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Crops bear brunt of rain fury
Children of a farm worker take shelter as heavy rain hits Arya Nagar village, near Hisar, on Friday.
Tribune photo: Subhash Kumar
State sells power to Tamil Nadu
Naidu to attend BJP state unit’s meeting
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Rampage in college as student dies in accident
15 get life term for murder
Teacher accused of rape held
6th Pay Panel
Youth held for bid to rape Dalit
Irrigation minister’s dismissal sought
Malls Selling Vegetables, Fruits
Student leaders held for bid to block road
16 found absent during surprise check
Man dies, doctor’s negligence alleged
Patrolling to check water theft ordered
No wages for 13 months
Green chit to waste management project
Villagers block railway line
HJC women’s wing holds protest
Teenager’s body found hanging
2 killed in road mishap
INLD rally on Sept 25
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Crops bear brunt of rain fury
Hisar, September 19 The city recorded a low of 22 °C today with a humidity level of 100 per cent. The rain reduced visibility to 200 m. Low-lying areas of the city were flooded because of rain disrupting traffic at several points. The incessant rain also led sporadic breakdowns in power supply. District agriculture officials said there were reports of levelling of guar and other standing crops in several villages but the extent of damage was not known yet. JIND:
Post-monsoon rain that lashed the district on Friday may have ended the hot and humid weather prevailing for the past few weeks, but it seems to have left the farming community worried as more downpour can damage standing crops. The district has received an average of 60 to 80 mm of rainfall in the past two days. Shamsher, a resident of Intalkalan village here, claimed that more rain and winds could lead to extensive damage to the standing crops like paddy and cotton in the district. The present weather had also posed as a danger to the bajra crop, which was being harvested in the region, said Rattan Singh, a local resident. The amount of rainfall received in the district include 148 mm in Safidon, 60 in Jind, 72 mm in Julana, 50 mm in Uchana and 55 mm in Pillukhera in the past 24 hours, according to the agriculture department here. KARNAL:
Heavy rain during the past three days has wreaked havoc in the region causing damage to the standing paddy crop and hampering the harvesting. With weatherman predicting medium-duration rains for the next three days, farmers in the area are on tenterhooks fearing further damage to crops. The agriculture department has advised the farmers to stop irrigating the crops and discontinue spraying of pesticides and insecticides. Subdivisional agriculture officer, Karnal, Wazir Singh said hybrid varieties of paddy like RH 10, 9001, Sharbati, PR 114 were the worst hit by the rain, as these crops had matured and were ready for harvesting. Other varieties affected by rain were CSR 30 and PB 1121, which were in blooming stage and the rain interrupted their pollination. The cost of labour, which was about Rs 1,200 per acre, would also go up by Rs 200 to Rs 300 per acre due to rain, putting additional burden on the farmers. Crops spread in 20,000 to 25,000 hectares was likely to be affected by waterlogging in Karnal district and in case the rain continued, the crop could be totally destroyed, he added. During the past three days, Karnal recorded 33 mm of rainfall while Maluk had highest rainfall of 83 mm, followed by Asandh (80 mm), Gharaunda (70mm), Nilokhere (27 mm) and Indri (24 mm). KAITHAL:
Heavy rain which lashed the district on Friday for the second consecutive day caused extensive damage to the standing and harvested paddy crop. A flood-like situation developed in the town as the drainage system collapsed and all main roads submerged. The anaj mandis were also flooded due to the accumulated water. Commuters had a tough time as a number of vehicles broke down in the middle of roads. |
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State sells power to Tamil Nadu
Chandigarh, September 19 Senior officials informed The Tribune that for the first time, this year, the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) managed to sell 150 MW of power from 7 pm to 12 am. Though, this is the direct sale of power made by the nigam, the authorities are hoping to use the power exchange, India Energy Exchange, to sell power and get a good deal tomorrow onwards. Financial commissioner, power, Ashok Lavasa said the demand for power in the agriculture and domestic sector fell down considerably today because of the rain. “Even the frequency at the northern grid was high and we managed to get power at the normal rate of Rs 2.25 per unit. For the past 10 days, the frequency at the grid had remained below 49.5 Hz, forcing us to pay as much as Rs 7-8 per unit,” he said. The state has an installed capacity of 850 MW. Other than one unit at the Yamunanagar thermal power plant (of 300 MW) that was damaged in a fire recently and a unit (132 MW) at Faridabad gas plant, all other units have been running to their capacity. Managing director, UHBVN, Vijayender Kumar, said the rain had forced them to bring down the capacity of a 300 MW unit in Yamunanagar to 150 MW. “In the meantime, we got a buyer in Tamil Nadu and we decided to sell the surplus power. It is for the first time this year that we have managed to sell power rather than looking at other state electricity boards and power traders to buy power and meet our demand,” he added. |
