Bhiwani, November 16
Despite heavy combing and search for over 24 hours, the police could not make any breakthrough on Friday in nabbing the culprit involved in the cold-blooded murder of two persons at Bond Kalan village of the district on Wednesday night.

Angry villagers had set ablaze the police station and several vehicles on Thursday morning in protest against the incident and the alleged police inaction in this connection. The director-general of police, Haryana, Shriniwas Vashist, visited the village last evening where he announced a cash reward of Rs 2 lakh for a clue to the accused, a proclaimed offender. Information can be provided to the Superintendent of Police, Bhiwani, on mobile number 8814011400 or the 
Control Room, Bhiwani, on telephone number 01664-242744.

“We are on the job with a heavy combing operation launched in some villages adjoining Bond Kalan, where the accused is reported to be hiding somewhere,” said A.S.Chawla, inspector-general, Hisar range, who came to this village to supervise the operation.

He told The Tribune that the combing operation being carried out by several teams of the police, including a commando unit and mounted police, would continue as the suspects were reported to be present somewhere in the region.

He said besides Kulbir, four others were wanted in this case. All the accused belonged to one family and were absconding at present. The other accused have been identified as Bhim, Pawan, Nakul and Parvesh.

The villagers had agreed to lift the road blockade on Thursday following assurance by the police to launch a drive to nab the accused. They had served an ultimatum to the police to nab the culprit within 48 hours or else face revival of the agitation. The accused, Kulbir (33), a resident of this village had gunned down two brothers -- Rajender and Kuldeep -- on Wednesday night when they had gone to irrigate their fields.

“Though the immediate provocation behind the incident is still to be ascertained, it is said that the accused is a hardened criminal who has the habit of bullying anyone who opposes him,” claimed a villager.

Police sources said Kulbir had jumped parole in 2007 following his conviction in a murder case and had been involved in a few others cases of crime after that.

The police had failed to arrest him though he had been roaming scot-free in the village for the past several years, claimed another resident of the village on the condition of anonymity. He alleged that the police that had been shielding him and this negligence resulted in the murder of two innocent farmers. 

Chandigarh, November 16
The Haryana government has given a decent burial to all plans for setting up an special economic zone (SEZ) in the Gurgaon area with the conversion of about 4,570 hectares earmarked for the SEZs earlier to other uses in the final 2031 AD development plan of the Gurgaon-Manesar urban complex, which was notified here today.

Even the land acquired by the HIIDC for an SEZ to be developed by it in collaboration with Reliance will now be put to industrial use.

T.C. Gupta, Director-General, Town and Country Planning, Haryana, said even notified SEZs were being denotified.

The moment the development plan was notified, a large number of land developers rushed to submit their applications for seeking licences. Since the licenses are issued on a first-come, first-serve basis, prospective developers are keen to ensure their seniority in the queue.

It is for the first time that the notification of a development plan for a city explains the reasons why the new plan is being notified. Perhaps this has been done to answer frequent criticism by opposition parties that the government has been changing development plans to suit vested interests.

The plan envisages a population of 42.50 lakh and total urbanisable area of 32,988 hectares.

Under the new plan, the residential areas would be developed with an average net residential density of 250 persons per hectare.

The plan has earmarked 16,021 hectares for residential purposes, 1616 hectares for commercial purposes and the industrial area would cover 4,613 hectares.

Similarly, transport and communication would have an area of 4,428 hectares, public utilities 608 hectares, public and semi-public 2,027 hectares, open spaces 2,928 hectares, special zone 114 hectares and 633 hectares would be defence land.

The existing town is spread over 406 hectares and village abadis cover 478 hectares. 

Chandigarh, November 16
To find a solution to the traffic congestion on the Gurgaon-Delhi Expressway, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed the authorities concerned to put their heads together.

A Division Bench of the high court asked the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), Haryana Police and concessionaire Delhi Gurgaon Super Connectivity Limited (DGSCL) to hold a joint meeting on November 19. The meeting would be held in the office of Haryana Commissioner of Police at 11 am.

