Hisar, May 5
Electioneering in the Adampur assembly segment of this district has gained momentum with former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal hitting the campaign trail today. This is the first time in 40 years that the wily politician is battling to retain his seat without the support of a national political party.

Bhajan Lal addressed nine public meetings in the constituency today before returning here because of excessive heat wave conditions in the area. He elicited good response from the voters as usual.

He was accompanied by his son and Congress MP Kuldeep Bishnoi who also addressed the election meetings. The father-son duo accused the Congress leadership of betraying them and foisting Bhupinder Singh Hooda as Chief Minister against the wishes of the voters.

They said the Hooda government had proved to be flop and Haryana was facing an unprecedented shortage of power and water because the Chief Minister lacked administrative control over the bureaucracy.

On the other hand, Ajay Chautala, MP, and a son of former Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala, toured several villages to seek support for the INLD candidate and former finance minister Sampat Singh. He harped on issues like inflation and power and water shortages. He said these problems would continue till the Congress was ousted both from Haryana and the Centre.

Sampat has been accusing Bhajan Lal clan of "isolating" Adampur from the rest of the state because of which development had eluded the area. However, the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) poses him a counter query, “Why did he not raise these issues earlier?”

Nevertheless, the INLD has its pockets of strong support especially in Jat dominated villages of the constituency from where the INLD camp has much expectations.

Congress candidate Ranjit Singh is a son of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal. He is banking upon Congress vote bank but it remains to be seen how much of it is cornered by Bhajan Lal.

Ranjit Singh is singing the development tune. He has been saying Haryana under Hooda had been progressing at a fast pace while Adampur had been left behind. In his speeches, he is asking Bhajan Lal to retire from politics because of age and health factors. To this the Bishnoi camp retorts that his father Devi Lal never retired from public life till he died.

For the Congress, Hooda will be campaigning in the area tomorrow. He is expected to address six public meetings in the constituency in whirlwind helicopter tour.

In the days to come verbal duels between serious contenders will become more and more vociferous. Since there is no real political issue, the campaign will ultimately boil down to throwing mud on each other.

Karnal, May 5
The political advisor to the Chief Minister, Prof Virender Singh, today claimed that it was due to the deteriorating health conditions of Bhajan Lal that the Congress leadership denied him the post of the Chief Minister of Haryana.

Addressing a press conference here, he said owing to this factor, his son, Kuldeep Bishnoi, had dumped Bhajan Lal, who preferred to lead his newly-floated party and also projected himself as the future CM.

Claiming landslide victory in all three assembly bypoll, he said the opposition had no issue and leaders like Bishnoi were busy in promoting themselves only.

In a strong reaction to INLD’s allegations of violation of model conduct by the state, he slammed former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala for levelling frivolous charges. He also rubbished the charges of rigging of the byelections.

Taking a dig at the INLD supremo, Prof Singh said Chautala had a dubious record of conducting poll violence.

“Following the infamous Meham incident, Chautala’s entry in the state was banned by the Election Commission on the polling day, even when he was the CM of the state. It is inappropriate for such a politician to level baseless charges,” he said.

Though the aide to the CM claimed of landslide victory but he remained evasive of impact of the ongoing power crisis on the byelections. He said the development of the Hooda regime was poll agenda which was well appreciated by voters.

He said the final mandate would clear the air of false propaganda and appealed the voters to evaluate the candidates after results were declared.

Sonepat, May 5
After filing their nominations, candidates of various parties, including Jagbir Singh Malik of the Congress, K.C. Bangar of the INLD, Dharam Pal Singh Malik of the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) and Pradeep Sangwan of the BJP, have intensified their election campaign.

Party leaders from the district and other parts of the state have camped in Gohana for their day-night campaigning.

Undeterred by the opposition of some of the local Congress leaders in Gohana, Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda has taken over the command of the election campaign for Congress candidate and addressed more than 24 meetings in different villages of the constituency.

The campaign for the INLD candidate is being directly supervised by the state party president, Ashok Arora, while Om Prakash Chautala’s MP son Ajai Singh Chautala and Abhai Chautala have canvassed in a number of villages in the past two days.

BJP MP from Sonepat Kishan Singh Sangwan is also leaving no stone unturned to canvass for his son who is contesting for the first time. Other party leaders are also accompanying him in the meetings.

