Kaithal, April 29
PWD and Industries Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala reached Pabnawa village of this district last evening and met the Dalits and members of the Ror community to ensure the return of Dalit families to the village and their safety.

Sultan Singh Jadoula, local MLA and state Chief Parliamentary Secretary and DCC president Tejinder Pal Mann, were also present.

Pabnawa had witnessed violence on April 13 night when some members of the Ror community ransacked the houses of the Dalits following the marriage of a Dalit boy with a Ror girl. After these incidents, some Dalit families had left the village and many of them were yet to return.

It is learnt that the minister, during a meeting in Dalit Chaupal, was informed that Dalits were apprehensive of their safety as many persons named in the FIR were still at large.

Members of the committee constituted by the Dalits also handed over a list of 281 families to the minister urging the government to provide them financial assistance as these families could not work for many days during the wheat crop season due to prevailing tension after violence.

The minister reportedly assured the community to discuss all their demands for setting up Dr BR Ambedkar Bhawan in the village and other related issues with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda who was deeply concerned over the situation and said he would contact them shortly.

Chandigarh, April 29
The coming elections to seven Municipal Corporations in Haryana have put the main Opposition parties, the INLD and the BJP, in the election mode. However, the ruling Congress facing anti-incumbency is yet to get its act together.

Hectic political activity in the INLD and the BJP is understandable given the fact that both parties would fight the elections on their party symbols. In fact, it will be for the first time that the INLD will fight the MC poll on its party symbol, a clever move by the party to test political waters ahead of the parliamentary and state assembly elections next year.

"The Political Affairs Committee of the party will meet at New Delhi tomorrow to chalk out a strategy for the MC elections being held against the backdrop of various acts of omission and commission of the Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda," INLD state president Ashok Arora said today. The BJP, which is going to the polls without its alliance partner HJC, had already constituted a committee under the chairmanship of BJP MLA Krishan Pal Gujjar to finetune its election strategy.

However, Congress sources said the election would provide an opportunity to the grassroot level leaders to demonstrate their strength at the local level. "There is no question of convening a meeting as the Congress had never contested these elections on its party symbol," Congress spokesman Rann Singh Mann told The Tribune.

However, the party sources said the Congress could consider the possibility of "adopting" candidates for the posts president and vice-president of these MCs after the elections.

With anti-incumbency staring itself on the face, the Hooda government would answer a lot of inconvenient questions in the run-up to the elections even if it supported the like-minded candidates.

Besides, the Opposition, even Congress representatives from Panchkula, Ambala and Yamunanagar had openly alleged regional bias in development, Hisar is considered to be the stronghold of HJC chief Kuldeep Bishnoi.That is another matter that in case the BJP and the HJC going alone, the split in the BJP-HJC vote bank cannot be ruled out. In other MCs going to the polls -- Panipat, Karnal and Rohtak -- the BJP and the INLD have major presence making the going difficult for the Congress-supported candidates.

Chandigarh, April 29
A fortnight after a marriage between a Dalit boy and a Ror girl triggered violence and divided the two communities on the caste lines in Pabnawa village of Kaithal, a compromise seems to be in the offing even as confidence-building measures are under way.

While both communities have set up 15-member committees to darn the ruptured social fabric of the village, the Dalit families which bore the brunt of the Ror attack, too, seem to have reconciled to stay put in the village.

While the families of the Dalit community have already been packed off to safer places, the men and some elder women left behind in the village had initially expressed their reservations about continuing to live in Pabnawa and had even explored the option of a rehabilitation plan.

Speaking for the members of the Dalit community, Lakhmi Chand said their 15-member committee's main demand was the arrest of the perpetrators of the crime. "So far, the police has arrested 25 persons for the attack while nearly as many of those named in the FIR are still moving around freely. We want all those guilty of damaging our property to be brought to book. It is only then that peace can return. Besides, we have demanded the setting up of a police post in the village to ensure that such incidents are not repeated. The police presence will make us feel secure," Lakhmi Chand stated.

Among other demands put forth by the community are adequate compensation for the damage to property, assurance that the upper caste villagers will give them work in their fields as also foodgrains which they would have earned had this violence not happened.

"We have had a couple of meetings with PWD Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala who assured us that our demands would be met. He had even visited the village," he added. The community claims that while five shops of the Dalits were damaged, 77 of 281 families have suffered huge losses in terms of damage to property.

