Chandigarh, February 6
Continuing their delaying tactics, the three rebel Congress MLAs of Haryana facing disqualification from the assembly for launching a new party, today sought four weeks’ extension of the time period for giving their replies to the charges made against them by Congress legislators.

Dharampal Malik, MLA from Gohana, and Rakesh Kamboj, MLA from Indri in Karnal, met Speaker Raghubir Singh Kadiyan and sought four weeks’s additional time for replying to the notices.

Bhajan Lal, MLA from Adampur and leader of the rebel group, also made a similar request through his deputies.

The MLAs, who had evaded accepting the notices sent to them on two previous occasions, turned up before the Speaker today after fresh notices were issued in newspapers and also put on the houses of the MLAs.

The Speaker will take a decision on the matter tomorrow which is also the last date for replying to the notices.

Karnal, February 6
Has the former Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) activist and prime accused in the Nilokheri blast case, Baksheesh Singh, taken refuge in some religious place in Punjab or UP?

If sources are to be believed, investigating agencies feel that Baksheesh Singh and his brother-in-law Pinda have probably been offered shelter by radicals who had raised their voice against the head of the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, over the robe controversy.

Though officials remained tightlipped over the investigations, the sources said special teams were closely monitoring these possible hideouts. It is learnt that the Haryana police is coordinating with its counterparts in Punjab and UP.

As the police has failed to get any vital clue regarding the whereabouts of the accused, the sources do not rule out reports that the duo might have escaped to Nepal.

It is also learnt that besides sharing information on the possible hideouts of Baksheesh Singh and Pinda, the police of the three states is also keeping a close watch on the movements of their family members and accomplices.

Under Karnal DSP (city) Surinder Pal, the Haryana police has constituted a special investigating team comprising senior officials of the Hisar, Rohtak and Ambala ranges.

Gurgaon, February 6
District and Sessions Judge, Gurgaon, Ranjana Aggarwal has extended the remand of Pooja, wife of Dr Jeevan, and driver Umesh to 14 days.

The duo had been arrested by the Gurgaon police to know about their role in the Gurgaon kidney racket. Earlier, the duo was sent to a seven-day police remand by the court.

Pooja’s advocate also filed a bail application in the court, whose hearing will be held tomorrow.

Pooja while talking to mediapersons today on the court premises said: “I am innocent and have no clues about the racket.” She said the police was torturing innocent people and not arresting the main accused in the racket.

On asking about the culprit, Pooja said the police was very well aware about them. She stated that during her seven-day remand in the police, she was not interrogated much and it was just a formality which the department was fulfilling.

Pooja argued that if she had been involved in the racket, she would have also run away with her husband when the police had unearthed the racket. She said for the last 10 years she has been associated with her father in the garment business and therefore she was hardly aware about the illegal activities of Jeevan.

When asked whether Dr Amit and Dr Jeevan were qualified MBBS doctors or not? She replied, “I think they are not.”

The police had arrested Pooja and Umesh on January 31. 

Chandigarh, February 6
The power situation in Haryana has worsened due to dense fog over the northern region. About 40 major 400 KV transmission lines of the power grid broke down at a number of places in the wee hours yesterday due to dense fog, leading to a serious disruption in the power supply in large parts of Haryana and its neighbouring states. A number of 220 KV lines of the state utilities were also affected.

A spokesman of the Haryana power utilities said here today that though efforts were made by the utilities to prevent a complete blackout in the state, the supply remained affected in Kurukshetra, Panipat, Sonepat, Hisar and Bhiwani districts. He said by separating the transmission system of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir from the northern grid, the supply could be restored to these districts.

The heavy fog this morning again led to a disruption in the power supply in the Gurgaon, Bahadurgarh, Manesar and Palwal areas. However, with the joint efforts of the Haryana utilities and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited the supply was restored in phases in the affected areas.

Kurukshetra, February 6
Promulgating Section 144 of the CrPC here today, District Magistrate Pankaj Aggarwal ordered that all government, government-aided and private schools up to primary standard falling under the jurisdiction of the district would remain closed for three days from February 6 to 8.