However, Dharma Pal Singh Malik who has contested more than six elections so far, himself has been making every effort to recapture the seat on the new party ticket. He is being assisted by his wife Sudha Malik, state president of party’s women wing.

Meanwhile, after filing of 12 nominations on the last day today, the total number of nominations filed in the byelection for Gohana assembly constituency has gone up to 38. However, according to SDP-cum-returning officer Jaideep Kumar, around 31 candidates have filed their nominations.

Yamunanagar, May 5
Extensive rain that lashed the district after midnight played havoc with wheat lying in various mandis.

Data on the exact damage to the wheat was not known yet but the damage is expected to run in several lakhs of rupees. Storm accompanying the rains also caused damage to the mango crop especially in Ghaar area (foothills of Shivalik).

Lakhs of sacks of wheat were yet to be lifted from the 12 mandis of the district when the rain lashed the area.

There were reports of water logging in mandis and wheat sacks were soaked.

As per information, there were 2 lakh wheat sacks in Jagadhri mandi, 1.35 lakh in Mustfabad, 2.46 lakh in Chhachhrouli, 0.92 lakh in Bilaspur and 0.80 lakh sacks in Radaur mandi when rains lashed the district.

The minimum damage to wheat was reported from Rasulpur mandi, where there were only 20,000 sacks.

Sources said there were 0.40 lakh wheat sacks in Yamunanagar mandi, 0.65 lakh in Sadhoura and 0.30 lakh each in mandis of Kharwan, Khezrabad and Jathlana.

Water-soaked wheat if stored can damage more wheat like in warehouses of government agencies. Wet wheat may sprout or turn black or infected by insects and there is not enough space in mandis to dry the wheat.

Sources said there would be pressure on officials to lift the wheat lying in the mandis to pave way for more wheat or else farmers would suffer. Sunflower crop was also ready and mandis must be cleared for arrival of sunflower.

Sources said it was the duty of arhtiyas to dry the wet wheat. There were apprehensions that arhtiyas might get wet wheat lifted to clear the mandis for more wheat and arrival of sunflower.

Maximum damage has been reported from Jagadhri mandi.

Agriculture experts said there should not be more than 10 per cent moisture in wheat during storage.

Ambala, May 5
Despite the district administration’s claims to have made all efforts to ensure that no fire incidents fire take place in the fields, 160 acres have been destroyed due to various fire incidents across Ambala district so far this year.

The district administration has been organising seminars since February to educate farmers regarding fire incidents.

Deputy commissioner, Ambala, Mohammad Shayin said officials of the department of agriculture had already tutored the farmers on do’s and don’ts in case of a fire. “Fire tenders have also been deployed outside the fire stations nearer to the fields, so as to respond quickly in case of a fire,” he added.

Though seminars on fire safety start in February, but one cannot control fire without much help, which too is a far cry away. Only three fire tenders have been stationed in the fire department in Ambala Cantt and Ambala city. One fire tender has been stationed at Naraingarh. No additional equipment or facilities are available with these departments.

Though the fire tenders move immediately on receiving a distress call, long distances and lack of water supply in the villages do not help much.

Officials of the fire department said the situation was very much the same across the state. The administration had stationed one fire tender at Mullana to ensure quick response but executive officer B.B. Bharadwaj of the Ambala Cantt fire station said it could not provide much help.

“We only have three fire tenders and no other facilities. By the time we reach the incident site, it is already too late. Also there is no water back up with us and water availability is already a problem,” he said.

Agreeing with him, his counterpart in the city Kehar Singh Kadiyan, said the proposal of a separate directorate for the fire department, which was in the pipeline, might improve things. “At times we seek help from neighbouring states and even the Air force, but we try to manage on our own,” they said.

Official sources said the incidents of fire this year were almost the same as the last years. Effected farmers are, however, the worst effected and are neither happy with the compensation nor with the arrangements of fire fighting.

About 12 acres of standing crop of Gurdail Singh of Kesari village (Railway Station) was destroyed this month.

Upset and in a dilemma, he does not know what to do, as the land is not his.

“The compensation is given to the owner. And I only have it on rent,” he added. He directed his anger at the administration for not having repaired the electrical lines well in time. The fire occurred due to a short circuit at about noon. The fire department was informed immediately, but they took about half an hour to reach, he lamented.