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Naidu to attend BJP state unit’s meeting
Chandigarh, September 19 Political observers are viewing the decision as a desperate attempt to mollify leaders of the state unit on the issue of alliance with the INLD, led by Om Prakash Chautala. Naidu has no connection with the organisational matters of the Haryana BJP. The party’s national general secretary Vijay Goel is the ‘prabhari’ of the state unit and secretary Hardip Singh Garewal assists him. Normally, whenever a party meeting is held, these two national leaders attend the proceedings. Besides the executive committee members and office- bearers of the state unit, presidents of district and ‘mandal’ units have also been invited for the Sonepat meeting. It is now an open secret that while the high command is in favour of an alliance with the INLD, the state unit is vehemently opposing it due to the past bitterness generated during the period when the BJP was supporting the then ruling INLD. Many Haryana BJP leaders were booked in criminal cases and leaders, including the then party president Rattan Lal Kataria, were beaten up by the police. But rather than being apologetic, INLD leaders justified the police action. Given the past experience, the opposition of the Haryana BJP leaders to an alliance with the INLD is understandable. Even the rank and file of the party is opposed to the move. Some leaders are even believed to be thinking in terms of quitting the party if an alliance is ‘imposed’ on them by the high command. Naidu was leading the BJP when he gave the first clear indication, before the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, that his party would snap ties with the INLD in protest against the arrogant attitude of the latter towards its alliance partner. Ironically, Naidu made that announcement in Sonepat district, where he has now been asked to persuade the state unit to give its consent for the alliance. Meanwhile, the BJP meeting would be held a day after the INLD is set to organise its prestigious annual rally to celebrate the birth of its founder, Devi Lal, at Bhiwani on September 25. Usually the INLD invites leaders of friendly parties from outside the state to address the annual rallies and this year would be no exception. However, it would be interesting to watch if any national-level BJP leader would attend the rally. If the alliance between the two parties has been decided in principle, as claimed by a senior INLD leader, the natural expectation of workers of both parties would be to see their leaders on a common platform. But sources in the state BJP deny the INLD leader’s claim saying that the issue of the alliance is still open. |
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Rampage in college as student dies in accident
Kaithal, September 19 Jyoti Choudhry, a first-year student, was killed and seven others injured when the autorickshaw in which they were travelling to college was reportedly hit by a Haryana Roadways bus near Kaithal drain. Two of the seriously injured -
Annu, a lecturer, and Mohit, a student - were referred to PGI while the others - Shakshi Walia, Poonam, Vikas, college security guard Arun and the autorickshaw driver, Suresh - were admitted to the local civil hospital. On getting news of the accident, students of the college blocked the Chandigarh-Hisar highway near the college. Even after the police managed to clear the students from the highway, they entered the college premises and caused extensive damage to the building and college buses. College principal D.P. Gupta told mediapersons that the management was shocked by the incident and would meet the entire medical expenses of those injured. He added that the college would remain closed for the next four days to mourn the death of Jyoti. However, he said the anger of the students against the management was not justified as the incident happened on the highway. Gupta said the stretch from the Titram crossing to Ambala city had not been widened although it had been declared a National Highway more than four years ago. He demanded immediate widening of the road to ensure public safety. A number of students also expressed a similar view and blamed the authorities for the loss of precious lives. Meanwhile, SP Sultan Singh said police has booked the bus driver for negligence. He said to discuss measures to check rash driving by roadways’ drivers, a meeting of the GM’s of the Kaithal, Karnal, Ambala and Jind depots would soon be called. |
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15 get life term for murder
