Sirsa/Fatehabad, September 27
An IPS officer was at the receiving end of Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar’s anger today, who was upset over the flagging off of the Queen’s Baton relay from Sirsa for its onward journey to Fatehabad this morning before he could arrive at the venue.

Tanwar, according to sources, was informed that the relay would proceed for Fatehabad from the Delhi bridge on the outskirts of Sirsa town at 7.45 am.

However, when the MP reached there, he was informed that the baton relay had already left.

The MP followed the relay team and caught it near Gillankhera village, where Chief Parliamentary Secretary and Fatehabad MLA Prahlad Singh Gillankhera welcomed the baton upon its entry in his district.

It was here that the MP exhibited his anger and asked the police officer why the baton relay was started ahead of schedule. He was visibly upset at being sidelined from the flagging-off ceremony at Sirsa. Earlier, the MP had shown his displeasure over the schedule of the welcome of Queen’s Baton prepared by the authorities.

As per the initial announcement by the authorities, Haryana Minister for Sports Gopal Kanda was to receive the baton upon its entry in Haryana near Chautala village on Sunday and the MP was to flag it off from Sirsa today. The authorities later announced that PV Rathee, president of the Haryana Olympic Association, would receive the baton.

However, Tanwar later made it clear that being a representative of the people, it was his duty and privilege to remain with the baton from Chautala, where it entered his parliamentary constituency to Narwana, where it made an exit.

Though officially the baton was received by Rathee from his Rajasthan counterpart, for all practical purposes, Tanwar remained at the centre stage of the programme at the reception ceremony and wherever the baton went in Sirsa. Tanwar said it appeared to be a deliberate attempt by some vested interests to sideline him from the flagging-off ceremony.

“They had informed me that the baton will leave at 7.35 am. However, when I was meeting people at my residence, I received a call at 7.12 am that the baton relay was leaving. By the time I reached the venue, the relay had already left,” Tanwar alleged.

He said he would never tolerate such “mischief” and would not allow anyone to undermine his position.

This is not the first time that Tanwar has tried to exert his authority and shown his displeasure, when things have not gone as per his liking.

KAITHAL: The Queen’s Baton reached here on Monday afternoon and was accorded a warm welcome by Gillankhera and officials of the district administration, besides schoolchildren and residents. Prominent persons from the district who took part in the baton relay included Arjuna awardee Balwant Singh Billu, a volleball player, mountaineer Mamta Sodha, Dronacharya awardee BS Dhndhwa, a kabaddi coach, boxer Vikram Dhull, roller skater Gulmulak Singh, kabaddi player Albad Singh, high jumper Reena and volleyall player Narinder.

Earlier, he had managed to annul the Congress organisational elections in Sirsa and Fatehabad districts, when he was not consulted before the announcement of the office-bearers. In the “elections” held later, he was able to get men of his choice nominated to key posts.

Paramvir Singh, Agriculture Minister, welcomed the Queen’s Baton in Fatehabad town. — OC

Hisar, September 27
Eunuchs want their nomenclature changed. Their word of choice is “mangalmukhi”. This is the main demand of the eunuchs who have gathered here for a national convention.

Addressing mediapersons here today, a well-known eunuch, Shobha Nehru, who is a local Congress leader and councillor, said they would like to be called “mangalmukhi” rather than “hijra” or “kinnar” as they are described in Hindi.

She said mangalmukhi described them aptly as all eunuchs had a pleasant disposition and they nurtured good feelings for everyone.

Nehru said while the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government had been thoughtful in announcing pension for eunuchs, they would rather accept a piece of land at Hisar to build a dharamshala where they could hold their various functions and gatherings like the ongoing national convention.

Raj Haseena, another local councillor and Congress leader, said they were in dire need of a dharamshala.

At present, they had to book space in the Punjabi Dharamshala to hold their convention.

“We need to get together regularly to share our joys and griefs. Our conventions provide us opportunities to meet members of our community.

“I hope the government will give us land to build a dharamshala. We have the resources to erect the building,” she added.

Garishly dressed eunuchs took out a procession through the main markets of the city accompanied by brass bands.

Nehru was felicitated for her contribution to the welfare of the eunuchs.

Chandigarh, September 27
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the state of Haryana to complete within four months the inquiry into the “loss” suffered by Shri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board due to the sale of gold and silver coins allegedly at prices less than the prevailing rates.

The directions came on a petition filed by RK Garg against the state of Haryana and others respondents. As the matter came up before the Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Ajay Tewari, counsel for the petitioner, said the inquiry contemplated by the state in respect of the sale of the ornaments had been initiated and prayed it should be disposed of expeditiously.

