Kaithal, December 25
The Jat sarv-khap mahapanchayat today decided to gherao the national capital in the first week of February if the Centre failed to issue a notification on reservation by the last week of January. It said it would not allow the entry of essential items like vegetables and milk into Delhi. The meeting was presided over by Nafe Singh Nain, president of the all-India sarv-khap Jat panchayat. It was attended by representatives of dozens of khaps at Cheeka.

Various speakers, including Sube Singh Samain, mahapanchayat spokesperson, said the reservation announced by Congress leaders followed a long agitation by the Jat community and it was their right. They thanked the Congress leadership, but demanded immediate action to implement the decision. They appealed to all political parties to support their demand.

Chandigarh, December 25
Alleging that favouritism and nepotism in recruitment to government posts at all levels had become institutionalised in Haryana, Devi Lal's grandson Anirudh Chautala today vowed to cleanse the system with the launch of the 'Yuva Bolega' movement in Haryana.

Addressing a press conference, Anirudh announced an indefinite fast from January 1 to press for abolition of 'interview raj' in recruitment. He was critical of recruitment under successive governments and claimed that the deserving were being overlooked.

"Interviews have been reduced to a tool in the hands of the influential. Many recruitments have been turned down by the judiciary, those concerned have been sent to jail and many more are at various stages of being judged. Favouritism and nepotism still continue unabated," he added.

Citing the example of a candidate who had scored 418 marks out of 600 in the written test to top the ex-serviceman quota in the HCS result declared by the Haryana Public Service Commission recently, he said, "This candidate got only nine marks out of 75 in the interview. He is a man of standing and has worked at the Police Academy in Hyderabad. The state is suffering because those with connections are getting the jobs," he said.

He stated that the system had lost its relevance in the prevailing circumstances and demanded that all government recruitments from 2000 should be inquired into by a special panel of judges so that all loopholes in the system of interviews was exposed and the people behind this put behind bars.

Advocating a zero tolerance policy towards corruption in recruitment, he said government jobs should be filled purely on merit, with weightage to academic record and work experience. He added that his father Jagdish Chautala, Devi Lal's youngest son, had deliberately chosen to stay away from politics.

Sonepat, December 25
A class IX student of Mohana village was allegedly gang-raped by Pradeep and Ankush of the same village late last night. Both escaped afterommitting the crime.

On the girl's complaint, the accused have been in booked. Jagdish, SHO, Mohana police station, said while Ankush had been arrested, efforts were on to arrest Pradeep.

The victim alleged that when she wassearching for her younger brother around 7.30 pm yesterday, she was forcibly taken to a deserted place outside the village and raped by the accused. After she raised the alarm, the accused fled.

Jind, December 25
Two days after the registration of a case against two inspectors for the alleged molestation of a woman head constable in the police station, the Hisar range IG of police on Wednesday constituted a special investigations team (SIT), under the supervision of a woman ASP, for thorough investigation into the case.

Sources said since both the accused were working police inspectors and Jind did not have a senior woman cop, Balwan singh Rana, SP, Jind, had written to Shatrujeet Kapur, IG, Hisar, to entrust the probe to a senior woman police officer for a transparent investigation.

After analysing all the facts of the case, the IG on Wednesday formed a SIT under the supervision of Manisha Chaudhary, ASP, Hisar, and directed her to complete her investigations at the earliest.

“Since the matter pertains to the dignity of a woman, I have directed a woman ASP to conduct thorough investigation of all aspects. We would not spare anyone, whosoever is found guilty, during investigations” said IG Kapur.

As per the allegations, on December 6,2012, the victim was working in the Pillukhera police station. The then SHO Satyaparkash came in her room and allegedly caught hold of her from behind. She objected to the behaviour of the SHO and informed the other personnel. Later, she lodged a complaint with the then Jind SP, who suspended the SHO and posted Mayaram as the new SHO. But the new SHO also allegedly harassed the victim and pressurised her to withdraw the complaint.

After much dilly dallying, the Jind police, on the directions of a local court, registered a case against both the inspectors under Sections 354-A, 354-B, 452 and 506 of the IPC on December 23 night.

“I have been under intense pressure to withdraw my complaint. I request the senior authorities to help me as I do not have any hope of justice from the police authorities of Jind district,” alleged the victim.