Meanwhile, Ushan Singh, sarpanch of the village and head of the 15-member committee of the Rors, said the Dalits were an integral part of the village. "We want them to stay on. We are making efforts to re-build their confidence and will assist the government to restore harmony in the village," he said.

A number of Dalit leaders of the Congress, including Rajya Sabha MP Ishwar Singh, Haryana Cabinet Ministers Surjewala and Geeta Bhukkal, and Independent MLA and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sultan Singh Jadaula have visited the village to defuse tension.

Ambala, April 29
With a total of 89.4 per cent population having been covered under the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) scheme in the first phase, the district has topped the nation in getting the maximum population enrolled under the scheme.

Deputy Commissioner Shekhar Vidyarthi said elaborate arrangements had been made to reach out to a large number of residents by installing 99 machines in the district.

As per the 2011 Census, the total population of the district was 11,36,786 and till date the administration had managed to register 10,16,284 citizens under the scheme. The DC claimed that the administration was expecting to cover remaining population within the next few days.

Other than Ambala, it is only Chandigarh where enrolment had touched 99 per cent. Besides, Himachal Pradesh has registered 88.6 per cent under the scheme, while the overall enrolment figures for Haryana was recorded at 30.1.

Hisar, April 29
A socio-economic survey conducted by students of the Geography Department at Kurukshetra University belies the claims to fame by Bibipur panchayat of Haryana recently honoured by the Centre for steps on female foeticide and bringing positive social changes in the lives of women.

The survey conducted by 55 students of MSc (Geography) under the guidance of Dr Mahabir Jaglan, a professor, and Dr Omvir Singh and Dr Rajeshwari, both associate professors, from October 20-26, 2012, does not find the village any better than other villages in social parameters.

Bibipur village in Jind district has been adjudged as the best panchayat by the Centre for its steps towards curbing menaces like female foeticide and domestic violence, besides other initiatives taken by it for improving the state of women.

The survey conducted by the Kurukshetra University students disproves the claims of the village panchayat as the report finds Bibipur like any other village in some social parameters and below many other villages in certain other parameters.

“The overall gender ratio in the village is 866 females per 1000 males, which is lower than the state average. The worst part is that the gender ratio among infants (0 to 1 age-group children) is only 510,” said Dr Mahabir Jaglan.

The low infant gender ratio shows that the practice of female foeticide and systematic discrimination against girl child is prevalent on a large scale in Bibipur, the report says.

“Bibipur village has a high proportion of illiterates despite having two government schools and three private schools in the village and its proximity to Jind town. About 27 per cent persons in the village are illiterate,” added Dr Rajeshwari.

A very high female illiteracy (39 per cent) in the village reflects the low social status of women across different sections of society. The literacy rate in the village (73 per cent) is lower than the state average and the Jind district average literacy rate.

The status of women in terms of marriage shows that 37 per cent women in the village got married before the legal age of marriage.

As far as women health regarding preventive care is concerned, the study reveals that 27 per cent expecting mothers have not received any ante-natal care (ANC) and only 16 expecting mothers had received full ante-natal care.

Kurukshetra April 29
Kurukshetra University today declared the results of LLM Part I and II, MA( Economics) previous, MA (history) final, MA (Education) previous and Final, MA (Punjabi) previous and Final, M.Sc. Computer Science Part II (re-appear), M.Sc. Computer Science (first and third semesters), Chief Examination Coordinator YP Goswami. 

For further details, the students can log on to KU website www.result.kuk.ac.an 

Samanabhau (Karnal), April 29
Family members of Deepak Kumar(35), who got a severe electric shock while mending a fault in a high-voltage transmission line on April 13 and succumbed to his injuries in the PGI, Chandigarh, yesterday, blocked the National Highway No 1 near Samanabahu between Nilokheri and Pipli today for nearly three hours to protest against alleged negligence of Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) staff.

The family members joined by residents of Amin village squatted on the highway with Deepak's body, demanding action against the erring UHBVN officials who switched on power while Deepak was still working on the line. The family members were agitated as the Electricity Department had taken no action against the employees who had switched on power without ascertaining whether the repair work was over or not.

Deepak Kumar (35), a contractual employee in Amin subdivision of the Kurukshetra Electricity Department was stuck in live wires after power was switched on and sustained injuries in his stomach which proved fatal.The agitators also demanded Rs 10 lakh as compensation for Deepak and job to his widow.

