Chandigarh, March 19
Seven INLD members were suspended from the proceedings of the Haryana Assembly for the day, while two MLAs, including former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, were named by speaker Raghubir Singh Kadian today.

The INLD members were suspended for "behaviour unbecoming of a member" after they continued to raise slogans in the well of the House for over one hour.

The ruckus in the House broke at zero hour when Congress MLA from Palwal Karan Singh Dalal referred to a Tribune report published on March 17 that the Bhalla Commission of Inquiry had indicted Chautala, former finance minister Sampat Singh and former director-general of police M.S. Malik for having committed irregularities in constituting the Haryana Industrial Security Force, which was disbanded by the present government.

As Dalal alleged that Chautala and his cronies had committed a fraud on the youth of the state by constituting the force in an illegal manner, INLD members rose to protest against his remarks. Kadian told them to take their seats and let Chautala explain his position. Chautala said the report had not been tabled in the House yet, as the government was still examining it. He said an inquiry should be conducted to find out how and who leaked the report to The Tribune.

When the speaker reminded him that the other day he too was quoting from a newspaper report, Chautala lost his temper and cast aspersions on the neutrality of Kadian. The agitated speaker named him after first warning him. As his colleagues trooped into the well, Chautala was escorted out of the House by the marshal. The speaker adjourned the House for 10 minutes after the remaining INLD members continued to raise slogans near his chair.

After the House reassembled, the INLD members continued their protest. On the request of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the speaker withdrew his order and allowed Chautala to return to the House. However, the INLD leader, who had to open the debate on the Budget, did not come. His colleagues continued to raise slogans against the government in the well of the House. Kadian repeatedly requested them to go to their seats.

Intervening in the melee, Hooda announced that the government would table the report along with the action taken report in the House tomorrow.

With the INLD members showing no signs of relenting, several members demanded action against them. The speaker named deputy leader of the INLD Legislature Party Sushil Indora . After Indora was escorted out of the House by the marshal, parliamentary affairs minister Randeep Surjewala moved a motion for the suspension of Sita Ram, Saida Khan, Rekha Rana and Gian Chand Odd. Kadian read out the names of Sita Ram, Balwant Singh and Odd. After them, Rekha Rana, Ishwar Singh Palaka, Ramphal Chirana and Saida Khan too were suspended.

After their departure, Randeep moved a motion, seeking to condemn the behaviour of the INLD members. Certain members like finance minister Birender Singh, Anand Singh Dangi and Ram Kumar Gautam(BJP) pleaded that suspension or naming indisciplined INLD members was no solution. They said the INLD members should be made to sit in the House so that their misdeeds could be exposed in their presence.

Later, the motion condemning the conduct of the INLD members was passed by a voice vote. 

Chandigarh, March 19
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed the Haryana government to remove all dhabas and other structures that fall within the controlled area of scheduled roads along the national highway number 1 - GT Road - between Delhi and Ambala.

Passing this order, the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vijender Kumar Jain and Justice Rajiv Bhalla also dismissed a petition filed by Amrik Singh and Sukhdev Singh, both dhaba owners from Sonepat, seeking stay of the proposed demolition of their dhaba that falls on the road.

However, during hearing, counsel for the Haryana government told the court that the demolition orders had been issued only for those structures that fell under the clearly defined policy against allowing the use of roadsides for commercial purposes. Such structures, it was stated, caused traffic snarls.

Notice issued

The High Court on Monday issued notice for April 2 on a PIL seeking payment of compensation under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act to all those Dalits whose houses had been burnt or damaged badly in village Salwan in Karnal district during an incident involving burning down of houses of Dalits.

Taking up a PIL filed by the Joint Action Forum Against Atrocities on Dalit through its convenor Surinder Pal Bhagat, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Vijender Kumar Jain and Justice Rajive Bhalla issued notice to the Haryana home secretary and Karnal SP.

It has been stated in the PIL that on February 27, the body of a Rajput Mahipal, who had some altercation with a Dalit a day before, was found, following which persons belonging to the Rajput caste held a Panchayat and allegedly decided to burn the houses of Dalits in the village.

