Chandigarh, September 1
Former Haryana Finance Minister Birender Singh has blamed Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for creating conditions that led to his quitting the Congress and join the BJP.

He claimed that the Congress was on its way out in Haryana once and for all like it was wiped out in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. “Today, people in the state have an alternative in the form of the BJP,” the Congress turncoat told the media here today.

A cousin of the CM and ardent critic of his style of functioning, Birender said he was humiliated in the Congress at the behest of Hooda.

“I have been telling the Congress leadership about the biased development and corruption while issuing change in land use (CLU) certificates. But I was targeted for speaking the truth.”

Though Birender lashed out at Hooda, he refrained from speaking against any other Congress leader. He, however, said Congress president Sonia Gandhi was surrounded by a coterie that never let her take informed decisions, unlike former PM Indira Gandhi who made her coterie implement her decisions.

When asked why he was being soft on other Congress leaders and hesitating in naming those in Sonia’s coterie, the former member of the Congress Working Committee said: “Now, I have nothing to do with that party, so why even bother.”

Terming the issuance of CLU certificates as “cheating uninterrupted”, Birender said the Assembly elections would be contested on the issues of CLU certificates and lopsided development. He claimed that out of 1.17 lakh acres in the state, the government acquired 60,000 acres and passed it to land sharks.

Expressing a difference of opinion over Jan Chetna Party chief Venod Sharma’s demand for scrapping interview for jobs, he said that scenario would be disadvantageous to students from rural areas. When pointed out that he accused Hooda of giving jobs to people only from a particular area, but it was the Jats who benefitted the most, he was quick to say: “Jats get more jobs because they constitute 24 per cent of the state’s population.”

On his switch over to the BJP, Birender said he had joined the party unconditionally. “As long as I will remain in politics, my ambitions will remain the same.” 

Chandigarh, September 1
There is a difference of opinion in the state BJP over the INLD’s decision to declare Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal as the star campaigner in the upcoming Haryana assembly elections.

While the Leader of the BJP Legislative Party, Anil Vij, today took strong exception to Badal’s proposed campaigning in Haryana, BJP Kisan Morcha president Om Prakash Dhankar saw nothing wrong if the Chief Minister campaigned as the Badal and Devi Lal clans shared “close family ties”.

Vij said the state unit had urged the central leadership to stop Badal from campaigning for the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). “We have made our point before the party high command and it was up to it to dissuade Badal as the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) was part of the National Democratic Alliance-led government at the Centre,” he asserted.

However, Dhankar differered with Vij claiming that since Badal and Devi Lal clans shared close ties and had been helping each others in successive elections there was nothing wrong in Badal’s campaigning. “We have an alliance with the SAD in Punjab and not in Haryana,” Dhankar said.

After break-up of its ties with the Kuldeep Bishnoi-led Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC), the BJP is now contesting all 90 seats and eyeing to form the next government against the backdrop of its impressive performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

Dushyant Chautala, INLD MP from Hisar, declared in Jalandhar yesterday that Badal would be the star campaigner for the party. INLD, which had an alliance with SAD has left two seats for the SAD —Ambala City and Kalianwali.

In fact, besides Dhankar another senior leader Capt Abhimanyu, had recently said that the BJP had no objection of SAD having an alliance with INLD in Haryana

Meanwhile, INLD state chief, Ashok Arora claimed that INLD and SAD were old allies. “We also fought the 2009 assembly polls together and even in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls the Punjab Chief Minister and other SAD leaders campaigned for us. No party should have an objection to our alliance,” Arora claimed. 

Panipat, September 1
Former Chandigarh Mayor Raj Bala Malik is keen to contest from the Panipat rural seat on the BJP ticket in the Assembly elections.

Currently a Congress councillor from ward number one, Malik joined the BJP during the Vijay Sanklap rally in Mahendragarh on August 14 in the presence of national party chief Amit Shah.

In 2011, she had defeated her rival Satinder Dhawan, the wife of senior BJP leader Harmohan Dhawan. In 2012, she was elected as the Mayor.

“I am connected to the segment since my marriage in 1973. My husband, Ram Kumar Malik, is an advocate and hails from Raja Kheri village in this constituency,” she said.

The couple had constructed a community centre for ~3 crore in their village and had handed it over to the panchayat in the presence of CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda on December 23, 2012

In response to a query, Raj Bala said she called Hooda to that function as her family had relations with him.

The former Mayor claimed she had joined the BJP as she had been influenced by pro-people policies of Narendra Modi. “As soon as I am allocated the ticket by the BJP high command, I will quit as a councillor,” she added.

