Ambala, June 21
Farmers of the Saha area, whose land falls under the Industrial Growth Centre, are having sleepless nights ever since the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) knocked at their doors.

As the farmers already have a stay on the issue of acquisition of land from the high court, they were taken aback by the settlement money of Rs 3.5 crore offered by the SDM, Ambala, on behalf of the HSIIDC on Wednesday for settlement on their 14 acres, which falls in Dhakola village near Saha.

To make matters worse for the farmers, the settlement that has come through is not in their name but of the people, who were owners more than 15 years ago.

The farmers alleged that 50 per cent of the records were incorrect. In the records, one person owned multiple properties and many names were missing from the list.

“This is a complete mockery of us and the system. We do not know whom to blame - the SDM, the HSIIDC or the government - who had assured us that our land will not be taken away,” said Devinder Singh Dhakola.

The farmers are worried that people, who earlier owned the land, might make use of the opportunity and claim the settlement money.

“The records show them as the owner. How can the HSIIDC be so careless? We will lose all our savings,” said Dhakola.

The farmers were called on Wednesday at the Saha growth centre to take Rs 13.28 lakh per acre as settlement.

They had already obtained a stay on this issue from the high court on June 2. The SDM acting as the land acquisition officer denied having any such information and said those who were interested could take the money as settlement for their land as per records.

The Haryana government is trying to acquire the land for the past over three years. The farmers said Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had assured them that the state would not acquire their land as they had constructed shops and houses on it.

Dhakola, spokesperson for the farmers from Dhakola village, said the government had tried to acquire their land on June 20, 2006. “We told the government that we have constructed houses and shops on the land. Therefore it should not acquire it. However, last December we were told that the government would leave the 3 acres they had calculated as built up area and acquire the rest 11 acres,” he added.

About a month ago, the HSIIDC decided to leave a pocket when the total constructed area came to 9 acres 4 kanals and 10 marla and acquire the rest. The case is lying pending with Lachhman Dass Arora, industry minister, Haryana, for the final approval.

Ambala, June 21
The CBI filed a chargesheet in the Rajbir murder case in the court of Special CBI Magistrate Abdul Majid here today. Rajbir, ACP in the Delhi police (crime branch) and known encounter specialist, was shot dead in the office of Vijay Bhardwaj, a property dealer, on March 24 in Gurgaon.

Bhardwaj has been made the main accused in the case by the CBI. In the chargesheet, which contains around 400 pages, the CBI has incorporated around 100 witnesses to prove Bhardwaj guilty. The initial FIR registered by the Gugaon police has also been made a part of the chargesheet.

The statements of the witnesses, likely to play an important role in the case, have also been attached in the chargesheet. The witnesses include doctors of the Civil Hospital, Gurgaon, and a few police officials. The CBI has also attached several documents, including the recovery memo of the revolver used in the crime and the confessional statement of Bhardwaj, the post-mortem report and the report of forensic experts in the chargesheet.

The CBI has also enclosed the service profile of Rajbir and his business relations with Bhardwaj. In the investigation report, the CBI mentioned the circumstances of the incident.

Bhardwaj was produced in the CBI court in Ambala City on June 16 and was remanded in judicial custody till June 30.

Karnal, June 21
Conferences on women empowerment and other serious issues organised in the state are “being used” as a tool of popularity in Haryana.

A state-level conference on women empowerment and female foeticide was organised here today by the National Integrated Forum of Artists and Activists (NIFAA). Union state minister for housing and urban poverty alleviation Kumari Selja chaired the conference.

Interestingly, only one out of the eight “VIPs” invited on the dais by the host spoke on women empowerment.

Taking a serious note of the situation at the function, Selja appealed to end such imbalances and stressed to provide same opportunities to the womenfolk. However, no serious discussions took place at the conference.

After counting certain past projects undertaken by the organisation, chairman of the NIFAA requested the minister for financial grant for its future agenda on anti- female foeticide.

Instead of focusing on the topic of the conference, several speakers did not spare a chance to buttress the political achievements of Selja and a senior bureaucrat.

The function was organised by the NIFAA and the state department of sports and youth affairs.

In her keynote address at the function, Selja strongly contested the comment made by the director of the NDRI, Dr A.K. Srivastava, that only womenfolk themselves were responsible for the female foeticide.