This diktat was allegedly carried out on March 1. The same day, dead body of Dalit Sonu was also found, the PIL stated.

The petitioner has also stated that security force personnel posted in the village to ensure peace and harmony had adopted a pro-Rajput attitude, which was a matter of concern.

Apart from seeking compensation for the Dalits whose houses were burnt or who were forced to flee the village, the PIL also seeks steps to safeguard the life and liberty of the Dalits.

Fatehabad, March 19
Lawyers practising in the local district courts today took exception to a letter by the district and sessions judge, asking the president of the District Bar Association to give an undertaking that the lawyers will vacate the litigant hall after their chambers are constructed.

The lawyers are sore over the use of a line, 'threat of forcible removal of lawyers with their bags and baggages from the litigant hall of the new judicial complex' as subject of the letter.

The lawyers resolved not to give any such undertaking to the district judge.

The lawyers have been occupying the litigant hall of the judicial complex ever since the complex was inaugurated in May 2005. They had no other place to sit.

Members of the District Bar Association met today to discuss the matter.

S. S. Thind, president of the District Bar Association, informed the members that he had received a letter from the district judge, asking him to give an undertaking on behalf of the members.

The members alleged that the matter of site plans of their proposed chambers had been hanging fire with the building committee of the Punjab and Haryana High Court for the past about two years.

They said even after the construction of the chambers, only a few would be able to get those while the rest would have to sit in the litigants hall.

Chandigarh, March 19
The Haryana Government today said the Garg Commission had given a clean chit to the administration and the government. Therefore, no action was required to be taken by the government on the basis of the report, said the action taken report (ATR) signed by principal secretary, home, K. S. Bhoria ,which was submitted in the Assembly here today, along with a copy of the Garg report.

The Commission of Inquiry, headed by Justice G. C. Garg, was appointed by the state government in July, 2005, to probe the circumstances leading to violence and clash between industrial workers and the police in Gurgaon on July 25, 2005.

The other terms of reference of the commission were to enquire into the role of any extraneous factor in the incident, whether the force used by the police was justified or excessive and whether any other means were available to the police for controlling the “unruly crowd/mob”.

The workers by and large refrained from deposing before the commission allegedly in protest against the description of the workers as “unruly crowd/mob” in the terms of reference.

The ATR said the commission had pointed out that the police administration, especially in growing towns like Gurgaon and Faridabad, where enormous business and industrial activities were coming up, should be in readiness for “meeting such a situation”.

In this regard, the government submitted that it was taking steps for strengthening the police force in the industrial towns of Gurgaon district for to maintain law and order and for the prevention and detection of crime and traffic management. 

Chandigarh, March 19
Two hundred and sixtyone (261) proposals for shopping malls, including 157 in Gurgaon, had been approved by the Haryana Government till December 31, 2006, for setting up in the state.

This was stated by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in reply to a question asked by INLD deputy leader Sushil Indora in the Assembly here today.

According to the Chief Minister's reply, 24 malls are coming up in Faridabad, 48 in Sonepat, 11 in Panipat, six in Karnal, five in Rohtak, four in Panchkula, two in Sirsa and one each in Kurukshetra, Bhiwani, Hisar and Yamunanagar.

In reply to another question asked by Congress MLA Dharampal Singh Malik, parliamentary affairs minister Randeep Singh Surjewala, replying on behalf of the Chief Minister, said the cooperative sugar mill at Bhuna had been sold to a private enterpreneur with the condition that the buyer of the mill would retain the entire staff of both permanent and seasonal categories.

Surjewala said permanent staff of the cooperative sugar mill at Sirsa, which was being liquidated, were being adjusted in other sugar mills and institutions. The seasonal staff of the mill had been paid off, he said.

The parliamentary affairs minister said the private operator running the sugar mill at Bhuna had agreed to purchase and crush the cane of the traditionally assigned area of the mill at the cane price fixed by state government. He said the area under sugarcane crop assigned to the Sirsa mill was negligible and so farmers would not face any problem regarding the disposal of their crop.

