Chandigarh, March 11
Pandemonium ruled the House as a miffed opposition today locked horns with the Speaker, Dr Raghuvir Singh Kadian, for being “gagged” and subsequently staged two walkouts.

The “face-off” resulted in the Speaker naming Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) supremo Om Prakash Chautala and Ishwar Singh Palaka during the zero hour and question hour respectively.

The drama was triggered of by an innocuous discussion about the Hansi-Butana link canal and its completion.

During his reply in the question hour, irrigation minister Capt Ajay Yadav said 90 per cent of the work had been done but the matter was in the Supreme Court because certain “khurafati (mischievious)” people had moved court.

This was enough handle for an already sore opposition still recovering from the treatment meted out to their leader, who was not allowed to put across his point in the ensuing debate on the Governor’s address yesterday.

The members, including Dr Sushil Indora, Dr Sita Ram and Shahida Khan, retaliated by raising objections against the use of the word.

The Speaker, however, was unmoved by their arguments. Congress MLAs and the minister tried to explain that it was not targeted at an individual or party but no logic worked.

Ignoring their protest, the Speaker went onto the next question but the opposition stuck to its stand and did not allow the proceedings to continue.

Dr Kadian urged them to raise the matter in the zero hour and not interrupt the question hour but to no avail.

The Speaker warned Sushil Indora thrice, asked the opposition to return to their benches before they made their final exit even as Chautala was walking in.

He, too, left with his party men and the Speaker named Ishwar Singh Palaka after which the question hour resumed.

Subsequently, the Speaker read out his observations of yesterday’s proceedings during which unruly scenes were witnessed between the opposition and the lone MLA of the BSP.

He also observed that Chautala had cast aspersions on the Chair not once but repeatedly and that nobody would be allowed to breach the privilege of the House. He added he hoped INLD members should improve their behaviour.

The members of the opposition returned during the zero hour and Chautala began by stating that the Speaker had named a member from their party and suspended him from the session.

He added that a second member had been named today and the opposition’s voice was continuously being stifled. He maintained that the opposition was not being allowed to speak while the Speaker kept commenting on them.

Chautala had hardly completed his sentence when the treasury benches erupted. A member said it amounted to casting aspersions on the Chair.

An agitated Speaker emphasised that he was there to protect the interest of every member of the House and that Chautala’s insinuations carried no weight.

The Speaker stood up and asked Chautala to sit down repeatedly without any impact. A heated exchange between the two followed and culminated with the marshals being called in to send the opposition packing after which he named Chautala.

Later, parliamentary affairs minister Randeep Singh Surjewala moved a resolution condemning the misconduct of the INLD, which was unanimously accepted by the House.

Karan Dalal urged the Speaker to call a meeting of representatives of all parties in the House and urge the opposition to improve their behaviour. The meeting is slated for tomorrow morning.

Perturbed with the development and mincing no words, an emotionally charged finance minister, Birender Singh, raised the issue of conduct of members in the House.

He said it was a known fact that the treasury benches always bulldozed the opposition and felt that discipline and decorum were given a go by.

Critical of the “short assembly sessions”, he said the attempt of the Chief Minister was to quickly wrap up proceedings and it was regretful that sessions were limited to 10 to 15 days only against 108 average sittings of the House in Maharashtra.

Gurgaon, March 11
The Gurgaon administration challaned 115 shops for keeping their shops open on the closed day under the Shop and Establishment Act here today.

The main shopping establishments, which were challaned, included Vishal Mega Mart in Sector 14, Big Bazar in Sahara Mall, Kutub Plaza and Reliance Fresh.

A spokesman of the administration said four teams were constituted, which raided different areas and challaned the violators.

As per the orders of the administration, all shops and business enterprises in Gurgaon tehsil area would remain closed on Tuesday instead of Sunday.

As per the Act, if any shopkeeper or owner of business enterprises wanted to keep his shop or commercial establishment open for all seven days of the week, he would have to apply to the commissioner, labour and employment, under Section 9 and 10 of the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act.

Yamunanagar, March 11
Wives of police personnel living in the new Police Lines located on National Highway-73 protested against power shortage here today. They were also planning to obstruct traffic on the road.

