Chandigarh, February 21
When former chairman of the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) K.C. Bangar alleged two days ago that maps from the answer sheets of two successful candidates in the HCS and allied services examination had been removed to give the impression that they were awarded marks for five questions while they had attempted four, there were many who did not disbelieve him.

The controversial selections were made when Bangar headed the commission. Bangar also claimed that it was a practice in the commission that all the answer sheets would be thoroughly checked by officials, who would write a note on the back of the index paper if any shortcoming was found in the evaluation. He said if the maps had been missing when the answer sheets came back from the examiner, the checking officials would have definitely pointed it in their note.

But his version of the things became questionable when former advocate-general of Haryana Mohan Jain, appearing for the petitioner Karan Dalal, told the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which is looking into the selections, that the question paper of History examination had asked the candidates to draw the map inside the answer sheet. So, he said, it was wrong to say that the map had been removed.

But it will be interesting to know what Bangar would have to say to an irregularity or mistake which was “not noticed” by his checking officials. The irregularity or mistake definitely affected the career of a bright candidate.

The commission judged the candidates in interview on four counts - higher qualifications, awareness, voice and intelligence. Subhita (Roll no. 15260), a Backward Class candidate, was given three, 19, 19 and 19 marks under these subheads respectively. The total of the interview should have been 60. But the commission totaled her marks in all the subheads of the interview as 57, three marks less than what the commission had awarded her. Since she had secured 520 marks in the written examination, her total would have been 580. But her total was shown as 577.

If Subhita’s actual total had been shown in the final list, she would have made to the HCS proper and not Mahabir Prasad (Roll no. 19737), also of the Backward Class category, who scored 579 marks. Was the mistake deliberate or not, only Bangar can answer. But it definitely helped Mahabir Prasad at the cost of Subhita, who was selected as assistant excise and taxation officer instead of an HCS officer.

Rohtak, February 21
When Alka Jakhar, a resident of Sector 14 here, took home a newborn girl lying abandoned near her residence yesterday, she had not expected that the police would harass her.

Instead of appreciating her noble gesture, the local police threatened her that a case of kidnapping the child would be registered against her if she did not hand over the child to the couple claiming to be her parents.

“I wanted to ensure that they were her real parents. However, the police declined my request for a DNA test to validate their claim. On the top of it, they (the police) threatened to book me for kidnap,” Alka said while talking to The Tribune at her residence today.

On being apprised of the matter by this correspondent, deputy commissioner R.S. Doon assured Alka that the police would not harass her. He appreciated her gesture and requested her to cooperate with the police in following the official procedure.

Following this, a police party, along with a woman claiming to be the child’s grandmother, reached Alka’s home and got the child handed over to her.

Surprisingly, the police has not registered a case in this regard. On being contacted, SSP Hanif Qureshi said no DNA test was required, as the family had identified the girl.

“How the baby reached where it was found is a matter of investigation,” he admitted, adding that a case would be registered against the baby’s parents if it was established that they had abandoned her.

An elderly woman living in Alka’s neighbourhood aptly questioned how the people would fulfil their social responsibility if they got such rough treatment in return.

Given the manner in which the police is tackling the matter, it seems doubtful that the real facts will ever come to light.

Faridabad, February 21
Residents of Badoli village today blocked the outer ring road of the city to protest the death of a youth in a road accident, and later indulged in violence and arson in the nearby office of a construction company, BPTP.

The deceased, Jeetender, a resident of Badoli village was allegedly hit by a Maruti Zen last night on the bridge set up by BPTP. He was returning to the village after attending a marriage ceremony.

He succumbed to his injuries later. Irate residents blocked the road near Badloi for more than two hours.

They were angry as they alleged there were no speed breakers or proper lighting at the bridge.

They relented and lifted the road blockade after authorities promised to rectify the matter within 24 hours.

However, some angry youths of the village went to the nearby office of BPTP and indulged in violence. They broke the furniture and smashed window panes.

They later set on fire a small block in the office. The fire was doused shortly and any significant damage was avoided.

A fire brigade had to be pressed into service to douse the fire. The police had not registered a case in the matter till the time of this dispatch.

Yamunanagar, February 21
Kirtan, jagran and pravachan marked Ravidas Jayanti celebrations here today. Langars were also held in which thousands of people participated.

Balwant Singh, MLA from Sadoura participated in the function held in Bari Pabni village of Bilaspur. The BSP leader Lal Singh participated in the function held at Ravidas temple in Habitpur village.

State secretary of Haryana Janhit Congress Ravi Chaudhary in his address at the Ravidas temple at Kacha Qila in Sadhoura said the teachings of Sant Ravidas should be followed to achieve peace and social harmony. He donated Rs 11,000 to the Ravidas Sabha.

FATEHABAD: Sant Ravidas Jayanti was celebrated on Thursday in the local Ravidas dharamshala, where Kunal Bhadoo, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s son-in-law was the chief guest.