Surjewala revealed that while the Bhuna mill had suffered a total loss of Rs 197 crore, Sirsa mill, set up by the previous INLD regime, had incurred a loss of Rs 29 crore. He said two proposals had come for purchasing the machinery of the Sirsa mill while one proposal came for purchasing its land. None came for purchasing the mill, the parliamentary affairs minister said.

Senior Congress MLA Shamsher Singh, who also happens to be the father of the parliamentary affairs minister, demanded that the loss incurred by the Sirsa mill be recovered from former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala's private assets.

Panchkula, March 19
Members of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) today lodged a protest against the proposed move of the Haryana Government to constitute a separate gurdwara parbandhak committee for the management of Sikh shrines in Haryana.

Carrying black flags hundreds of SGPC members today took a protest march to the DC office, Panchkula, from Gurdwara Nadha Sahib.

Addressing the gathering of SGPC workers, Avtar Singh Makkar, president of the SGPC, stated that the Sikh community had made many sacrifices to earn the right to manage their historic shrines in a democratic manner consistent with the views and traditions of the Sikhs.

He further alleged that the Congress was responsible for these anti-Sikh move.

Talking to mediapersons Makkar later stated that the reported move to set up a separate body for the management of Sikh shrines in Haryana was fundamentally flawed. “It is incorrect not only in religio-political conception but also in law, precedent and practice. It is a clearcut violation of the time honoured pact between Master Tara Singh as the then leader of the Sikh community and Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister of India on April 8, 1959,” he stated, maintaining that “whosoever has tried to ‘side’ the Sikhs has suffered.”

The SGPC was constituted in 1925. Its 170 members are elected from the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the UT.

Fifteen members are co-opted from the rest of India. “We already have a national character. There is no need to divide us further,” he stated. “We are also keen to make international members and will make amendments in the Act and introduce that soon,” he added.

A team of SGPC members led by Makkar later submitted a memorandum to the DC, Panchkula. Makkar stated that they would hold a meeting tomorrow to decide the further course of action.

Rohtak, March 19
The Maharshi Dayanand University Teachers Association (MDUTA) has taken exception to increasing instances of violation of the university autonomy by the government.

In a statement issued here today, MDUTA chief Rajinder Chaudhary accused the vice-chancellor of failing to defend the university autonomy and giving in to the diktats of the government.

He said the VC had sought post facto approval of several actions in the last meeting of the Academic Council held on March 15.

One of these involved change of name of a college affiliated to the university. He said the government simply wrote to the university that it had changed the name of the institution concerned and the VC accepted the fact.

He said the fact that the issue was brought before the council for post facto approval clearly showed that the government was not competent to change the name without prior approval of the council. This amounted to erosion of the university autonomy.

Chaudhary said the commissioner, higher education, had sent another letter in November last year to the VC directing that no university teachers from Haryana be nominated to selection committees for appointment of college principals and teachers. The ban was imposed only on university teachers of Haryana. The teachers in colleges and their principals were exempt from the ban.

He said the VC merely brought it up before the council after several months and did not even offer his views on the issue thus condescending to ban university teachers from selection panels. This, too, was erosion of the autonomous character of the MDU.

The MDUTA leader said the VC had earlier failed to prevent arbitrary takeover of University College by the government. The teachers had to pass through a difficult time because of this. Now, it was proposed to start a new college at Rohtak to solve the problems created by the takeover. This, too, indicated how the government was treating universities as one of its own departments.

He demanded an immediate end to government interference in the functioning of universities in Haryana.

Kaithal, March 19
Due to an increasing cost of production and pressure on land, agriculture is becoming a losing profession, so the farmers should adopt diversification of crops and use the latest techniques to increase their yield and reduce the cost of production so that they could compete in the domestic and international markets. This was stated by Ambala division commissioner Mahavir Singh while speaking at a seminar of farmers organised jointly by the Agriculture Department and the district Kisan Club here today.

Singh advised farmers not to plant “Sathi” paddy in view of the huge consumption of water for growing this variety. He asked them to use bank loan money to increase their income and not indulge in wasteful expenditure.

Deputy commissioner Rajinder Kataria said farmers were the backbone of the country so the government had launched various schemes to improve their economic condition. He said, besides agriculture.

