Hisar, April 26
Putting an end to speculation on who will contest the Adampur assembly seat, Kuldeep Bishnoi, MP, announced today that his father, former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, will be the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) candidate.

Bishnoi, who had been abroad since the election date was announced, returned here last evening. He was under pressure from his supporters to contest the Adampur seat himself in place of his father.

However, he announced that all three legislators who had been "illegally" expelled from the assembly would contest their seats. Thus, Dharampal Malik and Rakesh Kamboj would be the party nominees from the Gohana and Indri assembly segments, respectively.

Bishnoi said his father would prove that the Adampur voters were with him and not the "outsiders" --- an obvious reference to the INLD candidate, former finance minister Sampat Singh, and Congress nominee Ranjit Singh, both of whom do not hail from Adampur. Bhajan Lal would defend the honour of the Adampur voters and the denial of development funds to the constituency by the Hooda government would be the party's main poll plank, he added.

He said the byelections would deeply impact polity in Haryana and these would decide which party would form the next government in Haryana. In reply to a question about his brother, Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan, Bishnoi said politics and family were two different entities. As a family they were together but in politics both had their own priorities and philosophy.

Bishnoi said his resignation from the Lok Sabha was not being accepted "as part of a political conspiracy". However, he did not explain what this conspiracy was. He said if the INLD and Congress leaders thought his resignation was a gimmick, they were welcome to use the same trick and resign their seats.

On the other hand Congress nominee Ranjit Singh, a son of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, said today he would file his nomination papers on May 1 in the presence of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and HPCC chief Phool Chand Mullana. He held a meeting of his supporters here today.

Referring to Bhajan Lal's defection to the Congress in 1980 along with all Janata Party legislators, Ranjit Singh said he had entered the fray to fight against "defectors". However, he conveniently forgot that he himself has changed parties several times in the past, looking for greener pastures.

Chandigarh, April 26
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will not contest the bypoll in the three assembly constituencies of Adampur, Indri and Gohana. At a meeting in Yamunanagar today, it was decided that the party would not field any candidate in the three constituencies, which goes to polls on May 22, and its voters and supporters would not participate in the election in any way.

The BSP general secretary-cum-coordinator in charge of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, Mann Singh Manhera, said the party’s one-point agenda was to contest the Lok Sabha elections and make UP Chief Minister Mayawati, the Prime Minister.

“Our party and its workers have no interest in the bypoll and will use this period to strengthen our base in Haryana. In a sense, we are boycotting the bypoll,” he said.

Jind, April 26
The state government has notified the classification and the conditions for leasing out panchayat land (village common land) on a long-term basis.

The government, in a communication to the district authorities, has disclosed that the leasing process can be done in four categories and all these will invite different commercial rates, depending upon the nature of the lease.

The lease rates vary from Re 1 per acre per year to the existing market rate, besides an additional charge of Rs 30,000 per acre per year. Several villages have applied for permission to lease out common land on a commercial basis to generate funds for development.

Rule 6(5) of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Rules, 1964, specifies that the panchayat may, with prior approval of the state government, lease out its land by allotment for a period not exceeding 33 years, further renewable not exceeding the previous period for setting up infrastructural facilities, units of public utility nature, educational institutions, and special economic zones, or for purposes approved by the state government for the benefit of the village community. The authorities concerned have recently issued a notification classifying the lease category and the rates to be charged for the purpose.

The first category of lease is meant for setting up institutions relating to education, health, sports stadium or related purposes, for which the lease rate to be charged will be just Re 1 per acre per year.

The second category of lease is meant for setting up facilities or infrastructure of public utility nature by the government or its agencies like boards, corporations or companies for which the panchayat concerned will be entitled to charge an amount equal to 10 per cent of the collector rate of the land per acre per year with an increase of 10 per cent after every five years.

Under the third category, the panchayat will get an amount equal to 5 per cent of the collector rate of the land per acre per year with an hike of 5 per cent for the leased-out land meant for setting up schools, hospitals, dispensaries, veterinary hospital or similar institutions on a no-profit-no-loss basis.

The fourth category pertains to the SEZ and the industry which will have to shell out an amount equal to the floor rate or the market rate whichever is higher as premium payable in advance plus Rs 30,000 per acre with an annual increase of Rs 10,000.

It has been stated that such institutions will have to give preference to the locals in the matter of employment in industrial units and a reservation of 5 per cent for local children in schools, besides waiving the tuition fee for them.

