Gurgaon, October 23
The Central government will incur Rs 2,800 crore during the 11th Five-Year Plan for providing electricity connections to all households in the country.

Union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde stated this while laying the foundation stone of the country’s third underground gas-insulated substation at Gurgaon on Tuesday.

He announced that all BPL families living in the rural areas would be provided free power connection. The government planned to provide 1.25 lakh power connections to the villagers till 2009, out of which 50,000 connections had already been provided, he said.

The minister said the government also planned to generate 7,800 MW of additional power in the 11th plan period keeping in view the growing demand by every sector. He assured the Haryana government that efforts would be made to fulfill the power demands of the fast-developing state.

Earlier, Shinde also laid the foundation stone of 400 KV at LILO of Ballabgarh-Biwadi.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said plans had been formulated to meet the expected demand of 12,00 MW of Gurgaon by 2010-2011. He said at present, the demand of this area was 800 MW for which every effort was being made to fulfill it.

He said the first unit of 300 MW capacity of the 600 MW Deen Bandhu Chhotu Ram Thermal Power Substation at Yamunanagar would start functioning from November 1.

Besides, another unit of 300 MW would be commissioned by February 2008.

This would help in providing uninterrupted power to the people of the state.

State power minister Randeep Singh Surjewala said the process of setting up of five power substations of 220 KV each and two substations of 64 KV each at a cost of Rs 500 crore had been initiated and would be completed in the next three years.

Power secretary Anil Razdan briefed the details of the project and said setting up of these power stations would facilitate transfer of power from major power generation complexes through high-capacity transmission lines.

He said the substation would be set up by the Power Grid Corporation of India. Considering the scarcity of land in Gurgaon, it was proposed to set up underground power stations as they required 20 to 25 per cent less land as compared to conventional substation. The substation cost Rs 170 crore and it would be commissioned by mid 2009.

CMD of Power Grid R.P. Singh advised the Haryana Chief Minister to moot over a plan to make underground power stations in view of scarcity of land and quality supply of power.

Jind, October 23
The agitation by farmers and exporters against the ban imposed by the union government on the export of certain variety of rice continued on the sixth day today in various parts of the district. Hundreds of protesters blocked traffic on the highway between Jind and Panipat for nearly three hours this morning. A large number of motorists and passengers got stranded till about 1 pm. While the BJP workers joined the agitation by staging a demonstration in Safidon town, the indefinite fast by the BKU activists continued at the Main Grain Market of Jind. The work of procurement remained suspended in nearly all the grain markets of the district in protest against the export ban.

The police and local administration at Safidon sub-division had a tough time dealing with the blockade created jointly by the farmers, rice exporters and traders, who got assembled at the Jamni Chowk near Pillukhera, a small township located on the highway connecting Safidon (Jind) with Panipat. Dharna which started at 10.45 am this morning continued till 12.45 noon.

This resulted in major inconvenience to motorists and other vehicles. Several people who took part belonged to political parties like the INLD. The second such incident took place in the main market of the Safidon town where workers and members of the district unit of the BJP staged a demonstration against the rice export ban. They also asked the state government to give up its plan to carve out an urban sector of HUDA in Safidon town as it claimed that such a move would only result in acquiring precious land of farmers. It was led by the district president of the BJP, Swami Raghavanand. The third development was reported from the Main Grain Market at Jind, where fasting of the BKU (Gurnam group) entered into the second day.

KAITHAL: The INLD state spokesperson and former chief parliamentary secretary Ram Pal Majra in a statement issued here today said the decision of the Centre to ban export of various varieties of rice was against the interests of farmers and the trading community as well.

He said his party strongly condemns this unwise and untimely decision and the INLD had expressed its displeasure by organising huge processions at Kaithal and elsewhere in the state and they had submitted memorandums to the Haryana Governor through respective deputy commissioners demanding immediate withdrawal of the ban on export. He said farmers had suffered huge financial losses during the past week.

Meanwhile, deputy commissioner S.K. Goyal held a meeting with local rice millers and heads of other procurement agencies and discussed the situation arising out of the ban imposed on export of certain varieties of non-basmati rice and the problems being faced by the farmers.

