Kurukshetra, October 19
An LLB third-year student of C.R. Law College, Hisar, Amarjeet Singh, in a signed statement addressed to the Haryana Governor and chancellor, Kurukshetra University, and released to mediapersons here late in the evening yesterday, has alleged that the leaves, excluding the title cover, of his answerbook of the supplementary examination conducted by Kurukshetra University have been changed.

Narrating his story, Amarjeet Singh said he had appeared in the LLB final-year examination held in May 2007 bearing roll No. 394056. The result was declared on July 26, 2007, and he was to appear in the supplementary examination in the labour law paper.

He applied for re-evaluation. On September 26, 2007, the result of re-evaluation was declared and there was no change in his result. Again he applied for personal consideration of his answerbook.

He said on October 17, 2007, he approached the superintendent of the re-evaluation branch and asked for “personal consideration” of his answerbook, which he was allowed. He found that the internal leaves of his answerbook had been changed while the title cover remained the same.

He has alleged that the seal of the answerbook was also tampered with and the handwriting on the replaced leaves was different.

When he complained to the superintendent, he was asked to write on a blank paper for matching his handwriting with the one on the answerbook.

He was told that the handwriting did not match and the seal was also tampered with.

The student has alleged that the answerbook contained 36 pages and all of them were filled by him. He had attempted all five questions, but in the re-evaluated answer book, only 10 to 15 pages had been filled and not in his handwriting.

Amarjeet Singh has alleged that it is a clear-cut case of forgery and the university administration is playing with his future. He said he had suffered mental and physical pain, besides the economical loss.

Due to the fault of the university administration, he could not enrol himself as an advocate and also could not appear in judicial and other examinations, he added.

He has sought action against those guilty and compensation for himself failing which, he said, he would be forced to knock at the court’s door.

Copies of the letter have also been dispatched to the vice-chancellor, the registrar, the controller of examinations and the superintendent of the re-evaluation branch, Kurukshetra University.

Hisar, October 19
Kurukshetra University has ordered a high-level probe into allegations of financial and other irregularities against R. K. Tomar, principal of the local Dayanand College, which is run by the DAV organisation.

It is learnt that the probe has been entrusted to B. K. Kuthiala, who is currently heading the Mass Communication Studies institute of the university.

There are several allegations against Tomar levelled by students, parents and others. However, the most serious charge against him is that he admitted students to four self-financed courses by ignoring merit and accepting donations. These courses were: BCom, environment sciences, biotechnology and computer sciences.

Several students had alleged that the principal had forced them to pay donations over and above the normal fee. The donations were not paid along with the fee but to another person, at another place and at a different time. A few were given receipts when the issue was exposed by the media. However, many others have alleged that they were not given any receipts at all.

Although the criterion for admission should purely have been academic merit, those who paid donations were given overriding preference over meritorious students in violation of the university rules.

Another allegation is that Tomar purchased a luxury car costing around Rs 6 lakh for which he secured a premium registration number on the payment of a stiff charge all of which were paid out of college funds.

The university has specific norms for various funds which do not permit such expenses as procuring a VIP registration number on the payment of fee.

Tomar is also alleged to have spent more on petrol during one year than what his predecessors had spent in seven years. The university has taken serious note of this and Kuthiala has been asked to probe why so much money was wasted on petrol.

Another allegation is that he had disposed of iron scrap during construction activity and did not deposit the proceeds on the day the sale was effected. Sources said the money was deposited much later. Tomar has to satisfactorily explain the delay to the university.

Tomar is also alleged to have employed his sister-in-law as a lecturer in his college and also allotted her a house on the college campus. As against this he is alleged to have terminated the services of a college employee within a year of taking charge. The employee had been working satisfactorily for several years before Tomar became the principal.

Although his appointment is not a subject matter of this probe, it was effected in violation of the university rules. Tomar has been issued the appointment letter on the letterhead of the DAV College Managing Committee, New Delhi, though the university rules require that the letter be issued in the prescribed proforma.

The managing committee has also included a provision for the transfer of Tomar to any place in India or abroad at the discretion of the committee though there is no such provision in the law. The probe will begin here tomorrow and will continue on Sunday also, it is learnt.

