Chandigarh, June 22
The Haryana Government has set up two control rooms each at Dehradun and Rishikesh for providing necessary help to people belonging to Haryana stranded in Uttarakhand.

This was stated by Krishna Mohan, Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management, here today. He said the government would bear the cost of treatment to people affected. On the basis of the calls made in these centres, a list of the missing persons had been prepared, which had the names, addresses and the places from where stranded persons had made telephone calls besides their origin and the destination of the journey. The list would be given to the Uttarakhand Government to receive information about missing persons. The same would be disseminated to persons concerned.

He said the centre at Rishikesh had been set up at the Jai Ram Ashram, which was headed by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Jairam Gehlawat, who could be contacted at mobile number +91-8398000608.

Krishna Mohan said the affected persons who come for help in this centre would be provided all assistance, even monetary to enable them to reach their destinations. He said another team headed by PK Das, Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry (+91-9814213797) and revenue and police officials was at Dehradun to provide help to the people from Haryana who had been stranded at Uttarakhand. Also, Rs 10 lakh had been sent for immediate medical treatment of affected persons at the Dehradun centre. This team was making transport arrangements for sending them back to their respective destinations in the state. He said services of about 10 to 15 buses had also been provided for bringing the people back home. More buses would be pressed into services if needed, he added.

Meanwhile, Krishna Mohan said there was no flood-like situation in Haryana and at present the situation was normal in Yamunanagar, Karnal Sonepat and Palwal districts.

He said people could contact flood control room set up by the district administration in Kaithal at 01745-224235 and 01746-224240 or send an email at www.dcktl@hry.nic.in.

Chandigarh, June 22
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has offered to provide medical treatment to those seriously injured in the Uttarakhand devastation at super-speciality hospitals in Haryana.

A team of specialist will be sent to Uttarakhand to treat ailing and injured patients. This was stated by Chief Secretary PK Chaudhery in Dehradun today. Hooda today met Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna in Dehradun and assured help for relief and rescue operations.

Hooda left his helicopter at the disposal of the Uttarakhand Government. He said Haryana would dispatch 50,000 blankets. The state Congress was providing a Falcon Jet aircraft for relief operations, he added.

Chaudhery met his Uttarakhand counterpart Subhash Kumar in Dehradun to discuss the assistance which could be extended by the Haryana Government.

Kurukshetra June 22
Naveen Jindal, MP from Kurukshetra, has dispatched two helicopters for relief and rescue operations in Uttarakhand while one more will be sent as soon as it is serviceable.

Spokesman Kalyan Kumar Sinha stated this in a press note. He said the Bell 429, with a seating capacity of six, and the Bell 407, with a seating capacity of five, were being used in the Kedarnath and Joshimath area. He said the AW 139 would be sent as soon as it was serviceable. He added that Jindal was pained to see the scale of devastation in Uttarakhand and people needed to pitch in in whatever way they could.

Chandigarh, June 22
Newly appointed Congress in charge for Haryana affairs Shakeel Ahmed will be face-to-face with leaders of the faction-ridden state unit at Chandigarh on June 29.

Several “inconvenient” issues, including regional bias in development and the Hooda government and unbridled bureaucracy’s alleged neglect of the party rank and file, are expected to figure at the meeting to be attended by PCC members, party MLAs and block presidents. This will be the first meeting of the state unit to be chaired by the new party in charge.

In fact, the new party in charge will have the first-hand experience of factionalism in the state unit which is virtually a divided house with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s detractors within the party, including Union Minister Kumari Selja and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Birender Singh and Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh, hitting out at the Chief Minister for alleged regional bias in development and atrocities on the Dalits.

While Kumari Selja had been going public on the certain issues, including regional bias in development and atrocities on the Dalits, the non-inclusion of Birender Singh in the Union Cabinet, reportedly at Hooda’s behest, is expected to provide fresh ammunition to Birender Singh’s supporters to take on the Hooda government.

Though the factionalism in the party bodes ill for the Congress ahead of the next year’s parliamentary and state assembly elections, sources said. Shakeel Ahmed is expected to prevail upon the party workers to put up a united front. “In fact, the meeting was a party of a new strategy, prepared under new Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, to reach out to the grassroots workers ahead of the next year’s elections,” sources said.

Acting Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president, who had been trying his level best, mostly unsuccessfully, to contain factionalism within the state unit in the absence of a regular party president, had called on Shakeel Ahmed at New Delhi on June 19.

The issue of party indiscipline has been plaguing the state unit for quite some time with several leaders going public with their criticism of the certain government policies. Despite show-cause notices by Mullana, the party high command had not done much to “discipline” dissidents within the Congress.

Sonepat, June 22
An attempt to block the Delhi-Ambala railway track near Sandal Kalan railway station by activists of Gau Raksha Andolan and residents of Sandal Kalan village was foiled by the police today.

Sant Gopal Dass, who was leading them, was taken into custody by the Government Railway Police (GRP) after an attempt was made to stop the Jan Shatabdi Express near Sandal Kalan railway station.

After receiving information about the "rail roko" plan of the activists, the Sonepat police, the GRP and the RPF were deployed in the area near the track.

DC Pankaj Aggarwal and SP Arun Singh also reached the spot to persuade the activists. Around 50-60 activists reached near the track on tractors. However, they were kept away from the track and were convinced to return to their village by the DC and the SP.

The GRP had registered a case under Sections 147 and 149 of the IPC and Section 174 of the Railway Act against 50-60 activists of the andolan, who blocked the train services for sometimes by sitting on a dharna at the railway track near Sonepat railway station last evening. However, no one has been arrested so far.