In the order, Aggarwal said the temperature of the district had gone very low due to cold waves and foggy weather and such type of cold weather had the potential of adversely affecting the health of human beings in general and school children particularly.

It was essential to restrict the movement and exposure of children during these weather conditions.

Therefore, the order was given keeping in view the safety of school children, he added.

Gurgaon, February 6
A dentist, Sunil Ahuja (35), was allegedly kidnapped by some unidentified persons here yesterday.

According to information, Ahuja after coming back from his clinic went to get his car repaired from a mechanic. He did not return after that to his residence in Sector 9.

The police recovered his car from a petrol pump in Sector 9, Gurgaon, today.

A police official said Ahuja used to run a dental clinic at the Dhanwapur road with his father, who was also a dentist by profession.

Ahuja’s family did not register his missing report during night. His family received a call from Ahuja’s mobile phone at 5 am today demanding a ransom of Rs 20 lakh by unknown person.

The person told Ahuja’s wife the location of the vehicle and disconnected the phone. Since then Ahuja’s mobile is going switched off.

An official said a case had been registered against unidentified kidnappers. 

Karnal, February 6
Two traffic constables thrashed The Tribune lensman Ravi Kumar in full public view here this afternoon.

Though the Karnal SSP ordered immediate action against the duo, SHO (Civil Lines) Vijender Sigh suspended only Mukesh, one of the constables involved in the incident.

The Tribune staffer was on the way for an assignment on his motorbike when one of the constables signalled Ravi to stop at the crowded civil hospital turn.

He then thrashed him in full public view. When Ravi objected to it, another constable caught him and started beating him up.

When the crowd on the spot objected to the behaviour of the policemen, the duo sped away from the spot.

SSP A.S. Chawla said such unruly behaviour by the police would not be tolerated at any cost.

Chandigarh, February 6
The stay on the process of selection and appointments to the posts of assistant sub inspectors (ASIs) in Haryana police has been vacated by Justice Ranjit Singh of the Punjab and Haryana High Court .

The Haryana government had advertised to fill 80 posts of ASIs in police. Challenging the same, the petitioners, ASIs in now-defunct Haryana State Industrial Security Force (HSISF) created during the previous regime, pleaded there would be no posts left for them if the vacancies were filled through the advertisement.

In another development, a High Court Division Bench of Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Jaswant Singh issued notice of motion for May 8 to Haryana chief secretary and others. The judges also stayed the reversion of two ASIs of Ambala police range Krishan Lal and Om Pal.

Chandigarh, February 6
The Haryana State Electronics Development Corporation (Hartron) will construct three IT complexes in Gurgaon at an estimated cost of Rs 250 crore with state-of-the-art services on the design-finance-build-operate-and-transfer (DFBOT) model.

Stating this here today at a press conference, Haryana financial commissioner and principal secretary, electronics and information technology, P.K. Chaudhery said these IT complexes, to be constructed over about 9 acres, would be located at Electronics City, Sector 18, and Udyog Vihar (Phase 1).

In the complexes, there would be a wide range of options to cater to the specific requirements of clients, with design flexibility and a built-up area of 700,000 sq ft (excluding basements). These would be integrated complexes with state-of-the-art services.

“It is expected that by 2010, Gurgaon will have the potential to employ about four lakh people in the IT-enabled services and other sectors and the state will attract an investment of about Rs 2 lakh crore,” he said, adding that “Gurgaon has come up on the world map largely due to the IT industry. Simultaneously, other parts of the state, particularly the economic hub around Kundli-Manesar-Palwal and Panchkula, are being developed as IT corridors.”

He said IT exports from the state had increased phenomenally from Rs 400 crore in 1998-99 to around Rs 14,000 crore in 2006-2007.

Chaudhery said pursuing its vision for all citizens to be able to access government and private services from their villages and towns, the government had implemented its major e-governance initiatives by establishing “ADHAAR” under the State Wide Area Network. — UNI

Rewari, February 6
A district-level Mahila Mandal sammelan was held under the auspices of the women and child development department here today.

