Rohtak, July 9
Beauty, they say, lies in the eye of the beholder; and so does talent. Hence, shortly after Prof Ram Phal Hooda joined as the vice-chancellor of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) here, his son Ramneek Hooda’s firm was engaged for providing architectural consultancy in various university projects worth crores.

While several old-timers at the university term this as “blatant misuse of authority” on the part of the vice-chancellor, Professor Hooda defends the move as merit-based and in accordance with rules.

Nonetheless, the modus operandi adopted in “favouring” the said firm - of which Hooda junior is the principal architect - is quite interesting.

The MDU administration floated tenders to engage a consultant for the work of auditorium building on the university premises this January. Seven firms, including Ramneek’s, applied for the job.

These included Creative Consortium, Panchkula; Office for Alternative Architecture, New Delhi; Suri and Suri, Noida; Mathur Ugam and Associates, New Delhi; Studio Plus, New Delhi; Space Ace, Delhi; and Sounddesigns, New Delhi.

However, the tenders of six firms - other than Office for Alternative Architecture - were rejected on some ground or the other. As per the tender committee, the “other” proposals were either not accompanied by earnest money; or certain firms did not quote their rates; or they lacked the “desired” experience or expertise; or their rates were “unworkable and unrealistic”.

While the lacunae found in the tenders of these firms are a matter of investigation, the possibility of university officials concerned having acted under pressure from obvious quarters can also not be ruled out.

Moreover, instead of inviting fresh tenders in the wake of the receipt of unsuitable proposals, the university authorities awarded the contract to Ramneek’s firm.

The most “substantial” argument given by the MDU administration regarding the matter is that the rates of this firm were reasonable. However, even this seems doubtful, especially in view of the “hidden costs” it charges from the university.

While the university authorities are trying to project that the selected firm would charge 1.55 per cent of the final project cost in addition to the service tax, the agreement clearly states that this rate is only for civil works.

As per the agreement signed between the MDU and the Office for Alternative Architecture on February 21, 2008, the firm will charge an additional 3 per cent of final project cost on interior works; 2.5 per cent on air-conditioning; 3 per cent on fire-fighting audio-visual addition, alteration and landscaping; and 1 per cent consultancy fee for preparing seating layout and other specifications with appropriate colour combinations and other details related to chair-fixing.

And, then came the masterstroke. The agreement has a curious clause, which states that “If considered necessary, you (the firm) may be allotted other works at the rates, terms and conditions finalised herein.”

On the basis of this clause, the MDU administration engaged Hooda junior’s firm in several other projects within a short time. These include the department of engineering and technology; a boys’ and a girls’ hostel; an examination wing; a biosciences block; some 9-J houses; a multipurpose hall at University Campus School; Students’ Activity Centre; Teachers’ Club and so on.

The total costs of these projects is approximately Rs 60 crore; of which the architectural consultant is supposed to get nearly 1.25 crore. Flouting all norms, the MDU administration did not invite tenders for these works.

Chandigarh, July 9
The Third Front in the form of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), constituted to oppose the Congress and the BJP, may have fizzled out with the departure of the Samajwadi Party.

From the smoldering ashes of the UNPA there is hope of emergence of an all-new alliance against the Congress. However, the battleground for this new “alliance” has moved out from Delhi and into Haryana.

Holding the banner of revolt aloft is suspended Congress MP and Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi, who has invited all political parties in the Opposition in Haryana to come on a common platform and join hands against the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) at the Centre in general and the Congress in Haryana in particular.

In his letter addressed to the Indian National Lok Dal supremo Om Prakash Chautala, the BJP and the BSP leaders, Bishnoi has asked them to present a united front against UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s attempts to sell Haryana to corporate houses.

He has urged the leaders to make themselves available for a meeting on July 13 or July 14 in Chandigarh as per their convenience.

Meanwhile, at a time when support from all quarters is certainly welcome to the Congress at the Centre if the UPA is asked to prove its majority, the HJC supremo is very clear about his stance in the matter and on the nuclear deal.