Police personnel, including their husbands, on duty did not let them do so. They alleged the colony had been without power for the past two days. Later, deputy superintendent of police Ram Chander and sub-inspector Amarjeet Kaur somehow pacified them and they submitted a memorandum to the in charge of the Police Lines.

Meanwhile, DSP Ram Chander claimed that the women did not protest but instead had gathered to meet him as he was visiting the colony.

The women said the colony was connected with a power feeder of a village and they were facing a lot of power cuts. There was no power in the colony for the past two days and hence no water supply.

They said they were forced to bring water from the nearby Nalagarh village. Annual examinations were on and children had to study in candlelight.

They said several times they had urged the authorities concerned to connect the colony with an urban feeder, but to no avail.

They also complained that the boundary wall of the colony was broken and locals were throwing garbage in the colony.

Rohtak, March 11
The four-member inquiry committee constituted by Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) here to probe the allegations of irregularities in the MD/MS/MDS/PG diploma entrance examination conducted by the university on February 24 submitted its report to the MDU vice-chancellor this evening.

The vice-chancellor, Prof R.P. Hooda, admitted having received the report, but refused to divulge its contents. “I will study the report and discuss its findings with the committee members. After that, we will disclose the contents before the Press,” he said on being questioned in this regard.

However, according to informed sources, the inquiry committee had observed some variance in the pattern of results as compared to the previous three years.

Though the panel had not cast any aspersions on the conduct of examination, but it had recommended that the matter be further investigated to remove any doubts in this regard.

Apparently, the probe panel had found some substance in the allegations of the affected candidates, as it had not ruled out the possibility of irregularities altogether.

Meanwhile, members of the PGIMS Resident Doctors Association (RDA) as well as present and former MBBS students continued their protests today.

While the RDA remained on strike, the MBBS students boycotted their classes. As many as 18 protesters also started a 24-hour fast to press for their demand to cancel the test.

The Haryana State Medical Teachers Association, which has also backed the medicos’ struggle, wore black badges to register their protest. The IMA has also supported the medicos.

On the other hand, the PGIMS administration has expressed serious concern over the resident doctors’ strike and urged the state government to depute more HCMS doctors to tide over the crisis situation.

Meanwhile, senior faculty members of the institute are looking after the emergency services. However, patients in general continued to suffer due to the strike for the fifth day today.

He was accused of possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. He was a minister of state in the Bansi Lal ministry from 1996 to 1999.

Chandigarh, March 11
The “irregular” appointment of deputy directors, agriculture, made during the Om Prakash Chautala regime in 2004, today occupied centre stage during the question hour.

Raising the issue, Karan Dalal said the fate of the appointments was particularly significant in the light of information that wheat production had fallen for the first time in the state.

He sought to know whether the government had received any representation against the illegal selection of the DDAs by the Haryana Public Service Commission, its contents and findings of the inquiry as also action taken in this regard.

Agriculture minister Dr Harmohinder Singh Chatha said of the 12 appointments made, only three were found to be “illegal”.

Action had been initiated against the three DDAs by registration of a case of fraud against them as also under the Haryana Punishment and Appeals Rules.

Dalal, maintaining that this was yet another scam of the Chautala government, said there were clear cut instructions from the court to take action on any representation about appointment of “incapable people”.

“They were selected by ignoring all rules and regulations and even resorted to corrupt practices. They should have been sent packing by the department,” he stated.

In his reply, the minister stated that the vigilance department had conducted an inquiry though it was not done within the stipulated time frame and action had already been initiated against those guilty.

However, Dalal pointed out that since irregularities were found in the appointments, all these should be revoked and a case be registered against the then HPSC chairman, K.C. Bangar.

In reply to a question by Radhey Sham Sharma, irrigation minister Capt Ajay Yadav said a bypass for Narnaul was under consideration and that a consultant for a feasibility study had been appointed.

To a question on development and renovation of Bidh Kaiyar area of Kaithal, urban local bodies minister A.C. Chaudhary said a project worth Rs 705 lakh had been made and works would be completed by March 2009.

Chandigarh, March 11
The judicial inquiry commission pertaining to the Dabwali fire tragedy is unlikely to complete its task within the stipulated time.

