipat, March 7
Owing to dense fog along the GT Road this morning, the traffic remained affected.

A random survey revealed that vehicular movement in Panipat, Sonepat, Karnal and Kurukshetra was affected. The weather became clear at about 10 am.

Similar reports of hazy climatic conditions from Rohtak, Hisar and other parts of the state were also reported.

Experts blame sudden surge in the morning temperature and the presence of dust and industrial pollutants in air for foggy conditions.

AIG (Highway) Rajpal Singh confirmed that despite zero visibility today on a large part of the GT Road, no untoward incident was reported.

Meanwhile, talking to TNS, Dr Narsi Ram Bishnoi, senior professor, department of environment science of Guru Jambeshwar University (GJU), Hisar, said areas around the irrigated fields had maximum chances for foggy conditions.

“It is irrigation time in the fields along the NH-1. Water that gets evaporated from the adjoining fields during daytime gets condensed in air during nights that further causes fog formation,” he said.

Prof Bishnoi further added that pollutants from industries and vehicular emission that get deposited in air caused hazy conditions.

Ambala, March 7
The CBI court in Ambala has sought the explanation of the superintendent of Tihar Jail for not producing three of the accused in the kidney scam in the court today.

On February 29, the court had issued production warrants of Dr Surze, his servant Jagdish and an agent, Giyasudeen. Special Magistrate of the CBI court R.N. Bharti directed the Tihar Jail authorities to produce the accused on March 20 in his court “at all costs”.

Three other accused in the scam - Dr Jeevan, Dr K.K. Aggarwal and lab assistant Manoj - were produced in the court. The court extended their judicial custody till March 20. Dr Amit was not produced in the court as he is in the custody of the Jaipur police.

Similarly, Dr Upender, an anaesthetist, was also not produced in the court as he is in the custody of the Faridabad police.

The bail application of Pooja, wife of Dr Jeevan, will be heard on March 10. Pooja’s counsel S.D. Singh and Amit Gupta had filed a bail application in the court of Special Judge R.K. Saini.

The counsel stated in the application that Pooja was pregnant and moreover she had nothing to do with this scam.

They requested to grant her bail. The judge directed the CBI to file its reply on March 10 in this regard.

Counsel for Dr Amit filed a reply to the CBI application in the court of R.N. Bharti today in which the CBI had requested the court to freeze Dr Amit’s account in Canada. The court fixed March 20 for arguments on the matter.

Hisar, March 7
Haryana Agricultural University's budget for the next financial year has an outlay of Rs 171.40 crore.

The outlay shows an increase of Rs 11.24 crore over the provisions for the current fiscal. An official press release issued here today said that of the total outlay, the university would receive Rs 137.12 crore from the Haryana government, Rs 24.16 crore from the ICAR and other agencies and Rs 10.11 crore out of its own income.

It said 34.69 per cent of the budget would be spent on research, 25.15 per cent on teaching and 10.28 per cent on extension activities.

Besides, 12.83 per cent had been earmarked for buildings, maintenance and landscaping, 13.93 per cent for administrative and miscellaneous activities and 3.62 per cent on student and employees’ welfare.

It said a provision of Rs 1.60 crore had also been made for schemes meant exclusively for the scheduled castes and Rs 37.23 lakh for women.

Meanwhile, vice-chancellor J. C. Katyal today inaugurated an agro processing centre at the College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology of the university.

This centre has been established under the All-India Coordinated Research Project of the ICAR.

Chandigarh, March 7
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda began his press conference with his favourite one-liner that of making Haryana the number one state in the country.

Visibly elated at the Haryana Governor’s address to mark the inauguration of the budget session here today, Hooda said the Congress government had completed three years in power and that he was satisfied with the way things were progressing.

“We are heading towards our goal of becoming number one in the country,” he stated while addressing mediapersons after the day’s proceedings ended.

Referring to the Governor’s address, he said it was a reflection of the new vision for Haryana. As an example, he said as much as 19.35 per cent Scheduled Caste population had got 21.55 per cent allocation in the budget plan, the highest ever.

He added that the SC population was provided drinking water under the Indira Gandhi Paye Jal Yojna, besides other initiatives undertaken for their welfare.

Lending credence to his claim of taking Haryana to the number one position, he said the per capita income was highest in Haryana.

He said his government had increased the number of seats in technical education institutions from 23,000 to 53,000 and would take it to one lakh in the next two years.

On the investment front, the Chief Minister said an investment of Rs 33,000 crore had been made in the past three years and about Rs 68,000 crore was in the pipeline whereas during the past 40 years only an investment of Rs 40,000 crore was made.

Hooda also seemed upbeat about his forthcoming trip to Mauritius where Hooda has been invited by Prime Minister Naveen Chandra Ramgoolam on the occasion of their national day.

Chipping in about the honour given to Hooda, Haryana parliamentary affairs minister Randeep Singh Surjewala said the invitation had been extended to the CM in view of the buoyant state economy and the glorious development saga that had unfolded in the past three years. “Haryana is a landmark state. It is not only talked about in the country but abroad as well,” Surjewala said.