Meanwhile, several ticket aspirants expressed resentment against considering someone who had joined the BJP a few days ago.

Raj Bala said, “If the party selects anyone else, I will support that candidate.”

Chandigarh, September 1
At a time when caste is high on the agenda of political parties looking at wooing communities to consolidate their vote bank, the Jan Chetna Party (JCP) is on a different course — that of tapping the aspirations of the unemployed youth.

In its manifesto released at a rally in Ambala yesterday, JCP chief and former Congressman Venod Sharma promises job opportunities to youth, besides raking up the “neglect” of north Haryana under 10 years of the Congress rule. Better remuneration to farmers and setting up the Industrial Model Township (IMT) in Ambala, a project that was scrapped by the Congress government, are other promises made in the manifesto.

Emphasising that the Haryana Service Selection Commission would be disbanded if his party was voted to power, Sharma has spelt out merit-based recruitment in government departments where “manipulation” would have no place. “People are fed up with the interview culture where scores can be easily fiddled with. The party wants a transparent system whereby performance in written examinations will decide the merit of a candidate, besides giving weightage to academic record. Unemployment has risen considerably and the youth are struggling for jobs,” Sharma said.

Apart from this, the party promises 80 per cent job reservation to state’s youth in the industry, including the IT sector. Sharma’s logic is though industry has come to Haryana, youth have not benefitted from the job opportunities it created. To counter the allegations of concentration of jobs in particular areas, Sharma has proposed equal job opportunities for all communities.

Besides talking about the unemployed youth, the JCP has appeased other sections of society. “The JCP wants 33 per cent reservation for women and issuance of change of land use (CLU) certificates be made transparent and available on the government website,” Sharma said.

The party has promised toll-free roads and equitable distribution of development funds. “For the farmers, the JCP stands committed to no acquisition of land and MSP on basmati rice. However, the neglect of north Haryana is something pronounced about the Congress rule,” he said, adding that it has been “deliberately designed” with all big projects taken to particular districts.

“The IMT was scrapped because farmers protested. Had the government intended to set it up, compensation should have been increased We will give ~50 lakh per acre along with a 500-square-yard plot,” Sharma said. 

Hisar, September 1
The Hisar Assembly constituency can witness a clash between top business tycoons — Zee Group owner Subhash Goenka, and India’s wealthiest woman and sitting MLA Savitri Jindal.

Big fight

The media magnet, Goenka, has approached the BJP for the ticket to contest from here. He confirmed that he had joined the BJP. “I am keen to contest from Hisar. I have conveyed my desire to the party. Now, it’s up to the leadership to take the call,” he told The Tribune after reaching the city yesterday.

He was scheduled to meet residents to know their problems. One of my business units — Citi Cable — have opened 100 offices in Hisar. My employees are collecting data from people about their problems that will form part of the manifesto,” the businessman-turned-politician said.

On the BJP’s prospects in the elections, he said people wanted a change and that had been proven in the Lok Sabha elections. When asked about the performance of the sitting Congress MLA, he said it’s for the people to decide in the elections.

Goenka is the son of Hisar philanthropist Nand Kishore Goenka. The family’s closeness to the saffron party and the RSS is no secret.

The prospects of a clash of business tycoons has set off a flurry of activities in the town, especially in the Bania community, as Goenka would be facing Jindal Group co-chairperson Savitri.

The Jindals and Goenkas have been at odds against each other. The spat between the two families came to the fore in 2012 when Naveen Jindal accused Zee of demanding ~100 crore to stop publishing stories about the coal blocks allocation scam.

Hisar has been a stronghold of the Jindals since 1991 when the family entered politics. The segment has nearly 28,000 Punjabi votes, while Banias constitute nearly 23,000 votes.

Nangal Chaudhry, September 1
Located on the Haryana-Rajasthan border, Nangal Chaudhry is one of the assembly segments in the south of the state where getting drinking water is a virtual struggle every day.

Most of the villages are dependent on groundwater to meet their drinking and irrigation requirements but the persistently depleting water table is adding to their woes.

The authorities have constructed small water tanks in a majority of the villages which are replenished everyday through tube wells but still the villagers, mostly women, have to travel to distant places for water. The problem gets aggravated in case of power cuts or faults in the tube wells.

The worst sufferers are those villages where it is not possible to pump out water as the water level is so low that it is practically impossible to do so. Here, water tankers are the main source of providing drinking water to the people but the limited supply through these tankers is not enough to meet the daily requirements of the villagers.

