Fatehabad, August 12
In a setback to Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) to expedite the setting up of its 4x700MW nuclear power project at Gorakhpur in Fatehabad, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, has recommended that the 187 acres acquired for developing its residential colony at Badopal should be notifed as “Conservation Reserve” for blackbucks and the NPCIL should look for an alternative site for its colony.

In its report submitted to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF), the WII has termed the land selected by the NPCIL for its colony as an integral part of the blackbuck habitat in the region and crucial for meeting the life cycle requirement of the species.

The report said the reproduction process and thereby long-term conservation of the blackbuck were going to be affected, if their “lekking” site (a traditional place where male antelopes assemble in mating season and engage in competitive display to attract females) in the colony was disturbed.

The report said the project authorities should search for an alternative site for its residential colony and had recommended that the NPCIL should remove its temporary construction office from the site to arrest the onsite disturbances.

The report said once this was agreed upon by the NPCIL, the WII would develop a comprehensive plan for conserving blackbuck and other Schedule I animal population in the present habitat in consultation with the Wildlife Department, Haryana.

In a communication to the WII on June 21, the MOEF had requested it to prepare a conservation plan for the blackbucks living there.

The MOEF is yet to issue environment clearance to the nuclear power plant and a conservation plan for blackbucks is a major issue in it.

A team of the WII comprising Dr Bilal Habib and Dr Gautam Talukdar, both scientists, and two researchers had conducted a reconnaissance survey of the NPCIL colony site from July 23 to July 25 for this purpose.

Just before the visit of WII scientists, seven blackbucks were killed after getting trapped in the metal fencing installed by the NPCIL on its residential site in July this year.

Angry activists of the All-India Bishnoi Jeev Raksha Sabha had lodged a police complaint against the authorities forcing them to abandon the fencing work on July 12.

Later, hearing a petition filed by the sabha, the National Green Tribunal had issued interim stay against the NPCIL restraining it against erecting any fencing.

The villagers are still agitating for the registration of FIR against the officials responsible for the death of blackbucks.

Chandigarh, August 12
Haryana’s new schemes in are set to come under the scanner of the Accountant-General(AG).

“No new scheme (both in the Plan and Non-plan Budget) will be included in the Budget Estimates until it is approved by the Accountant-General (AG) Office,” according to a new set of guidelines issued by the Finance Department on the preparation of Budget Estimates 2014-15

In fact, the guidelines made it clear that no new object head could be opened without the consent of the AG office. The Plan and Non-Plan Budget estimates would be prepared strictly according to the list of standardised object heads with their code numbers as approved by the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG).

Meanwhile, the heads of the departments have been asked to make specific Budget provisions under object head “motor vehicles” if the departments intended to purchase any new vehicles or replace the old vehicles during 2014-15. Failing this, no proposal for the purchase of the vehicles would be entertained by the Finance Department, the guidelines pointed out.

The departments have been instructed to strictly adhere to the standard format prescribed by the Finance Department for the preparation of the plans.

While the last date for the Receipt Estimates for land revenue would be October 25, it would be November 5 for irrigation . November 22 will be the last date for the submission of civil works estimates. The last date for the estimates other than land revenue, irrigation and civil works would be October 4. The plans for expenditure estimates can be submitted from October 15 to November 5.

In the non-plan expenditure, August 29 will be the date for submitting technically new schemes. In this category, the plan for new schemes could be submitted by October 1.

Chandigarh, August 12
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has prescribed better working conditions as a cure for deficiency in the count of doctors in Haryana. A Division Bench has also called upon the state to continue with its efforts to fill posts of doctor. At the same time, the High Court has restrained itself from issuing directions to the state as the issue of better facilities is a policy matter

“We call upon the state to continue their endeavour to fill posts of doctor as Public Health, especially in rural areas, is a matter of concern. The court is conscious of the problem with doctors not joining their posts.

“Possibly better conditions of working and emoluments may be the panacea but that is a policy issue to be examined by the government. As far as the backlog of posts is concerned, both for the general and reserved categories, every endeavour should be made to fill the posts and/or posts should be dealt with in accordance with the norms which would include their de-reservation if need be, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih ruled.

