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All eyes on Maya’s Karnal rally today
Chandigarh, March 1
The BSP’s scheduled rally at Karnal tomorrow has evoked a keen interest among political pundits of Haryana. More than knowing how much crowd the rally will attract, they are interested in what the party supremo, Mayawati, will have to say at the rally about the state’s politics.

Loan Waiver
Farmers want more, to protest tomorrow
Allege debt conciliation scheme a nonstarter
Fatehabad, March 1
While the Haryana government has been singing paeans for its central leadership for the waiving of loans of small farmers in the Union Budget, a similar scheme of the state government initiated a year back has proved to be a stillborn idea for the want of will on the part of those at the helm of affairs.

Work on widening NH-73 begins
Yamunanagar, March 1
The process of widening the stretch between Jagadhri and Paonta Sahib of the National Highway 73-A has been started. The road will be widened to 10 metres from the existing seven metres at a cost of Rs 10.69 crore.
Trees being felled by staff of the forest department to make way for widening the Jagadhri-Paonta Sahib stretch of the NH-73 A in Yamunanagar.
Trees being felled by staff of the forest department to make way for widening the Jagadhri-Paonta Sahib stretch of the NH-73 A in Yamunanagar. — A Tribune photograph


Stories from Haryana towns falling in the National Capital Region are put in
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Two children admire the beauty of flowers during the annual HUDA flower festival at Rohtak.
GIFT OF NATURE: Two children admire the beauty of flowers during the annual HUDA flower festival at Rohtak on Saturday. — Photo by Manoj Dhaka

CM rules out state YC chief’s nomination
Race for Rajya Sabha hots up
Chandigarh, March 1
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has ruled out the nomination of state Youth Congress chief Sanjay Chhokker for a Rajya Sabha seat from Haryana.

CJ inaugurates litigants’ hall
Rewari, March 1
Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Vijender Jain inaugurated a Rs 1.3 crore litigants’ hall in the District Courts complex here today.

Fog spells trouble for motorists, 1 killed
Panipat/Karnal, March 1
At least one person was killed in an accident whereas more than 20 passengers on board a New Delhi-bound Himachal Pradesh bus had a miraculous escape because of dense fog that engulfed the GT Road and the Panipat-Rohtak NH-71A this morning.

Join IAF, Air Marshal exhorts youth
Sirsa, March 1
Air Marshal P.S. Bhangu, Senior Air Staff Officer of the Western Command of the IAF, today exhorted the youth to join the force if they had fascination for adventure and a disciplined lifestyle.

Tubewell Connections
Old applicants get chance till April 30
Chandigarh, March 1
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has decided to give a chance to the farmers in its area to get their cancelled applications for tubewell connections revived up to April 30.

11 HCS officers transferred
Chandigarh, March 1
The Haryana government has issued transfers orders of 11 HCS officers with immediate effect. Ramesh Krishan, ADC-cum-CEO, DRDA, Kurukshetra, has been posted as general manager (project), office of the engineer-in-chief, irrigation, in place of Surender Singh, who has been posted as city magistrate, Panipat, against a vacant post.

In-laws booked for dowry death
Rewari, March 1
The Khol police has booked a young woman, Jyoti’s husband Dinesh, mother-in-law Gauri Devi and three others, all residents of Mundi village, 12 km from here, for the dowry death of Jyoti.

Villager burnt alive
Karnal, March 1
A man was allegedly burnt to death in his orchard in Khera Chhapra village near here early today.

3 die in mishaps
Jind, March 1
Three persons died and three others were injured in accidents in the district in the past 24 hours.

3 held for factory blast
Faridabad, March 1
The police today arrested three managers of a factory, in which an LPG cylinder had burst yesterday evening. At least 24 labourers received injuries in the mishap. Later, the three arrested were granted bail.




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All eyes on Maya’s Karnal rally today
Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 1
The BSP’s scheduled rally at Karnal tomorrow has evoked a keen interest among political pundits of Haryana. More than knowing how much crowd the rally will attract, they are interested in what the party supremo, Mayawati, will have to say at the rally about the state’s politics.