However, Public Health Minister Kiran Choudhry and her daughter, former MP Shruti Choudhry, had taken initiative to redress this long standing problem of this area by launching the Augmentation Drinking Water Supply (ADWS) scheme.

Many villages are getting ample supply of drinking water under this scheme while work is still on to cover all villages in this constituency.

Significantly, this prominent issue has also become a key factor to woo the electors. Some politicians start making drinking water available in some crucial big villages at their own expense ahead of the polls.

This time too, some prospective candidates are employing the same time tested tactics and are providing drinking water to several villagers in the hope of rich electoral dividends.

Besides potable water, acute shortage of power, dilapidated condition of roads, poor public transport facility and ailing health services are the other problems which plague the here. People here take spending most of time without electricity and potholed roads in their stride.

Getting higher education is also not an easy task here and students, especially girls, have to face a hard time in the absence of inadequate public transportation. The students have to use jeeps and tempos to reach their educational institutes but the rising incidents of eve-teasing and molestation has forced parents to discontinue their education.

Unavailability of drinking and irrigation water, backwardness, poor medical and educational facilities, non-existent public transport and increasing incidents of eve- teasing and molestation

Karnal, September 1
As the deadline to complete the Ghoghripur rail overbridge on Karnal-Munak road near its end, the Public Works Department (PWD) has re-allotted the project to a new company.

The Tribune had carried a news item on July 26 highlighting this issue which was causing a lot of problems to the villagers and commuters. The casual approach of the PWD and the contractor were also mentioned in the news.

The process of sampling has been initiated by the company and the work would commence within a week, sources in the department said.

The Rs 26 crore project started in 2013 and its deadline was September 2015. The project was a joint venture of the railways and the PWD. The railways were to build their part of the bridge over the tracks, while the PWD had to build the remaining part, as per the terms and conditions.

Sources say that the while the railways was about to complete its part, the PWD is yet to begin construction on its portion.

To expedite the project and complete it on time, the PWD has cancelled the contract and re-allotted it to a new company that will start work within a week. However, due to delay in the work, the cost has escalated by Rs 1 crore and the deadline has been extended by six, the sources added. “We want to complete the project on time. After re- allocation, the new contractor has started the ground work and it would be completed by the fresh deadline,” said Virender Jakhar, Xen, PWD.

Kurukshetra September 1
Teaching and non-teaching staff of 97 government-aided colleges of the state today suspended work for an hour and staged a dharna on a statewide call given by the Haryana College Teachers’ Association (HCTA) to press their demands.

Dr Narender Chahar, HCTA president, said, “The state government had assured the teaching and non-teaching staff of the aided colleges a policy of medical reimbursement of chronic diseases. But no notification has been issued in this regard and the government is backtracking the commitment made by the chief minister to the HCTA.”

Dr Ravinder Gasso, general secretary of the association, said, “The state government is withholding the UGC recommended benefit of five advance increments of PhD at the entry level of service in universities and colleges.” — TNS

Chandigarh, September 1
The Haryana Government has amended the policy for grant of licence for low-density eco-friendly colonies.

While stating this here today, a spokesperson of the Town and Country Planning Department said as per the amendment to area and access norms, the minimum area requirement for the establishment of such colony would be 100 acres. There will be no upper cap on the area. However, no additional licences in continuation of a licence already granted for such colonies would be allowed unless the applicant has at least 25 acres for which an additional licence application can be submitted.

While referring to the amended location norms, he said no such low-density eco-friendly colony would be allowed in the blocks notified by the Central Ground Water Board from time to time. This will impose restrictions on the withdrawal of groundwater unless the applicant obtains the necessary permission for groundwater extraction from the competent authority as designated by the board.

He said as per the amendment to applicable fees and charges, licence fees and conversion charges, except the internal development charges (IDC), would be applicable at double the rates as prescribed for normal residential plotted colonies under the Act number 8 of 1975 and under Act number 41 of 1963. However, IDC would continue to be levied at the rates prescribed for plotted colonies.

Faridabad, September 1
INLD activists laid siege to the toll plaza at the Badarpur border for over an hour today. They were protesting the annual hike in the toll by up to 8.5%, applicable from today.

This increased toll would affect around 50,000 vehicles that pass through daily. The demonstration provided a free run to the protesters for around an hour, after which the police intervened.

The protesters, led by Vikas Chaudhary, assembled at the plaza around 10 am and forced the toll staff to open all the gates after raising slogans against the hike. Though the police tried to remove them initially, the activists sat on a dharna, which continued till noon. They were later persuaded to disperse by the police.

