Chandigarh, December 5
The CBI has cited the “paucity of resources” to turn down the Haryana government’s request to it of investigating the blast on the Samjhauta Express this year leading to the death of a large number of travellers .

The CBI said it was already preoccupied with a number of blast cases (“Mecca Masjid, Malegaon and Nanded, etc”). Hence, it would not be possible for it to probe the Samjhauta blast case.

A special team constituted by the state police has failed to make any headway in the train blast case.

An official document mentions five cases that have been referred to the CBI by the state government so far this year. The agency accepted two of them. One is related to the murder of Rakesh, alias Lara, in August this year at Gohana in Sonepat district. The murder had a caste angle and led to tension at Gohana and its neighbourhood. The main accused in the case has been arrested.

The CBI also accepted the case of the murder of a lawyer in Karnal in January. Information on the progress of the investigation in the case, however, was not readily available. The CBI turned down the state government’s request of looking into a case of recovery of three bodies from a water tank in Keshupura village in Sirsa district. The postmortem reports said all three women were raped and then choked to death.Their bodies were thrown into water.

Commenting on the case, a senior Haryana police officer said the women died by drowning. “We worked very hard on the case and finally came to the conclusion that it was a case of accidental death. In all probability the autopsy report was not correct”, he said.

The CBI also refused to accept the case of kidnapping of Sunil Chopra of Hisar. The CBI told the state government there was no “special reason” for handing over the case.

The Haryana police officer said Sunil Chopra, a man in his twenties, had in all probability run away from home. He said the missing person had religious inclinations and used to visit an elderly woman who was a member of a religious sect. The family suspected the woman had illicit relations with Chopra and had a hand in his disappearance. “At the family’s insistence we even carried out a medical examination of the woman and found her to be a virgin even at the age of 60 ”, he said.

Among other sensational cases, for which the present state government has sought the help of the CBI, is the disproportionate assets case of former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. The CBI has carried out raids on Chautala’s homes, though its final findings on the matter are awaited. The cases of violent incidents at Gohana and the resulting violence at Panchkula in 2005 were also given to the CBI .The agency has filed chargesheets against the guilty persons in the two cases.

The previous state government headed by Om Prakash Chautala had wanted the CBI to look into the “disproportionate assets” of Jai Prakash, who is now a Congress Lok Sabha member from Hisar. This request, too, was turned down by the agency saying it was “overstretched”. 

Chandigarh, December 5
Deepender Singh Hooda, Congress MP from Rohtak, has sought the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for setting up a green field airport-cum-cargo complex within the NCR region falling in Haryana.

In a letter written to the Prime Minister, Hooda said Haryana sought permission for the construction of an airport catering to lower cost passenger services, air cargo, private operators, helicopter services and aircraft maintenance services in 4,347 acres in Jhajjar district. This site is in villages of Mandothi, Jakhoda, Rohad, Saidpur and Tanda Heri in tehsil Bahadurgarh located near the intersection of National Highway No. 10 and the Kundli- Manesar-Palwal (KMP) expressway.

He said the Haryana government had proposed the construction of the airport on the built-own-operate (BOO) model and no direct budgetary allocations had been sought from the Centre. Hooda also urged the Prime Minister to ask the Ministry of Civil Aviation to expedite Haryana's proposal and immediately review the stipulation that no new airport could be constructed within a radius of 150 km of an existing airport as per the Airport Infrastructure Policy of 1997.

Hooda regretted saying, "this ridiculous clause is completely out of sync with the ground realities of aviation industry. The very nature of such a restraining policy is anti-competitive and against the interest of end consumers. One critical reason for success of any major global aviation hub is the provision of multiple port choices. India with its unique central geography, convenient time-zone and highly skilled workforce has all the ingredients to make a successful global aviation hub but for a supportive policy framework." Benefits would include further opening up of the land-locked North, creation of direct and indirect employment opportunities, relieving excess air-traffic load off the Indira Gandhi International Airport while passing off the derived cost savings to consumers, providing multi-modal transportation facilities to the upcoming SEZs, enabling much needed logistical link between our farmers and agro export markets. 