J.D. Singh, chairman of the Mulana Market Committee, met with the same fate two years ago. He said: “My fields too caught fire. We need a better fire fighting system. The fire engines take time to reach villages. Fire stations or tenders should be deployed in a cluster of villages,” he suggested.

The deputy commissioner clarified that they did take initiatives in this regard and suspended the electrical supply to ensure less sparking. The agriculture department too advocated that the crop should be first cut from underneath overhanging cables. “It is a problem, but we can only take precautions,” said S.P. Sanghwan, deputy director, agriculture.

The situation is same across the district. Eighteen acres of crop was destroyed of Nirmal Singh of Nakat Pur village and Dharam Singh’s 17 acres of crop was destroyed in Pinjola village.

They all air the same grievances and want the administration and government to strengthen the fire fighting systems and also to give more compensation.

“Every time during the elections we are assured that this issue will be dealt with, but nothing is done and every summer we face the same fate,” they said.

Apart from the Haryana government’s initiative of compensation, the local administration has provided a compensation of Rs 5,000 per acre through the district Red Cross.

Fatehabad, May 5
In the sizzling heat of May, residents of the district are facing an unprecedented scarcity of drinking water.

The shortage is alike in the rural and urban areas though villages are hit the worst by this scarcity.

The situation is so alarming that deputy commissioner O.P. Sheoran has appealed to the residents to use water miserly and stop using boosting pumps.

The authorities have been experiencing tough time in dealing with the situation as irate villagers have held demonstrations at Baropal, Kamana, Burj, Bhai, Rozawali and Dariyapur during the past three days demanding proper supply of potable water.

The main reason behind the scarcity is the closure of most of the minors and distributaries supplying water in this district.

According to sources, out of the 18 distributaries and minors flowing through this district, 10 are dry at present.

Among the closed water channels are the New Mohamadpur distributory, Badopal lift minor, Dhangar minor, Bighar distributory, Sirsa major, New Ding minor, Adampur distributory, Banawali distributory, Sulikhera minor and Kheri distributory.

Water will start flowing in four of these channels from May 6 and in six others from May 13 only, as per the policy of the government under which water is supplied for eight days after a closure of 24 days.

As if it was not enough, water supply to eight other water channels of the district is to be closed from today and no water will flow in these channels till May 15.

Karam Chand, executive engineer of the public health department, said despite shortage the department was trying to provide sufficient drinking water to the residents.

The DC has also appealed the residents to not to waste water for gardening or washing floors.

He also askd them to regularise their unauthorised water connections within one week or face disconnection.

A press release issued on behalf of the DC said those found misusing potable water would be fined up to Rs 1,200 besides disconnection of their water supply.

Ambala, May 5
The CBI will produce as many as 236 witnesses in the court to prove Dr Amit and other eight accused in the kidney scam. The CBI has also possessed around 130 medical equipments and other related articles, which were recovered from the hospital of Dr Amit located at Palam Vihar, Gurgaon. It has also filed a list of 126 relevant documents related to the scam in the interim chargesheet.

According to the details, the persons who are listed among the witnesses include Raguraj Singh, sub-inspector, Moradabad, Jitesh Malhotra SHO, Palam Vihar, Rakesh Aggarwal, SP, CBI, New Delhi, V.P. Vatsa, under-secretary, Haryana, R.K. Kanswasra, head of the surgery department, PGIMS, Rohtak, H.R. Singhal, civil surgeon, Rohtak, Dr Virender Bansal, surgeon, AIIMS, Sanjay Lalwani, assistant professor forensic, and S.P. Bhanot, medical officer, Gurgaon.

The list of articles in the support of the case included hard disks and computer of Dr Amit, his three mobile phones, details of around six vehicles, dialysis machine, suction machines, small cylinders, steel drums, kidney tray, scissors, 26 trolleys, 38 beds, microscope, incubator and several other medical equipment.

The CBI in the interim chargesheet said Dr Amit and others had carried out illegal kidney transplantation from 1999 to 2006 at Palm Vihar in Gurgaon. The transplantation was done after charging huge amounts.

The report said Dr Upender Kumar was responsible for arranging victims. It also revealed that Dr Amit was just BAMS and started transplantation of kidneys on his own some time in 1994 in Mumbai. A case was registered against him there and later he shifted to Jaipur before settling in Gurgaon.