The question agitating their minds is will she give some indications about the party with which the BSP will enter into an alliance with in Haryana. It is no secret that the Janhit Congress of Kuldeep Bishnoi will give its hand to have an alliance with the BSP, both in the Lok Sabha elections due early next year, and the assembly elections due after another one year. Sources say Bishnoi is already in touch with Mayawati. He had even gone to congratulate Mayawati to her Delhi house after the BSP won the UP elections.

It is widely felt that if the BSP and Bishnoi contest the elections together, they will form a formidable combine in Haryana.

But so far the BSP has maintained that it will not enter into any pre-poll alliance anywhere. Of course, for Mayawati, the post-poll alliances are a matter of bargaining and convenience.

The political pundits will be scanning her tomorrow’s speech at Karnal. They will try hard to find meaning into her each and every word, particularly if she talks about the Haryana political scene.

In the past, the BSP had contested the Lok Sabha elections in Haryana in alliance with the INLD of Om Prakash Chautala. Sources say Mayawati was not in favour of the alliance. However, Kanshi Ram overruled her objections under the influence of mediators between him and Chautala. The INLD leader had contested the elections by saying that he would like to see Kanshi Ram as the Prime Minister of the country. However, once the polling was over, Chautala switched his support to Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Sources say Mayawati has not forgotten this “betrayal”. Moreover, under the banner of the UNPA, the INLD is a close ally of Mayawati’s arch enemy, Mulayam Singh’s Samajwadi Party. Therefore, an alliance between the BSP and the INLD is highly unlikely.

The choice before Mayawati, if she wants to enter into an alliance in Haryana, is between the Congress and the Janhit Congress. The sources say Mayawati has recently instructed her party men to avoid criticism of the Congress, indicating some sort of an understanding between Mayawati and Sonia Gandhi. How long this understanding will continue, only Mayawati knows. The instructions had come before Mayawati got a special package for Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, general secretary of the Haryana BSP Krishna Dhaami said here today that while the other parties were organising rallies in the names of various communities like Dalit sammelan or Backward Classes’ sammelan, it was the BSP only which would organise tomorrow’s rally as “sarvsamaj bhaichara banao rally”. 

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Loan Waiver
Farmers want more, to protest tomorrow
Allege debt conciliation scheme a nonstarter
Sushil Manav

Fatehabad, March 1
While the Haryana government has been singing paeans for its central leadership for the waiving of loans of small farmers in the Union Budget, a similar scheme of the state government initiated a year back has proved to be a stillborn idea for the want of will on the part of those at the helm of affairs.

The Haryana chapter of the All-India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has now decided to organise demonstration on this and some related issues all over the state on March 3.

The state government had constituted debt conciliation boards in March 2007 under section 5 of the Haryana Relief of Agricultural Indebtedness Act 1989 whereby additional deputy commissioners were appointed chairman of these boards while the district revenue officers and representatives of leading banks were appointed members. Some non-official members were also appointed in all districts of the state.

In a communication to all divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners and additional deputy commissioners, the government had said the boards had been empowered to grant relief to the debtors not only with regard to the loans advanced by financial institutions but also against the conduct of private creditors and moneylenders.

Section 3 (e) and 4 of the Act under which these boards were constituted provided rescheduling of the debts of farmers with regard to the repayment capacity of the debtor.

Section 12 (5) provided that in case the debtor has repaid to the creditor an amount equal to or exceeding the double the principal amount, or the debtor on being apprised of such findings pays an amount which makes total repayment equal to double the amount of principal, the board shall have the powers to declare the debt as fully discharged.

These officers were directed to give wide publicity to the constitution of district-level debt conciliation boards and hold at least one meeting in a month initially.

The orders also said to increase the frequencies of the meetings if the number of applications increased.

Surprisingly, not a single meeting of the board has so far been held in this district and the AIKS has alleged that the situation in similar in other districts of the state.

Krishan Swaroop Gorakhpuria, vice-president of the state unit of AIKS, said the central government’s move of waiving agricultural loans to the tune of Rs 60,000 crore was a welcome step, but alleged that the debt conciliation boards set up by the Haryana government at the district level failed due to the lack of will on the part of the government.

