Chandigarh, August 23
The Haryana Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda here today, approved the draft ordinance for imposition of luxury tax on hotels and banquet halls.

The draft ordinance seeks to impose 10 per cent luxury tax on the actual rent charged in those hotels where the room rent is Rs 2000 or more per day. Similarly, those banquet halls which charge rent of Rs 20,000 would be subject to luxury tax.

The Cabinet also decided that a fresh survey should be conducted to identify new eligible beneficiaries of the old age pension scheme. The last survey was conducted in 2005 when 1,73,291 new beneficiaries were identified and monthly pension of Rs 300 each was sanctioned to them from July 1, 2006.

The Cabinet also approved a new scheme, “Haryana Allowance to Dwarfs”, under which any dwarf who has been residing in the state for the past one year at the time of submission of application could get Rs 300 per month.

The applicant should not be below 18 years and his application should be supported by a certificate from the civil surgeon that he is a dwarf. At present there are 942 dwarfs in the state.

The Cabinet has also approved the new pay scale of Rs 7500-250-10000-EB-250-13000 to the junior engineers of three wings of the PWD who have completed 18 years of regular and satisfactory service. The new scale would be applicable to the junior engineers who have not been promoted to next post.

In another decision of the Cabinet, the sports quota posts of police SIs have been taken out of the purview of the Haryana Staff Selection Commission.

A high-level committee would be constituted for filling these posts. The committee will have representative of the Home Department, an eminent sports person and the director, Sports Department, or his representative.

Chandigarh, August 23
The Haryana Cabinet today approved the Good Conduct Prisoners(Temporary Release) Rules, 2007, which will govern the temporary release of prisoners by granting them parole or furlough on certain grounds.

According to the new rules, a prisoner will be entitled to apply for parole or furlough only after he has completed one year of imprisonment after conviction and has earned his first annual good conduct remission. A prisoner, who has been convicted and sentenced for imprisonment of less than four years, will not be eligible for parole or furlough. Also, no parole or furlough will be granted to a prisoner who has been given death penalty.

In case a prisoner, who is a convict of Haryana and also of another state and confined in a jail of Haryana, his parole or furlough case will be decided by the Director General of Prisons or competent authority of the state in which he was convicted and sentenced for more 
serious crime.

A prisoner can be given parol if he has some dependents to admit to an educational institution or his wife is scheduled to deliver a child, or he has to repair his house, or he has to construct a house. Parole for house repair will be granted only once in three years. He can also be released on parole if the marriage of his brother's son or daughter is to be celebrated and his brother is not alive. 

New Delhi, August 23
The newly formed National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has got cracking. Haryana has become the first state to come under its line of fire and the NCPCR’s first action of seeking explanation from a state government to protect child’s rights is directed towards Haryana.

The NCPCR has written to the Haryana government asking it to inform the commission about the action taken within 20 days of issuance of a notice dated August 20.

The letter by NCPCR member-secretary Sandhya Bajaj has asked the chief secretary and the director-general of police to “either through post or in person or by any other means of communication” give an explanation on a complaint filed by the 13-year-old, Mukhtayar, a resident of Bhupgarg village in Faridabad.

Bajaj told The Tribune today that the boy approached the NCPCR on Monday, alleging that he and his 15-year-old brother had been taken into custody on August 14 and tortured. The boys alleged that they were tortured in custody before being released on August 16.

Mukhtayar said he was an eyewitness of the murder of his mother which took place on July 29 and alleged that he was being pressurised to “change the name of murderers in his statement before the police”.

Terming the case a “gross violation of child rights and legally not permissible,” the NCPCR has questioned the state government as to why the boys were taken into custody and why they were tortured.

“ The NCPCR would not like to interfere in the police investigations but we have requested the state government to investigate why the boys were taken into custody and why they were tortured. Mukhtayar said neither he nor his brother were presented before the Juvenile Justice Board at any time or charged with any offence,” Bajaj said.

The number of cases of crime against children is increasing and it is the mandate of the NCPCR, which came into existence recently, is to protect the child rights.

Bhiwani, August 23
Bowing to the protest of villagers of Atela Khurd village under Badhra assembly constituency, the state government withdrew the transfer orders of the principal of the Government Senior Secondary School, Atela, Munshi Ram today.

Resentment on large scale prevailed yesterday when transfer orders of Munshi Ram were issued. Students of the school alongwith villagers blocked the Dadri-Badhra road and did not lift the blockade despite the efforts of the SDM and DSP Charkhi Dadri, who, however, had expressed inability to mobilise the departmental authority to cancel the transfer order. The students bolster to retaliate when the police used canes on agitators and set on fire government vehicles. The villagers refused to withdraw agitation until transfer orders are cancelled.

