Chandigarh, June 15
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has announced the extension of its voluntary disclosure scheme (VDS) till June 30. Initially announced for a two-week period, the DHBVN said it wanted to give another chance to those consumers who indulged in power theft, but wanted to get their connections regularised by declaring the theft.

The DHBVN has said it will regularise connections and not book customers for theft, who declare irregularities, including tampering with meters. This is applicable to both domestic and non-domestic consumers.

However, to take advantage of the VDS the consumers will have to deposit a token money as regularisation charges. For declaring theft voluntarily, he said, a consumer having single-phase meter would have to deposit Rs 200 per kilowatt load as regularisation charge. While a consumer having three-phase meter shall deposit Rs 300 per kilowatt load as regularisation charge.

Clearing arrears is mandatory for regularisation of connections. In case of declaration of tampered meter, it would be replaced immediately. If there is any delay in replacement then the consumer having single phase would be charged at the rate of 40 units per kilowatt per month and three phase consumer would be charged for 60 units per kilowatt per month.

Meanwhile, intensifying its campaign against consumers defaulting on payments, the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) has temporarily or permanently disconnected the connections of 39,791 consumers during the past two months. As many as 9,914 connections for non-payment were snapped in Ambala and Panchkula districts, 8,377 in Yamunanagar, 6,348 in Kurukshetra and Kaithal districts, 3,951 in Karnal, 5,075 in Panipat, 3,499 in Rohtak and Jhajjar districts, 980 in Jind and 1,647 in Sonepat district.

The Nigam had to recover Rs 16.63 crore from the defaulters out of which Rs 13.27 crore had been recovered. The Nigam is now targeting four lakh permanent or temporary disconnections of non-payers in the current financial year. As many as 60,000 defaulters will face disconnections in Ambala and Panchkula district, 63,000 in Yamunanagar, 60,000 in Kurukshetra and Kaithal, 48,000 in Karnal. 

Karnal, June 15
Her joy had no bounds after Rajni, a hearing and speech impaired, reunited with her children after seven months in New Delhi last evening. She was forced to stay at a Karnal orphanage as her in-laws were not ready to take her back in the family.

Rajni was taken to her home in the BG-1 colony in Paschim Vihar last evening with the help of Shakti Vahini and Karnal-based MDD Orphanage management.

The Tribune had highlighted her plight on May 7.

Rajni had got married to a rich handicapped man 11 years ago and had a son and a daughter. Her in-laws had allegedly abandoned her at a far-away place. She was found wandering at a gurdwara in Gurgaon in November.

Panipat, June 15
The 400-year-old structure of Dargah Qalander, resting place of Sufi Saint Sheikh Sharfuddin Bu-Ali Shah Qalander, was the venue of a unique function organised by the Haryana Institute of Fine Arts (HIFA) here last night.

The organisers, locals say, did not publicise the event too much. But, words spread that Hans Raj Hans was coming to sing and a huge crowd, a large section of it consisting of youngsters, turned up to listen to the rendition of popular 
Punjabi singer.

Hans, at first, sang sitting cross-legged. As he gradually got into the mood, he stood up and belted out the famous “damadum mast Qalander” number twirling his tresses vigorously with the rhythmic beat of the music accompanying the song. The audience also got onto their feet and clapped and swayed their bodies with the rhythm of the song.

Organising the function at the dargah, where Hindu mendicants sit side by side with their Muslim brethren to partake in alms, was itself a splendid idea. Sufis believe that music is the medium through which human beings can come closer to god. Qawwali and other forms of Sufiana music are a routine occurrence at the dargah. A function by an artiste of the stature of Hans Raj Hans, however, was a big event nevertheless.

Phoolchand Mullana, education minister of Haryana, Meena Mandal, minister of state for archaeology, and Balbir Pal Shah, MLA from Panipat, were the chief guest, president of the event and the guest of honour, respectively.

The presence of these heavyweights was reminiscent of the clout and respect the Sufi Saint enjoyed when he was alive (13th century A.D.). Among those who had paid obeisance to him was Emperor Alauddin Khilji, who sent his court poet Amir Khusru to Bu-Ali Shah Qalander to seek his blessings.

Fatehabad, June 15
Mystery shrouds the kidnapping and then return within 24 hours of a trader at Tohana town in this district.

Though the members of trader Naresh Jain’s family have not lodged any complaint with the police, the Haryana Pradesh Beopar Mandal has alleged that the trader was kidnapped, but he escaped from the custody of the kidnappers.

Naresh Jain, who owns a rice sheller and a shop in the Tohana grain market, had gone for morning walk yesterday.

He was allegedly kidnapped by some car-borne miscreants. The family allegedly received a call for ransom at about 10 am yesterday. The caller used the mobile phone of Jain for the purpose.

The family spent the whole day in tension but the trader returned home safely this morning. A big amount of money is believed to have changed hands for the release of the trader.

Saurabh Singh, SP, said no complaint had been received from the trader’s family, but the police had definitely got information of the matter from its own sources.

Meanwhile, sources revealed that the incident might be related to cricket “satta” as the victim’s son had recently lost over Rs 1 crore in satta and was yet to make payments to bookies.

The sources maintained that the alleged kidnapping was perpetuated at the instance of some “satta” bookies.