“It is the poor social physic that needed to be changed,” she said.

The minister said child safety had become the prime concern of families. “Nowadays, parents of a girl child are worried even when she goes to school or elsewhere and we need to rout out that fear,” she said.

She asked the khap panchayats to take forward the view while passing “judgments” for the betterment of society.

On an opinion forwarded by Dr Srivastva that a woman should be respected like a goddess, she said: “It is enough if she is respected on a par with a human being in the family”.

Meanwhile, NDRI director emphasised to give certain incentives to girl students at various national institutes.

Blaming the media for disseminating negative information about the bad effects of oxitocin injected into milch animals, he said there were reports where the families had stopped feeding milk to pregnant women.

He asked the volunteers present to pledge to oppose female foeticide for the formation of a better and balanced society. Fourteen persons were honoured on the occasion.

Chandigarh, June 21
Haryana’s former finance minister Sampat Singh today demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for failing to control inflation and on account of the deteriorating law and order situation in the state, respectively.

Addressing a press conference at the INLD office, he said the Prime Minister and the union finance minister had expressed their helplessness in controlling the high rate of inflation which had crossed the 11 per cent mark and even broken a 13-year record.

“Faulty Congress policies are to blame even though its party leaders choose to hide behind the logic that rising prices are a direct consequence of spiralling international

prices. In fact, an agriculture-based economy can never land itself in such a situation though it can be expected of countries whose mainstay is trading. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has achieved the impossible,” he said.

Quoting statistics, he said the annual growth rate of population had increased by 2.15 per cent from 1990 to 2007 while agricultural production was up by only 1.2 per cent. “There is a big gap in the demand and supply. Rates of construction material are rising and the mine mafia is in control; the government is being run by big industrial houses and stock brokers are dictating their terms. The government has lost control and should now go in for a fresh mandate,” he maintained.

In Haryana, he claimed, the law and order situation was at its lowest ebb and a nexus had emerged between cops, political leaders and criminals. “Criminals are roaming scot free while the common man is being killed in fake encounters. The Chief Minister has clearly lost control on the state and administrative machinery. This is reason enough for him to resign,” he stated.

Maintaining that extortion was rampant in the state, he said that Hansi and Kaithal had emerged the front runners in this crime. “The Chief Minister has made it a business to hand over all investigations, big and small, to the Central Bureau of Investigation only to shirk responsibility,” he alleged.

Rohtak, June 21
The Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) has criticised the move to set up a big multi-crore Asian Paints manufacturing unit at the industrial model township (IMT) on the outskirts of the town.

While the Chief Minister is slated to attend the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the factory tomorrow, former state labour minister and HJC leader Krishan Murti Hooda has questioned the basis of granting permission to the unit.

Addressing a news conference here today, Hooda asked the state authorities to clarify that when such “most hazardous” units were not allowed in Gurgaon, then how the company got the permission to set up a factory in Rohtak.

Hooda, who has been state labour minister, maintained that such units, which were categorised as most-hazardous as per the labour safety and pollution norms, should be established away from residential localities.

“However, the site at which the factory is being set up is surrounded by villages and is located at a close distance from schools and other human habitations,” he said.

The HJC leader also sought a White Paper from the state government on the rate at which the land for the project was acquired and the price at which it was sold to Asian Paints.

Hooda alleged that the government departments concerned had granted permission to the company to set up the unit in haste and the vital aspect of residents’ safety had been overlooked.

Kurukshetra, June 21
The district police has released a sketch of one of the four robbers, who had looted Rs 27,594 from a petrol station near Ladwa, 15 km from here, yesterday.

Stating this here today, district police chief Amitabh Dhillon said the four motorcycle-borne youths after getting their fuel tank filled by paying Rs 320 at the petrol station looted the money at gunpoint.

After looting the money, the robbers locked the two salesmen in a bathroom and managed to escape.

A team from Forensic Laboratory, Madhuban, reached the petrol station and took fingerprints as well as prepared a sketch of one of the four robbers.

The salesmen had noted down the registration number of the motorcycle, from which the police found out that the motorcycle used in the crime had been stolen from Sector 5, Panchkula. A case in this regard was registered on May 9.

Dhillon said informers would be duly rewarded and the informers’ identity would not be disclosed.