The names of the victims mentioned in the chargesheet include Sakil, Nasim, Salim, Dilip, Sahid, Rajender, Naresh, Sunil Besra, Alok, and Babu. The CBI also identified 21 recipients of kidneys. One of the recipients, Lucky Garg, wife of Rajiv Garg, told the CBI that her husband came to know about Amit Kumar’s hospital. She stated that she had paid Rs 8 lakh for the surgery. Other recipients, including Pawan Anand, Pritam Singh, Dharmender Kumar, Rama Garg, Sanjay Bhargav, Dhruv Rao, Vinod Kumar, Madan Lal, Madhulika Gupta, J.K. Jain, and Parth Sahu, have paid Rs 8 lakh to 12 lakh for transplantation. 

Bhiwani, May 5
Protesting the registration of a “fake” FIR against a partner of Baba Mungipa Mines and Minerals Company, Khanak, members of the Rajput community today staged a dharna outside the DC's office and submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner.

The memorandum bearing signatures of more than 100 persons alleged that then SHO of Tosham police station Verender Singh, who has been sent to the police lines, had registered a fake police report against Vedpal Singh Tanwar. Now, the police official was harassing his family members for his arrest, they alleged.

They said an FIR had been registered under Sections 395 and 397 of the IPC on April 24.

They also alleged that some members of Vedpal's family had been kept in the illegal custody by the said official. Several complaints lodged with the higher police officials against the police officer failed, they said. They have demanded legal action against the police officer besides registration of a case.

Karnal, May 5
With the arrest of six persons, the police today claim to have a busted a gang allegedly involved in selling financed vehicles on fake registration numbers. The accused have been identified as Rajpal, Gurpreet, Pradeep, Murli Gupta, Yogesh Thakur and Aslam, alias Ashok.

Karnal police chief A.S. Chawla said the police had recovered four cars and one tractor from their possession. The police has also recovered 27 fake stamps of various automobile dealers of the district which were used in manipulating the records of the vehicles.

He said the gang used to finance vehicles and later sell them by faking the registration numbers. As the investigating teams found 15 fake registration cards (RCs), the police was examining if more persons were involved in the racket.

Panipat, May 5
The district police has nabbed two most-wanted criminals of the state in a special operation carried out late last night. The police arrested Rakesh and Bachi, alias Captain, both wanted in connection with two murders and several cases of extortion.

According to DSP P.S. Sheokand, the two criminals recently got active and started threatening a local businessman, Rajneesh Kumar, asking him to pay Rs 5 lakh.

The DSP said following this, the district police chief constituted a special team of six policemen. He said last night when the two arrived on a motorcycle, the police team confronted them in Sector 18 here. When the two were asked to halt the vehicle, they started firing, but after firing a few shots the miscreants surrendered, the DSP added.

Sheokhand said the two had been giving extortion threats to Rajneesh from different locations. The criminals have a reward of Rs 25,000 each on them. They were wanted in two cases of murder i.e. Mahinder Singh of Dupaheri village in January 2005 and Amanjot Singh in October 2007.

Rakesh (27) is a resident of Bhagat Nagar in Panipat while Bachi (24) is a resident of Patel Nagar.

The police official said Rakesh had a long record of criminal activities. The first FIR registered against him was when he was a student of class IX in a local school and he stabbed one of his classmates over a trivial dispute. Following this, a number of cases had been registered against him. The DSP said the two had another partner, identified as Bangru, who was still at large. He also claimed that with the arrest of the two, a number of cases would be solved.

New Delhi, May 5
Country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero Honda said today it had resumed work in its Dharuhera unit in Haryana following an agreement with the striking workers. On May 3, the unit was hit by workers' strike forcing closure of the plant.

“Normalcy has been restored at our Dharuhera plant following a mutually amicable resolution of certain concerns raised by some contract labourers due to instigation by external elements," the company said in a statement.

They have agreed to resume work so that the flexibility of operations within the plant is ensured, it added.

"It has been explained to them that this exercise would not adversely impact their work and wages. As always, Hero Honda gives utmost priority to the welfare of its workers and will continue to carry on a dialogue with them towards that objective," the company statement said.

The workers had also opposed to the company's move to shift a bulk of production to its newly opened third plant at Haridwar.

The contract and casual workers feared losing their jobs. They were joined by the regular workers in the strike. — PTI

Chandigarh, May 5
Haryana has proved to be a money spinner for the union government as the state has made the maximum direct tax mop up in the north-west region at Rs 5,215.31 crore for 2007-08, while combined collection by Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh is Rs 4,528.65 crore.