The blockade was lifted after the SDO assured the villagers and family members that action would be taken against the erring staff members . Moreover, compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh would be given to the victim's family at the earliest and the victim's widow given a job on contract. If a matriculate, she would be employed as a clerk or a class IV employee, the SDO added. The police later booked six persons in the case.

Kurukshetra, April 29
Dr Surjit Hans, retired professor of history from Guru Nank Dev University (GND varsity), Amritsar, was honoured by the chief guest, Lt-Gen Dr DDS Sandhu (retd), Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, at a function organised by the Shakespeare Association of India (SAI) in KU Senate Hall here today.

Dr Hans was honoured for his extraordinary achievement of translating all 39 plays of Shakespeare into Punjabi.

In his inaugural address, Dr Sandhu said, “Prof Hans has helped Punjabis all over the world in understanding the works of Shakespeare by the translations."

In his reception speech, Prof Hans said he began work on the project after retirement in 1993 by translating Othello. He had developed love for Shakespeare as a student at Panjab University, Hoshiarpur, in 1953 where he was taught by Prof Dinah Stock who staged the Shakespeare’s plays, added Hans.

"I had played the role of Seyton in Stock's Macbeth in 1953. I translated and staged Macbeth in Punjabi. This Macbeth translation inspired me to go ahead with all Shakespeare's plays after my retirement from GND varsity in 1993. It took me 20 years to complete the work," said Hans.

Prof Bhim S Dahiya, president, SAI, and former KU VC, also spoke. Earlier, Prof Hans gave a performance of his work by reading important sections from some plays of Shakespeare translated by him.

The audience also enjoyed KU Registrar Prof MK Jain, BPS University Registrar Prof Asha Kadyan, SAI vice-president Prof Anand Prakash and SAI secretary Prof SPS Dahiya were among those who were present. Over 200 SAI members from Jammu, Delhi, Amritsar, Rohtak and Kurukshetra were also present. 

Jagadhri/Yamunanagar, April 29
Local residents have sent an ‘SOS’ to the district administration to save roads in the twin cities of Jagadhri and Yamunanagar.

Having been reduced to ditches and potholes, the roads have become a commuter’s nightmare here. Poor infrastructure coupled with inadequate logistics has been hampering the movement of passengers as well as industrial consignments, given the fact that both Jagadhri and Yamunanagar are industrial hubs for steel and plywood industry, respectively.

The roads connecting Nehru Chowk with Kamani Chowk and leading to Govindpuri and Fountain Chowk have been in bad shape for the past several years even as crores of rupees are lying with various departments, including the PWD, Market Board and the local civic authorities.

Satpal Kaushik, a known local leader, said some roads in the twin cities had deteriorated to such an extent that these could not to be repaired but only re-laid. He said many local roads had not been repaired for quite some time.

Krishan Kumar, another local resident, said it was hard to comprehend that even as there was no shortage of funds, the authorities were least bothered to take appropriate action and relay roads which were in a miserable condition.

Deputy Commissioner KM Pandurang could not be contacted for his comments.

Chandigarh, April 29
Virender Singh, City Magistrate, Hisar, has been given additional charge as Secretary, Mr Justice TP Garg, (Retd.) One Man Commission in the Haud Chillar incident against a vacant post.

Jind, April 29
The police has booked a couple in connection with an incident of alleged rape and cheating of a woman. No arrest has been made so far.

According to complaint lodged with the police the complainant, a resident of Atma Nagar locality, has alleged that the accused identified as Satbir and his wife Santosh, of Alipura village, who were known to them had not only cheated her of an amount of Rs ten lakh but the man had also raped her when she went to their house to get the money back. The complainant said she was asked to collect the cheque from their house, but she was assaulted sexually by the accused with the help of his wife.

Sirsa, April 29
Policemen from the local bus stand police post last evening thrashed an auto-rickshaw driver, Anil, mercilessly. He has been shifted to the local General Hospital with injuries.

"I was returning after leaving passengers at the bus stand when two policemen asked me to show them my auto’s papers. When I gave them the documents, they demanded a bribe to let me go. When I expressed my inability to pay, they took me out of the auto-rickshaw and beat me up mercilessly," Anil told mediapersons in the hospital. Raj Shri Singh, SSP, however, denied that the police had beaten the auto-rickshaw driver, saying that he might have sustained injuries in a quarrel.— TNS