The court indicated to the concessionaire that the previous orders against the charging of the toll would come into force if harassment was caused to commuters on the expressway.

Miffed over the inconvenience caused to commuters, the high court, in September, had restrained the concessionaire from charging toll tax from private vehicles. The order was later modified and stay on charging toll tax was confined to peak hours. It was finally lifted after the court was assured by the concessionaire that harassment would not be caused to the commuters.

On September 4, a Division Bench had restrained Delhi-Gurgaon Super Connectivity Ltd from collecting toll tax.

The directions came with observations that the concessionaire had failed to avoid chaos and free flow of the traffic on the expressway. The Bench also directed the National Highway Authority of India to hold a meeting with the state government and the stakeholder to reach to a solution to the problem in 15 days.

The directions came after the Gurgaon traffic police moved the high court alleging that the concessionaires were responsible for the chaos at the expressway as they did not have the requisite staff to deal with the traffic resulting in snarls.

The police also submitted that the concessionaire was unwilling to spend money on ensuring the smooth flow of traffic, but only wanted to collect money.

On July 5, the high court had directed the concessionaire to strengthen its manpower for avoiding traffic chaos and ensuring free flow of the traffic. But, the concessionaire failed to set up extra toll collection points as per the court.

Chandigarh, November 16
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has urged the Centre to make sufficient credit available with simplified eligibility criteria and a favourable repayment schedule for agriculture at reasonable rates.

Speaking at the meeting of Chief Ministers of northern states with Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in New Delhi today, Hooda impressed upon the Centre to ask banks to meet the target set for the debt swap scheme for farmers, reduce the premium under the weather-based crop insurance scheme or subsidise it and hike the compensation under the Aam Admi Bima Yojna from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1 lakh.

“As recommended by the working group on agriculture, credit should be made available at not more than 4 per cent interest for agricultural purposes. The interest rate for non-agricultural needs of farmers should also not be more than 7 per cent”, Hooda said.

Hailing the debt swap scheme as a progressive step for relieving farmers from the clutches of money lenders, the Chief Minister observed that banks seemed reluctant to implement it

For the long-term credit structure, the Chief Minister advocated implementation of the Vaidyanathan package. “NABARD is charging market rates for refinance, making loans unaffordable for farmers for long-term credit. The rate of refinance should be brought down to 7 per cent or lower from 11 per cent”, he said.

Hooda suggested that education loans should also be extended to students of ITIs and polytechnics.

The Chief Minister lauded the decision of the Central Government to shift to electronic benefit transfer (EBT) for several schemes, saying that this would prevent pilferage and provide direct benefit to the needy.

Fatehabad, November 16
Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar had to face the ire of residents of Bisla village in the district where he had gone to meet people to know their problems.

The angry villagers said the MP had visited their village for the first time after his election in 2009 and there was now no point of his knowing their problems at the stage when more than half of his term was over.

Tanwar, however, dismissed the incident as a handiwork of a few ‘misguided’ people.

Tanwar, along with Chief Parliamentary Secretary Prahlad Singh Gillankhera and other local leaders of the Congress, started his village tour of Fatehabad assembly segment in the morning from Barseen village.

As the Congress leaders were addressing villagers at Barseen, the publicity van accompanying them started announcement of Tanwar’s visit at Bisla, the village that came next in the tour itinerary.

Soon, some villagers who had started assembling at the village Anganwadi centre, the venue for the MP’s public meeting, decided to boycott the visit.

The villagers stopped the Congress leaders at the main gate of the Anganwadi centre and expressed their anger at the neglect of their village.

Efforts by Tanwar and Gillankhera to persuade villages failed to show results as the villagers said they were not ready to listen to their speeches.

At one stage, Tanwar too got annoyed and went back into his vehicle.