SONEPAT: Following the decision of the rice exporters and millers not to purchase paddy in protest against the export ban on non-basmati varieties has left a huge amount of paddy unsold in different mandis and purchase centres in the district, including about 5000 quintals in the Sonepat Anaj Mandi.

The produce is left at the mercy of climate and stray animals under open skies. Even the commission agents in the mandis have advised farmers not to bring their yield.

The purchase of paddy by the rice millers remained suspended on the sixth day today creating resentment among the farmers against the government. The vice-president of the All India Kisan Sabha, Sharda Nand Solanki, termed the ban on export of allied varieties of basmati rice as an anti-farmer move and demanded that the ban orders must be withdrawn and farmers who suffered heavy losses during last one week must be suitably compensated. BKU activists led by Ranbir Chauhan today burnt an effigy of Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

YAMUNANAGAR: The Bhartiya kisan Union burnt an effigy of Union Minister Kamal Nath to protest against the ban on the export of paddy here today.

Activists of the BKU led by its district president Babu Ram Gundiyana assembled at the mini secretariat and burnt an effigy of the Union Commerce minister. The delegation of the BKU later handed over a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister and Prime Minister to the city magistrate.

Secretary of Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) Satpal Kaushik in a release issued here today said the ban on export of non-basmati rice was anti-farmer. Parliamentary secretary Dr Krishna Pandit said the state and Centre government were pro-farmer. She said the state government was making efforts to get the ban removed.

Sirsa, October 23
Finally, after five years a ray of hope has emerged for three families of Keshupura village whose two minor girls and a woman were raped and then murdered. The police had closed the case terming it as “untraced”.

Taking note of a story in The Tribune highlighting the plight of the victims’ family members in the triple murder case, a team headed by the DSP was today entrusted the task to re-investigate the case.

The police has also announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh to anyone who provides a clue to those involved in the case.

The Tribune had published a story on October 12 under the headline “Villagers accuse police of inaction”.

A team, headed by Elanabad DSP Praveen Mehta, has been given the task to re-investigate the case.

SP Vikas Arora said in view of the seriousness of the case, the police had announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh for anyone providing information about those involved in the incident.

The incident occurred on September 7, 2002, when the three victims - two minors and a 45-year-old woman - had gone to collect firewood from the nearby forest area. Later, the bodies of the three were found in a nearby canal.

It was alleged that the three were first raped and then murdered. The postmortem report confirmed that they had been raped and then murdered.

The police had registered a case under Sections 302, 201, 148, 149 and 376 of the IPC in the Rania police station on September 8.

The incident had led to widespread protests by villagers on several occasions. It was also raised in the assembly by the local MLA. The investigation of the case was handed over to the CIA staff, Hisar, which sent it back as “untraced”.

Chandigarh, October 23
A declaration of partnership between the state of Haryana and Minnesota of the USA was signed to promote active exchange of ideas, knowledge and people as it relates to trade and investment, science and technology, education and research and arts and culture for mutual benefit.

The declaration was signed by the Haryana Chief Minister and the Governor of State of Minnesota, Timothy J. Pawlenty, at a signing ceremony held in New Delhi today. Speaking on the occasion, Pawlenty said the declaration would help in building new bridges.

He said, “the partnership would provide a catalyst and a framework for us to seek mutual interests in agriculture, food processing, dairy farming, information technology, education, culture and tourism sectors.”

The Chief Minister said with just 1.37 per cent of country's geographical area and 1.97 per cent of the total population, Haryana has achieved the distinction of having the highest per-capita income in the country.

He said in a recently published database report by the Centre for monitoring Indian economy, Haryana has been ranked at number one.

He said Haryana has more than 160 units with financial and technical collaborations from the US companies, involving an investment of more than $ one billion and prominent among these are Ford, IBM, Whirlpool, Carrer, Good Year, GE Motors, Motorola and Tecumseh.

While welcoming the guests, Minnesota State Senator, Satveer Chaudhary highlighted the beginning of thought of making this agreement a reality and was grateful to Dr K.S. Dangi, director general, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development Department, Haryana, for a constructive role in making this a reality.

Yamunanagar, October 23
Senior officials of the Railways today inspected coal wagon tippers at the Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram Thermal Power Plant here today. The first unit of 300 MW of the plant is scheduled for Haryana day (November 1).