The directions came in a suo motu case. The court had taken cognizance of a woman delivering a baby on the road as she was not attended to by doctors in a hospital.

As the “court on its own motion” case against Haryana and other respondents came up for resumed hearing, an affidavit has been filed in the court by counsel for the state.

It said disciplinary proceedings were proposed to be initiated following the “unfortunate incident” that took place on April 7; and the “matter of charge-sheeting the erring doctors is under progress”.

Taking the affidavit on record, the Bench asserted: “We direct necessary action within a maximum period of three weeks from today and a compliance report be filed in the court within a week thereafter”.

Palwal, August 12
Four workers of a leather factory died allegedly after inhaling toxic gas here today.

The gas was formed in a safety tank in the factory due to admixture of chemicals used to dye leather.

The liquid industrial waste used to be pumped out of the tank after treatment.

The victims have been indentified as Shah Allam, Rabul Khan, Kamlesh and Ganesh.

An FIR has been registered against the owner of Leather Prime Industries Rajiv Bansal and its manager Harikishan Bansal.

Palwal SP Jagat Singh Hooda said the accused had absconded, but would be arrested shortly.

The factory had re-opened after the three-day holiday break. A motor which pumped out industrial waste from the tank was not functioning.

To rectify the fault, Shah Alam and Rabul Khan entered the tank, located in a room about 10 feet underground, to clean it. When they did not return, Kamlesh and Ganesh followed them, and they too did not return.

The co-workers found them lying unconcious in the tank.

They were rushed to the Civil Hospital where they were declared brought dead.

The SDM and the DSP of Palwal also reached the spot along with officials of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board.

DSP Jaiveer Singh said the water from the tank had been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Madhuban.

Palwal Chief Medical Officer Rajender Prasad said the nature of the gas, or the cause of death would be ascertained only after the post-mortem of the bodies.

The factory, which has been in existence since 1972, is in the business of dying and giving finishing touches to raw leather. According to the police, this is the first time that such an incident has taken place in the unit.

Gurgaon, August 12
With a view to enabling all residents to acquire Aadhaar cards, the state government has decided to appoint 'introducers' to help those residents to enrol in the system who do not have any proof of identity or address.

Shekhar Vidyarthi, Deputy Commissioner,Gurgaon, said here today that the state UID Registrar had felt the need for providing 'introducers' and 'verifiers' to accomplish the enrolment activities comprehensively.

The government has notified nambardars and sarpanches as introducers in the rural areas and Municipal Councillors in the urban areas. Similarly, serving patwaris and gram sachivs have been notified as verifiers while retired Class-III and above employees of the Central and State Governments, including retired schoolteachers, can be treated as verifiers for the purpose of Aadhaar enrolment.

Verifiers are persons who are officially appointed to verify documents like proof of identity, proof of address, proof of residence, proof of date of birth etc submitted by the applicants at the time of enrolment for Aadhaar cards.

The persons wishing to be engaged as introducers or verifiers will have to apply in writing to the Deputy Commissioner concerned. After the scrutiny of applications, the Deputy Commissioner concerned would forward the names to State Registrar of UID, who would take steps to notify each person by name.

The person desirous of being appointed as an introducer should have his Aadhaar card prepared and he is required to be present at the enrolment centre at the time of enrolment of the person whom he is identifying. 

Gurgaon, August 12
Amidst instances of large-scale felling of trees for the expansion of highways and roads passing through the millennium city, a joint venture between HUDA and DLF has been formed to develop a 43-acre green cover along the sector road from NH-8 to Sector 56 in Gurgaon.

The public-private partnership (PPP) model project envisages the plantation of 25,000 trees besides herbs and shrubs along the entire stretch of the road. The green area will be created on either side as well as the central verge of the road. Urban landscape designers have been roped in to ensure landscaping of global standards alongside the on-site physical surroundings.

An international agency, AECOM, which has done the landscaping of the 31st Street Harbor, Bloomington, Central Station Park and Indira Gandhi International Airport, has been entrusted with the job.

A 43-acre green belt will be created on the 10.2-km sector road, which, the JV partners claim, would be a record of sorts in itself. Evergreen and ornamental trees like Alstonia, Champa, Papri and Arjun etc would be common trees on the stretch. The project team claimed that only 703 trees were cut even though they had permission to cut 1,055 trees by the Forest Department.

