Rohtak, September 1
The Haryana Government has decided to waive the surcharge on power bills for the urban consumers. This decision is likely to benefit nearly 2.69 lakh consumers.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said this while talking to officers of Haryana Vidyut Prasar Nigam Limited after inaugurating a 132-KV substation constructed at a cost of Rs 10 crore in Sector 3 here today.

While enumerating the details of the ambitious scheme, the Chief Minister said it would be applicable only to those consumers, who were defaulters as on March 31, 2007 and had been continuing as such.

He said 100 per cent surcharge amount would be waived on depositing of the outstanding principal amount as lumpsum or in fixed monthly installments, provided that there would be no discontinuity in payment of the further current bills.

But he made it clear that the consumers, whose cases were pending in the court, would not be covered under the scheme. While referring to connecting the disconnected connections of the consumers, he said that power connection would be given only after liquidation of principal amount.

Moreover, the consumer should not be defaulter in the payment of any further current bills. The scheme would continue from September 1 to November 30, 2007. He urged the people to take advantage of the scheme.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also announced that a medical university would be set up at Rohtak and it would be named after the first Chief Minister of the state, Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma.

He disclosed this while addressing a gathering at a function organised by Gaur Brahimn Vidhya Pracharini Sabha here today. Union law and justice minister Hansraj Bhardwaj and the Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda also addressed the gathering.

Earlier, Hooda inaugurated Vivekananad Bhawan and laying the foundation stone of Gaur Brahmin Senior Secondary School and extension of Vivekanand Bhawan. He asserted that the Haryana Government was making persistent efforts to provide qualitative education to the students of the state and the budget on education had been increased four times. Rajiv Gandhi Education City was being set up at Kundli in Sonepat where 25 percent seats would be reserved for the students of the state, he added.

HPCC working president Kuldeep Sharma, Haryana Health Minister Kartar Devi, Member of Parliament Dr Arvind Sharma, Chairman of Haryana Agricultural Marketing Board Shadi Lal Batra, and Director Higher Education Shiv Raman Gaur were also present.

Jind, September 1
President of the All-India Kisan Khet Majdoor Congress Shamsher Singh Surjewala, MLA, has asked the Haryana government to implement the recent decision of providing the new compensation scheme of 33 years for all kind of land acquisitions in the state.

He has also demanded changes in the legal provisions regarding the bank loans to make them farmer friendly and ensure prevention of taking over of the farmers’ land in case of default in terms of loan repayment.

The organisation has announced to hold a state rally on September 2, next at Narnaund in Hisar district to highlight the issues concerning the small farmers and landless labourers.

Interacting with mediapersons here yesterday, Surjewala claimed that the main aim of his organisation was to abolish certain legal provisions, which could make any of the farmer or labourer land in jail and loose ownership of the land if case of non-payment of the loan installment on time.

Welcoming the announcements by the Chief Minister about the additional benefits to the farmers and others whose land would be taken over by the government, he said the government should ensure that this move was applicable on all type of land acquisitions in the state.

Chandigarh, September 1
Suspended Congress MP from Bhiwani Kuldeep Bishnoi has already started building organisational set up of his yet-to-be born political party.

The rebel MP is expected to announce his divorce from the Congress at a rally to be held in Rohtak, the native town of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on December 2.

Bishnoi has formed a state-level campaign committee, which can be equated with the state executive of a political party. He himself heads the committee, which 
has Dharam Pal Singh Malik and Rakesh Kamboj, both MLAs, as its other members.

He has also started constituting similar campaign committees at the district level, which will be equivalent to the district committees of his unborn party. So far these committees have been constituted for Mahendragarh, Hisar, Karnal, Yamunanagar and Mewat districts. Bishnoi will hold meetings with members of these district committees on September 1-3 and 7-8, respectively.

Sources close to Bishnoi said similar committees for the remaining 15 districts would also be constituted soon.

Interestingly, no one has been named as president or convener of the district committees. It has been obviously done so that bickering may not start among his supporters even before the formation of his separate political outfit.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued here today Bishnoi has criticised the decision taken by a group of union ministers that the government could acquire up to 30 per cent of the land for special economic zones (SEZ). He said this decision was contrary to the earlier assurance of the Central government that no agriculture land would be acquired for  the SEZs.