In response to a question by Ram Kumar Gautam, the Haryana government said the inquiry was still hanging fire due to non-availability of the counsel representing the claimants and due to other administrative and functional difficulties.

Though the initial time for the inquiry was fixed for six months, the term of the one-man commission under T.P. Garg was extended from time to time by the high court.

The term will now expire on March 31. The commission was set up by the high court to determine the compensation payable to the victims of the Dabwali fire tragedy.

Rohtak, March 11
Seven members of a family of Titoli village in the district were killed and five others injured in an accident on the Delhi-Hisar National Highway no.10 near Meham township this afternoon.

The deceased included three women and three children while two of the injured are brothers.

According to police sources and witnesses, the family members were going to Baas village in Bhiwani district to express their condolences at a relative’s place. On the way, a wheel of a truck coming from the opposite direction came off in front of their car.

In a bid to save the vehicle from the truck wheel, the Tata Safari driver took a sharp turn. However, in the process, the Safari rammed into the truck.

The deceased have been identified as Santosh, Ved Kaur, Shanti, Himanshu, Laalu, Devanshu and Ram Phal. The injured, including Dharam Dev, Vijay, Babli, Asha and Pradeep, were taken to the local PGIMS, where they are undergoing treatment.

Of the injured persons, Dharam Dev and Vijay are sons of Shanti, who was killed in the mishap.

Owing to the ongoing strike by resident doctors of the PGIMS, senior faculty members, including the institute director, Prof S.S.Sangwan, attended to the injured persons and also supervised the postmortem examinations. The police has registered a case in this regard.

Yamunanagar, March 11
The Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government may or may not fulfil its poll promise of creating a separate committee for gurdwaras in the state, but the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has started doling out funds in the state to counter the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (ad hoc), which has been spearheading a movement for a separate panel.

The HSGPC says the SGPC is making desperate efforts to win back the faith of Sikhs of the state by distributing “meagre” funds in the state. On the other hand, the SGPC claims that it has been spending many times more than what it is collecting from the state.

The SGPC has purchased five acres in Lohgarh Sahib for Rs 45 lakh and plans to buy more. The SGPC has proposed to develop the place in memory of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur.

SGPC member Baldev Singh Kayampuri said the project was long due. According to him, work on the project has started following “special efforts” made by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar. A gurdwara and a museum associated with Baba Banda Singh Bahadur will be built.

The SGPC recently gave Rs 2 lakh for the construction of Shri Guru Harikrishan Public School on the campus of Guru Nanak Khalsa Senior Secondary School here. Kayampuri said the grant was announced by the SGPC chief.

The SGPC also gave Rs 11 lakh for the construction of a building of Dashmesh Senior Secondary School at Kapal Mochan, Rs 1 lakh for a gurdwara in Chhachhrouli and Rs 1.51 lakh for a gurdwara in Uchachandna village here. The SGPC has also given Rs 55 lakh for schools run by it in Kaithal district.

The HSGPC is of the view that the SGPC started distributing the “meagre” funds in the state after it charged the latter with ignoring Haryana.

According to Jog Singh, senior vice-president of the HSGPC, Sikhs in Haryana “have no faith in the SGPC”. He said the HSGPC was adopting a wait-and-watch policy on the government’s commitment regarding a separate panel for the state.

“Sooner or later, Haryana will have a separate panel for gurdwaras and the SGPC cannot win back the faith of Haryana Sikhs by spending a few lakhs in the state,” asserted Jog Singh.

Kayampuri claimed that the SGPC was spending crores in developing educational institutions in the state and also spending Rs 1 crore annually for the propagation of Sikhism.

Jind, March 11
The movement of traffic was disrupted for about an hour on the main road connecting Jind with Kaithal district as residents of six villages had blocked the road near Alewa village, about 20 km from here today.

They were protesting against the non-supply of the cooking gas in the area for the past about three weeks. The blockade was lifted after the officials concerned assured them of proper action.

At least 200 protesters assembled at the main crossing known as Alewa Chowk, which is an important point for the commuters going towards Kaithal and Pillukhera in Safidon subdivision.