The Bench asserted: “After hearing the counsel for the party, we are of the view that this writ petition can be disposed of by issuing a direction to the state government to dispose of the inquiry not later than four months and a copy of the inquiry report shall be supplied to the petitioner.”

In his petition, Garg had earlier sought directions to the state of Haryana and another respondent “to manage the affairs of Shri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board strictly in consonance with the provisions of Section 4 of the Haryana Shri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Act, 1991, by completing the Shrine Board by nominating nine more members from public/devotees, as the existing four official members were not sufficient even to complete the quorum for the meetings of the Board”.

Directions were also sought for ordering an “in-depth inquiry from the Haryana Vigilance Bureau into the affairs of the Shrine Board, which led to the sale of gold and silver coins at prices less than those prevailing in the market, thereby causing huge monetary loss to the Shrine Board.

Disposing of the petition, the Bench noted: “Vide notification dated July 19-20, 2006, issued by the state of Haryana, Shri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board, Panchkula, has been reconstituted in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 4 of the Haryana Shri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Act, 1991.

Panipat, September 27
The district has been allocated Rs 22 crore to repair roads that had got damaged due to heavy rainfall and floods, which had hit the region recently.

Deputy Commissioner JS Ahlawat said all roads that fall under the jurisdiction of the PWD (B&R) and had developed potholes would be repaired.

The district has faced the threat of floods thrice in the past two months with the Yamuna inundating some of the low-lying areas in Sanuli segment of the district.

This has caused a large-scale damage to roads.

The DC said the quality of all roads would be restored by December as the work was likely to start soon.

He said special instructions had also been issued to the HUDA authorities to repair the roads within the sectors and ensure that all roads were properly lit with streetlights, for which a dateline of October 15 had been fixed.

Similarly, the market board had also been asked to undertake the repair work on the roads that are under its jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, the Health Department was asked to form special teams of doctors and send these in areas affected by flood waters.

The DC said there was a fear of spread of waterborne diseases in these areas, therefore health teams would ensure that prompt medical care was given to the villagers.

He said revenue officials had also been asked to undertake a survey to assess loss caused due to floods.

He said the works on the mini-secretariat had also been completed and it would be inaugurated on October 20 by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Earlier, the Deputy Commissioner chaired a monthly meeting of civil officials to oversee the progress of the development projects under way in the district.

Sirsa, September 27
The postmortem examination of the bodies of Inder Pal (21) and Maya (19, who had gone missing, has failed to show the cause of their death. The couple’s highly decomposed bodies were found at Phoolakan village on Saturday.

The doctors, who conducted the postmortem at the PGIMS, Rohtak, yesterday, have sent the viscera to the Forensic Science Lab for chemical examination.

Rewari, September 27
Irate shopkeepers of the Gujjarwara market along with residents of Mohalla Gujjarwara blocked traffic on the market road here today in protest against the alleged apathy of the authorities concerned to stop accumulation of sewer water on the road.

Shopkeepers closed their shops and raised anti-government slogans. They alleged that their repeated requests to the authorities for amelioration of the situation remained unheeded and the accumulated sewer water had been causing considerable inconvenience to them and customers.

Meanwhile, former zila parishad chief and prominent INLD leader Satish Yadav lashed out at the local minister, who claimed that over Rs 750 crore had been spent on the development works in Rewari during the past six years.

The blockade, which lasted for over two hours, was lifted at the persuasion of senior officials of the Public Health Department as well as the municipal council, who assured that the needful would be done speedily.

Hisar, September 27
The government plans to rationalise the number of teachers in government-run senior secondary schools to commensurate with the number of students opting for a particular subject.

MS Brar, Director, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan and RMSA, Haryana, said this at a meeting here. He was addressing heads of government senior secondary schools.

He said there were reports that there was a mismatch in the number of teachers and students in these schools which was affecting studies adversely.

In some schools there were more teachers than required while in others it was the opposite.

He asked heads of schools to submit details of teachers and number of students in their institutions to enable the department to post more teachers where needed and to rationalise student-teacher ratio.

Brar said teachers should do their best to bring every child to school. Special attention ought to be paid to bringing back the dropouts.

No child of school-going age should remain illiterate , he said.

The government has been trying to improve the literacy rate in the state.

Gurgaon, September 27
State Governor Jagannath Pahadia inaugurated a three-day Gurgaon Shopping Fair - a prelude to the Gurgaon Shopping Festival - to mark World Tourism Day here today. The shopping festival is scheduled to be organised during the Commonwealth Games from October 6 to November 7.