Earlier the commissioner distributed cheques for amounts of subsidy among 350 farmers. He also gave away awards to Hari Singh, Kushal Pal Sirohi, Dhankhar, R.S. Sheokand and deputy director (agriculture) Mahavir Singh. Some women entrepreneurs were honoured for their contribution in bringing new products to the market.

Kurukshetra, March 19
Amidst the chanting of hymns, lakhs of pilgrims took a holy dip in the Brahma and Sannhit sarovars this morning as the solar eclipse started.

Kurukshetra, known as Dharamkshetra experienced a partial eclipse which started at 6.09 am and ended at 7.48 am.

The mela attended by lakhs of devotees ended on a peaceful note confirmed deputy commissioner T. K. Sharma.

Pilgrims, mostly women, came here in jam-packed buses, trains and other vehicles from different parts of the country. People could be seen taking dips in the two sarovars.

Pilgrims, particularly sadhus, have been camping here for the past two days. Attired in colourful dresses, pilgrims displayed the flavour of their respective states.

Devotee offered prayers, sesame seed, coconut and other items to the Sun god on the banks of the two sarovars. Mandlis comprising several spiritual gurus remained busy in singing bhajan during the eclipse at different places.

Head priest of Sarveshwar Mahadev Mandir located at the Bhrama Sarovar, Nirbhay Giri Maharaj informed The Tribune that the holy tanks have religious sanctity right from the Vedic era.

Chief Minister B. S. Hooda along with other political leaders took a dip and offered prayers at Bhishma Ghat at Braham sarovar in the morning.

Ambala, March 19
A thorough search was carried out by a team of divers in the Ghaggar area where teenager Manjeet was feared drowned yesterday. However, the divers, who have been called from Kurukshetra, failed to find the body.

Union minister and Ambala MP Kumari Selja visited the spot in the morning.

Deputy commissioner, Ambala, R.P. Bharadwaj said a team of officials from Punjab, including the SDM, DSP and the Tehsildar of Rajpura, also visited the spot. He said following discussions with Punjab officials, it had been decided that the course of the river would be diverted near the spot where the teenager was feared drowned.

Two JCB machines have been engaged to divert the course of the river.

The search operations had continued till late last night and were started early morning today. Another group of divers from the Jansui canal headworks has also been called.

The officials were of the opinion that it might be difficult to search the body in the muddy water of  the river.

Meanwhile, there was resentment among local villagers that Punjab officials did not participate in the rescue operations yesterday. Some of the villagers lodged their protest in this regard when two officials from Punjab reached the spot.

Laxman of Ghel village had drowned in the river three years ago. 

Kalesar National Park (Yamunanagar), March 19
Employees of the Forest Department are busy trying to push an elephant, whose "vanity has been hurt" and is "friendless", to the adjoining Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand so that it could find a "herd or at least a mate".

Last summer, the pachyderm which is in his thirties had fallen into the Khara channel off Paonta Sahib in Himachal Pardesh and broken one of his tusks.

It had taken great efforts by the forest employees to safely take it out of the channel.

Before the accident, the elephant was a part of a herd of seven or eight elephants. After being rescued from the canal when he tried to rejoin the group, was not accepted. Female members of the species too rejected him.

"In fact, the herd seemingly boycotted him," said a forest official, who has been watching the activities of the animal for several months.

This friendless elephant became fierce and moody and started causing destruction in the forest and adjoining villages.

"The animal uprooted several huge trees in the jungles, besides damaging the properties of villagers," said an official. It once attacked labourers removing lantana from the jungles besides damaging water pipelines to water guzzlers of the park.

The official informed that a team of visiting forest officials from Rajaji Garden too was surprised by the destruction caused by the elephant.

So, recently it was decided to push the elephant in Rajaji Garden, which is comparatively thicker and bigger than the park so that he could lead a better life.

Techniques like crackers, drum-beating and gun-firing were being used to scare the elephant and push it into Rajaji Garden but the efforts have so far been futile.

The animal was spotted in the Sal valley and another effort was made to scare it to run to the Uttarakhand jungles.