The locations of these compensatory plantations are Sector 9-A, Smriti Park, Sector 91-92 greenbelt and Chandu Khera village. The sector road is scheduled for completion by March, 2015. It will have six underpasses and one flyover to ensure traffic lights-free travel.

Kurukshetra, August 12
As many as 3,069 students of Kurukshetra University and KU-affiliated colleges today set a new world record for the largest human blood drop, breaking the previous record of 3,006 people, set by Baekseok University, Pyeongchang, South Korea, at the KU sports stadium.

Dressed in red, the KU students came together and formed the largest-ever shape of a drop. The aim of the record attempt is to create awareness for voluntary blood donation and popularise this idea among the youth on International Youth Day.

The attempt was a joint collaboration among the International Society for Blood Transfusion, India (ISBTI), Kurukshetra University, the Indian Red Cross Society and the BloodConnect and 3,069 students registered for the event. Terming the event historic, KU Vice-Chancellor Lt-Gen Dr DDS Sandhu said the initiative would motivate the youth and other citizens to donate blood.

Despite being the youngest nation in the world, the country faced a massive shortage of 3.6 million units. Even if a mere 2 per cent of the youth donate just once in their lifetime, the situation can be improved drastically, said president ISBTI, Dr Yudhvir Singh. 

New Delhi, August 12
Congress’ Lok Sabha MP from Gurgaon Rao Inderjit Singh today demanded a full-fledged probe into the diversion of 21,000 acres of agricultural land for commercial purposes in Gurgaon, adding that everyone involved in the process be investigated even if the list includes Robert Vadra, Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law.

Clarifying that he was not in the business of targeting Vadra, the Rao said he was interested in a probe that reveals the processes and rules that were followed to change the land use in his Lok Sabha segment.

He was responding to queries regarding IAS officer Ashok Khemka’s allegations that Vadra falsified certain documents to earn huge premiums on close to 3.75 acres in Shikhopura village in Gurgaon.

“The administration in the state has not functioned properly to find out the truth. The fact is that land was diverted and there is a feeling that it was illegally diverted and some people benefited in the process. That’s why I am for a probe into the entire diversion. ,” he told reporters outside Parliament.

He clarified that he was insisting for a probe not just in the 3.75 acre in which Vadra was involved but in the entire 21000 acres that was converted from agriculture purpose to commercial and industrial. Rao Inderjit hinted that even BJP leaders could have benefited from the said deals.

“Once an inquiry, preferably by the CBI, happens, everyone will know people from which party are involved,” the Rao said. The MP, a known baiter of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said around 1,200 acres of land was diverted for commercial and industrial use between 2004 and 2006.

Meanwhile, the Congress today made it clear that there was no parallel between Ashok Khemka’s case and that of Durga Shakti Nagpal in UP. Asked what it wanted to say on Rao Inderjit’s comments, Congress spokesperson Renuka Choudhary said: “The state has already conducted a probe into the issue following which Ashok Khemka was transferred. It was a general transfer and not a specific or a targeted transfer. Contrarily, the suspension of Durga Shakti is motivated and specific. In Haryana, the officer concerned was never suspended.”

About Rao Inderjit Singh’s demand for a probe into land deals in Haryana, Choudhary said: “States know how to mind their own business. Do you want us to dictate terms to the states? As for the issue of coming clean on Mr Vadra, there is nothing dirty in here for us to come clean.”

Chandigarh, August 12
The INLD today sought a high-level probe by a sitting high court or Supreme Court judge into land deals in Haryana, including the Vadra-DLF land deals.

The demand was raised in a memorandum submitted to Haryana Govenror Jagannath Pahadia by a delegation led by state INLD president Ashok Arora.

Chandigarh, August 12
The INLD will shortly file a PIL in the Supreme Court on the Robert Vadra-DLF land deals in Haryana.

Senior party leader Abhay Chautala told The Tribune that the land deals aimed at benefiting Robert Vadra, Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, were a part of a ‘big scam’.

