Separate SGPC
Akal Takht’s intervention sought
Karnal, September 9
The Shiromani Akali Dal (A) Panch Pradhani today sought an intervention of the Akal Takht in resolving the present row between the SGPC and the HSGPC (ad hoc).

‘Ad hoc panel can check accounts’
Karnal, September 9
Vice-president of the SAD Raghujeet Singh Virk today made an offer to HSGPC (ad hoc) members to check the accounts of the management of gurdwaras in the state. He said they were also ready to hold discussions on this matter.

Ambala Sikhs oppose move
Ambala, September 9
Members of the Sikh community of Ambala today protested against the formation of a separate SGPC for the state.

Kurukshetra, September 9
A large number of guest teachers, wearing black badges and carrying black flags, took out a procession here today in protest against the firing incident in Rohtak on Sunday, in which a woman guest teacher was killed and several others were injured.

Raising slogans in support of their demands, the protesters submitted a memorandum to additional deputy commissioner Sumedha Kataria demanding release of the arrested guest teachers with immediate effect, CBI inquiry into the incident, punishment to the guilty officers, Rs 20 lakh compensation to the next of the kin of the deceased, compensation of medical treatment expenses of the injured guest teachers and regularisation of guest teachers by solving their problems.

FATEHABAD: Donning black badges, guest teachers organised a silent procession here on Tuesday.

Led by Raghubir Singh Nadhel, district president of the Haryana Guest Teachers Association, the agitating teachers staged a dharna in the local Ambedkar Park and then went in a procession towards the mini-secretariat.

PANIPAT: A number of teachers and workers’ organisations active in the district condemned the attack on the unarmed guest teachers in Rohtak on Tuesday.

They also submitted memorandums to the deputy commissioner. Teachers said the police action against the unarmed teachers was completely uncalled for. They said the teachers had been struggling to get their demands accepted for a long time.

They said it was wrong on the part of the police to lathicharge the protesters, who wanted to meet the Chief Minister or his MP son and submit a charter of demands.

The teachers said the government had forced them to organise a protest rally by not providing them with any relief over the past many years.

They demanded that an independent inquiry should be ordered into the incident and strict action should be taken against those responsible for the firing.

SIRSA: Hundreds of guest teachers carrying black flags held a silent demonstration here on Tuesday in protest against the police action in Rohtak on Sunday.

Carrying placards, they demanded action against those guilty for the death of a guest teacher, Raj Rani, and injuries to many others.

Several frontal organisations of the teachers supported the demonstration. Later, agitating teachers assembled in Town Park, where they held a sit-in demonstration.

YAMUNANAGAR: A large number of guest teachers here observed Tuesday as a black day. They were protesting against the death of a guest teacher in Rohtak firing on Sunday.

They first staged a dharna outside the mini-secretariat then carried out a procession on the national highway. The traffic on the route came to a halt for about an hour.

The district president of the Haryana Guest Teachers Sangh, Shiv Charan, said they would protest till their demands were fulfilled.

Rohtak, September 9
Congress MP from Karnal Arvind Sharma here today said the recent lathicharge and police firing on democratically protesting guest teachers showed that the Bhupinder Singh Hooda regime in the state was no different than that of his predecessor Om Prakash Chautala.

Terming the magisterial probe eyewash, Sharma demanded an inquiry into the matter by the CBI or a retired Judge of the high court.

“I strongly condemn the firing on the guest teachers. The police has rained bullets on the unarmed demonstrators, including women. What is the difference between our government and the Chautala government,” Sharma alleged while talking to mediapersons outside the PGIMS here today.

He dismissed Hooda’s claim that somebody from crowd opened fire as irresponsible.

Karnal, September 9
Students of the Doon Valley Institute of Management went on an indefinite strike here today in protest against the imposition of a dress code and the supply of uniform by the school management at exorbitant prices.

The students alleged that the management was charging Rs 2,800 for the dress which included a shirt, a pair of trousers and a tie, while the cost in the market was about Rs 1,000.

“There is no need for a dress code for students of courses like BTech and BPharmacy, but the management is fleecing the students and imposing its arbitrary decisions on them,” said Ankit Jain, a member of the students’ union.