Exhorting women to take up cudgels against the social menace of female foeticide and dowry, deputy commissioner Chander Prakash asserted that they could make a significant contribution towards their eradication.

He said that while girls were successfully competing with boys in almost all spheres of life, gender discrimination was fast becoming redundant.

However, there was need to change the mindset of all such persons who were still adhering to the traditional preference for a male child. He wanted women to go from village to village and create awareness among women against these social evils.

Asserting that the state government was paying special attention to the education of girls, the DC referred to two specific schemes, Ladli and Ladli Samajik Suraksha Pension Yojna, which had been launched by the state government to ensure that daughters could never be a burden upon parents and others.

Sonepat, February 6
Dhoop Singh Sangwan (84), a freedom fighter and veteran soldier of INA of Netaji Subhash Chander Bose, was cremated with full state honours at his native village, Nunan Khera, in Gohana subdivision of the district yesterday.

Tehsildar, Gohana, Rajesh Khialia paid floral tributes and the police saluted the departed soul by firing rounds in the air. Born in 1923 into a farmer family, Dhoop Singh joined the INA in 1939 and fought against the British forces during the Second World War. However, he was arrested and remained imprisoned in Singapore jail for seven years.

General secretary of the Swatantrata Sainani Sangthan, Sonepat, Jagdish Chander said after the death of Sangwan, only 33 freedom fighters were surviving in the district.

Yamunanagar, February 6
Residents of Sectors 17 and 18 of HUDA in Jagadhri told their problems to the HUDA administrator during a khula darbar held at the community centre of Sector 17 here today.

Residents complained that they were facing problems because of bad roads and colonies adjacent to the sectors. They said there were several unauthorised shops in their area.

The darbar was chaired by Neelam Pardeep Kasani, administrator, HUDA, Panchkula.

President of the Residents’ Welfare Association, Sector 18, P.R. Tyagi complained that certain people living in the Roopnagar Colony adjacent to the sector had opened unauthorised shops and encroached upon chunks of land belonging to the government and demanded removal of the same.

He said the water supply and sanitation department had planned to connect the sewer of the colony with that of the sector but the association obtained a stay from a court.

Tyagi urged the administrator not to connect the sewer of the colony with that of the sector. Kasani assured the association members that the colony’s sewer would not flow into that of the sector. She also ordered to replace the non-functional streetlights in the sector.

President of the Residents’ Welfare Association, Sector 17, Jarnail Singh Dahiya told the administrator that the condition of roads in the sector had worsened over the past few years. He said several roads of the sector were dotted with potholes.

Kasani assured them that a repair work of the roads would start after March 7. The association also demanded fencing of two parks to save them from stray cattle and construction of a school on a site earmarked for the same. The administrator told them that the matter would be taken up with the education department.

Chandigarh, February 6
With every passing year, their count is rising and the hope of breeding vultures in captivity is flourishing much to the delight of vulture conservationists working overtime to ensure the success of the programme.

To their delight, vultures at the Vulture Conservation and Breeding Centre, Pinjore, have laid seven eggs this “breeding season”. While officials are mum on the development, they are keeping their fingers crossed in anticipation of a positive outcome.

A clearer picture about the fate of eggs will emerge by the end of March. However, the very fact that the number of eggs laid every year is on the rise is a good sign and an indication of the project’s success of breeding vultures in captivity. It takes about 55 days for the eggs to hatch in a normal cycle and a close watch is being kept on the eggs by a CCTV installed near the nests.

Sources said the seven eggs had been laid by two species of vultures --- there are four eggs of the white-backed vulture and three of the long-billed vulture. This is particularly encouraging since nearly 70 per cent of the vulture population at the breeding centre is still very young to be expected to “deliver”.

In a programme that has put Haryana on the world map, the first time in 2006, the vultures had laid two eggs, but both these had not hatched. However, the birth of the chick in January last year had brought joy to those monitoring the developments closely, including the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) on vulture conservation and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Later, a second chick, too, was born, but both had died after surviving for eight days and one month, respectively. A total of four eggs had been laid last season.