Today, a panchayat was held at Barsan mode in Atela Khurd village wherein Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dharmbir Singh was also present. Singh informed the panchayat that in view of widespread interest and demand of the villagers, the state government had cancelled the transfer of Munshi Ram. About 20 persons were present in the panchayat. The minister also accepted demand of cancellation of police cases registered against the yesterday’s incident and to transfer the Sanskrit teacher immediately.

On demand of transfer of the SDM and DSP Charkhi Dadri, Singh assured that their demand would be sent to the state government. He also said injustice would not be done with any person.

Jind, August 23
Crime situation in the city and district seems to have taken a beating with spate of murders in the past few days. At least three persons, including a woman, have been done to death in the past 48 hours. These include gunning down of two youths in the last 24 hours. The total number of such incidents that have rocked the district in the past eight days have reached upto five.

The latest incident took place in the heart of city this morning, when a youth identified as Jaiveer (23) had gone alongwith a friend to see a known at gun shop at about 10 am. It is alleged that the owner of the shop, Suryaveer fired upon Jaiveer from inside the shop, when the later was about to open the tinted glass door. In the complaint lodged with the police by Pravin, who accompanied the victim, the accused fired atleast three shots from his gun and ensured that Jaiveer was killed on the spot. He told the police that while one shot was fired from inside the shop, two bullets were pumped when the victim was lying on the ground outside.

Jaiveer, a contractor by profession had been dead before being taken to hospital. Though the immediate cause of the attack was not known, it is suspected that the accused had developed an enmity with the deceased over some issue, as they had been friends earlier and well-known to each other. The murder that took place last evening in the city is stated to be connected with road rage. The 25-year-old Satish, coming from Hisar on a motorcycle with two of his friends developed an altercation with two youths moving in a car after they had been allegedly hit by the vehicle from behind. It is reported that Satish and one of his friend chased the car and caught up with it near a restaurant on Safidon road at about 7 pm and asked why they had hit their bike. It is reported that while the verbal exchange got heated up, one of the youth in the car pulled up a revolver and fired on Satish, who was hit on the chest and fell down. Vinod accompanying Satish, who was a witness to the incident immediately called upon the police and informed them about the accused and their vehicle. The police swung into action and nabbed the accused identified as Parwinder and Satnam, residents of Narwana subdivision of the district, a little later.

In the third case of suspected murder, the police had recovered the body of a middle aged woman from the Hansi canal here yesterday morning. It is reported that the woman, who could not be identified, had marks of strangulation on her neck.

The district had also received a rude shock, about a week ago, when a youth and a girl (20) were found hanging in a room of house in Buddhakhera village of the district on August 15. They had allegedly been hanged by the kin of the girl identified as Renu, after she and the boy Manoj had developed intimacy. Manoj had been running a grocery shop in the village.

They had been beaten up mercilessly and assaulted by sharp-edged weapons before being hanged, stated the complaint. While the boy died soon after, the girl succumbed to death in the PGIMS hospital at Rohtak last Monday. Four of the six accused have been arrested by the police so far.

Fatehabad, August 23
Atma Singh Gill, MP from Sirsa, is in controversy for allegedly passing unsavoury remarks for a woman sarpanch.

Though Gill has termed all allegations against him as baseless and concocted, villagers are all set to take action against him.

A large number of villagers from Hanspur near here on Tuesday met the deputy commissioner in this connection and submitted their complaint against the MP.

Villagers alleged that Gill, who had come to their village on August 18 to settle some dispute, used derogatory words for their sarpanch Rani Devi.

Rani is a physically challenged woman and was elected unanimously by the villagers.

The MP called villagers fools for electing a ‘langari’ (one-legged) and a foolish woman as their sarpanch, villagers alleged. He is also alleged to have taken a dig at woman volunteers wearing caps of the total sanitary campaign (TLC) and asked them did they think the country was resting on their shoulders.

The villagers said the MP had not only shown disrespect and disdain for a physically challenged woman sarpanch but had also insulted the women in general.

The MP denied the allegations and said a section of villagers had been scheming against him due to political reasons, adding that the woman sarpanch was illiterate and some villagers had been misusing her position.

Fatehabad, August 23
Former Haryana minister Sampat Singh on Tuesday took strong exception to Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) leader Simaranjit Singh Mann’s remarks that Haryana had no right to waters of canals flowing in Punjab.

Mann had earlier said under the riparian laws Haryana could not be given a drop of water from the SYL canal.

Sampat Singh said Mann perhaps did not know that the rights of Haryana accrued under the Succession Act and not under the riparian laws.

He further said the right to unrestricted use of waters of Sutlej, Beas and Ravi rivers by India, which came under the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan after payment of 62.06 million pound sterling (then Rs 110 crore) was not for Punjab alone as the money was paid by the Government of India and not by the Punjab government.