He alleged that the main reason behind the lackadaisical attitude of the government on this issue was that most political leaders had their own commission agent shops in various grain markets of the state and hence they acted as moneylenders to farmers.

He said financial interests of a majority of politicians were involved in this and hence they were against the boards coming into functioning.

He said the farmers’ body had apprised the government of the fact several times but to no avail and added that the sabha would now hold demonstration at district headquarters on this and other issues on March 3.

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Work on widening NH-73 begins
Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, March 1
The process of widening the stretch between Jagadhri and Paonta Sahib of the National Highway 73-A has been started. The road will be widened to 10 metres from the existing seven metres at a cost of Rs 10.69 crore.

The National Highway Authority of India has approached the forest department for the permission to fell trees. Besides, the road from Chhuharpur to Paonta Sahib will be four-laned.

The widening of the road was a long-pending demand, as a large number of people had lost lives in road accidents on that stretch.

The NHAI has also removed encroachments on the Jagadhri-Saharanpur stretch of the NH-73. It will construct a pedestrian path and beautify both sides of the road.

Meanwhile, the forest department had felled about 250 trees on either side of the NH-73. The trees had been felled as per a work plan of the department, said district forest officer R.S. Dhankar.

Prof S.L. Saini, president of the Haryana Environmental Society, who has planted and ensured survival of more than 50,000 trees in Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra and Panchkula districts said the forest department should not fell green trees.

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CM rules out state YC chief’s nomination
Race for Rajya Sabha hots up
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 1
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has ruled out the nomination of state Youth Congress chief Sanjay Chhokker for a Rajya Sabha seat from Haryana.

Two seats from the state will be up for grabs when the nationwide poll for the Upper House takes place on March 26. The present occupants of the seats are Ram Prakash of the Congress and Harender Malik. INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala sent Malik, a native of western UP, to the Rajya Sabha from Haryana in a bid to expand the party’s base in the Jat belt of UP.

With the ruling Congress in the state being in a position to get its candidates elected from both seats, Congress members are making a beeline for nomination. Chhokker got a resolution passed recently at a meeting of the Youth Congress saying that he should be given nomination for the Rajya Sabha.

Hooda, however, has brushed aside the YC resolution and has made it clear that the youth leader is not being considered for a ticket to the House of Elders.

Ram Prakash was elected following a vacancy created by the death of Sumitra Mahajan, and as a result had a short stint in the House. It is widely believed that Ram Prakash, in view of his truncated tenure, will make a strong case for his re-election. For the other RS seat, there is a huge rush.

Among those who are in the race is working president of the party in Haryana Kuldeep Sharma, a Hooda confidant. Sharma, the party’s Brahmin face, is also fighting a political battle with Arvind Sharma, Congress MP from Karnal, on the issue of influence over the Brahmins. Backers of Kuldeep Sharma argue that if he is sent to the Rajya Sabha, he will be able to position himself better with regard to his fight with the Karnal MP.

Haryana has already sent a Brahmin candidate to the Rajya Sabha in the form of union law minister H.R. Bhardwaj. Bhardwaj, though a native of Haryana, has never taken much interest in the politics of his home state and continues to be aloof.

Srikishan Hooda, who quit his Kiloi assembly constituency to pave the way for Hooda to contest from the seat, is also said to be in contention for the Rajya Sabha this time round. 

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CJ inaugurates litigants’ hall
Our Correspondent

Rewari, March 1
Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Vijender Jain inaugurated a Rs 1.3 crore litigants’ hall in the District Courts complex here today.

Addressing advocates, prominent citizens and senior officials of the district, Justice Jain said the judicial system was an integral part of the democratic structure and a strong judiciary was a must for a robust democracy. He wanted judges as well as the Bar (advocates) to be equal partners in this onerous task of strengthening the judiciary vis-a-vis the democratic set-up, particularly in Haryana.

To a charter of demands presented by Anil Rao, district president of the Bar association, Justice Jain recommended a financial assistance of Rs 11 lakh for computerisation, furniture and books for the Bar library. His recommendation was promptly endorsed by the irrigation and PWD minister, Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, on behalf of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who could not attend the function owing to reported indisposition.

