Kurukshetra, June 22
Reacting to statement issued recently by Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, former vice-chancellor, Punjabi University, Patiala regarding the formation of a separate gurdwara prabandhak committee in Haryana, the executive committee of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (HSGPC) ad hoc, at its meeting held under the chairmanship of its president, Mr Jagdish Singh Jhinda, criticised the statement.

In a signed statement to mediapersons here today, the executive committee member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), Amritsar and HSGPC, General Secretary, Didar Singh Nalvi said that the executive committee was of the considered opinion that Dr Ahluwalia had tried to mislead the public on the issue of establishment of a separate gurudwara prabandhak committee in Haryana.

Mr Nalvi said that according to legal position, the Haryana government was competent to take legislation under Clause 32 of the Concurrent List or Clause 28 of the State List. The government was also competent to legislate on a subject to the concurrence of the Central Government and assent of the President of India, he added.

So far as Clause 72 of the Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966 was concerned, Mr Nalvi said that the Haryana government was competent to make any law regarding the management of Gurdwaras in Haryana. It was a settled law, that the law was framed by the state government in view of Clause 32 of Concurrent List of Schedule VII of the Constitution, would have overriding effect over any other law. In the present case the instant law was proposed to be enacted by the Haryana Assembly with the concurrence of the Central Government and assent of the President of India, he added.

The question raised by various Akali leaders in Punjab to the effect that 2/3rd resolution was required to be passed by the SGPC, Amritsar, Mr Nalvi added that this position was also not legally and factually correct because in this case a new legislation was sought to be made for the management of the gurdwaras in Haryana, by carving out a separate gurdwara management committee and no amendment was proposed to be made in the Punjab Gurdwara Act, 1925, as was being alleged. Therefore, all statements coming from the horse’s mouth including former Punjab Chief Minister, Prakash Singh Badal were politically motivated as the Punjab elections were only 18 months away.

Mr Nalvi further said that as per a resolution, unanimously passed by the executive committee, the legislative competency of the State Government was not a justifiable right of the Akalis only. The Haryana Sikhs only wanted the determination of their religious right for the management of gurdwaras in Haryana. The resolution alleged that the fact was that the SGPC, Amritsar, was in illegal possession of gurdwaras in Haryana since 1966 and the Punjab Akalis were virtually interfering in their (Haryana Sikhs) religious affairs and not the government of Haryana. Thus, Dr Ahluwalia, who had painted only one-sided story, was under the direct influence of the Akalis of Punjab. Mr Nalvi said that an appeal had been made to all concerned that they should desist from interfering in religious affairs of the Sikhs of Haryana and should mind their own business in the larger interests of the Sikh community.

In another resolution, the State Executive had requested the Haryana government to pass legislation with regard to the formation of a separate Haryana Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, at the earliest possible.

The Executive Committee also resolved to open its chapter in Canada while Mr Amir Singh had been authorised to nominate the executive committee there, with the approval of the HSGPC, Mr Nalvi added.

Assandh (Karnal), June 22
An assistant lineman of the UHBVN allegedly committed suicide at Mor Majra, village, near Balla, in Assandh subdivision of this district late last night. However, the possibility of a murder was also not been ruled out.

The police recovered the body from the Guli-Mor Majra road after receiving information on Wednesday. The body was found lying under a tree. It has been sent to the Civil Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Mr Jagat Singh, DSP, said the employee had been identified as Ved Prakash (40), a resident of Phaphrana village. He is survived by his wife, a daughter and three sons. The employee was also the local leader of the employees’ union of the UHBVN.

Ved Prakash’s son, Bhupinder Singh, had been sacked from the Haryana Industrial Security Force early this month. For the past few days, Ved Prakash had been a little depressed.

Preliminary investigations by the police confirmed that Ved Prakash had died as a result of his neck being throttled with the help of a trouser that he was wearing. The trouser was recovered from the spot.

There were no signs of scuffle, the DSP said. Therefore, it was being assumed that he might have committed suicide.

The victim had gone to one of his relatives house at Matloda in Panipat district on Monday and stayed there for a night. Yesterday, he came back and joined some friends to have drinks. When he was about to leave, his motorcycle did not start and he borrowed a candle from someone nearby to repair the motorcycle.

When everybody had gone, he may have hanged himself from an iron pipe fixed near a tubewell, the police said.

Jhajjar, June 22
Three more accused in the black buck poaching case, who had surrendered yesterday, were granted bail by the Chief Judicial Magistrate here today.

Meanwhile, one more accused, Dayal Singh, driver of the Honda Accord car, which was carrying Nawab Pataudi and Shashi on June 3, had surrendered late last evening and was sent to judicial custody for 15 days.

The CJM, Mr Sudhir Jiwan, granted bail to Shashi Singh, Mohammad Ayub Khan and Balwan Singh, who were produced before the court after the expiry of a day’s remand. The court directed the accused to furnish separate bonds of Rs 50,000 each and to deposit a personal security amount of Rs 50,000 each.

The court also directed Shashi Singh, who is CEO of a software company, to deposit his passport within 15 days after the counsel for the Wildlife Department expressed his apprehensions that the accused might flee the country.

The Additional Session Judge here and the Punjab and Haryana High Court had rejected his anticipatory bail application before he surrendered to the police.

Earlier, the police recovered the Honda Accord car, owned by Shashi Singh.

SP Hanif Qureshi told the court that the accused had given their statements but refused to give any information about the case.

Meanwhile, the police has also registered a case under Section 506 of the IPC against the unidentified caller, who had threatened the wife of the Magistrate on June 20.

Sonepat, June 22
Three car-borne youths are reported to have made an attempt to abduct their sister near the Yamuna bridge on the Sonepat-Meerut road, about 20 km from here, today.