He said at the time of signing the treaty, waters of Sutlej were to be utilised for the execution of the Bhakhra Nangal Multipurpose Project while surplus flows of Ravi and Beas over and above the pre partition use were to be allocated between the concerned states on the flow series 1921-45.

Sampat Singh said in 1965, the erstwhile state of Punjab constituted two committees, the food committee and the development committee, to look into the distribution of waters.

He claimed that while the development committee recommended 4.56 MAF of waters for the areas of Punjab that presently constitutes Haryana, the food committee recommended 3.5 MAF each for Punjab and Haryana areas and 0.20 MAF for Chandigarh.

Even the Eradi panel recommended 3.83 MAF for Haryana and 5 MAF for Punjab.

The INLD leader said the statement of Mann gave an impression that he had little knowledge of facts and even the laws governing distribution of waters between various states.He said the Supreme Court had already settled the issue of SYL waters and it was only due to an unconstitutional Termination of Water Agreements Act passed by the erstwhile Amarinder Singh government and a reference made in the apex court by the centre that the issue was still hanging fire.

Fatehabad, August 23
An assistant sub-inspector of police (ASI), who had been absconding since March this year in a case of cheating and poppy husk trafficking has been arrested by the police today.

The accused Balvinder Singh, alongwith four other cops was caught by the IG, Hisar range, Y. P. Singhal on March 25, while he was replacing poppy husk entrusted to him as case property with rice husk at the local Guru Nanak Pura police post.

A customer, who had come to purchase the contraband from the cops was also nabbed from the police post. However, the erring cops had managed to flee from the scene. SP Saurabh Singh said while the others had later surrendered before the police, Balvinder had been absconding.

Chandigarh, August 23
In a dramatic twist to the hearing on Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s pre-arrest bail plea, Justice Surya Kant today ordered that the case be referred to the Chief Justice for listing it before appropriate Bench. 

Justice Surya Kant refused to hear the case as he had appeared in the capacity of advocate-general, Haryana, in the journalist Ramchander Chattrapati’s case, which was being heard by the high court then along with other dera-related cases.

The matter has been referred to the court of Justice L.N. Mittal who is already hearing dera head’s bail plea in the sexual exploitation of sadhvis case.

Ambala, August 23
The power supply through the high voltage distribution system (HVDS) in urban as well as rural areas has started paying dividends. The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam has decided to supply power through these systems in 189 urban colonies and villages during the current financial year.

R.P. Bhardwaj, deputy commissioner, said here today that the nigam had completed the HVDS project in Mirzapur village of Ambala district. In a village of 80 households there were 74 domestic and non-domestic connections. Immediately after the completion of the work, the nigam held an open darbar in the village and two residents applied for the new connections, which were released on the spot.

He further stated that after the completion of the work the revenue assessment of the village was done at Rs 1.17 lakh as compared to Rs 73,000 during the previous billing cycle. There was an increase of 60 per cent in electricity units sold, 60.3 per cent in revenue assessment and 62.30 per cent in revenue realisation after the completion of the project. The estimated payback time of the project was six years, but if the results achieved in the recent past were any indication, the payback time would be almost half.

Ramgarh (Panchkula), August 23
The dream of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to make the state the number one in the country can only be realised by making women conscious, independent and self-reliant.

This was stated by the wife of Chief Minister, Asha Hooda, while addressing villagers of Ramgarh after laying the foundation stone of the Mahila Vikas Kendra of the Haryana Grameen Mahila Sangh here today. This kendra would be constructed over an area of five kanal at a cost of about Rs 9 lakh. Expressing anguish over female foeticide, she said while the Chief Minister was committed to putting Haryana at the top of the development charts, it was very shameful that such a state should be at the bottom when it comes to the female ratio. “It is indeed shocking that in a progressive state like ours, girls are not even allowed to take birth and come into this world,” she rued.

Giving a call for equal status for women, she said in ancient India women were held in high esteem and now many women had attained the pinnacle of glory in their respective fields. She said the state government had launched many schemes such as Indira Gandhi Priyadarshani Vivah Shagun Yojana and Ladli Samajik Suraksha Yojana for the empowerment of women and for raising their socio economic status.

She said the government could only launch and properly implement the welfare schemes but it was up to the people to avail the maximum benefits out of these schemes. She urged the women to participate in the systematic and proper implementation of developmental schemes so that the benefit of the same could percolate down to the grass-roots level.

Giving details about the activities of the Haryana Grameen Mahila Sangh in the state, the chairperson of the sangh, Dr Saroj Prashant, said the organisation was running 33 creches in 12 districts of the state, besides 29 sewing and embroidery training centres and book binding centres at Kalka, Ramgarh and Kutail village of Karnal district. The secretary of the sangh, Sumita Mishra, presented the vote of thanks.