Gillankhera somehow prevailed upon the villagers to listen to them and then the meeting could begin.

“They were only a handful of people who had a vested interest in my opposition. Further, there is local politics in all villages,” said Tanwar.

Meanwhile, Tanwar visited more than a dozen villages today where he said Haryana had witnessed unparallel development in the past seven years of Bhupinder Singh Hooda regime.

He said the opposition parties had been criticising the UPA Government at the Centre and the Congress government in Haryana only for the sake of opposition. 

Chandigarh November 16
The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Kurukshetra, has stayed the lower court’s order restraining the Haryana Olympic Association (HOA) faction led by PV Rathee from using the banner of the association.

The court asserted that the November 8 order of the lower court was without jurisdiction and was passed without even affording the other party a chance to be heard.

On an appeal filed by the HOA faction led by INLD MLA Sher Singh Barshami, the lower court had on November 8 restrained the Rathee faction from using the banner of the HOA in any form. The Rathee faction is supported by the Hooda Government.

Gurgaon, November 16
Myanmar’s pro-democracy crusader Aung San Suu Kyi has underscored the need for protecting natural resources from the adverse impacts of urbanisation. She asserted that her country needed an efficient energy policy apart from eco-sensitive investment.

During her maiden visit to The Energy and Resources Institute’s (TERI) campus at Gual Pahari village on the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road in the district yesterday, the globally acclaimed democratic leader said her country was rich in energy resources, but also needed responsible investment for a secure future. “We need to learn more about handling our energy resources and also an effective energy policy,” she maintained.

Suu Kyi, who has spearheaded a persistent struggle against military dictatorship in Myanmar, has also been a vocal advocate of environmental issues in public life.

She endorses environmental conservation and the adoption of sustainable models of development. She visited various research facilities and eco-friendly installations developed by the institute. These included the Micro-propagation Technology Park, apart from the Nanobiotechnology Research Centre, two-stage gasifier facility, the bioremediation complex and other energy-efficient structures on the TERI campus.

Suu Kyi remarked that TERI’s innovations held the potential to become models for wider replication in Myanmar.

“We seek advice from TERI on how sustainable development can be brought about in Myanmar, and on the contours of a national energy policy,” she stated.

She was accompanied by TERI director-general RK Pachauri.

Gurgaon, November 16
Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia, who was in the city today to address a scholarship distribution function at ITM University, asked the educational institutions to make education more job oriented by following a market driven approach and adopt new technologies.

“Our educational institutions need to focus on research to generate more job opportunities and effectively cater to the needs of both the national and international economic growth," said Pahadia.

Greeting the meritorious students, the Governor said, "I hope that these students will contribute significantly towards the economic and cultural growth of Haryana and the country in the near future.”

“In today's global economy, a country's competitiveness depends upon its citizens' capacity to use knowledge and technology to create innovative products and devices for the benefit of the society and mankind in general. Creatively empowered individuals will become entrepreneurs and create new jobs," he said.

Hisar, November 16
Deputy Commissioner Amit Aggarwal said here today that the media should devise ways for self-regulation to maintain high professional standards.

Addressing a function organised here by the Department of Public Relations on the occasion of National Press Day, he said no outside agency could be expected to ensure that reporting was fair and free. Therefore, the only choice was for the media to regulate itself.

Aggarwal said there was too much emphasis on spot news in local newspapers. Reporters should lay greater emphasis on current issues, including social and cultural. There must be a balance between negative and positive reportage.

The Hisar Press Club also celebrated the National Press Day. Addressing members, club President Devendra Uppal said mediapersons must always keep their social responsibility in mind. He said there was need for maintaining a balance between journalism as a mission and as a profession or commerce.

Referring to the changes in the media since Independence, he said competition should not mean dilution of standards.