Chandigarh, December 5
The Haryana State Bharat Scouts and Guides has won nine awards in various fields and activities at the national level.

This was stated here yesterday by K.K. Khandelwal, state chief commissioner, who participated in a meeting of the National Council of Bharat Scouts and Guides held in Delhi recently.

According to Khandelwal, Haryana got the first position in the numerical increase in census in Scouts, Guides and Bulbuls, the first position in overall growth and the Luxmi Mazumdar Award, both in the Scouts wing, the second position in 
overall growth and the Luxmi Mazumdar 
Award in the Guides wing, the second position in the numerical increase in census in the Cub section and the second position in overall increase in the census in the Scouts and Guides wings.

He said the registration of Scouts, Guides, Cubs and Bulbuls increased by 14.5 per cent during 2006-07. The record increase fetched Haryana five awards. 

Chandigarh, December 5
Beekeepers of the state are on a sticky wicket this season because a mite won’t leave their bees alone. Having suffered over 60 per cent losses in the business this season, farmers are anxious about the fate of the bees settling in the apiary in the new season.

 At the onset of the season, the farmers are already claiming a loss of 20 per cent which is likely to go up as the bee-cycle progresses and peaks in January.

The 4,500-odd beekeepers in the state are keeping their fingers crossed and have reconciled to a loss of up to 25 per cent. The farmers maintain that beyond that would mean imminent closure for the beekeeping industry unless the government bails them out.

“The Varroa mite is still present in the beehives in the apiary. There is no eradication technique available as of now but only certain measures which can contain the damage. The mite is a dangerous pest because it launches a multi-pronged attack. It lives on bees; suck their blood and make them weak. This brings down their nectar-collection activity. The pest also eats the pupae, taking a toll on the bee population,” explains Ramchander, a farmer from Kaithal, who lost nearly 70 per cent bees to the disease last season.

Anil Sindu, a farmer from Jind and the vice-president of the Beekeepers Association in the state, said he suffered a loss of 35-45 per cent this season. “I had 550 boxes to begin with. The disease struck at the end of 2005. We had no idea what was happening till the second season began in October 2006. By then, our downfall had started. The department zeroed in on the Varroa bug which lives on milch animals. Due to the deaths of a large population of bees, I was forced to buy new boxes and, today, I am still 100 short of the original,” he explained.

Farmer Vijay Kumar maintained that the loss for this new season would become evident only around February when the first collection of honey from the combs was made.

“However, the government should compensate us in some way for the losses already suffered,” he said.

The farmers rue that they are only given a one-time 50 per cent subsidy when they take to beekeeping. The Haryana Agro-Industries Corporation provides them the entire paraphernalia for setting up their business but nothing after that.

“We train the farmers about beekeeping but have no provision of compensation to them in case of losses. We did suggest an insurance cover for farmers almost a year back but the matter is still pending,” said Dr Ajay Yadav, who works on beekeeping with the corporation.

He acknowledged that the farmers had suffered a loss of 40 per cent and above, adding that they were trying to create awareness about dealing with the mite to reduce the damage.

MD of the corporation O.P. Langyan said the losses of the beekeepers in the last season were in his knowledge and to help them out, follow-up exercises to the initial training would be organised for them from time to time. 

Fatehabad, December 5
Workers of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) today organised a dharna outside the suburban subdivision of the nigam against the failure of the police to take action against those guilty of beating up their colleagues.

The joint action committee of the two unions of the power employees - the All-Haryana Power Corporation Workers Union and the HSEB Workers Union - had given a call for dharna.

The workers on strike alleged a raiding team of the DHBVN, comprising two junior engineers and four linemen, was beaten up and kept as hostage by some villagers at village Akanwali in this district the other day.

The raiding team had detected theft at the village and had started filming the direct supply of power on their camera.

The villagers not only snatched their camera and mobile phones but also made them hostages.

One JE Sunil Machra somehow managed to escape from the captivity of the villagers and informed the police and his superiors.

The police reached there and freed the employees from the captivity of the villagers.

However, the workers alleged the police had not yet taken any action against the erring villagers, though they had lodged written complaint against them.