Expressing concern over the skewed sex ratio, which now stood at 793 girls for 1,000 boys in Haryana, Justice Jain exhorted advocates and others to come forward to sensitise the people in this regard to end the menace expeditiously.

Later, Justice Jain laid the foundation stone of a judicial complex, which would be constructed at a cost of Rs 2.8 crore at Kosli.

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Fog spells trouble for motorists, 1 killed
Vishal Joshi
Tribune News Service

Panipat/Karnal, March 1
At least one person was killed in an accident whereas more than 20 passengers on board a New Delhi-bound Himachal Pradesh bus had a miraculous escape because of dense fog that engulfed the GT Road and the Panipat-Rohtak NH-71A this morning.

The driver of the bus lost control over the vehicle due to poor visibility and rammed into the pavement near Brara Chowk.

AIG (highway) Rajpal Singh said 20 passengers were immediately rushed to hospital and later discharged after first aid. No major injury was reported.

Sushil of Baand village was killed when the motorcycle he was riding on hit a stray animal near Israna, Panipat. Sources said the area experienced poor visibility this morning.

Scores of other accidents were also reported from different parts of Panipat and Karnal districts but no human loss was reported.

However, traffic remained disrupted on the NH-1, mainly between Panipat and Shahbad, due to foggy weather.

In another incident, two trucks laden with steal rods collided near Kohand on the GT Road. Two persons with minor injuries were reportedly rushed to the Civil Hospital, Panipat.

Similarly, more than five vehicles piled up near the upcoming toll plaza at Arjaheri village near Nilokheri at about 7 am today. No major injury was reported.

A member of the Central Film Censor Board, R.R. Gill, who was travelling early this morning on the NH-1, claimed that thick fog in black colour led to zero visibility on the road from Panipat to Shahbad in Karnal district.

However, the AIG claimed that no such phenomenon of black fog was observed or reported to the NH police. He said probably the ongoing irrigation of wheat fields along the highways was responsible for the fog.

He said though no exact reasons were known for the foggy conditions, but it was experienced only during the time of sunrise for the past couple of days.

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Join IAF, Air Marshal exhorts youth
Our Correspondent

Sirsa, March 1
Air Marshal P.S. Bhangu, Senior Air Staff Officer of the Western Command of the IAF, today exhorted the youth to join the force if they had fascination for adventure and a disciplined lifestyle.

Air Marshal Bhangu was the chief guest at the annual sports meet of the Mata Harki Devi College of Education, Odhan, and was speaking to mediapersons at the residence of JCD Vidyapeeth director-general Kuldip Singh Dhindsa.

He said better pay and perks in the corporate sector had made the youth averse to joining the armed forces in the past few years, but after the implementation of the recommendations of the sixth pay commission, that anomaly would be removed.

Air Marshal Bhangu said there were a lot of opportunities for women in the IAF and they could join the force not only as pilots but also look for careers as technical or non-technical personnel.

He said that the IAF has earned a reputation of being among the best air forces of the world through sheer hard work, discipline and commitment of its men and now the biggest counties of the world were vying for joint practice with it.

Addressing students after inaugurating the sports meet, he exhorted the youth to join the IAF.

He delivered some literature regarding the IAF to Dhindsa for distribution among students.

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Tubewell Connections
Old applicants get chance till April 30
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 1
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has decided to give a chance to the farmers in its area to get their cancelled applications for tubewell connections revived up to April 30.

A spokesman for the nigam said here today that some farmers could not avail of the opportunity to have tubewell connections due to financial constraints or other engagements and their applications were cancelled by the DHBVN due to the non-fulfillment of conditions of demand notices.

To give relief to all such applicants, the nigam has given a chance, irrespective of period of their cancellations, for the revival of applications, provided the farmers come forward with written consent to the assistant general manager concerned to comply with the requirement of demand notices as per prevalent instructions of the nigam.

This one time chance for the revival of cancelled applications shall be valid up to April 30. 