Congratulating people on the occasion Bhadoo said Sant Ravidas advocated to end discrimination on the basis of caste and creed. He said our generation should learn lessons from his teachings.

He said the Haryana government had been working for the uplift of all sections of the society, including Dalits and backward classes.

Hisar, February 21
The chief information commissioner has directed the director-general of police to supply photocopies of roster register in respect of clerks, typists, assistants, accountants, deputy superintendents, constables, havildars, assistant sub-inspectors and inspectors to S.P. Chalia, general secretary of an association.

Chalia had sought this information from the information officer of the DGP of the Haryana police under the RTI Act in August last year. However, he was not supplied the information in time. He appealed and the first appellate authority also failed to give the requisite information.

He then approached the State Information Commission where the respondents failed to appear for hearing. In between, the first appellate authority furnished him information regarding the number of posts in each cadre, number of scheduled caste employees in each cadre and the backlog of reserved posts.

However, copies of the roster register and information regarding filling up of vacant reserved posts as per the government directive was denied to him. Hearing his appeal, CIC G. Madhvan directed the DGP to provide the remaining documents by April 15.

He said an investment in the solar power plant would also help in generating employment as well as in the development of the region.

Jhajjar, February 21
In a shocking incident, a drunken father dashed his six-year-old son on the ground killing him on the spot in Chhotu Ram Nagar colony of Bahadurgarh last night. The accused fled after the incident.

According to information, the accused, Vinod Chaudhary, who runs an STD/PCO and paan shop in the locality, returned home past midnight and started shouting. His parents and other residents tried to cool him down but he hurled abuses at them.

After people left him alone, he entered his room and held his son Saurav by his legs swinging and dashing him on the floor repeatedly.

His aged parents, sleeping in their rooms, rushed to the spot and found the child in a pool of blood.

The boy was taken to a hospital where doctors declared him dead. The police has registered a case against the father.

Family members, however, said Vinod’s wife had deserted him about a week ago as he had illicit relations with another woman. The couple had three children and the wife had taken two girls along with her.

The police has not ruled out the possibility of same persons and bike involved
in the incidents.

Incidents of snatching had been reported in the past also but most of them took place in the evenings.

Rewari, February 21
Shahbul, the alleged abductor of a teenaged girl, was brought here from West Bengal by the district police after getting a transit remand from there.

Simultaneously, the police also brought two teenaged girls, both sisters, who were allegedly abducted by Shabul and his associate Ishaq from Suthani village, 8 km from here, on January 13. However, Ishaq managed to escape.

Shahbul was today produced in the court of the additional chief judicial magistrate here, who remanded him to judicial custody.

Simultaneously, the girls too were restored to their parents, who have been living in a rented accommodation at Suthani village, while the girls’ father has been working as an electrician in a cement factory, near Suthani, for over 15 years. Prior to this, Shahbul and the girls were examined at the civil hospital here.

Earlier in January, the labour contractor Abul, under whom Shahbul and Ishaq worked as labourers in a rice factory, near Suthani village, was arrested by the Rewari district police for his alleged criminal connivance with Shahbul and Ishaq. A local court had sent him to judicial custody.

It is noteworthy that Shahbul and Ishaq first developed intimacy with the two teenaged sisters following which they eloped with them on January 13 when the girls’ parents were away to Bulandshahr district in Uttar Pradesh. Soon after they took the girls to their village in Dinajpur.

On returning home the girls’ father, after finding his daughters missing, field a complaint following which the Kasaula police registered a case of abduction and criminal conspiracy against the accused. After the medical examination of the girls here today a rape charge under Section 376 has also been added to the FIR.

Chandigarh, February 21
The INLD has attacked the Haryana government for damaging the autonomous character of the quasi-judicial Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC).

Former finance minister Sampat Singh charged the government with putting illegal pressure on the HERC “to achieve shady financial motives”.

He said the HERC had disapproved the Power Sales Agreement (PSA) entered into by Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) and M/S Power Trading Corporation (PTC) for the 300 MW Lanco Amarkantak Thermal Project, Phase II.

He said it was surprising why the HERC had not been able to take a final decision in the matter despite the alleged abuse of norms by the company.

The INLD leader said the Lanco project was full of loopholes and allegedly smacked of corruption and favouritism. Sampat Singh said the financial model and detailed project report (DPR) had not yet been submitted to the HERC by the company and till date the HERC was working on mere assumptions, which was objectionable.

He said the date of hearing for the review of the HERC’s earlier decision was fixed for January 4 by the HERC.

But it was now sitting over the case, he said, adding that the HERC had wrongly made Lanco the third party. No party could be added at the review stage.

Since the PSA was between the PTC and the HPGCL and Lanco was not a party to it, the company could not be made a party in the review, he added.

He said the state government would purchase electricity at the landed cost of Rs 2.75 per unit under this deal, whereas from the Sasan project of MP, it would get electricity at the rate of Rs 1.19 per unit. This big difference showed that there was corruption in the deal, he alleged.