Addressing the protest, Chaudhary who had also staged a similar demonstration at the Faridabad-Gurgaon toll plaza on May 1, charged Krishan Pal Gurjar, Union Minister of State for Transport and Roads, of backstabbing the masses by taking a u-turn on his election promise of getting the toll plaza removed from here. He claimed it was Gurjar, who had staged a protest prior to the Lok Sabha polls, and demanded removal of the plaza, by calling toll as ‘Jazia’ or cruelty tax.

Charging Gurjar of backtracking from his promise, Chaudhary said it was the second occasion during the BJP rule that toll had been revised in the district. Claiming that both the BJP and the Congress were two-faced over the issue, he said voters would teach these parties and their leaders a lesson in the coming Assembly polls.

Jind, September 1
Passengers of various trains plying between Rohtak-Jind and Jind-Panipat travel at their own risk despite repeated robberies and crimes in these trains. This is because there is not a single government railway police (GRP) post between these districts.

Jind-Rohtak stations are 58 km apart while Jind-Panipat is located 80 km apart. If anything untoward happens between these two stations, passengers have to wait for over an hour to get help of the GRP. The lone GRP post at Jind is understaffed as the government has not recruited for many years.

On the Jind-Rohtak route, there are around seven railway stations and a similar number of stations are on the Jind-Panipat route. Many passengers travel on these routes as more than 40 trains ply between these stations.

“I travel twice a week from Jakhal to New Delhi, since the last five years. I have never seen any proper security arrangements in place. Even during high alert days, trains run without basic checks,” said Somnath, a shopkeeper from Jakhal, travelling on the Ferozpur-Central Mumbai Janta super fast train.

Another passenger Gaurav from Tohana, who also travels on the Jind-New Delhi route every week, as he studies in Rohtak, alleged in July some unidentified youngsters tried to snatch a bag from an old passenger near Julana, but when other passengers came to the victim’s aid, the snatchers fled away.

“Many robberies have taken place between Jind and Rohtak during the last few months, but I have never seen any police personnel on duty here,” Gaurav said.

A GRP officer posted in Jind said staff shortage was the chief cause of this problem. “We file complaints, but the lack of police posts between Jind-Panipat and Jind-Rohtak creates problems for passengers. We are taking all possible steps for the security of passengers,” said Inderjit Singh, SHO, GRP, Jind.

Gurgaon, September 1
Thousands of farmers in Mewat have little to celebrate this festive season, as they grapple with massive crop damage due to deficient monsoon.

The deficit of around 60 per cent in rainfall this season has once again highlighted the blot on state’s publicised endeavours of modernise agriculture, as 90 per cent of farms spread over 2 lakh acres have suffered major losses.

“In other districts, farmers have artificial irrigation system. We are totally dependent on agriculture and delayed monsoon has stomped all our dreams. I took 5 acres on lease and have faced huge losses. Now, the land will not be suitable for the next sowing season,” said Mohamad Yasin, a farmer from Tauru.

The area mainly produces jowar, bajra, pulses, guar and cotton among kharif crops. Barring cotton, about 80 per cent of the other crops are already destroyed. The remaining are under stress.

“Many politicians are coming to our village with a bag of promises, but nobody is bothered about our basic need of irrigation,” said Aulakh Khan of Nuh. In 1966, the Mewat Students’ Organisation (MSO) demanded a separate canal for the area that has sandy soil and salty groundwater.

The government reportedly prepared a project in this regard in 1968. However, nothing much was done till the late 1990s. In 1996, then Prime Minister HD Devegaura, on his visit to the area, announced that the Government of India was ready to give 325 crore rupees for Mewat canal. Following this, then CM Bansi Lal transformed the Mewat canal plan to the Thantri (Palwal) plan. With people protesting against, the project was shelved.

According to latest reports, the project is pending before the National Water Commission for approval. As per the new proposal, the Mewat canal will come from the Hansi-Butana canal to Hajipur of Mewat via Jhajjar, Salhawas, Rewari, Dharu-hera and total cost of the project will be 666.67 crore.

Karnal, September 1
Scarce rain has left the state worst affected in north-west India, resulting in vast areas remaining uncultivated. Though, there was some respite on Sunday with an average rainfall of around 3.6 mm in the state, but still the accumulated rainfall is around 66% less than average, say experts from the Met Department.

There has been around 132.9 mm rainfall in the state since June, whereas the state should have received around 385.3 mm of rainfall till now.

“While Punjab received around 65% less rainfall, western UP received around 59% less rainfall at 255.9 mm, Himachal Pradesh also received 37% less rainfall at 434.1 mm,” said the expert from the Met Department.