The overall direct tax collections in the NWR region grew by 39 per cent to Rs 9,743.96 crore in 2007-08 against Rs 7,007.74 crore in 2006-07, as per the official sources in the income tax department.

Haryana posted a whopping 65 per cent growth in direct tax collections in 2007-08 which is a way ahead of the national average growth of 38 per cent and 18 per cent combined growth registered by Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.

Haryana commanded 54 per cent share in the overall tax collections of the NWR.

The growth in Haryana’s direct tax collections had been mainly fuelled by massive increase in corporate tax collections which had grown by 87 per cent at Rs 2,532.60 crore in 2007-08, against collections of Rs 1,358.10 crore in 2006-07, revealed a senior income tax official.

However, the dismal position of the industry in other states of NWR such as Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh could be discerned from the fact that the corporate tax collections in these states rose by just 10 per cent to Rs 1,475.96 crore in 2007-08. — PTI

Jind, May 5
A pilgrim drowned in the pond of Pandu Pindara at Pindara village in the district this morning.

Thousands of people took a holy bath in the pond on the occasion of ‘Somvati Amavasya’ today.

A prominent religious place, Pandu Pindara is under the direct supervision of the Kurukshetra Development Board (KDB) for its maintenance.

The drowning incident took place around 6 am, when a youth identified as Bhim Singh (20) from Dudiwala village of Bhiwani district dived into the water and crossed the railing indicating the deep water.

Sources said the youth failed to come out of the water, which was around 15 to 18 feet deep and since there hwas no life guard, he drowned.

Though 15 to 20 youths tried to reach to the victim but could only locate his body after about an hour.

The KDB has spent several lakh of rupees on the renovation and maintenance of the spot over the past few years, which include deepening of the pond and brick lining of the area under water.

While a steel chain has been laid on the water to warn and depict the depth of the water, unavailability of life guards and volunteers to help and guide the pilgrims has been a cause of concern of many.

The local authorities’ claims about security and safety measures at the spot attracted a large number of pilgrims every year.

In another accident, two other pilgrims, including a woman, who were on their way back to Nidana village, were killed and 18 others were injured when the vehicle they were travelling in collided with a truck on the NH- 71near Kinana village this noon.

While Santu died on the spot, one Shanti Devi, wife of Arjun of Nidana village, succumbed to her injuries in a hospital. Other injured have been admitted in the PGIMS in Rohtak.

Rohtak, May 5
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld the seniority of Dr P.S. Gehlaut, professor of medicine at the local PGIMS, over his colleague Dr Nityanand of the same department. The high court recently allowed a writ petition filed by Dr Gehlaut, who had challenged an order of the state government regarding the matter.

As per the case details, Dr Nityanand used to be senior to Dr Gehlaut when both were lecturers at the PGIMS. This arrangement continued till both became associate professors.

However, some time ago, interview for the post of floating professor was held. Dr Gehlaut was selected for the post and claimed seniority over Dr Nityanand by virtue of his selection at a higher post.

The PGIMS authorities formed a committee to decide the matter. The panel was of the opinion that Dr Gehlaut should be considered senior as he had been appointed on a higher selection post of floating professor.

The PGIMS authorities sent the case for state government’s approval. However, the state authorities directed the PGIMS administration that Dr Nityanand be considered senior.

Soon after, Dr Gehlaut challenged the aforesaid order of the state government in the Punjab and Haryana High Court and obtained a stay. The matter was recently decided by a two-judge Bench.

The court allowed the writ petition of Dr Gehlaut, giving him seniority over Dr Nityanand. Setting aside the state government’s order regarding the matter, the court maintained that the petitioner would rank senior to his colleague.

Rewari, May 5
Agitating trainees (trained nurses) of the Dr Shanti Yadav School of Nursing, Mirpur, (Rewari), called off their five-day old agitation this evening following a written assurance by district police chief Ram Singh Bishnoi.

Furnishing details in this regard, Bishnoi said while original diplomas and character certificates would be given to the trainees by the management on May 20, certified copies of the diplomas, original mark sheets and registration slips and no objection certificates would be made available to them by the management tomorrow.

Earlier, the agitating nurses took out a protest march from the main roads of the town today shouting slogans against the director of the school of nursing.