Panipat, October 19
The district administration today organised a musical motivation camp for slum children. More than 450 children registered themselves in the series of schools launched recently under the national child labour project (NCLP).

The special camp was organised at Bal Bhawan, where a large number of slum children participated along with their mothers. Most of those who were enrolled for education in the government schools were rag pickers.

In a novel gesture during the Navratras, the administration offered free haircut to the slum children and distributed toilet soaps and refreshment to them.

On the occasion, the administration appealed the gathered mothers to motivate other parents to send their wards to the NCLP schools.

Special films on personal hygiene were screened and cash prizes were awarded to the children, who sang and danced at the musical function.

Deputy commissioner Mahender Kumar said the administration had planned to open 62 more schools for children working as labourers or engaged in other minimal jobs.

He said out of 62 new schools 30 would start by this month end for children working or residing at various brick kilns in the district.

Anganwari workers had a tough time in pursuing the parents to send their children, who work as rag pickers, for the musical function.

Jind, October 19
The procurement of paddy by rice mills and private traders has been stalled following an indefinite strike by rice exporters in the state.

Hundreds of quintals of paddy has been lying in the grain market here due to the strike. Jind and Safidon towns in the district are prominent markets of paddy and export hub of paddy in the state. Last year, rice worth Rs 10,000 crore was exported from the state.

Rice millers and traders staged a demonstration and blocked traffic on the highway connecting Jind with Rohtak for over half an hour after burning an effigy of union commerce minister Kamal Nath against the ban imposed on the export of a prominent variety of rice two days ago. The protesters declared that the strike would continue till the ban on export was lifted by the government.

Though the MSP of the parmal quality, a prominent variety of paddy, has been fixed at Rs 775 per quintal, another variety, known as 1121, has been fetching an amount ranging between Rs 1,900 and Rs 2,000 per quintal and is the bone of contention between rice exporters and the government.

It is reported that while the government imposed a ban on the export of this variety to keep a check on its price, rice millers and exporters feel that it is a direct attack on their interests, as this variety has maximum demand abroad.

It is claimed that export worth several thousand crores has been affected due to the ban. The ban was announced by the union commerce ministry two days ago.

Rice mills and exporters announced a strike from yesterday, halting all purchase and lifting of paddy from the market, said Sandeep Malik, a dealer in the local Anaj Mandi here.

It is learnt that a total of about 20,000 quintals of paddy has already been procured, of which a majority has been purchased by private buyers and this includes a fair amount of the 1121 variety.

The protesters blocked the national highway connecting Jind with Rohtak this morning after burning an effigy of the union minister. They demanded that the ban on export of the 1121 variety be lifted immediately.

KAITHAL: Huge stocks of some varieties of paddy have accumulated in different mandis of the district. Rice exporters have stopped purchase of the 1121 variety of paddy due to a ban imposed on its export by the union government.

Chandigarh, October 19
Even as the work of constructing the four-lane expressway between Zirakpur and Parwanoo is being hampered due to the non-removal of encroachments on the road, flyovers at Murthal and Gannaur in Haryana are expected to be ready by March next year.

Appearing in the highway broadening and traffic regulation case, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officers also told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the work on road between Kalka and Pinjore would begin from March next year.

For expeditious completion of work on the bridge over the Ghaggar, additional men and material would be used.

Taking up the matter, a Division Bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Mahesh Grover, has asked the authorities concerned to specify whether the target of March 2008 was likely to be met.

The Bench has also sought details of the work carried out during the past three months on "sub and superstructure". Similar details have also been sought on flyover at Samalkha and underpass at Pasina Khurd in Panipat.

After being informed that light vehicles were being allowed to use the bypass from 8 am to 8 pm for decongesting Kalka, the Bench ruled that endeavour should be made to divert heavy vehicles through the bypass.

Speaking for the Bench, the Chief Justice directed Randhir Singh and Suri to also make a plan of Zirakpur-Parwanoo road with engineering department's help and indicate the encroachments.

Suggestions for the removal of the same were also sought within two weeks. The case will now come up for further hearing on November 13.

Chandigarh, October 19
The Haryana Power Utilities has imposed morning and evening peak load restrictions on industrial/independent industrial feeders.

The power supply to the domestic sector has also been restricted to prevent the situation from getting worse.

