SPECIAL COVERAGE
CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI






THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
H A R Y A N A   E D I T I O N

Power shortage as thermal unit shut
Yamunanagar, August 30
The power situation has again deteriorated in the state as the second unit (300 MW) of the Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram Thermal Plant (600 MW) has been shut due to technical faults. The power consumption has also increased due to a rise in the day temperature.

Chautala woos traders
Sirsa, August 30
Former Haryana Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala last night made an attempt to woo the trading community by promising them a plethora of benefits if his party,the Indian National Lok Dal, came to power in Haryana after the next assembly elections.

Rice millers to hold mahapanchayat on
Sept 7

Yamunanagar, August 30
The Haryana Pradesh Rice Miller and Dealers Association (HPRMDA) has decided to hold a mahapanchayat of rice millers of Haryana, Punjab and Chhattisgarh on September 7 in Karnal after the association did not get any response from the central and the state governments over their ongoing indefinite strike.

‘Lift ban on export of PUSA 1121’
Kaithal, August 30
Chairman of the All-India Kisan Khet Mazdoor Congress Shamsher Singh Surjewala has demanded that the ban on the export of the PUSA 1121 variety of rice be lifted immediately.

‘Irregularities’ in BPL Cards
HJC’s women cell to move court

Karnal, August 30
The women cell of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) has decided to move court against the alleged irregularities in the issuance of BPL cards.

American among 2 tourists looted
Faridabad, August 30
Three youths reportedly looted two tourists, including a female from the USA, of their belongings and the car they were travelling in on the Delhi-Agra national highway near Sigri village on gunpoint here today.


Stories from Haryana towns falling in the National Capital Region are put in
 Delhi & neighbourhood.



YOUR TOWN
Chandigarh
Sirsa


EARLIER STORIES

Residents block the Rohtak-Sonepat road in protest against the shortage of water for irrigation at Kansala
Residents block the Rohtak-Sonepat road in protest against the shortage of water for irrigation at Kansala on Saturday. — Photo by Manoj Dhaka

A derailed coach of the 2 DR passenger train at Rohtak station
A derailed coach of the 2 DR passenger train at Rohtak station on Saturday. — A Tribune photograph

2 extortionists arrested
Kaithal, August 30
The police has arrested two youths for allegedly extorting money from shopkeepers of Kaul village by issuing them threats on August 27.

Land allotted for girls’ school
Kaithal, August 30
The Haryana government has allotted 5.76 acres in Mandi Township in Kaithal adjoining the new anaj mandi for the construction of Government Senior Secondary Girls School near here.

Governor, CM express grief over Birla’s death
Chandigarh, August 30
Haryana Governor A.R. Kidwai and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today expressed grief over the demise of former Rajya Sabha member, noted industrialist and chairman of the Hindustan Times, Dr Krishna Kumar Birla.

Residents face water shortage
Sirsa, August 30
Residents of Sector 20 of the Haryana Urban Development Authority have been facing an acute shortage of drinking water.

PWD told to repair highways
Chandigarh, August 30
The Haryana public works (B&R) department has been asked to complete the repair of patches and potholes on all state highways and major district roads by October 15 and on village roads by November 15.

Student jumps off bus, hurt
Jind, August 30
A student travelling on the rooftop of a bus without a ticket got injured after he reportedly jumped off the rooftop and was hit by a vehicle coming from the opposite direction near Malhar village here today.

Prisoner commits suicide
Sirsa, August 30
An undertrial prisoner ended his life by hanging from a water tap in the toilet of his barrack in the district jail here last night.

Rs 7.57 lakh looted from bank
Gurgaon, August 30
Armed men reportedly looted a branch of Punjab and Sind Bank in Jamalpur village and decamped with Rs 7.57 lakh here today.

2 jailed for kidnapping ex-SP’s daughter
Fatehabad, August 30
Additional District and Sessions Judge R.K. Yadav today sentenced two persons to seven years of imprisonment for allegedly kidnapping the four-year-old daughter of former SP Hanif Qureshi. He also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 each on them.

2 killed in accident
Fatehabad, August 30
Two persons were killed and four others were injured when a motorcycle and a scooter collided head-on on the Karian Muse Ahli road near here today. The incident took place when Baldev Singh, a contractor, was going towards Dariyapur village on the motorcycle with four labourers riding pillion on it.

Comrade Kasni dead
Chandigarh, August 30
Comrade Dharam Singh Kasni, a social worker and journalist, died in Charkhi-Dadri today morning. He was the father of additional director, Haryana Information and Public Relations Department, Pardeep Kasni.

Journalism students excel
Karnal, August 30
Students of bachelor in mass communication of Government PG College have brought laurels to the institution by securing top positions in the second-year examinations conducted by Kurukshetra University.