“I have long parted ways with the Congress and there is absolutely no scope of supporting the party on any issue. I will not vote in favour of the Congress or the UPA if the government is asked to prove its majority in the Lok Sabha,” Bishnoi said.

However, on the issue of support to the nuclear deal, he said the matter would be discussed within the party and a decision to support or reject the deal would be taken subsequently. “This is only how far we will go in national interest. We will not oppose the deal if it is really in national interest as is being projected. But voting in favour of the UPA is still out of question,” Bishnoi stated.

Rohtak, July 9
Former Haryana Chief Minister and INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala has said the UPA government had no moral or constitutional right to continue in power as it had lost majority support in Parliament.

Admitting that the UNPA had been weakened due to the decision of the former UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party to extend support to the UPA government, Chautala said the UNPA would not break down due to this.

Replying to a question, the INLD chief said his party was open to electoral alliance with any party opposed to the Congress.

Panipat, July 9
It’s official now. The much-awaited Panipat flyover on the National Highway No 1 is finally going to be inaugurated on July 17.

The flyover that was expected to be opened for vehicular traffic in the first week of June got delayed due to certain reasons. The bridge would now be inaugurated by union minister for shipping, road and transport T. R. Baalu and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The flyover has been completed eight months ahead of schedule and had been awaiting a final nod from the government agencies. The construction of the Rs 325-crore flyover had been executed by L&T Panipat Elevated Corridor Pvt Ltd on a build-operate-transfer basis. The 3.4-km elevated stretch would ease traffic congestions in the city and is likely to reduce travel time between Delhi and Chandigarh by about 40 minutes.

However, the local residents of the city had expressed their dismay over the charging of toll from them even as they would not be using the bridge. In order to redress the grievance, the government had announced that only 25 per cent of toll would be charged from them.

Meanwhile, the district administration today ordered a final survey of the bridge by officials concerned to ensure that no anomalies had been left unattended before the bridge is thrown open to the public.

Chandigarh, July 9
The Mewat Development Agency (MDA) has prepared a multi-sectoral district development plan of Rs 76.90 crore for Mewat in accordance with the Prime Minister's 15- point programme for the welfare of the minorities and as required by the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs.

The plan was approved at the 24th meeting of the MDB chaired by Haryana Governor A.R. Kidwai here today.

Kidwai, who is also the chairman of the MDB, said the scheme would be sent to the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs for providing Rs 76.90 crore which would be utilised for providing facilities to the people of Mewat in the fields of health, education, skill development, food processing, agriculture, horticulture and sports.

The Governor also said the Haryana Women Development Corporation would henceforth provide micro-credit facilities to poor women at 4 to 5 per cent with a development subsidy of 3 per cent. He said with this decision the beneficiaries would be saved from as high rates of interest as 18 per cent per annum which they were paying to intermediatory NGOs.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda laid stress on the multi-dimensional development of Mewat and directed the chief secretary to send the district plan to the union government for its funding. He said a similar plan for Sirsa district should also be prepared as early as possible so that it could also be sent to the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs.

He also laid emphasis on creating a special Mewat cadre for the purpose of recruitment especially for that district to fill posts in the departments of education and health.

It was also decided to give a fee concession to 15 Meo girls for nursing and midwifery training at Sifa Nursing Centre, Bangalore, at a cost of Rs 11.73 lakh for the course duration of three and a half years. Hooda said more students should be sponsored for this course.

Finance minister Birender Singh said the Kotla Lake project should be expedited so that adequate irrigation and drinking water could be made available to the people of Mewat.

It was also decided that Al-Afia Hospital, Mandikhera, should be upgraded as a central hospital with education and training facilities in the paramedical and nursing fields. A decision was taken to open diagnostic centres on a priority basis at Mandikhera and Nuh.