The nigam workers have threatened to intensify their strike in case their demand was not met.

They said they would stage a dharna at city subdivision office on December 6, at the office of the executive engineer on December 7 and would hold procession on December 8 in case their demand of action against the accused was not met.

Meanwhile, some villagers too have lodged a complaint against the raiding party, alleging them of maltreatment, according to police sources. 

Chandigarh, December 5
The Haryana Fisheries Department will incur a sum of Rs 13 lakh to execute various 
projects in Yamunanagar district during the current financial year with a view to conserve fish in natural water.

While disclosing this here today, director of Fisheries Department, P.V. Singh in a release said under these special projects fish seed centres would be improved.

He said the seed of those fish would be conserved that were in danger and were on the verge of extinction.

He said a bio-reserve in 0.8 hectares of land would be constructed at the government fish seed farm, Dadupur.

Besides, fish seed farm would be strengthened to produce good quality of natural seed for the propagation of fisheries in natural water.

He stressed the need for saving the water of Yamuna river from pollution as the fish were badly affected due to polluted water.

He emphasised on the importance of conservation of natural resources, including fisheries, for their survival.

He said efforts were on for conservation of reverine fisheries in the state so that the dem and of anglers could be met. He further said the department would chalk out a plan for checking illegal fishing in natural water effectively. — PTI 

Kaithal, December 5
The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam has directed all its superintending engineers (Operation) to have a direct interaction with the sarpanches of Gram Panchayats and discuss in detail the advantages of the power supply through High Voltage Distribution System (HVDS).

A spokesman for the nigam said here today the latter has earmarked a sum of Rs 55 crore to erect HVDS in its command area during the current financial year. The nigam would supply power for 18-20 hours daily to the villages having HVDS with effect from April 1, 2008. It will erect HVDS by replacing old lines and distribution transformers. New 25 KVA and 16 KVA transformers will be installed in place of higher capacity transformers. It will benefit those villages that would have 100 per cent electronic metres outside the consumer premises.

It has been decided by the nigam to identify 10 high loss-making feeders of 11KV level and provide HVDS on these to bring down the losses. In model towns and Haryana Urban Development Authority Colonies, higher size conductor will be erected to meet future growth of load. The filed staff has been directed to ensure that the line losses in these areas are not more than 11 per cent.

The nigam has already decided to provide HVDS in the villages declared as the model village by the state government. In order to give a new look to the distribution system, the cement poles will be painted up to four-feet height. Danger plates will be put on each pole. Proper earthing of the system will also be ensured as per specifications of the Safety Code.

The spokesman further stated that after implementation of HVDS in seven villages and two urban colonies here, as many as 490 new domestic connections have been released. The damage rate of distribution transformers in these areas had been almost nil whereas revenue assessment had increased by 50 per cent. The implementation would ensure quality power with least interruptions. 

Jind, December 5
The district court has sentenced a local resident to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 25,000 for abducting and murdering a 10-year-old boy of local Bhatnagar Colony in August last year.

Another accused in the case, who is a minor and brother of the convict, has been referred to a juvenile court.

As per the conviction, Soma and his minor brother, Chap Singh, residents of Bhatnagar Colony here, had allegedly strangulated Monu, son of his neighbour, Raja Ram, after abducting him on August 6, 2006.

They killed Monu following an enmity with Raja Ram, after the latter protested over their alleged involvement in eve teasing and anti-social activities, in which one of the daughters of Raja Ram had been a victim.

The police arrested Soma and his brother after a complaint was lodged against them by the deceased’s father. The accused took the boy on pretext of showing a game show.

In another case, the court has sentenced Balwan Singh, a resident of Phuliakalan village, to six months’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 for possessing illicit drugs. A case was registered against him under the NDPS Act on October 5, 2004. 

Rewari, December 5
The Khol police has booked the village sarpanch Sher Singh Yadav, his father Sahzad and two others, all residents of Lisan village, 30 km from here, on charges of house trespass, sexual harassment, criminal intimidation and causing hurt to a Dalit woman Santosh Devi, wife of Mahender Lal of the same village.