The vulture conservation programme was started as a vulture care centre in August 2001 when injured and dying vultures were brought for care from Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. It was upgraded to a breeding centre in 2004 when the reason for the death of the birds became known. Diclofenac, the killer drug, was banned in 2006.

At the centre, efforts are on to breed the white-backed, slender-bill and long-billed vulture. All three are facing extinction with nearly 90 per cent of the vulture population already dead. While Haryana is the first state to have agreed to shoulder the responsibility of breeding vultures in captivity, another breeding centre was set up in West Bengal last year.

Kalesar Forests (Yamunanagar), February 6
As many as 13 white-backed vultures have been seen perched on a 40-metre high tree along National Highway 73-A in jungles for the past four days.

The species were once found in abundance in the country but today more than 99 per cent of them have perished.

A zoological expert after looking at the pictures of the vultures said the birds seem to be white backed vultures and if they had been spotted it was exciting news. Vultures were last in the food chain.

Another vulture expert associated with ‘Vulture conservation breeding programme’ at Pinjore near Chandigarh Dr Vibhu Parkash said white-backed vultures were once very common but now they were on the verge of extinction.

According to him, a drug, namely diclosenac, which was administered to cattle to relive its inflation and pain, was the major cause behind the extinction of species. “Vultures are scavengers and if a vulture eats a dead cattle, which had been administered the drug, dies within 72 hours. The drugs damages kidneys of the vultures,” added Parkash.

The vultures were spotted by locals four days ago. There were 13 of them, said Ramesh Arya, a villager. The matter has been reported to the wildlife department.

Parkash said few Himalayan Griffins, a species of vulture whose habitat was higher Himalayas, were also spotted around Pinjore area.

“During the past few years, juvenile griffins were seen flying down to plains. As the common vulture, including white backed vultures, have almost disappeared, there was plenty of food for the griffins and that was why they were coming down,” said Parkash.

He said under the vulture conservation programme, they were trying to raise 25 pairs of three breeds of vultures. In the next 15 years, they would be released at six locations in the country. Diclosenac was the major enemy of the vultures and the Government of India had banned the use of the drug. He said the use of the drug had come down significantly and it was good for the survival of the vultures.

A zoological expert and professor in the subject at the local MLN College, Dr Rajiv Kalsi, said the species was rare and only few of the birds were alive.

Shiv Singh Rawat, wildlife inspector at Pinjore, said the Bombay Natural Society under a government-sponsored project was working hard to preserve the species. He said two eggs had hatched recently but the offspring died.

Yamunanagar, February 6
Digging of a 22 km-long drain has come under dispute as several farmers have moved court complaining that the drain is being made on certain portions of land which the canal department has not acquired.

The drain is being dug at a cost of Rs 11 crore to save the Western Yamuna Canal (WYC) from industrial waste by the irrigation department under the supervision of the Haryana Pollution Control Board.

About 28 farmers from Radaur block have moved the court alleging that the canal department was digging the drain on certain portions without demarcation.

Executive engineer of the canal department A.R. Nagpal said the land for digging was acquired under the provisions of the Punjab Land Acquisition Act and the owners were paid compensation for the same.

He, however, said the department would carry out fresh demarcation of land.

About 12 km of the drain has been already been dug, said sources.

Bharat Starch Mill, Saraswati Sugar Mill, Ballarpur Industries Limited, Haryana Distillery and Sewerage Treatment Plant set up under the Yamuna action plan have contributed for the drain in ratio of their respective discharge into the WYC. The drain was to start from PWD Chowk in Yamunanagar and end at a sewerage plant in Dhanoura village of Karnal district.

Residents of Dagla, Ghesupur, Dhaloura, Khurdban, Kanjanu and other villages have moved the court claiming that the canal department had started work without demarcation of their land.

Meanwhile, farmers Antu Ram, Neeraj Subhash and a few others of Sukhpura village complained at a khula darbar organised by the district administration that the drain had divided their land and demanded the construction of a bridge over the drain so that they could access land on the other side of the drain.