Sirsa, June 22
Hundreds of villagers from Sighpura and other surrounding villages today held demonstration and staged a dharna at Kalanwali against the alleged sale of intoxicating drugs in their village.

Activists of the Haryana Kisan Manch and some other organisations also extended their support to the agitation.

The agitators alleged that cough syrups, capsules and tablets used by the drug addicts were freely available in their village located on Haryana’s borders with Punjab.

“Drug addicts from Punjab come here by trains to buy intoxicant drugs from Singhpura and Kalanwali,” alleged Angrez Kaur, a woman protester.

She alleged the police as well as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) departments were hand in glove with those involved in the illicit trade.

Gurmail Kaur, another woman alleged that their men and even young boys were falling victims to intoxicants, but the authorities were doing nothing to save them.

The protesters, many of whom were women, said in case the authorities did not find a permanent solution to the problem, they may have to leave their village for ever.

The protesters also demanded transfer of the cops posted in the police post at Singhpura.

DSP Puran Chand Panwar and the SDM Sant Lal Pachar assured the protesters that their problems would be resolved soon. Naripen Goyal, Senior Drug Control Officer, Hisar, said the post of Drug Control Officer was lying vacant in Sirsa for past some time.

However, he said there was no registered chemist in Singhpura and the department had been acting from time to time against those who sell such drugs without a license.

He said the police recently booked one such trafficker.

He, however, has been absconding since then. 

Bhiwani, June 22
After poor show by students of Haryana schools, students appearing in secondary (Class X) and senior secondary (Class XII) examinations of the Board of School Education Haryana (HBSE) through Haryana Open School run by the board have also performed very badly.

In the results announced by the HBSE today, merely 34.46 per cent students could clear secondary exam while 45.99 per cent could manage to get through senior secondary examination.

A spokesperson of the HBSE said 23,337 candidates appeared in the secondary examination conducted by the Haryana Open School in March and April this year. Out of these, merely 6,240 could get through this examination.

Unlike, the regular students where girls outclassed boys, 35.67 per cent boys cleared the examination against the pass percentage of 30.45 per cent in case of girls.

In case of students appearing for secondary examination (reappear semesters), the result is even poorer, as only 26.45 per cent candidates - 29.41 per cent boys and 20.75 per cent girls could clear this examination.

The spokesperson said 14,783 candidates appeared under the credit transfer policy (CTP) and the subject to be cleared (STC) categories of the secondary examination of the HBSE under the Haryana Open School. Out of these, 7,257 managed to clear the examination.

In the senior secondary examination (all subjects), 13,270 students were declared passed out of the 34,913, who appeared, making the pass percentage as 45.99. In senior secondary exam, girls with pass percentage of 52.33 per cent outsmarted boys (43.64 per cent).

In the senior secondary (reappear semester), 46.15 per cent students - 50 per cent boys and 33.33 per cent girls - could clear the examination. For the students appearing under the CTP and STC categories, the pass percentage is 50.83.

Under these two categories, 4,154 students cleared the examination out of 9,473 candidates who appeared.

In these categories, the pass percentage for girls and boys is 54.91 and 49.46, respectively. 

Chandigarh, June 22
The office of Principal Accountant-General (A and E) has prepared government provident fund (GPF) statements of over 1.98 lakh subscribers and loan account statements of 72,923 loanees for 2012-13 ahead of schedule.

Stating this here today, Principal Accountant-General (A and E) Mohinder Singh said those would be handed over to drawing and disbursing officers (DDOs) or their representatives at the office complex from June 26 to 28.

He said account statements of the loanees included 27,955 of house building advance, 21,585 of marriage loan, 12,225 of motor car advance and 11,158 of computer advance.

He said DDOs concerned had been urged to depute authorised representatives to receive statements on the days specified by furnishing complete details of all GPF subscribers and loanees working under them.

Rewari, June 22
A young woman (25) was gang-raped at a rented accomodation in Tula Ram Vihar Colony and then at a hotel room by five youths here yesterday.

The woman somehow managed to inform the police at midnight. The police on getting information raided the hotel room where she was taken by the accused and apprehended the two youths. However, their three accomplices managed to flee from the hotel.

Police sources said the woman a resident of Palwal city, a divorcee, came here from Gurgaon by a train yesterday. She was enticed by a taxi driver Anoop Singh, who took her to his rented room in the Tula Ram Vihar Colony, where Anoop and his four associates, who were already present in the room raped her. Later, they took the woman to a hotel, where they continued to rape her till the police raided the hotel premises.

On the victim’s complaint, the police has registered a case of gang rape against the five youths. The accused have been identified as Anoop Singh, Ganpat (both are in police custody), Mukhtiar Singh, Krishan and Sunder, all five youths are taxi drivers here.

The police got the woman medically examined today, which confirmed the rape. The police said efforts were on to apprehend the three absconding youths.

Kurukshetra, June 22
Tension gripped Dukh Bhanjan Colony residents when a man allegedly opened fire in the air here this evening. Some residents stayed away from entering the colony street out of fear while a few of them watched the firing from their respective roofs.

Eyewitnesses said the windowpanes of two vehicles parked in the colony were badly damaged. According to the history of the case, the family property had already been divided among family members. One of the sons, accompanied by his colleagues, approached the godown in the colony today when his father and brother were near the godown. They thought that the man and his colleagues might have come to take possession of the godown which was in the father's name. The father told his son who approached him to go back along with his colleagues, but when he did not go back, the father fetched a gun and fired in the air. The police has arrested the father and his two sons.