He elaborated, “The north-west region received around 35% less rainfall, whereas the country on the whole received around 18% less rainfall.”

Scarce rainfall has created panic among farmers, and some farmers have destroyed their crop by ploughing their field in Assandh area of the district. Due to shortage of rainfall, thrips attacked the crops in several fields of the district.

Agricultural expert Vijay Kapoor, who is also the state general secretary of the Kisan Welfare Club, said, “Farmers are facing drought-like situation. Due to scarcity of rain and lack of electricity, they are forced to use diesel engines to save their crops, which have increased their expenses and worries.”

Kapoor added the government should instead provide subsidies on diesel as they have clearly failed to supply ample electricity in face of water scarcity.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) has demanded compensation for the farmers. Sewa Singh Arya, state president of BKU, said the government should declare the state drought-hit and announce a compensation of ~20,000 per acre as the farmers have invested a lot of money to save their crops. Sources in the Agriculture Department, said, “Due to lack of rainfall, 30,000 hectare of paddy has remained uncultivated. The target was around 11.5 lakh hectare, but only 11.2 lakh hectare has been cultivated till now.”

The area under millet cultivation was also reduced to 2.41 lakh hectare from the proposed area of around 6.10 lakh hectare.

Karnal, September 1
The District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) has given Rs 2 lakh as compensation under the Haryana Victim Compensation Scheme, 2013, to the mother of a murder victim.

While interacting with mediapersons at the court, Manjeet Singh, District and Sessions Judge and the chairman of the DLSA, said the cheque for compensation was given to Krishna, mother and legal heir of Satbir, a resident of Uchani village, who was murdered by six persons two and half-year-ago. The case has been decided and the accused have been convicted by the court.

Manjeet Singh said the state government had enacted the Victim Compensation Scheme 2013 for providing financial help to the victim or his/ her dependants, who suffered loss and injury as a result of the crime and required rehabilitation.

Reacting on the lack of awareness about the victim compensation scheme, the session judge said, “The scheme needs to be propagated among the masses so that the injured party can take the required compensation. The judiciary is also doing its best to publicise the scheme among people at large.” DLSA secretary Renu Rana said the scheme aimed at providing assistance to a victim or his/ her family members for their rehabilitation. — TNS

Karnal, September 1
The construction firm has accelerated work to six lane the Panipat-Jalandhar Expressway. Though, the issue of shifting of Samanabahu toll plaza to Bastara is still under consideration, the firm, SOMA, has expedited the work.

Sources from the firm said work on the project had been under way at a fast pace as the company has to complete the project by the deadline specified by the Supreme Court.

“The work on 13 structures is going on. Four out of these will be opened shortly, but the remaining nine will be opened to public by the end of this month,” claimed sources at SOMA.

They also said, “Work on several structure like vehicular underpass (VUP) at Sharifgarh in Shahbad, VUP of Phagwara and VUP of Jalandhar bypass, viaduct at Ludhiana bypass, flyovers at the new grain market and Tarori in Karnal, flyovers in Shahbad, Rajpura and Ludhiana bypass are under way and expected to be completed in a month’s time.”

“The overlay works between Karnal-Panipat, Rajpura-Sirhind and at Phagwara are going on at a high speed. Patch work at Karnal, Shahbad, Khanna, Phagwara and Jalandhar, is also underway,” said the sources adding that to stop the accidents on flyovers the company had been installing metal beam barriers near Phagwara-Jalandhar and Karnal areas.

Rewari, September 1
The state government would be in for a hard time as residents of 10 villages have resolved not to part with their land for setting up a solid waste management plant at Kasola village to deal with the problem of garbage disposal efficiently.

A panchayat of 10 villages held at the Shiv Temple in Kasola village today not only categorically refused to give even a single inch of their land for the project, but also threatened the authorities that they would retaliate if the government tried to acquire their land forcibly.

The panchayat presided over by former sarpanch Ram Singh also submitted a memorandum to the district authorities and sought the shifting of the project.

The panchayat also resolved to call on Haryana Irrigation Minister and Rewari MLA Capt Ajay Singh Yadav in the coming days to apprise him of its decision.

“Since the plant is proposed in a populated area, it would lead to the spread of infectious diseases not only in our village, but also nearby areas. For this reason, we are resisting the plant and have launched a move to get the project shifted to another place,” Kasola village sarpanch Deshraj told The Tribune.

He informed the panchayat was attended by villagers from Kasoli, Bakhapur, Bharthla, Garhi, Bolani, Pithalvaas, Lobhana, Kaathuvaas, Salhavaas except Kasola villagers.