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11 HCS officers transferred
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 1
The Haryana government has issued transfers orders of 11 HCS officers with immediate effect. Ramesh Krishan, ADC-cum-CEO, DRDA, Kurukshetra, has been posted as general manager (project), office of the engineer-in-chief, irrigation, in place of Surender Singh, who has been posted as city magistrate, Panipat, against a vacant post.

B.B. Kaushik, secretary, Haryana Agro Industries Corporation, goes as ADC-cum-CEO, DRDA, Jind, in place of Sanjeev Verma, who has been posted as ADC-cum-CEO, DRDA, Kurukshetra. Girish Arora, city magistrate, Panchkula, and Yogesh Kumar, city magistrate, Ambala, will swap their places of postings.

K.K.Gupta, city magistrate, Gurgaon, has been posted as sub-divisional officer (C)-II, Gurgaon, relieving Jai Singh Sangwan of the said charge. Veena Hooda, executive magistrate, Faridabad, has been posted as land acquisition officer, PWD (B&R), Gurgaon, against a vacant post.

Vatsal Vashisht, joint director (admn), town and country planning and urban estates, Haryana, and urban local bodies, has been posted as city magistrate, Gurgaon. Manjeet Singh, undersecretary, Land Use Board, has been posted as city magistrate, Kaithal, against a vacant post. Yogesh Kumar Mehta, subdivisional officer (C), Ratia, will also look after the work of subdivisional officer (C), Fatehabad.

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In-laws booked for dowry death
Our Correspondent

Rewari, March 1
The Khol police has booked a young woman, Jyoti’s husband Dinesh, mother-in-law Gauri Devi and three others, all residents of Mundi village, 12 km from here, for the dowry death of Jyoti.

Jyoti’s body was found hanging from the ceiling at Mundi village last evening.

The police has registered a case of dowry death under sections 498-A, 304-B and 34 of the IPC against them following a complaint lodged by Dharambir, brother of the deceased and resident of Dinod village in Bhiwani district.

The complainant alleged that Jyoti (23), who got married to Dinesh in 2002, was subjected to cruelty by her in-laws, which forced her to take the extreme step. 

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Villager burnt alive

Karnal, March 1
A man was allegedly burnt to death in his orchard in Khera Chhapra village near here early today.

The victim, identified as Punna Ram (50), who had taken a contract of a fruit garden in the village, was allegedly overpowered by some unidentified men, who used polythene packaging material and kerosene oil to set him ablaze, the police said.

Punna Ram’s charred body was picked up by the police from the orchard and sent for an autopsy.

Karnal SSP A.S. Chawla said it would only be ascertained after the postmortem whether he was burnt alive or first killed and then burnt. — UNI

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3 die in mishaps
Tribune News Service

Jind, March 1
Three persons died and three others were injured in accidents in the district in the past 24 hours.

Two youths died on the spot and two others were injured when the car they were travelling in collided head-on with a trailer truck on the NH-71 near Julana town, about 25 km from here, last night. The victims were returning from a marriage function. The deceased included Rajesh and Raj Kapoor from Sonepat district.

In another accident, Sunil of Harigarh village died while his accomplice Sandeep escaped with minor injuries when the car they were travelling in was hit by a passenger train at an unmanned railway crossing near Safidon railway station here today.

Couple consumes poison, woman dies

A middle-aged couple consumed poison over some domestic dispute in Safidon subdivision here today. The woman identified as Naresh Devi (38) died while her husband, Rajbir, was stated to be in a critical condition. The kin of the deceased have alleged that the woman was poisoned to death. However, sources said the woman from Panjukhera village had consumed the poison first and when her husband, Rajbir, learnt about her death, he also consumed a poisonous substance.

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3 held for factory blast
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, March 1
The police today arrested three managers of a factory, in which an LPG cylinder had burst yesterday evening. At least 24 labourers received injuries in the mishap. Later, the three arrested were granted bail.

The private firm, Sabroje, produces hosepipes for vehicles. The accident took place when the production process was on. Many of the workers sustained injuries because of the stampede in the hall premises.

According to the victims, who have been admitted in Central Hospital, the impact of the explosion was severe.

Five of the victims are still in the intensive care unit.

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