Ambala, December 25
In an overdrive to collect property tax, which is fast filling the coffers of the municipal corporation (MC), the over-enthusiastic civic body has served tax notices on more than 500 persons who are tenants on property owned by the MC.

The MC, which is showing no let-up in collecting property tax, has failed to realise that a large number of shops at Gandhi Market and Bihari Lal Trust compound are its property, from where around 500 persons are running businesses and paying rent regularly.

The tax notices, which have caught the shopkeepers off guard, have caused some local residents to ridicule overzealous MC officials for being unaware that the property for which the notices have been served are owned by the corporation.

The tenants, who approached MC officials to rectify the anomalies, alleged that the process to collect property tax had been marred by irregularities. Krishan Kumar, a local resident, said local residents were finding it difficult to assess property tax in the absence of clear guidelines, which was creating confusion while depositing tax.

There had been instances of local residents received irrelevant notices to deposit tax for property not owned by them, but by people residing in other parts of the district. MC officials said on the condition of anonymity that the tax was being collected for the first time and working had been affected by various issues. They claimed that the process was being streamlined to ensure that people had to face less hardship in paying tax.

When contacted, Senior Deputy Mayor Durga Singh said the matter would be looked into so that corrective measures could be taken. He said the process of issuing notices was being handled by a private company, which had carried out the property tax survey recently. In case MC tenants had been served tax notices, those would be withdrawn soon, he added.

Ambala, December 25
The issue of collection of property tax in villages, brought under the jurisdiction of the municipal corporation (MC), is likely to become another bone of contention between Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Selja and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The former has decided to write another letter, demanding prompt redress on the issue.

The Union minister said residents of a number of villages in Ambala had approached her, ruing that the government had served them notices to deposit property tax even though no development work had been initiated in rural areas brought under the jurisdiction of the MC. The residents lamented that the government was adamant on collect tax even though they were not getting any amenities.

Selja said she would write a letter to Hooda on the issue. Residents of Boh and other villages had taken up the matter with the Union minister, claiming that MC employees were harassing them. They said most houses in villages were in the ‘lal dora’, which had been exempted from all taxes in a government notification.

The residents said the MC should start some development work in villages to bring those on a par with urban areas before collecting property tax. They said they would continue to oppose the imposition of property tax till a logical solution was found.

Sirsa, December 25
For the second consecutive day today, Rania MLA Krishan Kamboj connected more houses directly to the electricity lines of Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), bypassing meters, at Keharwala village in his assembly constituency in Sirsa.

Apparently, impressed by Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Kamboj also removed the red beacon from his car and vowed to never install it again.

The MLA went from door-to-door in Keharwala village and appealed to the villagers to stop paying their bills. He also removed power supply of four consumers from their meters and connected their houses directly to the power lines of the DHBVN.

“People are so fed up with the hefty power bills that at least a hundred villagers have themselves connected their supply directly to the power lines of the DHBVN after my initiative,” Kamboj said.

Asked whether his moves, particularly the one of removing the beacon from his vehicle was emulated from Kejriwal, his son Ranjit Kamboj said the move was guided by the voice of the common man.

“My father has always been a simple man. He rose from a small shopkeeper. And now, when common people are raising their voice against VVIP culture, we do not see any point in continuing with the laal batti,” Ranjit added.

When asked was he not encouraging anarchy by asking people not to pay their power bills, Krishan Kamboj alleged that the bills were so inflated that people were not able to pay them. “How can a small farmer with a single room accommodation pay Rs 11,500 as electricity bill?” he asked.

The DHBVN officials, however, are tight lipped on the issue. Both, RC Yadav, superintending engineer, and Vikas Thakral, SDO, Ellenabad, chose not to respond to the repeated calls on their mobiles. Even an SMS sent on their mobiles seeking their version on the MLA’s action did not evoke any reply.

Jind, December 25
Traditionally, Haryanavis and ‘hookahs’ have an inseparable connection as the former cannot imagine their routine without smoking. But Jind can take pride in saying that at least it has a village, Bullakheri, where smoking is not allowed for the past 400 years, since the village was founded.

Villagers have excommunicated many residents for smoking along with their families and thrown them out of the village. The strictness to ensure the compliance of “No-smoking” norm can be gauged from the fact that the villagers don’t allow even the cremation of the excommunicated persons in their village.