The students are also angry over the practice of forcing them to purchase the “book bank” from the college at the time of admission and alleged that the cost charged for it was about Rs 1,000 more than the market price.

Another grouse of the students is that the college gate is kept closed most of the time and opened only during the recess, causing inconvenience to students.

The management had invited the students and a five-member delegation was holding talks, but nothing had come out of these so far, agitating students said.

The students have decided to continue the strike till the decision on the dress code was withdrawn. Meanwhile, repeated attempts to contact the management over the issue provide futile.

Karnal, September 9
The Shiromani Akali Dal (A) Panch Pradhani today sought an intervention of the Akal Takht in resolving the present row between the SGPC and the HSGPC (ad hoc).

President of the party Daljeet Singh Bittu said there was merit in the demand for a separate SGPC for Haryana due to rampant corruption in the apex body.

Bittu said a committee comprising Sikhs of Haryana should be formed under the SGPC and all decisions regarding the management of gurdwaras in the state should be taken with their consent.

He urged the Sikhs to unite and thwart the attempts of the Congress and the RSS-BJP to divide the Sikhs and also advised the SGPC to constitute a body for Haryana taking into confidence the local leaders.

He also asked the SGPC to make its working completely transparent and manage
its affairs in a manner that there was no room for making allegations of corruption
and nepotism.

Asserting that decentralisation of power was the only solution to the problem, he said the power should rest with a sangat and not with any particular family.

He accused the BJP-RSS and the Congress of playing politics with Sikhs and trying to create divisions in the community for electoral gains.

He said earlier all Sikhs were under the command of the Akal Takht and it would have been good if they remained under one authority but the Delhi SGPC did not allow it to happen.

Karnal, September 9
Vice-president of the SAD Raghujeet Singh Virk today made an offer to HSGPC (ad hoc) members to check the accounts of the management of gurdwaras in the state. He said they were also ready to hold discussions on this matter.

He said Sikhs of Haryana were not behind the demand for a separate Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee and only a handful with vested interests had been exploiting the feelings of people.

He said Rs 5-6 crore had been allotted to the state by the SGPC in the general budget passed in the general house.

Criticising the Congress for playing vote-bank politics and exploiting the feelings of the Sikhs, he reiterated that under no circumstances, a separate SGPC for Haryana would be allowed to be constituted.

He also blasted the HSGPC (ad hoc) for making false and exaggerated claim of submitting an affidavit of 3.5 lakh in support of their demand.

He further said genuine Sikhs were not keen on dividing the community.

Bhiwani, September 9
Irked over the halting of a goods train for several hours daily at the Gandhinagar railway crossing in Charkhi Dadri, residents of this area disrupted the traffic at the crossing by blocking the railway track here today.

Several trains ran behind their scheduled timings because of the blockade. A number of train passengers had to suffer due to the jam.

SDM Satbir Singh Lohchab tried to pacify the protesters. The agitators said goods trains were being regularly halted at the Gandhinagar railway crossing for several hours at a stretch.

A resident, Hemant, said they had to suffer a lot because of the closed crossing, as sometimes they had to wait for hours to visit a doctor.

He added that they never objected if trains ran on their scheduled times but halting trains for several hours was highly inconvenient.

Students and workers had to go via Dhani railway crossing, which was two or three km from here.

Residents alleged that they had made several complaints with the railway authorities, but to no avail.

Angry over the apathetic attitude of the authorities, residents blocked the railway crossing at 7.45 am today under leadership of municipal councillor Rajdeep Faugat.

The agitators said they would to continue their agitation until they get a firm assurance that their problem would be solved.

Later, the blockade was lifted after Lohchab and the railway authorities assured the protesters that their problem would be solved.

The Bhiwani-Rewari 1 RB passenger train, the Hisar-Rewari 1 RH passenger train and the Rewari-Bathinda 2 RB passenger train ran two hours late because of the protest.

Chandigarh, September 9
With a power deficiency of 15 to 17 per cent during peak-load hours, Haryana is trying to meet the challenge head-on by converting 1 lakh sq ft of new government building space compliant with the energy conservation building code (ECBC).

