Bhiwani, October 24
Indian National Lok Dal Chief Om Prakash Chautala warned the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Haryana government would have to face consequences of regionalism and discrimination. The government was concentrating only on Jhajjar and Rohtak districts, he added.

He was talking to reporters here at the residence of a party spokesman last night.

He said regional parties would play an important role in the next Lok Sabha elections and support to these parties would be a political compulsion for the national parties.

Reminding of Lok Sabha elections of 1977 and 1989 he said the circumstances had become so bad in the country that public had come to fore in the formation of new parties. “Same circumstances prevail today in the country and there is no governance and there is harsh need of a third front to uproot the Congress government” he observed.

Taking a dig at the state government, Mr Chautala said the UPA government in the Centre and Hooda-led Haryana government had failed and people were facing acute shortage of electricity, drinking water and inflation. He also alleged the state government was violating the directions of the Supreme Court and recruiting through the back door.

He also said the state government had retrenched 22000 employees during its one-and-a-half year rule. “The public representatives of this government are fully involved in real estate business and earning in quantum” alleged Mr Chautala. He demanded the resignation of Union Minister Ms Selja and said the Agro-Fed scam took place under her nose.

He said a new executive committee of the INLD would be announced with the completion of membership drive.

Ex-ministers Vasudev Sharma, Bahadur Singh Ex-MLA and INLD district president Ranbir Mandola, Sunil Lamba, Dr K.C. Kajal, Attar Singh also attended the rally.

Chandigarh, October 24
Id-ul-Fitr turned out to be a damper for Haryana Government functionaries here who could not make the most of the holiday owing to the state government’s belated decision to advance the holiday by one day in deference to the Shahi Imam’s proclamation about celebrating the occasion.

The Id holiday was notified in the official gazette on October 25. But tomorrow’s holiday has been cancelled in the light of the government’s step to announce the holiday today. The Shahi Imam declared Id-ul-Fitr would be celebrated today after listening to a group from Haryana which claimed to have sighted the Id moon last night. The state government, evidently, was slow to act on the Imam’s declaration. It finally advanced the Id holiday by one day after employees and officers had already turned up in their offices.

Among the senior officials who started the day as any other day in office were the Chief Secretary, the Home Secretary and the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister.

The Home Secretary had busied himself discussing the implications of the Supreme Court directive on police reforms with the Special Secretary, Home. The Chief Secretary had a hectic pre-lunch session and his itinerary included taking stock of the Vigilance Bureau cases against government officials. The Secretary, Urban Development, also held a meeting today with officials of his department in the committee room on the seventh floor.

A meeting about the construction of judicial complexes in Haryana was slated to take place in the High Court at 4 p.m. The state government officials, who took part in the meeting, virtually had a full day in office today because it was not a holiday in the High Court. A meeting of the Public Accounts Committee of the Assembly was also scheduled for 2 pm today. It was eventually cancelled, but the officials slated to participate in it reportedly had to wait for quite a while before they were told about the cancellation of the meeting.

Even at 12.30, a number of clerical staff members and some officers were seen staying put at their desks in the main Secretariat building.

The Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr Raghubir Singh Kadian, had to abruptly seek an appointment with the Governor, Dr A.R. Kidwai, here to extend greetings to him on Id-ul-Fitr. Their original appointment with Mr Kidwai was for tomorrow.

Ambala, October 24
A former Union Minister and Rajya Sabha MP, Ms Sushma Swaraj, has claimed that the UPA government seems to be lacking the will to tackle terrorism.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Ms Swaraj said in the past 2 and a half years, the direction taken by the UPA government was wrong. There was a threat to the security of the nation from terrorism and the necessary will for tackling it was lacking.

Ms Swaraj said POTA had been made for tackling terrorism, but the UPA government had removed POTA. The reason cited was that POTA was anti-Muslim. “It is clear that POTA was not against Muslims but against terrorists,” she said.

She said the hanging of Afzal Guru, who had masterminded the Parliament attack, was postponed due to the delaying stance of the UPA government. “Hanging verdict is given by the court in the rarest of the rare case and the Parliament attack is indeed the rarest of the rare case. If there is delay in carrying out the court verdict, then hanging should be removed from the statute and law books,” she said.

Ms Swaraj said the NDA government had made an independent nuclear policy and the Pokharan blast had been carried out. However, the UPA government had entered into the Indo-US nuclear treaty in which India had lost its nuclear independence. There were many unnecessary hindrances in the treaty.

She said these issues were going to be raised in the forthcoming Parliamentary session. “The government is answerable for the ‘soft’ policy on terrorism and matters of internal security. While the Union Home Secretary said there are concrete evidence of ISI involvement in the 7/11 attack, the National Security Adviser has stated that there is no direct evidence,” she said.