Jhajjar, September 19 The convicted include Rajpal, Surender Singh, Sube Singh, Ram Avtar, Girdawar Singh, Satbir, son of Fateh Singh, Satbir, son of Maan Singh, Rakesh Kumar, Savitri Devi, Santosh, Ram Chander, Hosiyar Singh and Sukhbir Singh. An FIR was registered against 18 persons at the Sahlavaas police station, following the statement of deceased Ratan Singh’s brother, Ishwar Singh, who also got injured in the assault on the accused. Ishwar Singh said a day after the panchayat election held, all accused entered their house and shot at his brother Ratan Singh. They also assaulted him with sharp-edged weapons. His brother died on the spot while he received serious injuries. After preliminary investigations, the police registered a criminal case against 18 persons. Mahender, Jaipal and Sunil were the other accused, who were also booked in this connection. However, the Judge acquitted the trio of all charges during the hearing. Delivering the verdict, Mehra held that the prosecution had proved the charges levelled against 15 accused beyond reasonable doubt. Hence, the accused were awarded life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 3,000 each. |
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Teacher accused of rape held
Faridabad, September 19 The teacher identified as Gajender used to teach Hindi in the school. The police today produced him before a local court and sought a two-day remand for further interrogation. The victims had gone to appear for their semester examinations in Jain Vidya Mandir in Ballabhgarh on September 13. However, the duo did not return home. They informed their parents on September 16 that they were in Govardhan, following which the police brought them here and registered a case against the teacher on their complaint. Though the police is tightlipped on the issue, the two students have alleged that the teacher misled them and took them away from the examination centre. They alleged that the teacher took them to Bharatpur, where he raped them. Later, he took them to Govardhan near Mathura and left them to their fate. Relatives of the victims and parents of other students had indulged in violence on the school premises on Wednesday. They demanded that the teacher should be handed over to them. The accused, as per the school record, was on leave from September 11 to 16 saying that he has to appear for a job interview. However, he did not report for the duty. The police said it was still investigating the case. The girls further alleged that the teacher had been sexually exploiting them for the past more than a year. He used to allegedly threaten them of giving less marks in the examination. They have also alleged that the teacher used to exploit other girl students too. |
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State to implement recommendations soon
Tribune News Service
Sirsa, September 19 Talking to mediapersons here at the residence of Bharat Singh Beniwal, MLA from Darba Kalan, Birender Singh said a four-member committee, set up under the chairmanship of the chief secretary to sort out the discrepancies in the pay scales of various categories of employees, would soon submit its report and the recommendations would be implemented subsequently. He claimed that Haryana was among the top states of the country in the matter of finance management and revenue collections in the state have been 25 per cent more than what were incorporated in the annual budget. Earlier, inaugurating a seminar on ‘Feminist Perspective in Indian English Novels’ in the local C.M.K. National P.G. Girls College, Birender Singh exhorted women to provide a new direction to the society by getting the best of education. The minister said the status of women remained high in old times, but due to conservative thinking the society has become male-dominated during the past centuries.
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Youth held for bid to rape Dalit
Sirsa, September 19 The police has arrested 15 of these youths, while four others are absconding. According to police sources, Dara Singh forcibly took away a Dalit girl from her residence when she was alone on Wednesday. However, the girl was saved as her brother reached there before the accused could rape her. Dara Singh allegedly clashed with the girl’s brother. The girl’s father raised the issue in the village panchayat, which could not reach any conclusion and decided to meet again on Thursday. Dara Singh along with scores of his friends allegedly beat up the girl’s father yesterday. When some other villagers objected to their action, they were also beaten up by the youths. However, a large number of villagers chased away the youths, forcing them to take shelter inside Dara Singh’s house. The villagers, who had surrounded the house, were stoned by the youths from the terrace. Eventually, the police reached there and took Dara Singh and 15 others in its custody, while four others managed to escape. The police has booked Dara Singh for attempt to rape under Sections 376 and 511 of the IPC while Manjit, Gobind, Harjit, Rohtash, Mahesh, Naresh, Virender, Sohail Khan, Sonu, Deepak, Preet Pal, Rajbir, Mohan, Rajender, Gurvinder and four unidentified persons have been booked for assault, rioting and criminal intimidation under Sections 323, 506, 148 and 149 of the IPC.