Talking to TNS on the sidelines of a seminar on capacity building for energy conservation organised by the Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (Hareda) here today, Sumita Misra, director, Hareda, said all new government buildings to come up in the state would be energy efficient.

“These include community health centres, industrial training institutes and government group housing and mini-secretariat buildings,” she said.

With the union ministry of renewable energy all set to launch the national buildings rating system in October, Haryana aims to be the first state to have an ECBC prototype standard in place for all government buildings.

Misra said the state had made energy audit of all government buildings mandatory.

The state has an installed power capacity of 4,033 MW, with an average daily power supply of 65 million units.

Though the government plans to add another 3,600 MW in non-renewable energy and 714 MW in renewable energy within two years, Haryana is facing a deficit of 15 to 17 per cent.

“Various studies by the Haryana Power Utilities have shown that there is a potential to save 30 per cent power in the agriculture sector (which consumes 42 per cent of power), 26 per cent in the domestic sector (which consumes 8 per cent) and 20 per cent in the industrial sector (which consumes 26 per cent power),” she said.

Haryana is one of the six states chosen by the European Union for a project on capacity building for energy conservation.

Lauding the efforts of the state government, Geratd Weihs, head of Centric Austria International said the infrastructure growth in the state, especially in the National Capital Region, called for a programmatic approach in energy conservation.

Chandigarh, September 9
The Haryana Roadways has lowered the fare of low-floor AC buses plying between Gurgaon and Delhi.

Now, the revised fare of these AC buses in Delhi has been fixed on a par with the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses and will become applicable from today.

Earlier, passengers had to pay almost three times the ordinary bus fare to travel in an AC bus.

However, after revising it, the passengers will have to pay almost twice the fare of a non-AC bus.

The low-floor AC buses given by Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) ply from Gurgaon to different destinations in Delhi on three routes.

One route is from the Gurgaon-IFFCO Chowk-Mahipalpur-Dhaula Kuan-Karol Bagh while the second route is from the Gurgaon-IFFCO Chowk-Mahipalpur-Dhaula Kuan-Shivaji Stadium and the third route from the Gurgaon-IFFCO Chowk-Sikanderpur Border-Mehrauli-Safdarjung.

Five low-floor AC buses between Gurgaon and Delhi were started in December last to provide public transport to the passengers.

Later on, it was felt that the fare of these buses was more as compared to the AC buses of the DTC after which it was decided to reduce the fare.

As per the new revised fares, the passengers will have to pay Rs 30 for going to Dhaulakuan from Gurgaon, which was earlier Rs 40.

Similarly, for Karolbagh, the fare will be Rs 35 while earlier it was Rs 60.

The fare from Gurgaon to the Shivaji stadium will be Rs 35 instead of Rs 60 and for Safdarjung, a passenger will have to pay Rs 35 instead of Rs 50.

Chandigarh, September 9
Alarmed at the high incidence of vector-borne diseases in Haryana during the past two months, the health department has embarked upon an aggressive surveillance strategy to ensure chikungunia, dengue and malaria cases are kept under control.

While malaria and dengue cases have been reported from different parts of the state for weeks now, chikungunia has been reported from Gurgaon, Jhajjar and Rohtak.

Though the state health authorities deny that there has been a chikungunia outbreak in Gurgaon, as claimed by the health authorities in Delhi, Haryana officials concede that four cases have been reported in Jhajjar and Rohtak.

During the past two months, over 500 cases of dengue have also been reported across the state.

Most of these cases have been reported from Gurgaon, Panipat and Rohtak. The highest number of dengue cases has been reported from Panipat.

The health authorities claim that it is only because of their aggressive surveillance that further spread of dengue fever has been kept under control.

Health officials say most dengue cases in Gurgaon and Rohtak have been reported from rural areas, while in Panipat the incidence of disease is more in urban areas.

Dr Veena Chugh, additional director-general, health, told TNS that health teams had been pressed into surveillance across the state.

“Manpower from the health department and other departments has been drawn for a complete surveillance and fogging. We are also launching an awareness campaign against allowing water to stagnate in localities and houses, to ensure that the female anopheles’ population is kept under control,” she said.