Fatehabad, February 21
“Owing to poor power situation, Haryana has been ousted from a spot in the top 10 industrial states of the country.”

This was stated by former Haryana minister Sampat Singh while talking to mediapersons at the INLD office here today.

Singh claimed that Haryana was placed seventh in the list of industrially developed states in the country during the INLD regime but poor power supplies had ruined the industry in the state during the present government’s term.

Contesting the claims of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda regarding Haryana being the number one state in terms of per capita income, Singh said the state had become number one during the INLD regime itself and the present government had done nothing to add to it.

He said a hike in the sensex could not be considered as progress of a state and said only the rich and industrialists were benefiting from it.

Terming the present government as an utter failure, Singh said all sections of the society were fed up with the government.

Hisar, February 21
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has decided to hand over electricity distribution system in certain areas to franchisees.

A DHBVN spokesman here today said this had been done to improve the operational and financial health of its system.

He said the nigam had identified one operation division and 13 operation subdivisions for the purpose. These were: Hodal (Faridabad circle), Farukhnagar (Gurgaon circle), Kanina, Kosli and suburban Mahendragarh (Narnaul circle), Jui, Badhra and suburban Dadri (Bhiwani circle), Narnaund, Barwala (Hisar circle), Nathusari (Sirsa circle) and Nuh division in Gurgaon circle. Bids for these areas had been evaluated and the franchisees would be shortlisted shortly.

Moreover, under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojna, appointment and deployment of franchisees was mandatory for sustainable rural electricity supply system.

He said the DHBVN was finding it hard to maintain sustainable rural supply because of several reasons. These included high transmission and distribution losses, low collections, poor customer service, lower investment levels, declining manpower and rising costs.

Since these problems were limited to some pockets, total privatisation was not a solution.

The franchisees would mainly release new connections, enhance load, manage disconnections and re-connections and install and replace meters. They were also required to take meter reading, prepare and distribute bills and collect revenue.

CHANDIGARH: To strengthen generation, transmission and distribution system, the Haryana Power Utilities have spent Rs 2292.52 crore up to January during the current fiscal. This includes planned expenditure of Rs 773.28 crore.

Financial commissioner and principal secretary, power, Ashok Lavasa on Thursday said this at a meeting with officers of Haryana Power Utilities.

He said the power sector was a priority for the government. A number of consumer-friendly programmes had been prepared and implemented.

He directed them to achieve the targets fixed for boosting power infrastructure so as to ensure better supply of power and consumer satisfaction.

Ambala, February 21
The police has stepped up security following the arrival of dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on February 23 to appear in the CBI court at Ambala city.

Baksheesh Singh, the mastermind behind the murderous attack on the dera chief convoy, is still at large.

Earlier, it was believed that Baksheesh might have fled to Nepal with the help of one of his relatives, who belonged to Lakhmipur Kheri located on the Nepal border, but intelligence inputs received by the state police do not rule out his presence somewhere in Punjab.

According to sources, the police of various districts, from where the dera chief would cross to reach Ambala, were put on high alert so that the militant outfit could not repeat the Karnal incident.

In Ambala, the police has planned to make infallible security for the dera chief. The SP has also discussed the security arrangement with other police officers to make it more foolproof.

The number of forces will also be increased to double in comparison to prior visit of the dera chief.

The sources said the court premises would be sealed on February 23 and no outsiders would be allowed to enter the court premises.

The district magistrate has already imposed Section 144 in the court premises as a precautionary measure.

Working in other courts except the CBI court may remain suspended till the departure of the dera chief as earlier.

The deputy commissioner, Ambala, in a letter faxed to chief secretary, Haryana, a fortnight back had recommended that the hearing of the dera chief case should be shifted to some rest house or circuit house for security reasons.

According to information, the union home department did not respond to the Haryana plea in a positive manner in this regard.

Chandigarh, February 21
Haryana excise and taxation minister Birender Singh today made it clear that in the new excise policy, which had been approved by the government for the year 2008-09, the provision to allow the extension of bar timings by two hours on payment of additional fee of Rs 5 lakh and for 24 hours operation on additional annual payment of Rs 10 lakh was made in order to match the facilities extended to the bars in the metropolitan Delhi.

The minister clarified that the facility would be admissible only to hotels having grading of 4 stars and above in the state. He said the Haryana government had recently approved the state’s excise policy for the year 2008-09 having a number of salient features and efforts had been made to check the monopoly of some liquor contractors effectively.

He said it was expected that the excise revenue would touch Rs 1,440 crore, which was about Rs 90 crore more than the target of current financial year of Rs 1,350 crore.

The licence fee of bars in four and five stars and above category had been revised to Rs 10 lakh besides the government had also revised the time of sale hours from 9 am to 12 midnight while as against 8 am to 12 midnight earlier.