Kurukshetra: Apart from dissemination of information, media in a democracy should play a participatory role in nation-building and development by highlighting social and public issues, Mandeep Brar, Deputy Commissioner, said on the occasion of National Press Day here. Speaking at a seminar on ‘Media as People’s Voice--- Pre and Post-Independence” organised by the Department of Information and Public Relations, he said journalists today had to face many challenges and work under pressure and threats from various quarters. They needed to mould themselves according to the situation so as to come up to the expectations of the people. Commercialisation should not be the priority of any individual or organisation as it would only misguide the public at the cost of others.

Hisar, November 16
Chief Secretary PK Chaudhry said today that despite the large number of government schools in Haryana, the public-private partnership (PPP) mode in education was necessary to meet the educational requirements of young students.

Speaking at a prize distribution function of a school at Kaliravan village in this district, he said the government was trying to improve standards of education in government schools and teachers were being trained for the purpose.

However, teachers themselves should also make strenuous efforts to update and improve their skills.

Chaudhry said it was heartening that students from rural areas were taking more interest in outdoor games. This was evident from the number of good players emerging from the countryside in Haryana. He urged students to take to sports in a big way and emulate some of the sportspersons from Haryana who had made a mark at the international level.

He said there was need for creating awareness to make the country the biggest centre of education. He pointed out that China had the highest population followed by India. However, China was at least 10 times ahead in the field of education. 

Sonepat, November 16
After Beewsan Meel, Badhkhalsa and Sersa Kundli, farmers of Pritampura, Badhmalik and Rasoi villages have also formed their Bhumi Adhigrahan Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti against acquisition of their 435 acres of land during 2005 to 2008 by the Haryana State Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation for developing industrial sectors 38 and 39.

The farmers led by Samiti president Suresh Dahiya today organised a protest at the Mini-Secretariat here and handed over a memorandum, addressed to the Deputy Commissioner, Sonepat, to City Magistrate Nishu Singhal.

In the memorandum, it was pointed out that their 350 acres of land was acquired at the rate of Rs 16 lakh per acre and 85 acres at the rate of Rs 35 lakh per acre. The farmers accepted the award on the promise of the government that they would be given plots in the sectors and government job to one member of every family whose land was acquired. But the government did not fulfil its promise and the farmers were in possession of the land.

Their main demands included compensation at the market rate, free plot in the sectors, government job to one member of families, annual royalty amount be increased from Rs 15,000 to Rs 42,000 on the pattern of the Special Economic Zone scheme and the condition of acquisition of 75 per cent land of a farmer to become eligible for a plot be removed.

After submitting the memorandum, the farmers today started an indefinite dharna at the Pritampura turning on the GT Road. The Sangharsh Samitis of Beeswan Meel, Badhkhalsa and Sersa Kundli have also extended their support to them.

Chandigarh, November 16
Adopting a carrot-and-stick policy, Haryana power utilities have decided to launch a campaign in a phased manner to ensure maximum power supply in villages in the state provided they fulfilled certain conditions, including 100 per cent household connections, installation of electricity meters outside their premises and reduction of line losses to 25 per cent.

A decision to this effect was taken at a review meeting presided over by Haryana Power Minister Ajay Singh Yadav here today. The meeting was convened to deal with complaints regarding power problems. As many as 58 complaints of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) and the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam(DHBVN) were dealt with during the meeting.

Yadav said the power utilities would also conduct a survey to redress the common complaints of consumers and this work would be completed within six months. He said the participation of public representatives would also be ensured for its effective implementation. He also directed the officials concerned to ensure that maximum defective meters were replaced at the earliest possible and iron poles were also replaced with those made of concrete on a priority basis.

The meeting was informed that the UHBVN had filed 123 court cases against consumers having defaulting amounts more than Rs 1 lakh up to October . Similarly, 174 cases had been got registered by the DHBVN against such erring consumers. 

Sirsa, November 16
The police today registered criminal cases against Sikhs for showing black flags to Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh near Ellenabad when his cavalcade was on its way to Rajasthan yesterday.