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Power shortage as thermal unit shut
Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, August 30
The power situation has again deteriorated in the state as the second unit (300 MW) of the Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram Thermal Plant (600 MW) has been shut due to technical faults. The power consumption has also increased due to a rise in the day temperature.

Unit 2 of the thermal plant was shut yesterday due to a boiler leakage and has been causing a loss of 70 lakh units per day to the state.

Chief engineer of the thermal plant Sushil Bansal said unit 2 was expected to start tomorrow.

Sources said due to a shortage of 130 lakh units per day, major power cuts of over eight hours and 12 hours had been imposed in urban and rural areas, respectively, in the state. The power requirement in the state had increased to over 1,050 lakh units though the state was getting only around 920 lakh units from all its sources.

Power consumption has increased during the past five days as the state did not witness any rain during this period and worsened since yesterday as the second unit of the thermal plant became non-functional.

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Chautala woos traders
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, August 30
Former Haryana Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala last night made an attempt to woo the trading community by promising them a plethora of benefits if his party,the Indian National Lok Dal, came to power in Haryana after the next assembly elections.

Addressing a dinner meeting of traders organised by the vyapar cell of the INLD in Janata Bhawan here, Chautala assured the traders that he would constitute a committee of their representatives to suggest policies governing trade in the state.

The recommendations of that committee would be implemented in totality, he added.

Accusing the Congress government in Haryana and the UPA government at the Centre of backtracking from promises made to the traders before coming to power, Chautala said when the INLD introduced the VAT system, the Congress said it would replace it with the old form of taxation.

But now all Congress-ruled states had introduced VAT, he added.

The former Chief Minister said the trading community had been hit the worst by the present Congress government in the state.

Law and order was in a shambles and traders were being killed for ransom, he alleged.

He urged the traders to support the INLD in the next parliamentary and assembly elections and promised to pay back if his party came back to power.

Later, talking to mediapersons Chautala said his party considered the Congress as the main enemy of farmers and common people, adding that his party could enter into an alliance with any political party to defeat the Congress.

He said his meetings with traders were part of a series of meetings with people of different communities and were aimed at knowing their problems so that these could be addressed if his party came to power.

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Rice millers to hold mahapanchayat on Sept 7
Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, August 30
The Haryana Pradesh Rice Miller and Dealers Association (HPRMDA) has decided to hold a mahapanchayat of rice millers of Haryana, Punjab and Chhattisgarh on September 7 in Karnal after the association did not get any response from the central and the state governments over their ongoing indefinite strike.

The association also submitted a memorandum of their 11 demands to the government through the deputy commissioners of Kurukshetra, Ambala and Karnal.

The HPRMDA has demanded that the state government should release transport charges amounting to Rs 32 crore of nearly 970 rice millers of the state and also their security of one year. They said the date of pending levy on rice from the miller should be postponed from August 31 to November 30. They demanded that the Centre should lift the ban on long-grain quality rice, including sharvati, sugandh and terycot. Besides, PUSA 1121 should be included in the basmati category and an amount Rs 1,337 per quintal should be paid for the levy rice.

President of the association Azad Singh Rathi said the government should announce their policy for 2008-2009 before the procurement of paddy in all grain markets in the state. If the government announced the bonus later, it would lead to confrontation among millers, arhtiyas and farmers.

Last year, exporters paid a high price to farmers for their yield, but the central government had imposed an export duty of Rs 800 per quintal. This had led to differences between exporters and importers.

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‘Lift ban on export of PUSA 1121’
Our Correspondent

Kaithal, August 30
Chairman of the All-India Kisan Khet Mazdoor Congress Shamsher Singh Surjewala has demanded that the ban on the export of the PUSA 1121 variety of rice be lifted immediately.

Addressing a press conference here today, he, however, advocated the continuation of the ban on the export of other non-basmati varieties of rice.

Surjewala said since PUSA 1121 was not distributed to consumers through the public distribution system, the lifting of the ban on the export of this variety would not affect the PDS in any way.

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‘Irregularities’ in BPL Cards
HJC’s women cell to move court
Tribune News Service

Karnal, August 30
The women cell of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) has decided to move court against the alleged irregularities in the issuance of BPL cards.

Senior leader of the HJC women cell Kusum Sharma today alleged here that ministers and legislators had managed to get BPL cards issued for themselves under the present Congress rule.

She said the party would soon move a public interest litigation in the Punjab and Haryana High Court to bring out the irregularities in the issuance of BPL cards.

Sharma, who was addressing a rally of the poor at the local Karan Park, claimed that the PIL would expose the “corrupt practices” being followed by the present government and would ensure that only the deserving got the benefits under the BPL cards.

She said the party stood with the poor and would not allow anyone to deprive them of their rights. She said the creamy layer of society was getting their BPL cards made easily while those living below the poverty line were being denied the cards.

She said the party would fight for the rights of the poor and would take the issue to its logical conclusion.