According to a report, Mrs Shakuntala and her husband, Mr Ramesh, were going on a motor cycle towards their village, Chhaprauli, in the Barota area of UP. When they reached near the Yamuna bridge, they were stopped by the youths, who were travelling in a car. The car-brone youths made an attempt to whisk away the housewife but the couple showed their resistance and grappled with them. On seeing the quarrel, the driver of a Haryana Roadways bus informed the police at Niwara police post in UP about the incident. The police rushed to the site. On seeing the police, the youths fled from the spot.

The housewife told the police that the youths had snatched her gold chain and gold rings. She identified the culprits as Jai Kunwar of Samalkha and his two accomplices.

Jai Kunwar is her brother and he wants to get his share of land which is in the possession of her grand-father, Mr Ram Niwas Singh, a resident of Samalkha. Mr Ram Niwas Singh wants to distribute the land among his three daughters, but Jai Kunwar opposes it for getting his share of land.

Sonepat, June 22
Three persons were killed and six injured in different accidents on National Highway No 1 and other state highways passing through district today.

According to police sources, the deceased were identified as Bijender (25) of Farmana village and Chander Kumar (19) of Himachal Pradesh.

Jagminder, a resident of Rajlu Garhi, who sustained serious injuries while crossing the GT Road, near Pipli Khera village, and was referred to the PGIMS at Rohtak for further treatment, succumbed to his injuries. The police has sent the bodies for a post-mortem examination.

According to another report, Ishwar (55), a resident of Bhowapur village, was run over and killed by a train between Sonepat and Harsana Kalan railway stations, near here, today. The GRP has sent the body for a post-mortem examination.

Mr Nirmal Singh Naggal, MLA, and his car driver sustained injuries when the car was hit by a truck on the G.T. Road near Rai PWD Rest House at Rai village, 13 km from here, yesterday. The car was badly damaged. The Rai police has registered a case.

Neetu, a seven-year-old girl, was injured when she was hit by an unidentified vehicle on the Sonepat-Murthal road, near Shubham Garden, 3 km from here, today.

The girl was hospitalised and stated to be out of danger.

Anita, a youth of Nahra village, was injured in a road accident today. He was referred to the PGIMS, Rohtak, for further treatment.

Ambala, June 22
The last couple of days have been particularly harsh for residents of Ambala City as well as Ambala Cantonment who are facing acute power shortage.

Rising mercury coupled with the long power cuts have not only affected residential areas, but also hit commercial establishments.

The Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Ambala Traders Federation, the Rice Millers Association, the Scientific Instruments Organisations and Citizens Council today jointly forwarded a memorandum to Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda highlighting their woes in this regard.

They complained of frequent breakdowns and low power voltage in both the city and cantonment areas during the past one month.

In many areas, the power cuts ranged from 12 to 15 hours. “Industry and trade is paralysed and there are heavy losses. Also, water supply is affected. Electricity authorities are not responding to complaints,” the memorandum stated.

They sought an immediate intervention since a number of workers in tiny, cottage and small industries were out of business.

They said the scientific instruments industry was the worst hit and they were finding it hard to meet deadlines.

An official in the electricity department said the city was facing power crisis since there was inadequate power generation.

He said three units of the Panipat thermal plant were out of order. The Nathpa Jhakri power project was also not providing power to Haryana due to technical reasons.

Technical trouble had also affected the Rihand project in Uttar Pradesh. He said as soon as power generation was optimised, the power woes of the city would be sorted out. He said people must cooperate and not utilise appliances like air-conditioners that consumed more power.

Hisar, June 22
Three persons have been arrested on the charge of poaching black partridges, the state bird of Haryana. According to sources, one of the arrested persons worked for the inter-state smuggler Sansar Chand gang.

The information regarding the poachers was received at the local office of the Akhil Bharatiya Jeev Raksha Samiti. Following this, a team was sent to investigate the matter.

The team members found a few persons engaged in poaching near Baas village. They chased and overpowered them. They were later handed over to the authorities concerned. Eleven dead partridges were recovered from their possession.

A case under the Wildlife Act, 1972, has been registered against Vinod Sansi, Balwan Bawri and Om Prakash Bawri of Petwad village in this regard. They were produced in a Special Environment Court, where Duty Magistrate Amarjit Singh remanded them in judicial custody till July 4.

Ambala, June 22
The Ambala College of Engineering and Applied Research, located near Ambala Cantonment, emphasises on ‘hands-on’ experience as against ‘kit culture’. It is affiliated with Kurukshetra University and has 240 seats of B.Tech in electronics and communication, computer science, biotechnology and mechanical trades.

The Chairman of the institution, Dr Jai Dev, said when the college was started it was often said that applied research was not possible at B.Tech level, especially in new institutes. However, it was the need of the hour and a change in the direction of engineering education was necessary to maintain the quality, he added.

Mr Dev said for this four research labs in micro electronics, immunology, recombinant DNA, tissue culture, digital automation and communication were set up in the institution.

The institution had surrendered its management quota seats to the university for admission by merit only to create a good academic environment in the institution, Mr Dev added.

Chandigarh, June 22
The Haryana Renewable Energy Department has earmarked Rs 5.80 crore for the implementation of the Integrated Rural Energy Programme in 188 villages in the state.

While stating this here today, Ms Sumita Mishra, Director, Haryana Renewable Energy Department, said under the programme micro, district and state-level energy plans would be prepared for providing a cost-effective mix of different energy sources with a focus on renewable 
energy.

She said for the effective implementation of the programme, a training and awareness campaign for the rural masses would also be launched on various aspects of the renewable energy technology.