The authorities recently announced to set up a solid waste management plant near Kasola village in order to efficiently dispose garbage from Rewari and nearby areas. Though the authorities are yet to initiate land acquisition process for the purpose, but the villagers have started opposing the project fearing that it would invite the infectious ailments as heavy garbage of surrounding area would be brought to the plant every day.

Fatehabad, September 1
An organisation of animal rights activists and environmentalists, Paryavaran Avam Jeev Raksha Bishnoi Sabha, yesterday hailed the Haryana Janhit Party’s (HJP) for including resolution of shifting the site of the upcoming nuclear power project at Gorakhpur in Fatehabad to some other location in its manifesto.

A meeting of the sabha was held yesterday under its president Atma Ram Manjhu, where members thanked HJC president Kuldeep Bishnoi and former parliamentary secretary Dura Ram for including this promise in the party manifesto.

Vinod Karwasara, secretary of the sabha said their petition for conservation of black bucks and other wildlife living on the land acquired for the nuclear project was already pending before the National Green Tribunal. 

Rohtak, September 1
Teachers of Haryana universities and colleges will observe September 5, Teachers’ Day, as ‘black day’ to register their protest against the non-fulfilment of their longstanding demands by the state government.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the state executive committee of the Haryana Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisations (HFUCTO) held here yesterday.

The HFUCTO president, Dr Raj Kumar, said the teachers of state universities and colleges would wear black badges and stage dharnas at their respective institutions on September 5. They will not participate in any function to mark Teachers’ Day, he said.

The HFUCTO leaders condemned the state government for not honouring the commitments and announcements made by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at their function in Kurukshetra University in December 2008 regarding the provision of comprehensive medical-aid scheme to the teachers of government-aided colleges and increasing the retirement age of the university and college teachers to 62 years.

It was also unanimously resolved that the HFUCTO would submit a list of concerns and demands of the university and college teachers to different political parties and seek their opinion.

They condemned the derogatory remarks made against women teachers by Haryana Financial Commissioner-cum-Principal Secretary (Higher Education) SS Prasad and demanded to remove him from the post.

Representatives of the Kurukshetra University Teachers’ Association, MDU Teachers’ Association, Haryana Government College Teachers’ Association, Haryana College Teachers’ Association and CDLU Teachers Association were present.

Chandigarh, September 1
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will follow in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s footsteps this Teacher’s Day with a live telecast to enthuse students.

Hooda’a address that would be telecast live at 11.30 am ahead of the Prime Minister’s address from 3 p.m.-4.45 pm seems an afterthought after the Central Government put in place a set of dos and don’ts for schools for ahead of Modi’s address.

Hooda’a address, the first in nearly 10 years’ in office ahead of the October election, has not gone down well with the Opposition terming it a “publicity stunt” at the cost of the state exchequer.

A five-page advisory issued by the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojana Parishad has directed Education Department officials to ensure that the addresses of the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister were telecast via Edusat. In case, Edusat equipment was non-functional, school heads have been told to arrange adequate number of TV sets to enable the students to watch the addresses.

Schools have been directed to ensure uninterrupted power supply for the duration of the live telecast. They have also been asked make alterative arrangements for inverters and generators in case of a power failure.

Meanwhile, main opposition INLD has reacted sharply to Hooda’s address. “For the last 10 years, the Hooda government has done nothing to upgrade school education. Now, on the eve the election, the state government has planned a public relations stunt in the shape of live telecast of the CM’s address with a clear motive to woo voters,” said INLD general secretary and former vice chancellor RS Choudhary.

Rohtak, September 1
Ashwani Kumar Sabharwal, former Chief Architect of Haryana, has joined as vice-chancellor of the State University of Performing and Visual Arts here.

Sabharwal has been a member of recognised professional bodies such as the Council of Architecture and, Indian Institute of Architects, Mumbai; INTACH, New Delhi; and Fellow of Institution of Valuers, New Delhi. He has remained chairman of the Plan Advisory Committee, Chandigarh Administration; Director, Haryana Tourism Corporation, Haryana Housing Board and Haryana Police Housing Corporation.

Sabharwal was a member of the executive council of Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal, for two terms and is a recipient of the Chandigarh Administration’s Certificate of Commendation.

He has handled various significant projects in Chandigarh, including Hotel Shivalik View, College of Engineering and Technology, Home for the Mentally Challenged and the Juvenile Home.

Chandigarh, September 1
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has called for curbing the increasing tendency of preparing false court documents.

