Panipat, September 10
In a bizarre incident, a mother and her two children were burnt to death allegedly by her in-laws at Matlauda village, about 20 km from here, this morning.

Charred bodies of Suman Rani (28), her son Mausam (5) and one-and-a-half-year-old daughter Nandini were found at the house of Suman's in-laws at a basti near bus stand.

Suman was married to Ravinder, alias Ravi, in 2000. The couple was reportedly having strained relations for the past few months. Ravi, who is working as an engineer at a New Delhi-based firm, was unhappy with the marriage as he allegedly wanted to marry another girl based in Himachal Pradesh.

Family sources said the couple had developed strained relations due to Ravi's extramarital relation. In-laws of the deceased alleged that Suman had committed suicide after “killing”' her children in the home. Pleading innocence, they said none of the male members of the family was present at home at the time of the incident.

But parents of the deceased alleged that Suman had been killed by her in-laws to “clear” way for Ravi's second marriage. Police sources said bodies of the three were found in “semi-burnt” condition.

Suman's father Sukhpal alleged that his daughter had strong objections over Ravi's illegitimate relation. He alleged that Ravi parents had agreed to his second marriage and were pressurising Suman to leave him.

Sukhapal also alleged that when Suman did not give in to their demands, she along with her two children was “killed”.

Meanwhile, DSP Krishan Murari informed TNS that the police was investigating the case and the bodies had been sent for post mortem at Civil Hospital, Panipat, in the evening.

No arrest had been made till the filing of this report.

Chandigarh, September 10
The number of cases of malaria in Haryana has declined to 14,761 this year till last month as against 34,303 cases recorded during the same period last year. Stating this here today, a spokesperson of health department said this had been made possible due to effective steps taken by the department and due to increasing awareness among people about the prevention of malaria.

He said in order to control malaria and other vector-borne diseases, the department had launched a month-long intensive anti-malaria campaign in the state in June. Health department had set-up special malaria clinics for the collection of samples and treatment of fever cases in all health institutions and the services were available free of cost.

He said the department also promoted the use of fish hatcheries in the state to prevent mosquito breeding. Larvivorous fishes like 'guppy' and 'gambusia', were made available for propagation in water bodies and tanks. Spray operations of Malathion were conducted in rural areas and fogging with tech- Malathion was also carried out for source reduction in urban and semi-urban areas. He said training of health workers at district, block and village level was conducted for early detection of malaria cases.

He appealed to people to keep overhead water tanks tightly covered, get leakage of water pipes and taps repaired, not allow any type of water collections stagnate in and around their houses.

Guhla Cheeka, (Kaithal), September 10
Haryana has attracted an investment of Rs 28,000 crore during the past 30 months. Besides this an investment of Rs 60,000 crore was also in the pipeline. This was revealed by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at the ‘Guhla Vikas Rally’ here today.

The Chief Minister also informed that the state government had earmarked a sum of Rs 140 crore during the current financial year to promote technical education in the state.

The Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of Guru Gobind Singh Polytechnic at Cheeka to the constructed at a cost of Rs 11.66 crore. It will be completed within the next 24 months. The first phase of the polytechnic will be ready by July 2008.

The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone of 132 KV substation to be constructed at a cost of Rs 15 crore. He also announced for construction of two 33 KV substation at village Sirta and Lander Keema at a cost of Rs 4 crore. Hooda also laid the foundation stone strengthening of 24 km road village from Kharkan to Kaithal to be constructed at a cost of Rs 7.8 crore.

Hooda also laid the foundation stone of concrete internal roads of grain market Cheeka to be constructed at a cost of Rs 2.25 crore. The work on these roads will be completed within six months. 

Rohtak, September 10
Residents of Rohtak have a reason to celebrate: the district has shown a marked improvement in the sex ratio in the past few years. The district, which had 803 girls for 1,000 boys in 2004, now has as many as 867 girls per 1,000 boys.

As per the figures released by the state health department, certain pockets have shown exceptional results in this regard. In the area under the Primary Health Centre (PHC), Bahalba, this ratio has gone up to 1,046 girls against 1,000 boys. Similarly, the Pilana PHC area now has 1,008 girls for 1,000 boys.