Chandigarh, April 26
Haryana Governor A.R. Kidwai urged all divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners and life members of the Haryana State Council for Child Welfare to launch special fund-raising drives for abandoned and destitute children. Kidwai, who is the president of the Haryana State Council for Child Welfare, was addressing the annual general body meeting of the council at Raj Bhawan here yesterday.

He also asked the activists of the council to pay more attention to the rural areas. He asked them to launch a drive to enrol maximum life members in the council.

The Governor congratulated vice-president of the council Asha Hooda and said she had provided timely help to the council by suggesting innovative programmes like beautician training courses and beauty, hair and skin care training centres for inclusion in the job-oriented activities of the council. Hooda said 2008 had been declared as the “Education Year” in the state so that every child in the state was enrolled in schools.

Honorary general secretary of the council Manju Gupta presented the annual reports of the council for the years 2004-05 and 2005-06.

She mentioned that six out of 22 children, who were awarded National Bravery Awards in January, were from Haryana.

The Governor gave away shields, mementos, gold medals, silver medals and letters of thanks to distinguished organisations, persons and workers for their contributions in the field of child welfare during 2004-05 and 2005-06.

Raipur, April 26
A police team has been sent from Chhattisgarh to Haryana after a man said his wife had been sold there by human traffickers, an official said today.

Makhanlal Nishad (23), a resident of Mahasamund district’s Pithora village, told the police at the state capital here that his wife, Ranjeeta, was sold to Ashok Yadav of Khumra village in Haryana for Rs 80,000 after the couple was lured to the state by agents, who promised them jobs.

Amit Kumar, superintendent of police, Raipur district, said a police team was going to Haryana to find if there was any truth in Nishad’s claims.

“A police team is on its way to Haryana and will go to other states as well if required. However, we have no evidence that Nishad was ever married to Ranjeeta. In fact, she had filed a case of kidnapping and rape against Nishad two years ago,” Kumar said.

Nishad told the police that he and Ranjeeta were in love and had married. They wanted to go to a city and earn money and the agents took advantage of them.

According to him, they kept him and Ranjeeta in separate rooms at Khumra village in Haryana. She was later forced to marry Yadav, a middle-aged man.

Yadav allegedly asked Nishad to collect Rs 80,000 from the agent since his wife had been sold. — IANS

Karnal, April 26
Aimed at providing better export avenues to the dairy industry, the Karnal-based National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), deemed university, is contemplating to boost research work on different varieties of cheese.

Talking to mediapersons, the newly appointed director of the institute, Dr Anil Kumar Srivastava, said today that there was an impressive overseas potential for the cheese industry, including Iran.

He revealed that the institute would focus on developing feta cheese, a curd-cheese variant market in Iran. “There is a need to tap the market as Iran has a great demand for feta cheese but the country suffers due to poor milk production,” he added.

Similarly, the institute is also doing intensive research on karari cheese, the regional delicacy of Jammu to make it a commercially viable product.

He said the institute had signed MoU with the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), a government of India undertaking, to market the technologies developed by it by identifying the market forces keen to buy it. Srivastava previously was the dean at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Science and Technology and also worked with the Punjab Agriculture University for more than 20 years.

India has an annual milk production of nearly 100 million tonnes with the availability of 240 gm per capita in the country.

Favouring “lab to land” concept, he said serious efforts would be made to update those involved about the latest research success at the institute.

“There will be special thrust on developing superior germplasm or the method to introduce quality cattle through the methods of cross and select breeding,” he added. Keeping in view of the changing markets trends, the institutes will also propose to start a two-year integrated PG programme in dairy business management from the next academic session.

Sonepat, April 26
As many as four industrial units, including three of Tannery in the industrial areas of GT-road belt in the district, were sealed by the Haryana State Pollution Control Board for not complying with the provisions of the Water Pollution Act today.

The local team of the board took the action after complaints that these units in drain No. 6 and diversion drain no. 8 were releasing the chemically polluted water and the same water was being carried in the Yamuna, which was being used for drinking water in Delhi.

Before taking the action, the board had also issued 15-day notices to units like India Leather, Bharat Leather, Msrs Kiran Overseas and Exports and P.D. Industry, for installation of effluent treatment plants and not to release the water without treatment.