Acting on a bail petition by one Tilak Chand Gautam, Justice Mehinder Singh Sullar has asserted: “It cannot possibly be denied that the tendency and frequency of preparing false documents by such accused, adversely affecting the reputation of the judiciary, have been tremendously increasing day by day, which need to be curbed with a heavy hand.”

Gautam was booked on the complaint of Vikas Chauhan. The complainant said he had met Gautam at a birthday party of his relative at Jagadhri in Yamunanagar district.

Chauhan was told that some posts were to be advertised in the Allahabad High Court. The petitioner allegedly claimed that he was having “very good relations in that High Court and could help him (Chauhan) get a job there”. Gautam allegedly demanded Rs 8 lakh for a Class III officer’s post in the Allahabad High Court.

The complainant claimed that in November 2011, the petitioner told him that application forms for recruitment were available and he should be ready with the amount.

Next month, the petitioner met the complainant and introduced co-accused as relatives of one of the judges. Another accused was introduced as the brother of the Allahabad High Court registrar.

The accused showed the complainant fake application forms, a letter of a district and sessions court and secret fake order with stamp purported to have been issued by the Allahabad High Court.

Believing the documents to be true, Chauhan gave Rs 2 lakh to the accused in the presence of witnesses. They promised that his name would appear in the High Court website.

When nothing of the sort happened, the complainant confronted the petitioner. He, in turn, claimed that the Uttar Pradesh Government had not passed the budget and the appointment list would be issued later.

Later, Chauhan filed a petition under the Right To Information (RTI) Act. It brought out that the “Allahabad High Court had neither given any order regarding appointments nor issued any list of recruited persons”.

Dismissing the bail plea, Justice Sullar said: “If the petitioner is granted bail, his possibility of tampering with the evidence and fleeing from justice cannot be ruled out.”

Chandigarh, September 1
The Haryana Government has notified ‘Kanyadan’, a scheme to provide an incentive of Rs 11,000 each if a girl ties the knot in a mass marriage. An organisation of at least 11 marriages will be construed as mass marriage for the purpose of this scheme.

Stating this here today, a spokesperson of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department said the scheme was aimed at promoting mass marriages, so as to minimise the expenditure on part of individual families and to curb the social evil like dowry.

Referring to the eligibility criteria, he said the beneficiary should be a domicile of Haryana. She must be 18 years of age on the date of a mass marriage and marrying a male of legal age. The beneficiary would be required to provide either the birth certificate or matric certificate as the proof of age. He said the incentive would be given for mass marriages to be held either by the Red Cross Societies or by NGOs registered in the state.

Under the scheme, the incentive would be given to all irrespective of caste, race, creed, religion or income of intended beneficiaries. The marriages should be solemnised as per the custom or wish of the beneficiary. However, the benefit under the scheme would not be given in case of re-marriage. An affidavit will be obtained from the beneficiary that she is not getting the benefit for remarriage. The affidavit must be counter-signed by the organisation holding the mass marriage.

The Haryana Government has decided to provide financial assistance of Rs.1,000 per month to the displaced families of Kashmiri migrants from Jammu and Kashmir.

A notification to this effect issued by Social Justice and Empowerment Department stated that the maximum annual income from all sources of the displaced family from Jammu and Kashmir should not exceed Rs 2 lakh per annum. The total period of financial assistance for resettlement would be five years.

Kurukshetra, September 1
Disappointed family members of Amit Kumar, who have been on a hunger strike since last Monday, sought permission of self-immolation from the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court today.

Amit was murdered and his body was found from the Brahma Sarovar on October 5, last year. Seeking a CBI probe and registration of the case under Section 302 against the culprits, Amit’s parents and younger sister have been on a hunger strike for the last seven days.

Shyam Lal, the victim’s father, said, “Even after 10 months my son’s assassins are roaming freely because the police have failed to execute its duty. We have been sitting here and demanding justice peacefully, but the police attempted to evacuate us from here forcefully.”

He alleged, “On Thursday, the local police led by SHO city tried to evacuate us forcefully and also misbehaved with us. Following this incident we have asked the SP to take action against the police officials. I have also made an appeal to the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court to allow my family to immolate ourselves as justice has been denied to us.”

Shamlal said, “We have appealed to all political parties and social organisations to reach the Mini Secretariat to support our demand on Tuesday, so that we can discuss the further course of action.”

DSp Satish Gautam, said, “All the allegations levelled by Shamlal are baseless. No police official tried to evacuate them; the officers were doing their duty. Since the girl had fallen ill due to the hunger fast, she was taken to the hospital.”