Appealing to consumers to make optimum use of electricity, a spokesman of the utilities said that strenuous efforts were being made to ensure adequate power to all consumers.

Stating that the present power problem was temporary, the officials blamed the shortage on the load on the system due to power supply to the agricultural sector and the increase in the load due to the festive season.

He said the utilities had supplied on an average 640 lakh units of electricity during the past one week. But since the demand was higher, it was leading to frequent power failures.

Further, he said owing to the severe cold in the upper hills, the ice was not melting leading to a lowering of the water level of hydel generating stations, resulting in lower power generation.

The frequency level of the entire northern grid was just above 49 hertz against the normal level of 50 hertz. In order to prevent the failure of the grid due to low frequency, the regulation of the power supply had become unavoidable.

The spokesman stated that the first unit of 110 MW of the Panipat thermal power station had been shut down for renovation, modernisation and updating being carried out by Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. The second unit of 110 MW was under planned overhauling. Unit II was expected to start power generation shortly.

Efforts were being made to procure power on a short-term basis from all available sources, the spokesperson said.

Chandigarh, October 19
The Haryana government has closed a ‘VIP’ stone crusher in Gurgaon district for allegedly using illegally mined stones for crushing.

The crusher is reportedly owned by a close relative of an influential Congress MP of the state.

Last month, employees of the crusher had attacked the officials of the forest department, who had raided it after receiving reports that it was crushing illegally mined stones.

Though the Haryana police has so far “failed” to nab any of the accused persons named in the FIR lodged by the forest department, acting on the report of the department, the state Pollution Control Board has ordered the closure of the stone crusher.

The police failure to act against the persons accused of assault on officials engaged in discharge of their official duties is being attributed to the fact that the stone crusher is owned by a close relative of a VIP. The forest department has repeatedly written to the police to arrest the accused.

In a two-page order, chairman of the board D.S. Dhesi noted that during the field inspection by the forest department on September 17, the management of Mahalaxmi Stone Crusher situated at Sikhopur village in Gurgaon district failed to produce documents showing that they had received any legally mined material after August 31 though trucks laden with mined stone were found at the site.

The drivers also did not have any valid papers regarding the raw material loaded in their vehicles.

A 1997 notification makes it mandatory for the stone crushing units to produce “the data relating to the sources and quantity of raw material legitimately utilised or exploited by them as also their production data and taxes and duties paid” to the board.

The crusher, situated within the Aravali Hills at the edge of a forest area, has been closed under Section 31-A of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.

The board has also ordered the closure of a crusher at Arrayanwala village in Yamunanagar district.

Ambala, October 19
The locations where CCTV cameras will be placed at the Ambala Cantonment railway station were finalised today.

Railway Protection Force commandant S.Z. Khan and Railway SP Bharati Arora inspected the sites where about 24 CCTV cameras are to be placed. “The closed circuit monitoring system will be operational soon,” said Khan.

The cameras will maintain round-the-clock vigil on all the seven platforms of the station. The ticket counter as well as the waiting hall will also be covered. The system will be monitored by the RPF personnel and the divisional railway manager.

Security concerns have always plagued the Ambala Cantt railway station. The manager of the station had recently received a letter threatening to blow up the station.

Following this and also because the railway is of strategic importance as far as the cantonment is concerned, the decision to set up CCTV cameras was taken. A proposal to set up such cameras in Chandigarh railway station is being considered.

Ambala, October 19
Ambala Special Judge A.K. Verma sentenced two persons to 10-year imprisonment with a fine of Rs 1 lakh each for possession of poppy husk.

The accused Subhash Chand and his driver Harjinder Singh belong to Chamkor Sahib. In default of payment of the fine, they shall further undergo rigorous imprisonment for another year, the judge ordered.

Satish Kumar, ASI of the Baldevnagar police station, and sub-inspector Gurmail Singh intercepted a car on the GT road near Jandli Bridge on May 26, 2005.

On searching the car, two jute bags of poppy husk weighing 76 kg were recovered from it.

A case under the NDPS Act was registered against Subhash Chand and Harjinder Singh, the occupants of the car.

While pronouncing the conviction, the Judge observed, “Any liberal attitude in respect of such offences will be counter productive in the long run and against social interest.”