Chandigarh, June 15
The Haryana government has decided to give an impetus to the various schemes under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has directed the authorities of the Urban Local Bodies Department to ensure the completion of all works under this mission by 2009.

The projects that will cost Rs 199 crore pertain to revamping of sewerage, construction of dwelling units and other projects like shifting of dairy units outside city limits. Issuing specific instructions at a meeting with the officers of the department of local bodies, the Chief Minister said he would personally monitor developments.

While enumerating the details of the schemes sanctioned by the Government of India, the Chief Minister said two schemes under Sub-Mission No.-I costing Rs 103.83 crore for revamp of sewerage and sewerage treatment works in Faridabad and construction of drainage works at Old Faridabad costing Rs 30.64 crore had been approved.

He said similarly under Sub-Mission-II, two schemes for construction of dwelling units had also been approved. Under the scheme 1,968 dwelling units would be constructed at Dabua Colony, Faridabad, at a cost of Rs 38.96 crore.

Similarly, construction of 1280 dwelling units at Bapu Nagar, Faridabad, had also been approved. These would be constructed at a cost of Rs 25.27 crore.

The Chief Minister directed the authorities that all-out efforts should be made to provide all basic amenities to the dairy owners while shifting their dairies from the outskirts of the city. A cost of Rs 31 crore had been envisaged under which dairies from 12 cities would be shifted out of the cities.

Commissioner and secretary, Urban Local Bodies, P.K. Gupta said under another scheme of the mission, a city development plan had been approved for Faridabad at a cost of Rs. 2,679.11 crore for providing better urban infrastructure and governance and basic services to the urban poor. 

Ambala, June 15
Ministry of human resources development has awarded the university status to M.M. Institutions, Mulana. Maharishi Markandeshwar University, Mulana, will be the first deemed university of the state. Chairman of the M.M. Education Trust Tarsem Kumar Garg will be the chancellor of the new university.

Fifteen institutions, running under the trust, will now be affiliated to M.M. University instead of Kurukshetra University.

The trust has been running several institutions offering professional courses, including MDS, BDS, BPT, Nursing, MCA, MBA, B.Tech, B.Pharma and B.Ed.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Garg said the students of M.M. Institutions would have many advantages after the establishment of the deemed university. He said now those institutions would have their academic bodies, management strategies and the privilege of having academic freedom to set up own standards.

Replying to a question, he said the deemed university would also cater to various placement agencies and more prestigious companies would be attracted to the campus for placement of the students with offer of lucrative pay packages.

The MM University would strive to provide excellence in education with emphasis on enhancing the employability of the students and enriching the teaching experience of the faculty, he added.

Rewari, June 15
A 20-year-old girl was allegedly raped repeatedly by her boyfriend Dheeraj in a house at Azad Nagar here. Dheeraj and his friends Sunil Kumar and Janak had brought the girl from Meerpur village, near Dharuhera, to the town on June 8. Then she was taken to Una in Himachal Pradesh where her boyfriend kept her in a house, which reportedly belonged to a friend of Dheeraj’s father. There, too, the girl was repeatedly raped for several days.

Meanwhile, a DDR was registered at the Dharuhera police station on a complaint of girl’s maternal uncle Ravinder Singh. Some relatives of Dheeraj brought the girl and Dheeraj back from Una and allegedly dropped the girl near the police station last evening.

With a medical examination of the girl confirming sexual assault, the Dharuhera police registered a case of abduction and rape under Sections 363, 366, 376 and 34 of the IPC against Dheeraj, Sunil and Janak.

Dheeraj has been arrested while Sunil and Janak have absconded.

Kaithal, June 15
Fifteen blood donors, who donated blood more than 10 times, were honoured by deputy commissioner Rajinder Kataria on the occasion of World Blood Donors Day at a district-level function held here yesterday.

The function was jointly organised by the district Red Cross Society and the civil surgeon on the Geeta Bhawan Mandir premises.

The DC inaugurated another camp in which over 50 persons donated blood.

Kurukshetra: Deputy commissioner T.K. Sharma inaugurated a blood donation camp on the occasion of World Blood Donors Day, jointly organised by the Indian Red Cross Society, district branch, and the Health Department, Kurukshetra, at the premises of a private hotel, here, on Thursday.

Karnal, June 15
The police has booked two students of a public school here for allegedly sodomising their classmate at knife-point and then blackmailing him by recording the act on their cellphones.

The police said here today that the victim student’s father had filed an FIR alleging that cash and jewellery worth lakhs were fleeced from his son who was blackmailed for about nine months by the two Class XI students.

A case under Sections 377, 384, 506 and 120B has been registered against the culprits. Their mothers have also been booked for conniving with them, the police said.

The boy was allegedly sodomised in October last and had since been blackmailed by the duo on the basis of the film captured on their cellphones.

He began to meet their demands by giving them money through the ATM account of his father and even stole gold jewellery for them from his house. —UNI

Ambala, June 15
A bomb hoax put the Ambala railway police and the GRP in trouble this evening.

According to information, the SP, railway office, received an intelligence information that some passenger travelling in a Delhi-bound train was carrying some explosive material and may plant it on the Ambala-Chandigarh track.

The GRP and the RPF alerted the Ambala cantt railway authority and searched trains going toward Delhi. The Kalka Shatabdi Express was also searched.

According to GRP sources, no explosive material was found in any train. However, the search in various trains was continued till late evening.