Chandigarh, June 21
A team of the health department detected a case of female foeticide during a raid at Janseva Hospital in Narnaul and registered cases against Dr Reshma Yadav and Sunita and her husband Sunil under the PNDT Act on June 18.

An official spokesman said the doctor and the husband of the woman involved in this heinous crime had been sent to judicial custody after arresting them and presenting them in a court.

The woman, after the abortion of the foetus, was still in the hospital undergoing treatment.

On getting the information that a family had gone to the hospital for the abortion of the foetus, a team was constituted under the leadership of the district family welfare and PNDT member secretary which raided the hospital.

It turned out to be a female foeticide case and the doctor and the husband of the woman were arrested on the spot.

The medicines and the instrument used in the abortion had been sealed and handed over to police.

Panipat, June 21
Even six decades after Independence, the old industrial area of the city is still sans basic amenities. Industrialists claim that their repeated requests seem to have fallen on deaf ears as the authorities concerned have done little in this regard.

More than 400 industrial units that are spread over 242 acres are struggling against all odds to keep up their pace with the changing market scenario and that even without proper infrastructure. The area has no direct supply of drinking water, sewer system or proper arrangements to keep it clean. And in the given circumstances the whole area bears a neglected look which has become an eyesore for the local residents.

It was in 1948 and in 1949 that the government had held open auctions to provide plots to industrialists. The industrial department was entrusted the task of looking after the area and to provide the basic amenities. At that time there were no facilities available here.

In 1987, despite protests by the industrialists, the old industrial areas were handed over to the Haryana State Development Corporation (HSDC). Following this, the manufacturers approached the state government seeking remedial measures. The government assured them that a high-powered committee would soon be constituted to look into the matter, but till date no such committee has been constituted. Though, a sewer system was laid in some parts of the industrial area, but due to no upkeep, the system collapsed.

Later, the government formulated a common policy to upgrade facilities in the industrial areas of Panipat, Sonepat, Yamunanagar and Bhadurgarh. But the policy failed to yield any positive results for the industry. During the previous NDA government, the industrialists managed to get a grant of Rs 2.56 crore passed for water and a sewer system. But the state industrial department failed to submit an estimate report and the grant lapsed, leaving the units high and dry.

Interestingly, the manufactures of Panipat had submitted a plan for provision of drinking water and a sewer system in the old industrial area to the department concerned in 1948, but till date no department has come forward to execute the plan.

Chandigarh, June 21
The Haryana Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation (Hafed) has gone global by exporting 626.5 metric tonnes of basmati to Australia and Saudi Arabia. It is further exploring the possibility of entering the markets of other countries for the export of Haryana’s famous rice.

Stating this here yesterday, cooperation minister Harmohinder Singh Chatha said after a gap of five years, the federation had restarted the export of basmati during the last financial year. The rice which had been exported to Australia and Saudi Arabia was produced at Hafed Rice Mill, Taraori, and at Hafed Rice Mill, Ratia.

He said of the 626.5 metric tonnes, 69 metric tonnes of superior basmati had been exported to Australia and 557.5 metric tonnes of PUSA basmati had been exported to Saudi Arabia. Australian company Ostindo International had placed further orders for four consignments of basmati which would be dispatched in two months.

Chatha said the rice exported to Australia was valued at about Rs 31 lakh while the rice exported to Saudi Arabia was valued at Rs 2.89 crore. Hafed earned a profit of about Rs 60 lakh from the export of basmati to these countries.

Chandigarh, June 21
The misuse of a free rail travel coupon of a former MLA today landed four youths in trouble. Claiming to be family members of Rajni Kant Batta, a Benaras-based MLA, the youth were travelling in AC III tier on the Jammu Tawi-Benaras Express when railway officials caught them enjoying the free jaunt.

Talking to the Tribune, senior divisional commercial manager, Ambala Division, Northern Railways, Karan Singh, confirmed that a surprise checking revealed that the youth were travelling on the basis of a coupon issued to the MLA.

The youth — Sandeep Verma, Atul Kesri, A. Mishra and P. Mishra were penalised Rs 6,500.

Till the last moment, the youth kept on claiming that they were family members of the MLA.

The railways got a tip-off about the unauthorised travel by the youth who were caught near Sharanpur.

As per rules, the travel pass is only valid when the concerned MLA travels along with his family.