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American among 2 tourists looted
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, August 30
Three youths reportedly looted two tourists, including a female from the USA, of their belongings and the car they were travelling in on the Delhi-Agra national highway near Sigri village on gunpoint here today.

The police said the car, which was taken away by the criminals, had been recovered from Bulandshehar in Uttar Pradesh within 12 hours of the incident.

The incident took place when Saraha Phandasia, an American national, along with an Indian, Rakesh Gupta, was on her way to Delhi from Agra.

The police has registered a case of looting on a complaint of Gagan Mehta, driver of the car.

The criminals followed the car on a motorcycle, stopped them in the middle of the road and allegedly looted them on gunpoint.

The criminals, who had country-made weapons, forced the tourists to part with their belongings, including two laptops, mobile phones, documents and Rs 70,000.

The police claimed that the car and the belongings of the tourists had been recovered. It claimed that the criminals would soon be nabbed.

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2 extortionists arrested
Our Correspondent

Kaithal, August 30
The police has arrested two youths for allegedly extorting money from shopkeepers of Kaul village by issuing them threats on August 27.

The arrested youths were today produced in the court of CJM Ajay Parasher, who remanded them in a 14-day judicial custody. The police is on a look out for their third accomplice Rinku.

SSP Anil Kumar Rao here today said a shopkeeper of Kaul village had lodged a complaint with the police that three youths came to his shop and damaged some goods. They threatened to eliminate him and forcibly took the cash lying in the cash box. Later, the youths went to his brother’s shop and then to his uncle’s shop and demanded cash from them by issuing threats.

Sub-inspector, Dhand, Jagbir Singh investigated the matter and a case under Section 387 and 392 of the IPC had been registered against the accused.

The police recovered a part of the looted cash and arrested the two youths, who were sent to judicial custody.

In another case, the Cheeka police recovered a truck, which was stolen from near the cheeka mandi on August 27. Bittu of Pundri has been arrested in this connection and he has been sent to judicial custody on the directions of a local court.

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Land allotted for girls’ school
Our Correspondent

Kaithal, August 30
The Haryana government has allotted 5.76 acres in Mandi Township in Kaithal adjoining the new anaj mandi for the construction of Government Senior Secondary Girls School near here.

Hukam Chand Singhwal, a social worker and former block president of the Congress, showed a copy of the allotment letter sent by the chief administrator, HUDA, to the deputy commissioner, Kaithal.

Residents of colonies situated on the southern side of the town on the Kaithal-Jind road had been demanding the opening of a girls’ school in the area for a long time.

Girl students of the area found it inconvenient to cross the Narwana-Kurukshetra railway line passing through the town to go to the already existing Government Girls Senior Secondary School near Geeta Bhawan Mandir here.

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Governor, CM express grief over Birla’s death
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 30
Haryana Governor A.R. Kidwai and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today expressed grief over the demise of former Rajya Sabha member, noted industrialist and chairman of the Hindustan Times, Dr Krishna Kumar Birla.

In a condolence message issued here today, the Governor said Dr Birla would be remembered for his significant contribution to the industrial sector and journalism.

The Chief Minister described Dr Birla as a man of many facets, who had passion for not only business, but also for philanthropy and education.

The Governor and the Chief Minister conveyed their heartfelt sympathies to the members of the bereaved family.

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Residents face water shortage
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, August 30
Residents of Sector 20 of the Haryana Urban Development Authority have been facing an acute shortage of drinking water.

The problem is so severe that the residents have been forced to purchase water for Rs 150 to Rs 200 a tanker.

Residents allege that the problem of water shortage has been surfacing in the sector quite often.Interestingly, the office of HUDA is also situated in this sector.

Pardeep Kamboj, a local advocate, said the complaints to the authorities had yielded little results.

He said “Sector 20 is considered one of the posh areas of the town, but due to the indifferent attitude of the authorities, life has become a living hell for the 600-odd families.

HUDA, he said, had a bore well for the supply of drinking water, but it was lying out of order.

SDM-cum-estate officer, HUDA, H.C. Bhatia said two motors of the tubewell had burnt.

He said he had directed to his subordinates to get the motors repaired soon.

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PWD told to repair highways
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 30
The Haryana public works (B&R) department has been asked to complete the repair of patches and potholes on all state highways and major district roads by October 15 and on village roads by November 15.

The PW (B&R) minister, Capt Ajay Yadav, issued these directions while presiding over a meeting of senior officers of public works (B&R) department to review the repair of roads in view of rains during the past two months.

The officials said so far 130-km-long state highways, 95-km-long major district roads and 620-km-long village roads had been repaired. The department had deployed machinery on a large scale for repair of roads.

He also directed the senior officers to undertake field visits and give clearance for works on the spot. He asked them to ensure quality of works and do not compromise on quality under any circumstances. Any laxity in this regard would be dealt with sternly, he cautioned.