Officials of the Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) said the first unit was ready for power generation. Initially oil would be used to run the plant and subsequently it would be replaced with coal. Railway officials also inspected the rail track laid for bringing in coal from Dhanbad, Bihar. The boilers would be lighted up on October 25 and after two days the plant would be synchronised. The power thus produced would go into the national grid.

Joyti Aroa, managing director of HPGCL after inspecting the plant said, “All is on schedule”. The state government was taking steps to generate 5,000 MW of power by 2010. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda would dedicate the first unit to the nation on November 1. She said that the state government would be making several announcements on the occasion.

Kurukshetra, October 23
A case of tampering with an answerbook of an entrance test held recently, kept under lock and key, has come to light.

Marked answerbooks were kept in an almirah of the geography department of Kurukshetra University. After locking the almirah, a class IV employee had handed over the keys to the chairman of the department. However, when the answerbooks were taken out of the almirah, it was found that in one of the answerbooks there was a rectification, resulting in increase of marks.

Inquiries revealed that the evaluating teacher had stated that he had not made any rectification while the chairman of the department claimed that he had not unlocked the almirah. The chairman, the evaluating teacher and the class IV employee are not ready to take the blame.

The matter has been referred to the vice-chancellor, Prof R.P. Hooda, who has discharged the chairman, Dr J.P. Gupta, from his office and appointed a teacher of the department, Mahavir Jaglan, as the new chairman.

Teachers say the increase in marks under lock and key is not a minor case and have demanded an inquiry by a committee and stern action against the guilty.

Panipat, October 23
Aimed at making this industrial township clean and green, soft drink giant PepsiCo, EXNORA and the local municipal council today jointly launched “Pavitra Panipat”, a zero waste management project near Mehrana village in the district.

Excellent Noval and Radical (EXNORA), having vast experience in solid waste management, will provide the required assistance in getting rid of the garbage problem.

This solid waste management project is equipped with several options for micro enterprises like pet bottle recycling unit, waste paper recycling unit and tetrapack recycling unit among others.

The soft drink company has provided a fund of Rs 15 lakh for the project, which is expected to process about 1.5 tonnes of garbage daily.

President of the MC Vinod Wadhera said around 3,000 households from six localities - Model Town, Sukhdev Nagar, New Sukhdev Nagar, Geeta Colony, Prahalad Colony and Narasingh Park - would be covered in the first phase.

Speaking on the occasion, CEO of PepsiCo, India, Sanjeev Chadha said the project would be the first of its kind in the region.

He said besides door-to-door garbage collection, the project management would also ensure beautification of the town, including sweeping the streets.

He said hospital waste from 39 dispensary/clinics and other waste material from 384 shops would also be collected on a routine basis.

At a dedicated segregation plant, the organic waste will be converted into vermi compost using earthworms.

Yamunanagar, October 23
Residents of Fazalpur village in Sadhoura block today "recovered" wheat meant for the midday meal of schoolchildren from a shop in the village. The wheat was allegedly sold by a teacher of the school.

Students of the government school of the village had been complaining about the inadequate midday meal for several days.

According to sources, the villagers had taken the complaint of the students seriously and were keeping watch on activities at the school. The teacher left before the villagers reached the school after recovering the wheat.

A villager, Hanif Mohd, said: "Today, the students were not given the midday meal. When we enquired, we were told that there was no ration for the meal in the school."

The sources said the villagers had seen a shopkeeper coming out of the school with a bag. Several villagers later reached his shop and found wheat in the bag.

After persistent questioning, the shopkeeper alleged that a teacher had given him the wheat. He told the villagers that the teacher had “purchased” vegetables from him worth Rs 317. The shopkeeper further alleged that the wheat was worth Rs 425 and he had to give Rs 108 (Rs 425 minus the price of the vegetables) to the teacher.

The matter has been reported to the office of the block education officer and will be probed, said an official of the education department.

Panipat, October 23
Haryana Governor A.R. Kidwai has stressed the need for global cooperation for overall development.

Speaking at a function organised by the Association of People of Asia here today, Kidwai said in the changing global scenario, it was difficult for any country to progress without any cooperation.

He said scientists and professionals in IT and other sectors had succeeded globally.

He said with the support of these dedicated professionals, India would emerge as the third superpower in the near future.Finance minister Birender Singh also spoke.