The proposal of the Sona Group of industries for taking over the PHC, Nagina, under the community development programme was also approved.

Faridabad, July 9
With the image of the Haryana police already under cloud due to unbridled character shown by some of its members in the recent past, a complaint by two local businessmen here against Darshan Lal Malik, DSP, Faridabad, accusing him of misusing his official position to terrorise them for private gains has further shocked the police and non-government circles.

The two businessmen, Vikas Walia and Vijay Kalra, have in a letter to the district police chief alleged that the DSP has “benami” property/stakes in crusher (No 14) in Dhauj Crusher Plant Zone and was also using high-handed measures to illegally evict them from their occupation of the area.

According to them, they were using the premises/crusher (No 14) following a legal agreement with a private firm called Ganesh Stone Crushing Company of Bhiwani. The alleged police officer is also from the same district. The agreement was for two years and more than a year’s time remained with them for the usage of the land. They had made huge investments to set up stone crushing plant.

Darshan Lal Malik when contacted alleged that the complainants are unnecessarily trying to put pressure on the owners of Ganesh Stone Crushing Company not to annul the tenement agreement and his name was being dragged in the matter as he belonged to Bhiwani district.

The two residents alleged that the DSP was using threats and goons to get the premises vacated.

Significantly, private security personnel of crusher (No 25) was found murdered last night in the crusher zone area. Although the murder incident apparently does not seem to be related to the DSP episode, many see the developments suggesting deep involvement of mafia and other vested interests in the stone crushing business. The alleged indirect interest of the DSP confirms reports of unholy nexus between higher ups, including government functionaries, in stone crushing business and illegal mining operations in the area.

The two businessmen also impleaded upon the district police chief to protect their lives and property from the DSP and his goons. They alleged that their family members are also feeling terrorised due to the antics of the DSP.

One of the two businessmen has also moved the local court on the issue. The court has issued summon notices to the DSP and others and fixed July 11 for hearing in the case.

Hisar, July 9
The town's main market — Rajguru Market — remained closed for the second day today in protest against the murder of a shopkeeper on Monday.

The shopkeepers marched in procession to the Mini Secretariat here and submitted a memorandum to additional deputy commissioner Ashima Brar.

On the other hand, the police has registered a case against four persons on charges of damaging government property and preventing government servants from performing their duty.

They were Jaibir Godara, Arun Dutt, Kamal Handa and Rakesh Fauji.

The case has been registered in connection with yesterday's incidents when mourners staged protests while on the way to the cremation ground.

The memorandum submitted by the shopkeepers sought compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the family of the deceased shopkeeper, removal of meat shops from the main markets and suspension of the police officials involved in yesterday's lathicharge.

Yamunanagar, July 9
Deputy commissioner Nitin Kumar Yadav today ordered inquiry into the firing incident that occurred two days ago following a row over panchayat land at Bhatli village. Six assailants had opened fire and seriously injured the sarpanch and four other villagers when they had stopped them from taking possession of the panchayat land.

“Additional deputy commissioner Narender Singh has been asked to probe the matter and submit a report within 15 days,” the DC said. Medical expenses of the injured will be paid by the administration from Red Cross funds, he informed.

He added that the ADC would also enquire into the allegation of police inaction in the matter.

It is learnt that the probe was ordered after the villagers from Bhatli and Tejli yesterday met the deputy commissioner on the issue. A case has been registered against nine persons under the Arms Act and other sections.

Gurgaon, July 9
The state health department has decided to award a trophy to the police recruits of the IRB, Bhondsi, in recognition of their contribution to administering polio drops to kids during the pulse polio rounds in Gurgaon district, besides learning effective policing techniques.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will present the trophy to the recruits at the coming passing-out parade function. According to Gurgaon civil surgeon S.S. Dalal, the district health department required about 3,520 “vaccinators” in Gurgaon during each pulse polio round. While the department had only 1,782 doctors and nurses who were deployed for administering polio drops, the remaining “vaccinators” were arranged from various other government departments in addition to the schoolchildren studying in higher classes.