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Irrigation minister’s dismissal sought
Rewari, September 19 The demand, which was raised at a press conference here today, was endorsed by another senior party leader and state president of the party’s industries cell Randhir Singh Kapriwas as well as the district BJP chief, Dr Harish Yadav. Yadav said when a three-member team of CBI officials visited Rewari yesterday, it only made inquiries from Rakesh Bhargava, whose wife Anita Bhargava is one of the 18 vendees of the land recently purchased in Solan, (HP) while the minister’s wife, Shakuntala Yadav, son Chiranjeev Rao and daughter Latika Rao were also among the vendees. Yadav asked if it was not covert and overt influences “exerted” by the minister which saved the trio from being questioned by the CBI team. Making specific mention of the confidential report of the SSP, Chandigarh, S.S. Srivastava, which was submitted along with ASP Madhur Verma’s status report to the UT administrator and Punjab Governor as well as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Yadav asserted that the report clearly delineated that hotelier Ravinder Singh was allegedly in regular touch with certain judges as well as Haryana irrigation minister Ajay Singh Yadav. He wanted to know why the CBI had left out Captain Yadav from the investigations. Stating that the party had collected documentary evidence regarding the alleged disproportionate assets as well as acts of omission and commission of the local minister, he announced the same would soon be handed over to the Haryana Governor, Dr A.R. Kidwai, when a high-level delegation of prominent party functionaries of the Rewari region meets the Governor in Chandigarh. He also said while the delegation would demand an independent inquiry into the matter, it would also seek the minister’s dismissal if the government did not do so by then.
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Malls Selling Vegetables, Fruits Our Correspondent
Ambala, September 19 Talking to mediapersons here, Garg said these malls had badly affected the business of a number of vegetable vendors. He said he would soon meet the Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and appeal for cancellation of the licenses of those malls where vegetables and fruits were being sold. Garg clarified that he was not against the setting up of malls in the state, but the interests of small traders should be protected at every cost. He said the CM had provided a number of concessions to traders and Haryana was the first state in the country to announce an industrial and business policy. Criticising former CM Om Prakash Chautala, he said during the INLD regime traders were harassed and victimised. Replying to another question, he said recently a deputation of Haryana Beopar Mandal had met the union finance minister and requested him to provide tax concessions as those offered to traders in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. He demanded that VAT on the eatables should be withdrawn. The president of Ambala unit of the Beopar Mandal Arun Garg and other office-bearers were also present on the occasion.
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Student leaders held for bid to block road
Sirsa, September 19 The AISF had given a call for strike today in support of their demands of better bus service to villages, holding of student elections, scrapping of the teachers’ eligibility test and involvement of students and teachers in the education policies framed by the government. The group first addressed students at the local Government National College and later tried to block traffic at the Government Polytechnic. The police, however, dispersed the group and rounded up six leaders - Roshan Lal
Suchan, Jagatdeep Singh, Ajeet Singh, Manpreet Singh, Mansukh and Sushil. They were later released. Meanwhile, students of the women wing of the Government National College today held a demonstration in support of their demand for a new building for their college. The students alleged that there were over 900 girls in the building, which has the capacity of less than 500. They said the college has neither lawns nor a canteen. They further alleged that there was a scarcity of teachers in the commerce department. The group demanded grant of the status of a full-fledged college to the women wing and construction of a new building. |
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16 found absent during surprise check
Kaithal, September 19 According to sources, 11 out of the total 12 employees of the RTA office were found absent when ADC visited the place in the morning. These included Ram Chander Jindal, assistant secretary, Ishwar, TSI, Sat Narain, cashier, Angrejo Devi and Joginder Singh, both clerks, Ram Niwas, steno, Devi Parson, junior programmer, Jagbir Singh, Mahender Singh, Gulab Singh and Birbhan, all class-four employees. At the renewable energy department office, which is headed by the ADC himself, steno Subhash Chander was found absent. In the office of SDO animal husbandry, two employees Ashok Kumar, accountant, and Narinder Singh, VLDA, were not present. In the office of district employment officer, Bhim Singh, a clerk, and Usha, a class-four employee were found absent. Meanwhile, the ADC said he had made the surprise visit following a number of complaints that many staff members posted here played truant, which effected the functioning of these offices and caused lot of inconvenience to the public. He further said he had informed the deputy commissioner about the absentees so that necessary action could be taken against them.
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Man dies, doctor’s negligence alleged
Yamunanagar, September 19 “Sanjeev had undergone an operation for a stone at the private hospital on September 16. However, the doctor operated him without an ultrasound report and two hours before the time given to us,” alleged the deceased’s father R.C Sharma. “When Sanjiv did not regain consciousness till September 18, he was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. However, he died on the way,” he rued. After the postmortem, Sanjiv’s body was handed over to his family members while the viscera were sent for examination to Madhuban and Rohtak. “The cause of the death would be revealed only after the report,” said a doctor who was part of the team that conducted the postmortem. Meanwhile, Dr Anil Aggarwal, owner of the private hospital, has categorically denied the allegation leveled against him by the deceased’s father. He said the patient had been operated following proper procedures.