The residents, who were agitated over the negative response of the gas agency at Safidon, blocked the road with several wooden logs and squatted there not allowing any vehicle to pass from there.

The disruption, which started at about 10.30 am, was lifted after about an hour when police officials intervened.

The villagers complained that they were not being given the LPG supply on time and the agency owner had been providing an unsatisfactory response every time.

Hisar, March 11
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has devised a lucky draw scheme for consumers who deposit fused CFLs, bulbs and electric equipment with the DHBVN for proper disposal without causing pollution.

A spokesman of the DHBVN said here today that since the conventional incandescent bulbs consumed 70 to 80 per cent more power than CFLs, the nigam was encouraging consumers to replace bulbs with CFLs and old electrical equipment with new star-rated appliances.

However, since CFLs had mercury inside, it was necessary to ensure that these were disposed of properly.

To encourage consumers to leave the job to experts the nigam had devised a scheme under which prizes would be given to consumers bringing in their fused CFLs for disposal.

Under the scheme, the nigam issues receipts having unique numbers against each CFL, incandescent bulb, old motors or pump deposited by the consumers.

Draws will be conducted at the nigam's head office here on the collection of a specific number of bulbs.

Forms for participating in the lucky draws will be available at the DHBVN's customer care centres and offices of assistant general managers (operations).

Gurgaon, March 11
The long-pending controversy over the refunding of compensation in lieu of land acquired by HUDA in 17 villages on the outskirts of Gurgaon district has still not been resolved.

Farmers of these villages are confused whether they have to reimburse the extra amount of compensation paid to them as per the direction of the court or go by the assurance of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda who reportedly promised to look into the matter during a recent visit to the area.

The affected villagers met union minister of state for defence production Rao Inderjeet Singh here today who constituted an 11-member committee to present their case before the Haryana government for amicable resolution.

HUDA had acquired land in 17 villages about eight years ago and gave compensation to the villagers. As most of the farmers were not satisfied with the amount of compensation, they approached a lower court for enhancing their compensation.

The court gave a decision in favour of villagers and increased the amount of compensation. HUDA then filed a petition in the high court against the order of the lower court and the court in its verdict reduced the compensation and directed HUDA to recover the extra amount paid to the farmers.

After this decision, some villagers returned the extra compensation amount (Rs 20 crore) while others approached the government for granting them relief.

The minister said he would ask the government to fulfil its commitment made the affected farmers of the area.

Asked about the construction of subways on the NH-8, the minister said a team of the NHAI would soon visit the area to identify places where these subways would be constructed.

On the plea of residents of Palam Vihar, whose houses were being abolished for constructing a road, the minister assured that he would take up the matter with the government and if possible get the road constructed on vacant land adjoining these houses.

The court ordered her to furnish a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh. Yesterday Pooja’s counsel had pleaded that she was not involved in the scam.

New Delhi, March 11
Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences are battling to save one of the eyes of a Delhi University student, who suffered grievous injuries in a mob attack on a train in Haryana’s Palwal area.

Though the doctors are preparing for a second surgery on the eye of Deenbandu Diwakar, a BEd student, they are not sure if they could restore his eyesight.

Diwakar suffered serious injuries when locals attacked students returning after a study tour near Palwal yesterday over a dispute on seating arrangements.

“Already an operation has been done on Diwakar’s eye yesterday.

But the doctors have told us that they cannot say anything about the damaged eye. Another surgery will be conducted,” C.K. Saluja of department of education said.

His family has been informed and the department has filed complaints with the police in Palwal and Hazrat Nizamuddin in the Capital, he said.

Diwakar was one of the five students injured in the attack after students, who had reserved seats on the Bhopal Express, objected to local passengers barging into the compartment and passing lewd comments at girls.

The incident took place between the Solaka and Rungi railway stations yesterday after the train was converted into a passenger train. Enraged over this, the locals beat up the students and tried to set afire the compartment.

The four other students who suffered injuries are Kishan, Shamsher, Manish Roy and Anand. — PTI

However, no suicide note was recovered from the room and reason for the suicide is still not known. Family members said there was no sign of depression or any other problem. — UNI

An official spokesman said the holiday had been declared under the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958.