The ban has its genesis in a promise their forefathers had made to King Uday Singh, who had donated land for the village. The king had donated the land on a condition that no one would smoke upon the donated land. The promise has become a sacred ritual for the villagers. They strongly believe that violation of the promise will only earn misfortune for them and their coming generations.

“The village came into being only after the promise was made to the king. How can we allow anyone to break that promise? No one smokes in the village,” said Seeta Singh, a retired government employee.

Call it a coincidence or ill-effects of smoking, many villagers, who were thrown out of the village for violating the ban, died within some months of their excommunication from the village. Their deaths have further strengthened the belief that violation of the promise will only earn misfortune for them.

Villagers have many examples to prove their stand, 45-year-old Faqir Singh was thrown out of the village after he violated the ban and he died within six months of his expulsion from the village. Another, 18-year-old Sumer Singh was also found smoking and thrown out of the village and he died at Panipat within five months of his expulsion. They have many more names to back their claims.

Only a few families are exempted from the ban as they came to the village many years after the village was founded. The guest, coming from other places, can smoke outside the houses.

“The ban will continue till our village is here. Our coming generations will also observe it. Many have died due to smoking as they violated the ban,” said Raghuvir Singh, husband of sarpanch Saroj Devi.

Hisar, December 25
True to the modest nature of Delhi’s chief minister designate Arvind Kejriwal, his family and residents of his native town in Siwani Mandi seem to have decided to avoid wild celebrations as he is set to form the government in Delhi.

“We all are extremely overjoyed and proud of his achievement. He wants to overhaul the corrupt system and his fight has reached a crucial juncture. He accepted the challenge to join politics and now would face bigger challenges to cleanse the system from within”, said his cousin sister Chinky.

The family denied gala parties or extravagant celebrations on the occasion. “We have nothing like that on cards. Some people celebrated by bursting firecrackers as the elections results were announced, but neither Arvind nor any of our family members believe in such things”, Chinky added.

On their plans to visit Delhi to see the oath-taking ceremony, Arvind’s uncle Girdhari Lal said the family had not planned the visit yet. “My son visited Delhi yesterday and extended greetings from my side to Arvind’ father, Gobind. Though some members of the family want to attend the ceremony, it would be finalised after the day is fixed for the event”, he said, adding that Arvind had taken the right step by denying the VIP facilities like security and a government bungalow.

“We are concerned about his safety but he has been trying to do good things to the people and thus hope that God would ensure his safety, security and well being”, Lal added.

Jind, December 25
An HIV-positive under-trial died at PGI, Rohtak, last night after monthlong treatment. The deceased, Mandeep, was arrested under Section 307 of the IPC on September 18 by Jind city police. Though, as per norms, the jail authorities should have got all medical tests conducted before lodging him in the jail, it is not confirmed whether the proper procedure was followed or not.

Sources said within two months of being lodged in the jail, the deceased complained of health problems. The authorities got all mandatory tests conducted and on November 15 it came to light that Mandeep was HIV positive.

When contacted, Dr Harish Ranga, SP, Jind jail, confirmed that Mandeep had died of HIV infection at PGI Rohtak and added that they got to know about the infection almost two months after he was lodged at the jail.

Gurgaon, December 25
The Punjabi mahasammelan organised by the Punjabi Vikas Manch here today passed a resolution, urging Congress leader Khazan Singh to contest from Gurgaon in the next Assembly elections. The mahasammelan, which was presided over by scientist Pushpa Khanna, urged people to rise over caste, creed and community and vote for a good candidate, keeping in mind his background.

In a separate resolution, it was demanded that the government should construct a community centre in Gurgaon named after Lala Lajpat Rai.

Addressing the gathering, Khazan Singh, who was the chief guest, claimed that the state government had accomplished a number of large projects in Gurgaon.

He cited the examples of extension of the Delhi Metro, the defence university and two railway overbridges in the district to support his claims.

Dr Khanna pitched for transparency in actions of persons in authority. Actions should be based on ethical values and not merely conform to legal parameters, she added.

She urged the people to thwart dubious and self-serving persons from taking centre stage in politics and in public life. She expressed concern over atrocities on women.