About the case, he said, “The police questioned all the accused and the allegations of murder levelled by Amit’s family could not be established. During investigation it was found that Amit died due to drowning.”

Rohtak, September 1
Two more gangrapes have been reported from different villages in the district. In the first incident, a 16-year-old girl from Bhali Anandpur was gangraped by two youths from the same village.

The girl, a student of Class XI, left for her tuition class on Saturday. She was waylaying, and allegedly abducted by Devender and Sandeep, who were in a car.

The duo raped the girl in the car and later abandoned her. The girl told her parents about the incident after she reached her home. They took her to the police to lodge a complaint.

One of the accused, Devender, has been arrested.

Meanwhile, in another incident, four youths from Chidi village allegedly raped a girl from the same village at her house. She was alone at home and they allegedly threatened her with dire consequences. The girl informed her family and filed a complaint against Neeraj, Meenu, Bhandari and Manjit. No arrests have been made so far.

In yet another incident, two girls from Kahnaur village in the district went missing under mysterious circumstances. One of the girls is a student of Vaish College, while the other one is pursuing a beautician’s course. —TNS

Hisar, September 1
Local traders today blocked a road in the Mill Gate area to protest the attack on a shopkeeper couple by a gang of youths last night.

Wearing masks, a gang of five-six motorcycle-borne youths arrived at the Mill Gate area market late night and attacked Kamal and his wife Karuna, who were sitting in their mobile shop. The accused brutally beat up the couple with sticks, causing multiple fractures in Kamal’s leg. Karuna also sustained injuries.

The agitated traders alleged there had been no let up in the incidents of attack on the traders’ community and criminals were having a field day due to laxity of the police. They even accused the police personnel of being hand in glove with criminals.

Gautam Sardana, chairperson, Hisar Jansangharsh Samiti, who led the protest, demanded immediate arrest of the accused in the assault case. “The police seem to be clueless about anti-social elements active in the town. We have been demanding better police patrolling up to 9 pm when traders return home after closing down their shops. But the police have failed to ensure our safety.” —TNS

Jind, September 1
Unidentified men dressed as advocates shot dead a youngster accused in various criminal cases in the Jind court complex today and fled. The police have registered a case against four persons on the statement of the relative of the deceased.

Sandip Mokhra of Mokhra village had come to the Jind court today with his relatives and a security guard to attend a hearing in a robbery and attempt to murder case registered against him on July 19, 2011 at Julana police station.

As Sandip was walking toward the courtroom from the advocate’s chambers, unidentified assailants dressed as advocates opened fire on him. Bullets hit Sandip in the chest and he fell down while the assailants fled towards Gohana road. Sandip’s relatives and his guard chased the assailants but they fled due to lack of security.

Seriously injured, Sandip allegedly lay in the court complex for many minutes, as the cops did not immediately take him to hospital. They took Sandip to hospital only when some advocates stepped in. He was declared brought dead in hospital.

The police have recovered a pistol used in the crime, a diary and a mobile from the spot. Some eyewitnesses said the assailants dropped the pistol and other material as they were fleeing. Seeing the huge rush in court, they did not attempt to stop and pick up the pistol.

The shootout in the court complex exposed arrangements in the high security zone of Jind city that has offices of senior government officers such as the DC, SP and SDM.

On the statement of Sandip’s relative, Naveen, the police registered a case against four persons including Jaibhagwan, Sanjiv, Vikas and Aashish. Naveen alleged the accused had an old enmity with Sandip. “It’s appears to be a case of old enmity. We are conducting investigations and raids to arrest the accused,” DSP Suresh Kumar said. 

Gurgaon, September 1
The police has busted a gang of red sandalwood smugglers and recovered 455 logs of sandalwood worth crores.

While four members of the gang were arrested, five managed to flee and a massive search has been launched to nab them.

“We have recovered 455 logs of red sandalwood worth Rs 2 crore in the open market. This wood is used in making musical instruments. Those who fled have been identified as residents of Chakkarpur. Our teams are conducting raids to nab them. We also tried to find out that from where the sandal wood reached Gurgaon and where it was to be sent,” said Vivek Sharma, joint commissioner of police.

Sources said the police got a tipoff that a truck with a fake registration number was standing in the premises of JK Enterprises located at plot number 287 in sector 7 of IMT, Manesar. They also got information that it was loaded with sandalwood.

The accused are Jhabender, Resham, Kishan and Deepak, natives of Nepal, who lived in Chakkarpur village as tenants. On being questioned they confessed that they had taken the place on lease to smuggle and store the consignment. The wood was smuggled from Karnataka, said a police officer. —TNS