“Despite our repeatedly asking for an inquiry, the Congress government in the state is unlikely to hand over investigation into the land deals to a sitting judge of the high court. If the deal was so clean, the government would not have shied away from holding a inquiry. We cannot sit quietly knowing full well that rules have been blatantly bent to benefit the first family of the Congress. We will consult our lawyers and file a PIL in Supreme Court,” he maintained.

While the party MLAs’ last attempt at bringing an adjournment motion in the Vidhan Sabha during the budget session early this year ‘lapsed’, the party leaders are clear about bringing a similar motion on the Vadra-DLF issue.

Rewari, August 12 
Holding Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda responsible for the alleged Vadra-DLF land deals, the BJP-HJC combine has sought Hooda’s resignation. Chairman of the HJC-BJP alliance Dharam Pal Malik and Haryana BJP chief Ram Bilas Sharma alleged that Hooda had been indulging in such activities to please UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Veer Kumar Yadav, a spokesman of the state BJP, said the delegation would meet the Governor in Chandigarh tomorrow at 5 pm and present a memorandum. — OC

Sirsa, August 12
Irked at the overflowing sewage and supply of sewage-mixed drinking water in their taps, residents of Gaushala Mohalla in Sirsa held a demonstration, blocked vehicular traffic and raised slogans against the authorities.

They forced an official of the Public Health and Engineering Department stand in a street filled with sewar water.

The residents also tried to force him to drink sewage-mixed water being supplied to their locality.

However, timely action by the police saved him.

“Our sewers have been overflowing for the past two months. Almost all streets of our Gaushala Mohalla are flooded with sewage. Even the drinking water coming in our water taps is filthy,” alleged residents Diwan Chand, Madan Lal, Rakhi and Saroj.

The residents alleged that they went to the authorities with their problems several time, but nothing had been done to address their problem.

“Last time, when we held an agitation, the authorities had assured us that they would redress their grievances in three days, but nothing has been done so far,” alleged Kuldeep Saini.

Raj Kumar, Executive Engineer of the Public Health and Engineering Department, admitted that there was problem of overflow of sewers in that area, but attributed it to the residents themselves.

“Sewer men deployed on daily wages from that ward have not been reporting on duty for the past five to 10 days and the residents were aggravating the problem deliberately to pressure the department for a hike in their wages,” Raj Kumar said.

He, however, said cleaning of the sewers had been started and the situation would improve soon.

Karnal, August 12
The Aam Admi Party (AAP) has supported cow activist Sant Gopal Dass, who is on an indefinite fast for the past 95 days and admitted to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, to press the demand for restoration of “Gochar Bhumi” (pasture land).

National coordinator of AAP Arvind Kejriwal, who met the Sant at AIIMS said it was unfortunate that the government was so insensitive that it had not cared to heed to his demand.

Urging the government to immediately hold talks with the fasting Sant, Kejariwal said his condition was deteriorating and also appealed to him to end his fast and adopt other modes of agitation.

Terming the grabbing of lakhs of acres of pasture lands the biggest scam, Sant Gopal Das has sought a CBI inquiry into the matter.

Gopal Das said it was shocking that the elected representatives, who win the elections with the support of farmers, cattle rearers and artisans, had not bothered to look into the reasons for depletion of grass lands and pastures, but he would not rest till all those responsible for it were made accountable.

Rewari, August 12
Anil Balmiki (30) allegedly abducted a teenaged girl from the nearby Konsiwas village on August 10.

On a complaint yesterday filed by Raj Kumar, elder brother of the girl, the Model Town police here has registered a case of abduction against the accused.

Raj Kumar said Anil, a married man and father of three, lived with her mother, a Safai Karamchari, in a quarter at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Konsiwas. He had frequently visited their house.

He further stated that on July 10, he took his sister to his house on the pretext of doing domestic chores as his mother was ill. Both had been missing since then.

Sonepat, August 12
With the arrest of Anand of Nakloi village by a CIA team today, the police claimed to have solved the blind murder of Raj Kumar of the same village. Raj Kumar's body was found lying in a roadside ditch between Silana and Farmana villages on June 30.

Police investigations revealed that Raj Kumar was last seen with Anand on June 29. Anand was finally arrested today, the police said.

Anand confessed to the crime. Anand had illicit relations with Raj Kumar’s wife which led to enmity between the two, the police added.