Gurgaon, December 25
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said today that Government Senior Secondary School, Bhondsi village, would be named after Sub Kanwar Pal Singh Raghav, who was killed in a terrorist attack in South Sudan last Thursday.

Hooda made this announcement at Bhondsi, the martry's native village, where he had gone to console the bereaved family.

The martyr was a member of the Army Medical Corps, 8 Raj Rifles, and was part of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Sudan.

His mortal remains were consigned to the flames in Bhondsi on Monday. Hooda assured a government job to the martyr’s daughter, Anjali, who is in the final year of BSc (Honours). All benefits would be accorded to the family under the state government’s policy regarding martyrs.

Kaithal, December 25
Families of freedom fighters are up in arms against the attitude of the Centre and the state government. They have decided to organise a dharna at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on January 10.

Dharambir Paliwal, general secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Swatantrata Senani and Uttaradhikari Sangh, said the government had not been paying any attention to providing facilities to freedom fighters and their families.

He said many had been living in penury and facing hardships. He said the number of affected persons was 650 in Haryana. He rued that governments had not taken steps to provide them support, financial help and facilities. 

Chandigarh, December 25
The Haryana Government has decided to give compensation of up to Rs 5 lakh to small shopkeepers, 'rehriwalas', 'fadiwalas' and kiosk owners suffering loss of commercial property due to fire or any other natural calamity.

Urban Local Bodies Department Principal Secretary P Raghavendra Rao said it had been observed that small shopkeepers, 'rehriwalas', 'fadiwalas' and kiosk owners did not have capital investment to restart business after loss or damage caused by fire, electrical hazards, flood and other natural calamities. “The decision has been taken to mitigate this problem,” he added.

Rao directed the civic bodies to identify vending zones in their respective areas. There would be separate restricted and non-restricted vending zones for parking 'rehris'. While time-limit would be fixed for parking 'rehris' in restricted zones, there would be no such limit in the non-restricted vending zones.

In keeping with local requirement, only two or three vending zones would be set up in a city and the department is formulating a detailed policy. Rao directed all municipalities to send compliance reports to the headquarters by January 20 next year.

Jind, December 25
There is a good news for the residents of this backward district, who were facing numerous problems due to lack of facilities.Now they can avail all facilities from district police under one roof. The IG Hisar range inaugurated a police suvidha centre on Wednesday, here in district headquarters.

Though, as per norms, anyone either complainant or accused can procure the copy of first information report (FIR), anytime, but cops of this district did not comply with this norm .They allegedly harassed many locals and compelled them to make rounds of police stations to secure the copy of FIR. But after the inauguration of new centre residents can procure the copy of any FIR registered in any police station of the district from this centre, located here in SP office. The other facilities centre will offer include permissions for demonstrations and use of loudspeakers and lodging of complaints of all missing items.

"We have been receiving repeated complaints from people about delay in their routine works. With the opening of this centre, we hope they would get their every work done within few hours," said IG Hisar, Shatrujeet Kapur, after the inauguration of centre.

After Bhiwani and Fatehabad the Jind is the third district to start this center from Hisar range, while other district will follow in coming time. IG confirmed that they have plans to start these centre not at district level, but they plan same for Tehsil level also, but it may take some more time. Some locals standing near the centre also expressed hope of early solution of their problems.

Gharonda (Karnal), December 25
Little genius Kautilya was in for a surprise as he found competitors in two wonder sisters from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh who had come to greet him on his sixth birthday.

Sisters Honey (8) and Hansi (4) are blessed with extraordinary retention and observation powers. Tribune Photo: Ravi Kumar

Eight-year-old Honey Singh answered 1,300 questions on general knowledge in 70 minutes while four-and-a-half-year-old Hansi Singh answered 600 questions in 15 minutes.

Daughters of Digvijay Singh and Seema Kumari, they have extraordinary retention and observation powers like Kautilya. What makes them special is their command over English and knowledge of subjects like politics, history and human anatomy.

The idea of their sharpness and knowledge could be gauged from the fact that when asked who the prime minister of the United States was, Hansi said the question was wrong as the United States had a President and it was Barack Obama.

Fearing that his poverty might become a barrier in his daughters’ education, Digvijay said he was not financially sound. “I give coaching to students of economics for three months a year. My wife works with an NGO for Rs 3,000 per month,” he said.