After the reports about a year back that polluted water contaminated with some poisonous substance was being received at Haiderpur Water treatment Plant in Delhi through the Yamuna, three industrial units, including Galaxy Leather in the same industrial belts, were sealed by the Central Pollution Control Board and the Delhi Jal Board.

Chandigarh, April 26
The Haryana Power Utilities will spend Rs 239 crore on power reforms in Gurgaon district by the year 2011.

While stating this here today, a spokesman of Haryana Power Utilities said under this ambitious plan, new sub -stations would be set up and the capacity of existing sub-stations would be augmented and new transmission lines would be laid in a phased manner.

He said seven new sub-stations would be set up in Gurgaon during the current financial year at a cost of Rs 164.40 crore. Out of these, work to set up four sub-stations has already commenced.

Apart from this, three sub-stations of 66 KV capacity each, would also be set up by the private colonisers for which necessary approval has been granted to them by the Power Utilities.

He said a 220 KV sub-station, set up at a cost of Rs 19 crore at Daultabad, has commenced functioning and a 66 KV sub-station has also become functional in Sector 38.

It was set up at a cost of Rs 5 crore. He said the capacity of nine sub-stations of 66 KV each was being augmented at a cost of Rs 19 crore.

He said in Gurgaon, 79 lakh units of electricity were supplied per day in 2006-07, which was 21 per cent more as compared to the supply of electricity in 2005-06. — PTI

Gurgaon, April 26
As many as 341 cases were settled in the lok adalat organised at the Labour Court here today. This was the second lok adalat organised here to solve labour disputes. Two old women workers inaugurated it.

An amount of Rs.21,40,739 was awarded in the Labour Court-1 presided by the additional district and sessions judge S.C. Goyal. It took up 69 cases out of which 55 were settled.

In another court presided by Satish Ahlawat settled 59 cases and Rs.9,64,173 were paid to the workers as compensation in order to settle their cases.

As many as 39 workers rejoined their duties after the intervention of the conciliation officers.

All six labour officers-cum-conciliation officers of the district took part in the lok adalat that settled cases related to minimum wages, compensation and industrial disputes.

Kaithal, April 26
The district police yesterday held Babita for allegedly killing her mother-in-law and her two daughters on April 19.

She reportedly admitted before the police that she had murdered her mother-in-law with an axe and then strangulated her two daughters. After committing the murders, she torched her house in a fit of rage.

SP Anil Kumar Rao here today said the accused was produced in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Ajay Parashar, who remanded her to a day’s police custody.

During interrogation, Babita told the police that she had used a rope to strangulate her daughters.

After the incident, Babita’s husband, Ved Prakash, had lodged a complaint with the police that his wife had extramarital relations, which often caused tension in the family. He said he had even complained to her parents about this, following which she had threatened to kill him and burn his house.

Gurgaon, April 26
The police arrested a wanted criminal, Ved Prakash, near a hotel on the NH-8 here today after a brief encounter. A proclaimed offender in a murder case, the accused carried a prize of Rs 5,000 on his head.

The SHO at the Manesar police station, Rajiv Kumar, who led the operation, said they had received an information that the accused would be coming in a white Santro bearing registration number HR 26 HJ 3970 from the side of Bilaspur village to commit some crime. Following this, the police formed two intercepting teams and put up a naka near Sunaria Hotel on the highway.

As the police team deployed at the naka signalled the driver of the said car to stop, he turned it towards Suhravan village dodging the police with an intention to escape. He also opened fire at the police and a bullet hit the gypsy of the SHO. A brief exchange of fire followed after which the police overpowered the accused, who was later identified as Ved Prakash.

The police recovered a .455 bore pistol, a country-made .32 bore pistol and three live cartridges from the car.

The accused is a resident of Koh village under the jurisdiction of Manesar police station. He is also wanted in a case of threat to life and another in the Arms Act.

He had been arrested in three cases of vehicle theft. He was produced in a local court, which sent him to police remand till May 2.

Rewari, April 26
The CIA police seized a large number of pirated CDs during raids conducted at two shops in a market near the bus stand here yesterday.

It also arrested two shopkeepers, Yogesh and Mahipal, who were today produced in the court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, who remanded them to judicial custody.

The raids were conducted on a complaint made by Naresh Kumar, a supervisor of Super Cassette Industry, Noida (UP).

A case of cheating under Section 420 of the IPC as well as under various sections of the Copyright Act has been registered in this regard.