He said 700 recruits getting training at the IRB, Bhondsi, also extended their help during the last seven rounds of the pulse polio campaign in the district. Besides their training to perform primary duty of maintaining law and order, the involvement of these recruits in the polio eradication campaign was laudable. So, a decision was taken at the state level to felicitate them by presenting a trophy for their contribution towards society and to set an example, he added.

Dalal said the health department would observe this month as sanitation month to focus on spreading awareness about cleanliness and the importance of sanitation among the people, especially villagers. A larval survey was being conducted in Gurgaon. Their findings so far showed that larva of mosquitoes, responsible for malaria and dengue, were present in desert coolers and over head tanks. Till now 17 cases of malaria were traced in the district. Under the scheme for rural areas, a special thrust had been given on providing maternal and child health care facilities. He said Gurgaon would get three more delivery huts this year. At present, 34 delivery huts were functional in rural areas of the district.

Rewari, July 9
Following the revocation of his suspension under section 22-A of the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973, Vijay Rao, a former chairman of the Rewari Municipal Council, has now been reinstated by R. P. Bhardwaj, Director, Urban Development Department ( UDD).

Vijay Rao resumed charge of his office in the municipal council here yesterday.

Section 22-A of the act provides that the period of suspension of the president or the vice-president shall not exceed six months.

Vijay Rao was earlier suspended on January 7, 2008, by the director of the UDD on charges of omission and commission in urban development works carried out here by him.

The allegations levelled against him by 16 of the 31 municipal councillors in a written complaint submitted to the deputy commissioner here in January, 2007, were found substantiated in an inquiry held by additional DC Mahender Singh Yadav.

The findings of the inquiry were conveyed by the DC in December, 2007, to the director of the UDD who issued the suspension orders on January 7, 2008.

Rohtak, July 9
An anomaly has been alleged in the eligibility criteria for posts of lecturer in computer applications recently advertised by Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) here. Interviews for these posts are scheduled to be held on July 11.

Several candidates who have applied for the posts in the subject pointed out that the university authorities had treated the national eligibility test (NET) for lecturership conducted by the Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB) of the ICAR on a par with the UGC NET.

This, the candidates alleged, was not appropriate as the ICAR provided NET certificates in the subject of computer applications in agriculture, while the UGC issued NET certificates in computer science and applications.

The candidates further maintained that the syllabus of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) NET exam was considerably shorter than the syllabus for the UGC NET.

Hence, the move to consider the ICAR NET on a par with the UGC NET was not appropriate and against the interest of the eligible candidates, they said, adding that it would also be detrimental to the quality of higher education. On the other hand, the officials concerned of the university maintain that the NET exams of the UGC and the ICAR were equivalent.

Ambala, July 9
Dr Upender, an accused in the kidney scam, was today admitted to the local Civil Hospital after he complained of chest pain. He was checked upon and later referred to the PGI, Chandigarh.

According to information Dr Upender complained of chest pain to jail authorities. The jail doctor referred him to the Local Civil Hospital. It is for the second time during one month that Upender was admitted to the hospital. According to hospital sources, Upender is suffering from diabetes and heart problems.

He was taken to the PGI in a jail ambulance amid tight security. Last time the police had taken him to the PGI in a bus for which he had made a complaint with the jail authorities.

Rohtak, July 9
Four members of a family were found dead at their house in Fatehpuri Colony here today. It was suspected that Jogender (32) allegedly committed suicide after strangling his wife Rani (28) and their two sons Abhishek (8) and Aashu (5) to death.

The cause of the tragic incident was yet not clear. A case has been registered.

Brother of the deceased told the police that his mother found Jogender’s body hanging from the ceiling of his room and his wife and their two sons lying dead on their bed.

It is suspected that Jogender killed his wife and children after some altercation and subsequently committed suicide.

Investigations were on at the time of filing of the report.