Bishnoi also criticised Hooda’s announcement regarding payment of royalty of Rs 10,000 per acre annually for 33 years to those farmers whose land would be acquired.

Hisar, September 1
The vice-chancellor of the Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Dr R.P. Bajpai, said the university had planned to establish a business incubation centre, design and development of auto and aero space component facilities and biotechnological park by the next year.

In a press note issued on his completion of two years in office today he said the university had started three new courses - BTech (food engineering), MTech (food engineering) and BTech (packaging technology) - from the current academic session.

The university had also started three new distance learning programmes - PG Diploma in counselling and behaviour modification, PG Diploma in industrial safety management and Bachelor of fashion studies.

In a bid to provide quality education comparable to the level of IIMs, the university had established the Haryana School of Business from the current academic session.

It had also signed agreements with George Washington University, USA, and Manitoba University, Canada. It had also approved a new ordinance for PhD programmes.

Rohtak, September 1
Maharishi Dayanand University (MDU) will provide three extra chances to candidates who have exhausted all their chances to pass a particular class or course and have been declared ineligible to pursue the said class/course or where the maximum time period to complete the degree/diploma/certificate course is over.

This decision of the university’s Executive Council amending the ordinance “General Rules for Examinations” has been notified by the varsity.

MDU controller of examinations Sukhbir Singh said the three extra consecutive chance(s) to complete the course would be available on payment of examination fee of Rs 1,500 for the first extra chance, Rs 2,500 for the second and Rs 3,500 for the third.

The students appearing under these rules will have to take the examination as per the latest syllabus. However, this decision of the extra chances will not be applicable to the MBBS and BDS courses. The schedule of examination in this regard will be notified later.

Meanwhile, MDU vice-chancellor has appointed Prof S.K. Arora as head, Department of Mathematics. His tenure will be effective from Sept 4 till April 30, 2010.

Fatehabad, September 1
Atma Singh Gill, MP from Sirsa parliamentary constituency, allegedly abused and threatened an assistant sub-inspector of police at Ratia in this district last night.

ASI Prem Kumar has lodged a complaint with the SP in this regard.

The MP, however, has denied the allegation and said that the cop was making these allegations under the influence of some rival political leader of the state.

Prem Kumar told mediapersons here today that he was on Police Control Room (PCR) mobile duty last evening and had stopped his gypsy near the market committee office, Ratia, after a round of the area.

He alleged that at about 7.25 pm, MP Gill came in his vehicle and summoned the driver of his gypsy.

When the driver went there, he allegedly started abusing him.

When the ASI tried to intervene after saluting the MP, Gill allegedly asked him since when he had been posted at Ratia.

When the ASI told him that he had been posted here for the last eight months, the MP, allegedly, again got infuriated and asked the ASI why he had not ever come to his residence to salute him.

Prem Kumar alleged that Gill was drunk at that time and threatened him of dire consequences and abused him when he told the MP that it was not his duty to go to his residence without any reason.

The ASI said that he had brought the matter to the knowledge of his superiors immediately.

SP Saurabh Singh was not available for comments, while DSP Harish Dutta, who is conducting an inquiry on the complaint of the ASI, said he was recording statements of all concerned and would submit his report to the SP soon.

Gill was in news last week as well when he allegedly made some unsavoury remarks about physically challenged woman sarpanch of Hanspur village. 

Rewari, September 1
The Rampura police has arrested Jagdish and his brother Rohtash, residents of Adarsh Nagar Colony and Narender for their alleged involvement in the abduction and solemnisation of the marriage of a minor girl (16) with their young relative Hem Raj of the same colony.

The three were yesterday produced in the court of the chief judicial magistrate, who remanded them to judicial custody for 14 days.

The two main accused Hem Raj and Shadi Lal were still out of the police dragnet. Besides the police was yet to recover the girl.

The police had registered a case on August 15 of abduction and criminal conspiracy against Hem Raj and five others on a complaint filed by the girl’s father Ram Singh. 

Sonepat, September 1
The killing of a Dalit youth in Gohana town seems to be a case of gang-war between two groups of hard-core criminals over extortion of money, the police said today.