While the overall sex ratio in the country is 927 girls per 1,000 boys in the age group of 0 to 6 years, the figure in case of Haryana is 819 per 1,000. Thus, Rohtak district has a much better sex ratio as compared to that prevailing in the state.

The figures brought forth some startling facts as well. For instance, according to official data, as many as 20 lakh female foetuses were aborted between 1991 and 2001. Obviously, this formed the basis of the highly skewed sex ratio.

According to official sources, this remarkable improvement in the sex ratio has been possible due to the enforcement of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique (PNDT) Act by the government, coupled with the sustained efforts of various NGOs.

Thanks to the mass awareness campaigns launched by the social bodies, many people now avoid going in for sex-determination tests of foetuses and the sin attached with aborting the same.

Fatehabad, September 10
Congress workers from this district, including office-bearers of the party, yesterday complained of getting a raw deal at the hands of bureaucracy. They aired their grievances when the Haryana Pardesh Congress Committee chief Phool Chand Mullana came to address them for the first time since his appointment.

Senior party functionaries, including Randhir Singh, district president and Parahlad Singh Gillankhera, state secretary of the party, did not lag behind in apprising the party president of  the situation.

They complained that the party workers had no say and even their genuine recommendations were ignored by the bureaucrats.

They further alleged that workers of the Indian National Lok Dal still enjoyed patronage of the officers and added that while the Congress workers waited outside, functionaries of the INLD sat in the offices of officers for hours together. 
— TNS

Rohtak, September 10
A number of supporters of Congress MP from Bhiwani Kuldeep Bishnoi staged a protest demonstration against the Congress MP from Sirsa Atma Singh Gill for his alleged immoral conduct.

The protesters, led by former Haryana minister Krishan Murti Hooda, burnt an effigy of Gill at Chhotu Ram Chowk here today. They took out a protest march till the local mini secretariat, raising slogans against the Sirsa MP. There, they submitted a memorandum addressed to the President.

In the memorandum, they have demanded that the Lok Sabha membership of Gill should be annulled and proper legal action should be taken against him. They also demanded that the Congress government in Haryana, which had backed the MP should also be sacked.

Chandigarh, September 10
The Haryana BJP today demanded a judicial probe headed by a sitting High Court judge against Congress MP Atma Singh Gill, who was found with two women in a Narwana rest house.

The demand was made in a memorandum submitted to Governor A.R. Kidwai.

Briefing mediapersons about the memorandum, senior BJP leader Ram Bilas Sharma said the Lok Sabha Speaker should immediately disqualify Gill from the House. He said if 15 MPs caught in the cash for question scam could be disqualified by the Speaker, the presiding officer of the Lok Sabha should act in the similar manner against the Congress MP.

Sharma said there could not be two sets of rules for the MPs. Gill's conduct, he said, was equally, if not more, reprehensible than that of the MPs who had been disqualified earlier by the Speaker.

He said the party will meet Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to demand disqualification of the Sirsa MP, whose ''conduct violated all social norms and conventions and the people all over the state have protested against his shameful behaviour.''

The BJP also demanded action against those officers of Narwana, who allegedly helped Gill in ''fleeing from the rest house'' when he was gheraoed by hundreds of persons.

Chandigarh, September 10
Dera Sacha Sauda followers today moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking directions to respondents, including the SSP, Sangrur, to hand over the investigations into FIR no 53, dated May 17, registered at police station, Sunam, along with the FIR no 52, dated May 17,only to the CBI or any other independent agency.

The petitioners, including one Harnek Singh, have submitted in the petition that they were residents of Sangrur district and followers of the Dera.

Due to the “excesses” of the Punjab Police “at the instance” of Akali leaders, three Dera followers had already immolated themselves and no justice was being done with the followers of the Dera.

The petitioners have further averred that on May 17, a Sikh mob had attacked the Naam Charcha Ghar, Sunam, in the presence of the police and one person had died in the firing that followed. The police remained a mute spectator and no action was taken against the persons present in the mob. The aforesaid FIRs related to the said incident.