Ms Swaraj said the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, must answer to the nation as to what stand the government was taking against terrorism. “Even on Naxalism, the government is ready to hold talks with Maoists in Nepal which sends out a wrong signal of softness of approach for the Naxalites within the country,” she opined.

She said she was chairperson of the Committee of Home Affairs in the Rajya Sabha and they were going to recommend that there should be uniform compensation for victims of communal violence. The recommendation would be on the communal violence prevention control and rehabilitation of victims Bill.

Chandigarh, October 24
Haryana's revenue collection this year is buoyant. The revenue collected by the state's Excise and Taxation Department in the first half of the current financial year has shown an increase of over 19 per cent, despite a revolutionary change in the excise policy of the state.

This year the state dispensed with the system of auctioning liquor vends in order to break the monopoly of a few and to provide employment opportunities to as many as possible in the lucrative liquor business. The vends were allotted through draw of lots after their license fee was fixed. The new system also ensured a competition in the business, resulting in lowering of liquor rates to the benefit of consumers.

The revenue from the liquor business in the first six months rose to Rs 729 crore as compared Rs 616 crore collected during the corresponding period last year.

The total collection of excise revenue last year was a little over Rs 1100 crore, against which the department fixed a target of Rs 1200 crore this year. It has already achieved more than half of the target. The total collection from this source during the last year of the Chautala Government was Rs 945 crore.

According to Mr H.S. Rana, Excise and Taxation Commissioner, collections from value added tax (VAT) and the Central Sales Tax (CST) till September 31, was Rs 3266 crore against Rs 2693 crore collected during the corresponding period last year. Similarly, the collection from the local area development tax in the first six months of this year was Rs 146 crore against Rs 115 crore.

Mr Rana says the state is expected to collect Rs 9,000 crore this year against Rs 19 crore in 1966 when the state had came into existence.

Karnal, October 24
Opposing the decision of the Haryana Government to allow the non-affiliating private universities in the state, the Haryana College Teachers’ Association (HCTA) has termed it a handiwork of the “education mafia” to control the education sector.

Terming the proposal as anti-education, the HCTA will organise a state-level seminar next month for leaders of various teacher and student associations where a protest programme will be finalised.

Citing the example of Chhattisgarh, the HCTA said the decision of the Haryana Government would affect quality of education.

Dr Rajbir Prashar, general secretary of the HCTA, condemned the decision to invite private parties in the field of the higher education in the state.

The HCTA leader said the state government had failed to get a message from Chhattisgarh where the education system had virtually collapsed after it was flooded with private universities and finally the high court had to intervene in it.

He alleged that a lobby comprising politicians and businessmen was working at the behest of “education mafia” to control the education market in the state.

President of the teachers’ body Dr U.V. Singh also lamented the decision of the government for not inviting suggestions from academics and educationists before going in for private universities.

Terming the decision anti-education and anti-people, he criticised the state government for ‘selling’ higher education to business houses.

Ambala, October 24
The rift in the Congress in Ambala Cantt has come to the fore with the Cantt MLA, Mr Devender Bansal, recommending the issuance of a supplementary list of office-bearers of the District Congress Committee (DCC) even though Ambala Cantt DCC office-bearers have already been announced.

The fresh list, which is in addition to the existing list of office-bearers, has apparently been approved by the state party high command. The new list is understood to have been prepared after the persons considered close Mr Bansal were found to be missing from the list prepared by the DCC president, Mr Narinder Pal Singh Shera.

However, Mr Shera has dug in his heels and refused to accept the new list till such time the directive comes directly from the HPCC president, Dr Ram Prakash.

Mr Shera today said he had not received any letter regarding the new list of office-bearers. “I will only accept the additional list if I receive a formal missive from Dr Ram Prakash. Without the formal missive, it will not be possible to give an approval to the new list. I would like to stress that I am not against anybody, but certain rules and regulations should be followed,” he said.

The DCC president had got the approval of his list from Dr Ram Prakash on September 13. The list comprised four vice-presidents, one treasurer, three general secretaries, eight secretaries and 17 executive committee members. Now, the additional list of the Ambala Cantt MLA comprises three vice-presidents, one general secretary, six secretaries, four joint secretaries, five organising secretaries and four executive members.

The issuance of the fresh additional list can cause certain violations of the Congress party rules regarding the formation of the District Congress Committee office-bearers.

According to the Congress party constitution, Section XI (D), besides the district president, there can be three vice-presidents, one treasurer and two general secretaries. Additionally, the total number office-bearers should not be more than 31, including the executive committee members.

But the new list will lead to surpassing of all limits set by the Congress party constitution.

Ambala, October 24
A councillor, Mr Omkar Nathi, today alleged that he was manhandled at Big Bazar in Ambala Sadar this afternoon.