While reviewing the construction of flyovers and ROBs, he said many such works were under execution and their progress would be checked by the quality control division.

A monthly report on quality control checking should be sent to him, he added.

He expressed concerns over the frequent damage to some stretches of roads in towns and villages due to poor drainage.

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Student jumps off bus, hurt
Tribune News Service

Jind, August 30
A student travelling on the rooftop of a bus without a ticket got injured after he reportedly jumped off the rooftop and was hit by a vehicle coming from the opposite direction near Malhar village here today.

The injured identified as Amit, a resident of Nirjan village, has been admitted to a hospital, where his condition is stated to be out of danger.

The incident occurred when Amit took the bus from the local bus stand. Sources said Amit, who wanted to go towards Panipat, could not get into the bus, as it did not halt at the place where Amit was waiting. He, however, chased the bus and reached its rooftop with the help of the ladder behind.

A team of ticket checkers got the bus halted near Malhar village and asked him to get down from the rooftop and show his ticket. As he had no ticket, he jumped off the rooftop on the road, following which he was hit by another vehicle.

In another incident, a 70-year-old woman was crushed to death near Khera Khemawati village in Safidon subdivision here today. The victim identified as Bhagwani Devi was trying to cross the main road when a truck ran over her.

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Prisoner commits suicide
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, August 30
An undertrial prisoner ended his life by hanging from a water tap in the toilet of his barrack in the district jail here last night.

The incident came to light this morning when another prisoner went to the toilet at about 5.30 am.

J.S. Sethi, deputy superintendent (jail), said the victim, Janta Singh, son of Kartar Singh and resident of Pakka Shahidanwali village under the Kalanwali police station in the district, was in judicial custody in the district jail since April 21 in a case of attempt to murder.

His two brothers and two more persons were co-accused the same case.

Last night, when other inmates of the barracks were asleep, he reportedly went to the toilet and committed suicide by hanging himself from a water tap with the help of a cloth. Sethi said Janta Singh was under depression for the past few days and had had shared his feelings with other inmates too.

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Rs 7.57 lakh looted from bank

Gurgaon, August 30
Armed men reportedly looted a branch of Punjab and Sind Bank in Jamalpur village and decamped with Rs 7.57 lakh here today.

Three motorcycle-borne youths forced their entry into the bank branch situated on the Gurgaon-Pataudi road about 11 am after hitting the security guard at the gate with a revolver butt and leaving him unconscious, Gurgaon police commissioner Mohinder Lal said.

The assailants then looted the bank at gunpoint ordering people not to move.

They decamped after stuffing their bags with Rs 7.57 lakh, he said, adding that the incident was being probed. — PTI

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2 jailed for kidnapping ex-SP’s daughter
Tribune News Service

Fatehabad, August 30
Additional District and Sessions Judge R.K. Yadav today sentenced two persons to seven years of imprisonment for allegedly kidnapping the four-year-old daughter of former SP Hanif Qureshi. He also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 each on them.

The convicts - Surjit Singh and Malkiat Singh - had allegedly kidnapped the baby with the help of Gurdeep, Buta Singh, Ranjit Singh, Lakhwinder and Sharwan on May 23, 2002.

The court acquitted the other five accused for want of proper evidence. Khem Chand, alias Khemi, the main accused in the case, had already been killed in an encounter with the police.

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2 killed in accident
Tribune News Service

Fatehabad, August 30
Two persons were killed and four others were injured when a motorcycle and a scooter collided head-on on the Karian Muse Ahli road near here today. The incident took place when Baldev Singh, a contractor, was going towards Dariyapur village on the motorcycle with four labourers riding pillion on it.

Malkiat Singh, who was riding the scooter, and Baldev Singh died on the spot. Budh Ram, Satnam, Naurang and Harmesh were injured in the accident. The injured have been admitted to the local general hospital.

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Comrade Kasni dead
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 30
Comrade Dharam Singh Kasni, a social worker and journalist, died in Charkhi-Dadri today morning. He was the father of additional director, Haryana Information and Public Relations Department, Pardeep Kasni.

He was 80 and survived by his wife and two sons.

The last rites of Kasni will be performed in Charkhi-Dadri tomorrow at 9 am.

Kasni was the father-in-law of Neelam Pardeep Kasni, director, Haryana Social Justice and Empowerment Department.

In a condolence message issued here today, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda described him as a social worker, who stood for the cause of the common man, especially labourers.

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Journalism students excel
Tribune News Service

Karnal, August 30
Students of bachelor in mass communication of Government PG College have brought laurels to the institution by securing top positions in the second-year examinations conducted by Kurukshetra University.

Five students of the college stood among the top 10 students. Nidhi Pahija, Neelima, Tanjum Kamboj, Swati and Pooja bagged the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth positions, respectively.

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