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Patrolling to check water theft ordered
Jhajjar, September 19 The officials have also been directed to keep surveillance on people of dubious character. As residents of Gurgaon district get water supply through this distributary, stealing of water from here is a punishable act in the eye of law. Therefore, those found violating the law would be liable to face legal action. According to information, complaints of water theft from the Gurgaon distributary have become the order of the day in this region.
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Workers stage protest
Our Correspondent
Sonepat, September 19 Talking to mediapersons, Jain said 52 acres of land was allotted to the unit owners at a nominal rate of 50 paise per yard with the objective that it would provide employment to the local youths. He alleged that the owners were not interested in running the unit because the prices of the property had now increased manifold. Production in the unit was stopped in September 2007 and only around 300 employees have been working since then although without salaries. Jain said the company owners had neither issued a notice of closure nor declared a lock-out. The president of the factory workers’ union, Raj Kumar, said the labour department had issued Rs 11 lakh each for payment of salaries for the months of September, October and November 2007. Although the same have been sent to the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate for execution, the matter was still pending.
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Green chit to waste management project
Gurgaon, September 19 Now, it is up to the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) to execute the project, said Municipal Corporation representative in the monthly meeting of the district officers held at the mini-secretariat here today. The meeting was apprised that all hurdles in the way of the project had been cleared and the requisite no-objection certificates received from the ministry concerned and the Pollution Control Board. Presiding over the meeting, Gurgaon deputy commissioner Deepti Umashankar directed the officials of HUDA and the Municipal Corporation to ensure proper spray of insecticides at the garbage-dumping site on the Faridabad road. She also directed the block development and panchayat officer of Sohna to issue challans to shopkeepers who throw garbage on the central verge of the Sohna road in Badshahpur village. Directions were also issued to the MC authorities to expedite the work of shifting the dairies outside the city. A dairy complex is being developed in Kherki Majra village because the dairies were a major cause of sewer blockade in the city. |
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Villagers block railway line
Jind, September 19 They were protesting against delay in acceptance of their demand of creating a new train halt between the two villages. The protesters squatted on the railway line for at least 45 minutes before they were persuaded by the officials concerned to end the blockade. The blockade delayed the 2 JPR passenger train plying between Jind and Panipat. A villager said locals had been facing a lot of inconvenience in travelling to and fro from their villages, as the villages had not been connected to an active bus route. Most of the people had to depend on private vehicles or trains passing from there, but they to had to go either to Pindara or Siwaha villages located in opposite directions to catch a train. The distance of the nearest station from these villages was around 4 km, said a railway official. They asked the state government and the Railway authorities to start a new halt at the spot for the benefit of these villages, as it would hardly incur any heavy financial burden. The officials of the administration, including the Railway police, assured that they would communicate their demand to the authorities concerned.
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HJC women’s wing holds protest
Hisar, September 19 She said the bungling in the preparation of BPL cards had exposed the government’s anti-poor attitude, as only supporters of the Congress leaders had been included in the lists. Sharma said inflation continued to cause problems for the common man, but the Congress had not done anything to provide relief to people. Rampant corruption in the government and power and water shortage had become a major problem in Haryana. The protesters also took out a procession. |
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Teenager’s body found hanging
Yamunanagar, September 19 “Ravi had left the house last evening to purchase some items, but never returned. The police called us in the morning to inform of his death,” said the deceased’s father Dharmpal. He alleged that some persons of his locality, who had recently threatened his family with dire consequences, had murdered Ravi. After the warning, his elder son Munshi (20) had also run away from the house, he informed. Inquest proceedings under Section 174 CrPC have been initiated. |
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2 killed in road mishap
Fatehabad, September 19 The deceased, Subhash and Rajender, and the injured, Sunil, worked in a textile company and had left for Fatehabad and Sirsa from Bhiwani in the morning. When their car reached near
Kharakheri, an oil tanker coming from the opposite direction hit the car on the side. The highway police extricated the bodies with difficulty. Sunil has been admitted to the Agroha Medical College. |
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INLD rally on Sept 25
Fatehabad, September 19 Chautala was addressing party workers in the local Sobh Raj Batra Dharamshala to mobilise support for the rally. He said the present Congress government had failed on all fronts and people were looking for an opportunity to change the government. He said all sections of society were fed up with the government and the Hooda regime had failed miserably on power, water, LPG and law and order fronts. |
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Heavy rain that has been lashing the area since yesterday has brought the mercury down considerably while at the same time it has caused extensive damage to the standing guar crop.
Kaithal, September 19