Mr Nathi claimed that he was manhandled by security personnel of Big Bazar while he was entering the shopping mall. However, Big Bazar officials said Mr Nathi was not manhandled and was only asked to enter from the entry point.

Mr Nathi said he entered Big Bazar from a door marked “Entry”. He said he was stopped by a security guard, manhandled and forced to leave the bazar. He alleged that when he pointed out that “Entry” was written on the door, security guards started to misbehave with him and pushed him.

He alleged that they refused to listen to him and even Mr Sareen of the Minerva complex did not listen to him.

Mr Nathi said they were set to oppose the extension of lease to the Minerva complex and bring the “irregularities” in the construction to the notice of the government. He claimed that while the monthly rental of the Minerva complex was more than Rs 12 lakh, only Rs 7 lakh had been shown at the Municipal Council, Ambala Sadar. The house tax was being calculated on this amount, which was a loss to the government.

However, the Big Bazar manager, Mr Sandeep Jain, said although he was not present there at the time of the incident, the security guards had briefed him about the matter. Mr Nathi was not manhandled, he claimed.

“Mr Nathi did not entered from the entry door. The security guard told him that the entrance gate was towards the other side. However, he did not listen and the security guard again requested him to enter from the entrance gate,” he said.

He said the supervisor also told Mr Nathi that the entry had to be made from the entrance gate. Mr Nathi wanted to know about the complaint box and was told that there was a customer help desk.

Mr Jain admitted that sometimes customers got confused about the entrance since initially there were two entrance gates, but now there was one. He said there was a guard at the door and signages had been put to lead customers towards the entrance gate.

The Minerva complex owner’s son, Mr Ashu Sareen, said he was not present there at the time of the incident. “Also, my father works from Capitol Theatre so I would not like to comment on the issue,” he said.

Rewari, October 24
The mega Krishi Vikas Mela-Agro Vision -2006, which was to be held under the auspices of the Krishi Vikas Samiti (KVS) in Rao Tula Ram Stadium here from October 27 to 31, has been abruptly postponed.

An announcement to this effect was made by the KVS chairman and former BJP MP Sudha Yadav at a press conference here today.

She said it was with a heavy heart that the samiti decided to postpone the mela which was to be inaugurated here on October 27 by Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh while the Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar was to be the chief guest at its concluding function on October 31.

Asserting that the Krishi Vikas Mela was a non-political event and no commercialisation was involved in it, she explained that it mainly aimed at acquainting the farmers of Haryana with new scientific farming systems to obtain maximum crop yield in the prevailing agricultural conditions. Besides the mela was also to promote agro-industries, trade and exports.

She alleged that it was simply arbitrary and anti-farmer on the part of the state government which had made it mandatory for them to deposit a huge sum of Rs 5 lakh in the coffers of the District Red Cross society by October 26 and also to pay a daily rental of Rs 15,000 for using the stadium complex for the mela.

Saying that such terms and conditions were not acceptable to them, she said that they would fight against this and their delegation would soon meet Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda as well as the Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture to seek the revocation of such financial bindings.

Dr Sudha Yadav also alleged that to make things more difficult for them the issuance of a no-objection certificate by the district administration (issued on October 18 recently) had been inordinately delayed while they had formally applied for it on August 21.

Kaithal, October 24
The court of the JMIC, Ms Gurvinder Kaur, here has awarded two years’ sentence to three women, Murti Devi, Kesho Devi and Arun Bala, who had been working under the Development of Women and Child in Rural Area (DWACRA) scheme and fined them Rs 500 each after convicting them on the charge of cheating and forgery.

Leela Devi, a resident of Sajuma village in this district, had filed a criminal complaint in the local court in 1996 in which she alleged that Murti Devi, head of the group under DWACRA scheme in the Sajuma area, had told her about a sewing machine scheme for poor women and got her thumb impression on some papers.

When she did not receive any help and apprehending foul play, she approached the police to take action against Murti Devi and others. When the police allegedly failed to act, she went to court.

On the direction of the court, the police registered a case under Sections 420, 467 and 471, IPC, and arrested Murti Devi, Kesho Devi and Arun Bala. During investigation it came to light that all the three women had misappropriated Rs 15,000 and cheated the complainant.

In another case the court sentenced a driver of Haryana Roadways to one-year imprisonment after holding him guilty of causing injuries to a person by rash and negligent driving .

Krishan, a resident of Kalayat, had lodged a complaint with the police that on July 11, 1997, he was carrying a tractor-trailer loaded with wood from Guliana village to Kurukshetra. Two other persons, Ram Dia and Chander Datt, were also sitting on the tractor.

A roadways bus driven by Pala Ram hit his tractor-trailer as a result of which it overturned and Ram Dia suffered injuries.

The accident victim was rushed to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Pala Ram, a resident of Deoban village, was arrested by the police and put on trial.