She said the biological control for the anopheles mosquito, by introducing gambusia and guppy fish in existing water bodies, had been carried out this year.

“This biological control has already been successfully used for two years now. We are using the existing water bodies for introducing the exotic fish species in most districts,” she said.

The health department is also supplying insecticide-treated impregnated curtains to people wherever dengue cases are being reported.

“Since 70 per cent of the vector-borne disease cases is being reported from rural areas, we have decided to use the “sakshar mahila samuh” (SMS) in villages to spread awareness against spread of these diseases,” said Dr Chugh.

Chandigarh, September 9
The Environment Assessment Impact Authority in Haryana is awaiting its new head as its chairperson Promilla Issar has resigned and joined as member of the central administrative tribunal (CAT).

The eight-member authority was formed three months ago. However, in all these months, the authority, constituted by the Centre in consultation with the state government to give clearance to construction projects, has not sanctioned a penny to hold its meetings or given a place to house its offices.

Despite this, members of the lower committee met to consider 150-odd applications for construction projects.

The committee met as an application needs to be cleared within 60 days of receipt.

The committee took up 100-odd cases and recommended only four cases to the authority while remaining applications were returned on grounds of discrepancies.

However, as its chairperson has gone, the clearance of these projects by the authority is now a race against time.

The Centre has been informed of the vacancy created by Issar’s departure and the state government asked to recommend a new chairperson at the earliest.

Sources said members had not been paid salaries or the sitting fee for the meetings.

Though the notification of the constitution of the authority was made in 2006, a number of states are still in the process of constituting these as per the directions of the ministry of forests and environment while the authorities in other states like Punjab have already begun work.

Karnal, September 9
In order to promote sports activities in the district, the state government is constructing stadia in the rural areas.

Under a scheme, six block-level stadiums are being constructed in the district at a cost of Rs 2.39 crore.

An official spokesman of the district administration said nearly 80 per cent construction work had already been completed while the remaining was likely to be completed by the end of this financial year.

Each stadium would cost Rs 40 lakh. The stadia being constructed are in Gharunda, Bastara, Gogripur, Kalrijagir, Jaisinghpura, Nigdu and Pundrak villages.

Apart from this, the state government had also sanctioned a stadium in Kalsi village, while stadia in Munak and Mor Majra villages have been completed.

The spokesman said earlier panchayats had to contribute 25 per cent of the cost of the stadium, but now the state government has reduced the share of panchayats to 5 per cent.

He said the stadium scheme had even been extended to urban areas. Municipalities had been asked to contribute 10 per cent of the cost of the stadium.

The spokesman said the government would bear all expenses incurred on the construction of stadia at the district level or above.

Karnal, September 9
Tributes were paid to Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, social reformer and visionary, for his services to society on his death anniversary here today.

A number of programmes were held at Dyal Singh College in memory of the founder of the college in which students, teachers and employees participated.

Vice-president of the college B.B. Arora threw light on the legendary role played by Majithia in the educational and social spheres and said he induced the concept of “knowledge with morality” and laid emphasis on inculcation of moral values.

“Like Shakespeare, who became immortal due to his contribution to literature, Majithia will always remain alive in our memory for his vision and contribution to the field of education,” he said.

Deputy commissioner B.S. Malik, who presided over the function, exhorted the students and the teachers to follow the path shown by Majithia and endeavour to realise his cherished dreams.

A blood donation camp and an NSS camp were also organised on the solemn occasion. A tree plantation exercise was also undertaken.

A havan was performed to pay homage to Majithia at Dyal Singh Public School here. Principal Nina Rai led students and the staff in paying tributes to the great visionary and asked them to follow the path shown by him.

Ambala, September 9
Special Judge of the CBI court A.K. Verma framed charges in the ACP Rajbir murder case against real estate dealer of Gurgaon Vijay Bhardwaj here today.

The judge read out the charges in the presence of the accused and adjourned the case till November 11.

Defence counsel Anil Kaushik pleaded that his client was falsely implicated in the case. He said Rajbir was under debt and he committed suicide.