Talking to mediapersons here, Senior Superintendent of Police Navdeep Singh Virk said preliminary investigations have revealed that the conspiracy was hatched by prime suspect Dinesh Khanda with the help of Sanjay Butania, now in jail, and Narash of Busana village to kill the Balmiki youth Rakesh, alias Lara.

Their objective was to extort money from the businessmen, which, so far, Rakesh had allegedly been doing in Gohana town, he said.

Dinesh Khanda was released on four-week parole on May 11 this year, but he did not return to the jail. He contacted Naresh and Prahlad and committed the murder, the police said.

Eight criminal cases had been registered against the deceased Rakesh between November 2001 and August 2007. Four of these cases against the deceased had been registered on the complaints of the residents of the Balmaki Basti in Gohana, he said.

Meanwhile, national general secretary of the Bahujan Samaj Party Man Singh Manhera has refuted the claim of the SSP Sonepat that the murder was the result of extortion of money. He alleged that the police was hiding the facts.

The BSP will hold demonstrations at all district headquarters on September 5 in protest against the murder. — PTI

Ambala, September 1
Principal medical officer (PMO) of the local Civil Hospital O.P. Arya raided a private nursing home at Ambala City today evening and found a four-month old female foetus, which was aborted a few hours back.

Dr Arya said he got an information from someone that an abortion was being carried out in a nursing home located on the Naraingarh road. Arya rushed to the nursing home along with a lady doctor and a drug inspector. He found that the lady, who had undergone the abortion, was lying on a bed and was being administered glucose.

The lady belonged to Kaithal. Her husband was also present at the nursing home. The lady said she was going to Chandigarh along with her husband. While passing through Ambala City, she started having unbearable pain in her stomach and soon started bleeding. Someone told her that there was a nursing home nearby. Her husband brought her to the nursing home just to get immediate relief.

The doctor at the nursing home advised her that the foetus needed to be terminated immediately for the safety of her life and they had no option.

The PMO was of the view that the doctor conducted the abortion in an illegal way. Arya reported the matter to the police. The police interrogated the husband of the lady doctor. It could not be ascertained whether the police registered a case in this regard or not.

Arya rushed to the nursing home along with a lady doctor and a drug inspector. He found that the lady, who had undergone the abortion, was lying on a bed and was being administered glucose. 

Fatehabad, September 1
Campaigning for election to 25 seats of members of the Bar Council of the Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh has already picked up momentum although almost three months still remain for polling.

Lawyers practising in the lower and district courts of the two states and the UT besides those practising in the Punjab and Haryana High Court will elect members of the council.

The members in turn elect the chairman of the council.

While the polling in the High Court will be held on December 7, lawyers practising in the district courts will cast their votes on December 8.

Although the elections to the Bar Council have always evoked interest in the legal fraternity, it is more so this time when an estimated 170 candidates have shown interest in contesting the election.

Of the 25 sitting members of the Bar Council 24 have already made their intentions clear and have started campaigning.

Sources in the District Bar Association said the preliminary voter list of those entitled to cast their votes was circulated by the council in August and lawyers were asked to file objections, if any, by August 31.

The final electoral rolls will be published by October 4 and the nominations will start by the end of October.

Clear picture of those who remain in fray would be clear on November 2 after withdrawal and scrutiny of nominations. — OC

Kaithal, September 1
Additional sessions judge Neelima Shangla here yesterday sentenced two persons to life imprisonment after holding them guilty of murder of a local financier in April 2004 .The court also fined them Rs 50,000 each, which will be paid to the widow of the murdered financier.

One of the accused Sumit Gupta, a local resident, had taken a loan from a local financier Shamsher Singh. After some time the financier asked Gupta to repay his loan. Sumit was not happy about this so he consulted his friend and accomplice Pardeep and then called Shamsher to local Gole market area here on the night of April 10, 2004. He told the victim that the loan money would be paid to him by his friends at Karnal road bypass. Shamsher reached the place where Sumit Gupta, Pardeep and others then attacked him with lathis. Shamsher died on the spot and accused threw his body in the nearby fields and ran away from the spot.

After hearing lengthy arguments by the prosecution and the defence, the court held Sumit Gupta and his friend Pardeep of committing murder.

The court directed that money recovered from accused as fine be paid to the widow of the murdered financier. The court also ordered that in case of default of payment of fine the accused shall further undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of three years.