The case was registered late on Thursday night after hundreds of Dera Sacha Sauda followers assembled in Ellenabad police station and demanded that those responsible for showing disrespect to their religious head be booked.

A case has been registered against Dara Singh, Angad, Babu Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Harjinder and Sandeep and eight other unidentified Sikhs.

No arrest has so far been made, said SHO Vikram Singh.

A group of 20 to 25 Sikhs had shown black flags to the Dera chief near Ellenabad yesterday.

A clash between Sikhs and Dera followers was, however, averted by the police.

Sonepat, November 16
Ram Niwas Kundu, SDO, Irrigation, Gohana, was caught red-handed by a team of the vigilance while accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from Meena, a widow of Butana village, today at the Gohana bus stand.

In a complaint to the vigilance, Meena stated that she had applied for shifting of a water outlet in Butana distributary and the SDO demanded a bribe of Rs 20,000 for the work. Out of the total amount, she was to pay Rs 10,000 before shifting of the outlet. A vigilance team conducted the raid soon after the amount was handed over to the SDO by her. 

Kaithal, November 16
Main accused Jagdev wanted in the murder of his cousin, 13-year-old Shikha of Peedal village of this district, has been arrested by the police.

Superintendent of police Kuldip Singh Yadav told mediapersons here today that the accused was arrested from Jind following a tip-off. He was produced in a local court and taken on police remand for recovery of the firearm used in the crime.

His accomplice Sandeep was arrested by the police the day after Shikha was shot dead on November 7. The motor cycle used in this incident had also been recovered earlier.

Yadav said the accused had told the police that he had shot dead his cousin as he suspected her character.

Following information about the presence of Jagdev in Jind, a police team led by inspector Raj Kumar and inspector Virender Singh, in charge of Cheeka police station, arrested the accused the from a dhaba on the Jind- Narwana road.

Shikha, a class VII student, was shot dead by her cousin and her neighbour Amandeep injured when the motorcycle-borne assailant with a covered face opened fire on them while they were going to school in the village.

Following this incident, agitated villagers had resorted to a blockade on the Kaithal-Patiala road near Peedal.

Jagdev has a criminal record and he was involved in case of attempt to murder and other cases in Kaithal, Hisar and elsewhere, the SP added.

Rohtak, November 16
The police today arrested both accused involved in the murder of a youth identified as Harish Kumar. They are Sahil and Mohit, both students.

The victim was stabbed by the accused after an altercation outside a multiplex here on Thursday. Later, Harish succumbed to his injuries in a hospital.

Senior Superintendent of Police Vivek Sharma said Mohit and Sahil had been arrested in connection with the murder of Harish Kumar.

However, the police was still clueless about the killers in the murder case of a 70-year-old woman.

The woman was killed with a sharp-edged weapon in Arjun Nagar yesterday.

The assailants took with them some valuables, including jewellery. Local residents blocked the main Delhi road for about 40 minutes last night in protest against the incident.

Sirsa, November 16
The police has arrested four persons, including a woman, for attempt to supply opium to a jail inmate here today.

The accused have been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Kulwant, Janak, Gurcharan and a woman, Chhindu, had gone to jail to meet Makhan Singh, a resident of Moriwala in Sirsa, who is serving imprisonment in a case.

During their frisking, jail guards recovered a packet containing 50 grams of opium from their possession.

The jail staff handed over the accused to the local police.

Sirsa, November 16
The police has arrested two persons after an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of police, who had gone to a house to serve summons issued by a court, was allegedly thrashed and held captive at Dabwali in Sirsa.

The police said the ASI had gone to the house of Sushil Kumar, a government officer in Punjab, to serve him bailable warrants issued against his name in some case at his Friends Colony house in Dabwali yesterday.

Later, the ASI lodged a complaint in the police station that Sushil Kumar, his son Sahil and another person, Samarth, thrashed him and held him captive for some time.

The police booked the three accused under Sections 332, 353, 186, 342, 506 and 34 of the IPC.