A case under sections 452, 354, 323, 506 and 34 of the IPC as well as section 3 of the SC/ST Act and sections 7, 22 and 55 of the Protection of Civil Rights Act has been registered against them, following a directive issued under section 156(3) of the CrPC by a local court on a petition earlier filed by the aggrieved woman.

The complainant alleged that it all started in July when Sahzad made a bid to outrage her modesty while she was asleep, along with her son, on the roof of her house.

However, when she raised an alarm, the accused fled and subsequently threatened her of dire consequences if she revealed the incident to anyone.

Sahzad barged into her house again on the night of October 31 when her husband was away for work.

When she resisted the accused’s sexual assault, his son Sher Singh and two other members of his family hurriedly joined him and snubbed her using foul words.

Soon after her husband returned, she went to the police post with him at Dahina and made a complaint in this regard. When it remained almost unheeded, they approached the district police chief here on November 2 and sought justice from him.

On his directive they put up their complaint before DSP Kosli and sought action against the “guilty”. But here too nothing positive emerged. Thus, when the district police administration failed to help them, they approached the court.

The case has now again been entrusted to DSP Kosli for further investigation and action against the accused. 

Jhajjar, December 5
Ridiculing the decision of suspended Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi to send a post-dated resignation from his Lok Sabha membership, MP from Rohtak Deepender Singh Hooda said that he had set an unprecedented example in Indian politics.

Addressing a press conference after attending a workers’ meeting here today, Hooda held that it showed the lack of confidence of the leader of the newly formed party named the Haryana Janhit Congress. "It would have been better if he had resigned and then contested a byelection from Bhiwani to measure his popularity. But his decision to send a resignation letter mentioning a future date is an indication of the lack of confidence".

He claimed the Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda had taken steps for the welfare of all sections of society.

The announcement to allot 100 sq yd plots to Dalits showed the commitment of the government to the weaker sections. 

Hisar, December 5
Haryana Agricultural University’s weather-based agro advisory issued here today has suggested to farmers to complete the late sowing of certified wheat varieties Sonalika, WH-291, PBW-73, Raj-3765 and Sonak in irrigated fields.

Farmers have also been asked to apply 30 kg nitrogen, 24 kg phosphorous and 12 kg potash per acre at sowing time. They should also treat 100 kg seed of wheat with 150 ml Chloropyriphos 20EC or 350 ml Endosulphan 35EC or 500ml Ethion 50EC in five liters of water.

The advisory has also suggested sowing of barley crop under irrigated conditions as early as possible with certified seeds of BG-25, BH-75, BH-393 and C164 varieties after treating them with 600 ml Chloropyriphos 20EC or 750 ml Endosulphan 35EC in 12.5 litres of water. Sowing of oat and barseem for fodder for winter should be done at the earliest.

They should also apply light irrigation in 25-30 days old potato crop. A tomato nursery should be raised for planting in spring season and 200 gm seed is sufficient for one-acre nursery.

Farmers have been advised to manage the animal sheds for protection against cold and give 50 gm iodized salt and 30 gm mineral mixture daily to keep animals healthy. 

Chandigarh, December 5
The Haryana government will pay the fee of students belonging to the Scheduled Castes in polytechnics, engineering colleges or self-financed technical institutes of the state.

This was stated in a message issued by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda here today on the eve of Nirwan Diwas of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar. He said the government had laid focus on enhancing educational and socio-economic status of students belonging to weaker sections of society.

Describing Ambedkar as a great educationist, an able administrator and a social reformer, Hooda said the steps taken by him to ensure social justice to all had been the guiding spirit for the state 
government.

He said the Planning Commission of India had approved an allocation of Rs 673 crore to the state Department of Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes during the 11th Five Year Plan for implementation of various schemes of technical education. Out of it, Rs 134 crore would be for the schemes under the Scheduled Castes Component Plan. He said Rs 65 lakh had been earmarked to provide coaching to the candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes for their admission to polytechnics, engineering and technical courses. An equal amount has been earmarked to prepare those Scheduled Castes students, who had either done engineering or hold a degree or diploma, for various competitions.