Describing the increased annual plan outlay of Rs 6,650 crore for the next financial year by the Planning Commission as the biggest achievement of the state, the Chief Minister said this increase was three times more as compared to state plan outlay of Rs 2,200 crore during 2005-06 when the Congress came to power.

He ended on a happy note that Haryana’s plan outlay had surpassed that of Punjab this year that was Rs 6,224 crore.

Faridabad, March 7
Commuters had a bad day today on account of disruption of train services due to a failure in North India power grid system. The power failure took place around 3 am and continued till over 10 am. The problem was on account of EMUs with power driven engines.

The scene at railway stations in Faridabad district was of utter confusion and chaos as a large number of commuters, mainly officer-goers and schoolchildren, got stuck.

As the commuters did not know the nature of the power problem, they kept waiting at the railway stations for hours in the hope of resumption of services.

A special train, run on diesel, was started from Palwal to Delhi as a contingency measure. All coaches of the train were packed to more than their capacities.

Women suffered the most in the maddening crowd. Private bus and three-wheeler operators had a field day.

Panipat, March 7
Power supply to several parts of the state, including Panipat, was severely affected today after three units at the Panipat Thermal Plant (PTP) tripped early this morning.

Chief engineer of the thermal plant S. P. Chinda told TNS here that the functioning of all units of the PTP was restored in the evening.

He said the units were hit after a snag was detected in the BBMB line at Siwah around 4 am. The exact reason for the tripping was yet to be ascertained, he added.

Sources said that due to foggy and humid conditions a snag developed in the BBMB lines. Meanwhile, water supply in the town was also hit due to the erratic power supply.

Sonepat: The city and its suburbs remained powerless for about eight hours on Friday, according to a PTI report.

The power cut paralysed normal life. Business and industrial activities were the worst hit. Drinking water supply and all other essential services, including hospitals, were also affected.

Ambala, March 7
The Haryana Roadways Workers Union today decided to organise protests at various roadways depots in the state on March 11 in support of their long-pending demands.

At a meeting here, president of the union Baldev Singh said here that the promises made in the election manifesto of the ruling party for the employees had not been fulfilled.

He said the government had been promoting privatisation as the contract for providing conductors had been allotted to three private companies.

He said around 100 CNG buses had been lying abandoned at a depot in Gurgaon for the past two months while the department could earn a handsome amount while putting these to use.

He said the government should set up CNG stations in the state. He said the roadways had a fleet of 3,840 buses while 8,000 more were required to meet the increasing demand.

He said the government had provided Rs 30 crore for upgrading the workshops of various roadways depots, but nothing had been done. He urged the government to constitute a separate pay commission for the employees of the state.

Kurukshetra, March 7
Inaugurating a two-day national seminar on “Media and truth” here today, Kurukshetra University vice-chancellor R.P. Bajpai called upon the media to “see the truth, write the truth and experience the truth”.

Achyutanand Mishra, vice-chancellor, Makhanlal National University of Journalism and Mass Communication, defined truth as something which was different for different people depending on the perception of the people.

He praised Mahatma Gandhi for having the courage of writing everything about his life without fearing the consequences since all that mattered to him was speaking the truth.

D.R. Chaudhary, member, Administrative Reforms Commission, Haryana, in his keynote address, expressed concern over the “co-modification of the media” and said only sex, crime and sensational stories sold. He cautioned against imbalance in reporting for the media.

Kurukshetra University Institute of Mass Communication and Media Technology director B.K. Kuthiala said, “Truth is desirable, achievable, most productive and nature friendly.” Truth and media, he said, were contradictory. He raised questions as to why the media was called a watchdog.

Prof Rajbir of the institute welcomed the participants and conducted the proceedings while Dr Dev Vrat, associate professor, extended a vote of thanks.

The seminar is being attended by academics, media personalities and philosophers drawn from different parts of the country.

Jind, March 7
The annual budget of the local municipal committee for 2008-09 was presented here today. There has been a decrease in the budget allocation this year.

The civic body is known for its poor financial health though the demand for various development and maintenance works has increased.

The budget passed during a meeting of the committee was Rs 5.17 crore compared to Rs 5.84 crore last year.

The committee decided to build a shopping complex at the site of the present fire station on the Safidon road here.

The fire station will be built at another site. It decided to extend the cleanliness contract awarded to private companies to two years.

Panchkula, March 7
The burial of Mohit, son of Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan, was held at the farmhouse of the family at Ramgarh near here today.

Mohit died after a prolonged illness at Fortis Hospital, Mohali, yesterday. Several political leaders, besides a large number of people were present on the occasion.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, union minister of state for urban employment and poverty alleviation Kumari Selja and state finance minister Birender Singh reached the residence of the family at Sector 8 in Panchkula to express grief over the demise of Mohit.

Other ministers from the state, including Randip Singh Surjewala, Mange Ram Gupta, Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, Lachchman Dass Arora, Harminder Singh Chatha, A.C. Chaudhary, Kiran Chaudhary, and Meena Mandal along with MP Navin Jindal laid wreaths.