Addressing the gathering on the occasion, the Governor maintained that Haryana had great potential in tourism and the historical sites of Kurukshetra, Panipat, Panchkula, Morni Hills, Sultanpur Lake and events like Surajkund Crafts Fair attracted the tourists.

“Kurukshetra is being developed as an international centre for tourism and Pinjore as a heritage site,” he said, adding that the state government had given the status of industry to tourism in the new tourism policy of the state, which was formulated in 2008.

Earlier, the Haryana Minister for Tourism, Transport and Civil Aviation Om Prakash Jain claimed that the state had made all preparations for the games. He appealed to the media to focus on the positive aspect of the preparations as well so as to build a good image of the country worldwide.

Subhash Goyal, chairman of Haryana Tourism Mart and co-chairman of Gurgaon Shopping Festival, pointed out that of the 500 fortune companies of the world, more than 100 had their headquarters in Gurgaon. The festival was being organised to showcase Gurgaon as an international shopping destination, he added.

Karnal, September 27
The feud between partners of Poshak Agrivet, a poultry feed unit on the GT road, took a new turn today with managing director Shivaji Zombaue charging the police with not acting against the “accused” due to political pressure and lodging a complaint with the SP, seeking the registration of an FIR and handing over the premises of the poultry unit back to him.

Addressing a press conference here, he alleged that the attitude of the police was indifferent and instead of taking action against the “accused”, they pushed out labourers, locked up the premises and took away the keys.

He alleged that about 50 persons, including Rajinder Gupta, director of the company, Yogesh Gupta and Deepak Sharma, entered the unit premises yesterday morning and forced the labourers out, roughed up women labourers and took away money and a car parked there.

Shivaji Zombaue, who is also the state convener of the NCP, alleged that Deep Singh, husband of the local MLA, who was also a former partner, was exerting pressure on the police.

National secretary of the NCP Rajinder Bhardwaj backed Zombaue and said he would meet AICC president Sonia Gandhi if “political interference” in the investigation was not stopped.

He alleged that the police had yesterday said that the keys would be returned but till late this evening neither the keys had been returned nor an FIR registered.

The labourers had been rendered shelterless and in spite of repeated pleas by them, the police remained unmoved, he added.

Rubbishing the allegations, Deep Singh said the land belonged to him.

He added that the matter was between the partners and he had nothing to do with it as such.

Local MLA Sumita Singh said it was an attempt to malign her image.

SP Rakesh Arya denied the allegations and said the premises was not locked by the police and the keys were not with it.

Rajinder Gupta also denied the allegations and said he was a 50 per cent partner in the company and also director. He alleged that he faced a threat from Shivaji.

Faridabad, September 27
A portion of the newly constructed Badshah Khan Hospital’s false ceiling collapsed today, creating a stir.

The Principal Medical Officer (PMO), Dr Arvind Lubhan, has lodged a complaint with the National Building Construction Corporation. The latter had got the building constructed through Larsen and Toubro.

This new building is a three-storyed structure and all wards in the old building complex along with the offices are to be shifted here.

The hospital authorities have washed their hands of any responsibility, claiming that official charge of the new building had yet to be taken from the corporation.

The hospital authorities had already shifted one ward and an operation theatre into a portion of the building.

Dr Lubhan, however, said that the operation theatre had been shifted as renovation work was in progress in a portion of the old building complex where it was housed. He said the ceiling had collapsed on account of seepage of water from two water pipes. The regulators on these pipes had been stolen.He said two days back, the DG,Health had inspected the new building. The theft of taps/regulators had taken place after the visit. — TNS

Sirsa, September 27
A man allegedly axed his wife to death following an altercation over cooking food at Shakarmandori village here last evening. The deceased has been identified as Kamlesh (28). The police has booked husband Surender.

The duo had an altercation over some issue and the accused hit his wife on her head with an axe. The victim died on the spot. — TNS

Karnal, September 27
Two persons were injured in firing following a clash between two rival groups led by former and present sarpanch of Kherajabad village in Assandh today. Old political rivalry is said to be behind the incident.

Heated arguments between the two groups led to firing, injuring Karj Singh and Yadvender Singh of former sarpanch Lakha Singh’s camp. The injured were referred to the trauma centre here.

The police has registered a case against seven persons, including sarpanch Sahib Singh, Satnam, Rajinder Singh, Mahel Singh, Major Singh, Gurubaksh and Gurnam.