“Many times, when I become nostalgic about the past, I recall how difficult it was for me to buy milk for my children many a time,” he added.

The sisters travel 50 km to Radha Madhav School in Bareilly. They aspire to be Deputy Commissioners or District Magistrates, the designation in Uttar Pradesh.

The sisters were highlighted in 2010, but the Uttar Pradesh Government awarded the girls a cash incentive of Rs 2 lakh each in Lucknow last month only after the media highlighted Kautilya.

Sonepat, December 25
Former Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee’s 89th birthday was observed as “Sankalp Divas” here today. The BJP leaders reiterated to work hard to fulfil his wishes of bringing the BJP government under the prime ministership of Narender Modi in the parliamentary elections of 2014.

Among the prominent party leaders who spoke on the occasion included MLA Kavita Jain, state vice-president Rajiv Jain, state secretary Pradeep Sangwan and state spokesman Lalit Batra, district president Om Prakash Atre.

The leaders praised the former Prime Minister for his honesty, statesmanship, simple living, far sightedness, principled life and acceptability in every section of the society. “Atal Bihari Vajpayee is an inspiring force for the party cadre to oust the Congress-led UPA government,” they said and added that his governance would always be remembered by the people of the country.

Karnal, December 25
Disability cannot be a barrier in success if you are determined. The saying was proved true by specially abled Arun (deaf and dumb), who won a silver medal at the Asia-Pacific Tournament for Disabled, held in Melbourne, Australia, from December 2 to 6.

However, his goal is to be independent in life and have a job, not getting a medal. “Money is temporary but service is permanent,” said Tejbir Singh, Arun’s father.

The government should change the policy and make a provision to give jobs rather than money, he added.

When he was four-year-old, Arun was admitted to the Viklang Shishu Parsikshan Kendra, run by Tapan Rehabilitation Society, in Karnal. This was the result of the efforts of his teachers that he won the medal, Singh, a resident of Gagsina village in Karnal, said.

“Arun participated in national roller skating championship held in Hyderabad in 2009. At the international games in Germany, he won a gold and two silver medals, said Dr Sujata, in charge of the centre. She added that a government job would work as a motivation for every specially abled child.

Karnal, December 25
The thick fog which is causing trouble for vehicular traffic is a boon for wheat farmers as thick fog and dip in temperature are ideal for the wheat crop. If the climate remains unchanged for the next 15 days, a bumper crop can be expected in Haryana, Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh.

The minimum and maximum temperature dipped to 9.0°C and 13.5°C in Karnal last Wednesday, which was the lowest for 10 years in December. The Meteorological Department at the Central Soil and Salinity Institute forecast fog for the next 10 days, followed by rain.

Karnal recorded a maximum temperature of 17.7°C and a minimum of 10.5°C today. The humidity was 100 per cent in the morning and 68 per cent in the evening.

The vapour pressure was 10.7 and 10.2 while the cold breeze was blowing with the average speed of 4.4 km per hour. The humidity increased to nearly 100 per cent, causing a sharp fall in day temperature and biting cold making people wrap themselves up in heavy woollens.

Directorate of Wheat Research Director Indu Sharma said the present climate conditions were suitable for the wheat crop. She said it would be helpful to produce 95 million tonnes, which was 3.6 million tonnes more than the target of 92.4 million tonnes achieved last season.

She informed that the area under wheat cultivation had increased from 29.6 million hectares last season to 30 million hectares the current session, of which 2.5 million hectares was in Haryana and 3.4 million hectares in Punjab. The participation of the states in the Central pool was 85 per cent, she added. Farmers were inclined towards sowing of early varieties with high yield, including HD-2967, DBW-621-50, PBW-550, said Randhir Singh, senior scientist, Directorate of Wheat Research.

Karnal, December 25
Ajad Singh, chairman of the Gharonda Municipal Committee, was today attacked by five persons near a gas agency.

Ajad Singh, who was rushed to hospital, said while he was on a round to review development works in a ward, five persons attacked him.

He alleged that the attackers also snatched Rs 70,000 from him and fled.

Ishwar Sharma, Station House Officer, Gharonda, said he had received complaints from both sides with the other party alleging misbehaviour by the municipal committee chairman.