He said a few departmental investigations were also pending against him. He said a false story was planted against his client.

On the other hand, CBI counsel H.P.S. Verma said Bhardwaj had shot dead Rajbir. He said Bhardwaj was under a heavy debt.

He owed a huge amount to Rajbir and was unable to meet the deadline. It led him “to go to such an extreme step”, he added. He said the CBI had sufficient evidence against Bhardwaj.

According to the chargesheet filed by the CBI, Rajbir and Vijay were fast friends and were jointly dealing in real estate business.

Bhardwaj owed Rs 60 lakh to Rajbir in a land deal. Rajbir reached the office of Bhardwaj on MG Road in Gurgaon on March 24 to get his payment back.

There was a heated exchange between the two and Bhardwaj shot Rajbir with a .32-bore revolver.

Rajbir had given this service revolver to Bhardwaj three days ago as Bhardwaj had to go somewhere in Haryana to collect a huge amount from a property dealer.

Later, the police arrested him on charge of murdering Rajbir. Rajbir was known as an encounter specialist in the Delhi police circles.

Ambala, September 9
The CBI today filed a chargesheet in the Sarita suicide case in the court of Special Magistrate Abdul Majid here.

The chargesheet was filed under sections 376, (2) (G), 506 and 34 of the IPC against two police officials - Seelak Ram (ASI) and Balraj (head constable).

Sarita, a resident of Rohtak, had committed suicide in front of the Police Headquarters in Panchkula on June 9.

Her husband Subhash had alleged that two police officials had raped her.

Initially, the case was lodged with the Rohtak police, but later the investigation was handed over to the CBI.

According to the chargesheet, the CIA staff of the Rohtak police had arrested the husband of Sarita in a motorbike theft case on April 9.

The police summoned Sarita on April 10 where two police officials allegedly raped her. Sarita met Rohtak SP and IG seeking action against the two police officials.

When she did not get justice, she decided to meet the DGP in Panchkula, where she committed suicide.

The CBI has attached a list of around 60 witnesses, including the father and brother of the victim. The CBI has also attached 52 documents in the chargesheet.

The CBI had taken blood samples of the two police officials to the civil hospital in Ambala City last month, which were sent to a national laboratory for DNA tests. The report is awaited.

Sonepat, September 9
Farmers of the Gohana region are at the receiving end, as they do not get the minimum support price (MSP) for their bajra produce that has started arriving in the market since August 28 because of early harvesting.

According to available information, the Centre had announced an MSP of Rs 860 per quintal for bajra during this procurement season.

But as per government directions, the government purchase of bajra, as in previous years, will commence from October 1.

At the time of first arrival of the produce in Gohana Mandi, it was purchased by private traders at rates of Rs 685 to Rs 735 per quintal.

But as the arrival picked up in the coming days, the prices also came down.

Farmers led by president of the Rashtriya Raksha Samiti Satbir Chahal have submitted a memorandum, addressed to the Governor of Haryana, in the SDM’s office at Gohana with the demand that the government agencies should immediately start purchasing bajra to save the farmers from losses.

Chahal also said that if the purchase by the government agencies was delayed, the samiti would launch a “bajra bachao” agitation.

He also advised the farmers not to bring their produce to the mandis till the government commences its purchase.

Interestingly, because of early rains, the bajra crop was sown around one month earlier than previous years and, therefore, harvested earlier.

Kaithal, September 9
The Haryana Government College Teachers Association has criticised the granting of Class I status to only those teachers whose basic pay exceeds Rs 10,000.

In a statement issued here yesterday, president of the association Sucha Singh said this decision was arbitrary, unjustified and had raised many questions.

He said by this decision, the government had created more categories in a particular class, which was not proper.

The grades and salary of college and university teachers had been fixed by the University Grants Commission and the teachers were kept in Group A.

However, Haryana was the only state which had kept its college teachers in Group B whereas Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh and other states had kept the college teachers in Group A.

He said Haryana had become the first state to divide the teachers into two groups that too on the occasion of Teacher’s Day.

Earlier, the teachers held a meeting and expressed resentment over this decision and urged the government to review it.