It has also been averred that five Dera women had been falsely declared as human bombs and their photographs were pasted on the notice boards of the police station and news flashed on almost all TV channels.

Also, the state leadership is biased against the Dera followers.

Chandigarh, September 10
Taking a serious view of the “clean chit” given to a police inspector, allegedly involved in a gang-rape case and who had been declared a proclaimed offender also, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notice to former Haryana DGP M.S. Malik.

Importantly, the said inspector, Phool Kumar, had been reinstated and promoted to the rank of DSP by the Haryana government in pursuance of the clean chit given by the then DGP.

The then DGP’s clean chit had come in complete contrast to a report indicting the inspector for having a dubious character and loose morals.The report had, in fact, mentioned the fact that Phool Kumar had tried to influence investigation against him following which he was verbally warned. Significantly, the DIG (administration) and the IGP had agreed with the said report prepared by SP Kherwar.

The SP, Panchkula, Sandeep Kherwar, who was the Ambala SP when the said incident of gangrape allegedly happened, appeared in person before the court and replied to various queries posed by a Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Mahesh Grover. The SP also submitted photocopies of documents required by the court.

The Bench asked the SP as to how the information regarding the proclaimed offender status of the inspector was missing from the police record. The SP replied that DSP Deep Ram ought to have entered the information in the records as he was the investigating officer in the case.

The judges also enquired as to what action had been taken over a letter written to the DGP, Haryana, on October 24, 2001. The Bench also wanted to know as to why the inquiry against the inspector was held in Karnal.The SP informed the court that since the accused inspector had been transferred to Karnal, the inquiry was also conducted there.

He also told the Bench that there were two inquiries conducted against the inspector, one relating to improper passport verification and another related to absence from the Police Lines while he was under suspension.

During previous proceedings, the Bench had directed the DGP to specify that when the inspector was declared proclaimed offender by the court, how could his suspension be revoked on December 21, 2001, and thereafter given posting orders while the order of the court declaring him as PO was still there. The case against Phool Kumar and seven others was registered by the Ambala police on June 9, 2001.

The court was hearing a PIL filed in this regard by Sunil Juneja of Ambala, seeking action against those who were responsible for the action which showed the administration in poor light.

Karnal, September 10
Students of local Guru Nanak Khalsa College went on a strike today in protest against the controversial dismissal of a teacher of the college.

Students of Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Karnal, boycott classes on Monday in protest against the dismissal of a lecturer of the college. — Photo by Vijay Sharma

Varinder Kaur, a geography teacher, was dismissed from service on September 8. She had completed three years in service and was MSc, MPhil (gold medallist) and a topper in Haryana. Though Varinder was an ad hoc teacher, her contract was renewed in July. She was appointed as lecturer during the tenure of the previous principal, Dr D.S. Dhaliwal.

Dhaliwal retired in August and Varinder was given termination letter soon thereafter.

Head of the Geography Department Pushpinder Kaur was allegedly not on talking terms with Dhaliwal.

“Pushpinder use to harass me for no reason. I use to take more classes than her and my results were better than all teachers in the department,” said Varinder.

The officiating principal said: “The head of the Geography Department had complained against Varinder Kaur. Moreover, she was on contract and her services could be terminated any time.”

Urmil, another ad hoc teacher in the Geography Department said Varinder was an outstanding teacher and was respected by all students.

She said the agitation would continue until the teacher was taken back. Meanwhile, talks between the teachers and Tara Singh, president, governing body, Guru Nanak Khalsa College failed to make any headway on the issue.

Yamunanagar, September 10
Nine councillors of the Yamunanagar Municipal Committee have asked for a special session of the house to discuss the works being done by the committee under Section 35 of the Municipal Act, 1973.

The councillors staged a 12-day long dharna demanding inquiry into the works done by the committee.

However, they ended the dharna after an intervention by the district administration.

They would be requesting the MC chairman for a special meeting soon.

Sources said one-sixth members of the total house strength was required to sign the demand and these nine councillors constitute more than the number required.

Chairman of the MC was not available for comments.