Fatehabad, December 26
The Indian National Lok Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party, both constituents of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) today used the opportunity of the birth anniversary of martyr Udham Singh to launch an attack on the UPA government at the Centre for its alleged “failure to give a befitting reply to perpetrators of terror in India”.

The NDA today organised a “vijay sankalp rally” on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Udham Singh here, which was addressed by former Chief Minister and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala, senior BJP leader and former minister Ganeshi Lal, INLD state president Ashok Arora and party’s secretary-general Sampat Singh.

Both Chautala and Ganeshi Lal castigated the Manmohan Singh government for exhibiting “weakness on the face of terrorist attacks on Mumbai”.

The INLD and the BJP leaders also used the occasion to seek people’s support for the forthcoming parliamentary elections and converted today’s rally virtually into an election rally.

“The government should have destroyed the hideouts of terrorists in Pakistan by launching surgical attacks on November 26 itself when terrorists were carrying out their nefarious plans in the business capital of India,” Chautala said.

“The country needs people like martyr Udham Singh today, who revenged the Jallianwala carnage 21 years after the killings,” he added.

BJP leader Ganeshi Lal said the country needed a “loh purush” like Lal Krishan Advani at the helm of affairs to teach those promoting terrorism in India a lesson.

“The whole country is ready for war but this government, which provides pension to families of terrorists, has double standards,” he said.

Launching an attack on the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government in Haryana, Chautala alleged that the government had failed to provide irrigation water and sufficient power to farmers, who had been feeding the whole nation by their hard labour.

He alleged that the DAP and urea fertilisers had become scarce in the present regime and farmers were being fleeced by denying them the minimum support price for their cotton, paddy and bajra crops.

Accusing Hooda of working for the benefit of industrialists and capitalist forces, Chautala alleged that farmers had been forced to commit suicide due to “wrong policies” of the government.

Chautala reiterated that the INLD-BJP alliance was not the union of two political parties, but it was the union of two hearts. He called upon people to work for the victory of the NDA so that the Congress could be uprooted from the country.

Ashok Arora and Sampat Singh criticised the central government for not adequately decreasing the rates of petroleum products despite a decline in the prices of crude oil in the international market.

Sonepat, December 26
Deputy Commissioner Ajit Joshi today ordered the registration of a case under the Public Property Act against chairperson of the Kharkhoda Municipal Committee Rimpal Devi in a case relating to the alleged unauthorised occupation of common land.

A complaint was lodged by Pradeep of Kharkhoda on August 1, 2008, alleging that the chairperson and Mehak Singh had illegally occupied 8 kanals of municipal land despite orders of “bedakhali” by a court.

The inquiry was marked to the SDM, Sonepat, which confirmed unauthorised occupation.

On the basis of the inquiry report, the deputy commissioner today directed the municipal authorities at Kharkhoda to register a case against her under the Public Property Act.

To a question about any further action like suspension against the chairperson in the case, the deputy commissioner said any further action would be taken after the decision of the court.

Gurgaon, December 26
The Central Institute of Rural Electrification started a three-day inaugural pilot training programme for linemen at the Haryana Energy  Training and Research Institute here today.

The workshop was inaugurated by Devender Singh, joint secretary, ministry of power. The budget for the same has been set up at Rs 35 crore.

“We have selected Gurgaon to begin with this national-level programme,” Devender Singh said.

Giving information, he further said: “Linemen will be informed about safety, maintenance, customer care, maintenance of line and anti-theft with the latest  technology so that they  can satisfy consumers as soon as possible.”

He said our aim was to provide the quality supply of electricity to all consumers at reliable rates. A batch of 40 linemen from the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), Delhi zone, was given training on the first day by a team from the Central Institute for Rural  Electrification Qualification, Hyderabad.

In the first phase, around 75,000 employees will be trained by 2009 and every month will be training two batches from different parts of the district.

He said the country had to face the slaughter of around 30 per cent every year due to line loss in comparison to other countries where the loss is just 8 to 9 per cent and for this electricity theft had to be stopped and commercial loss minimised.

“The Accelerated Power Development Reform Programme is planning to provide electricity to all villages which have population of more than 30,000 by 2010 as electricity has yet to be reached in villages of Jharkhand, Orissa and Bihar.The government has the target of providing electricity to each and every village by 2010. According to it, each house will use one unit of electricity daily,” Devinder Singh said.

Adding he said, “In the first phase, the district transformers will be IT enable and energy audit and in the second phase, it will focus on improvement in electricity connections for which composite insulators will be used.” Senior officials and staff of the DHBVN were present on the occasion.

Panipat, December 26
The Backward Classes Welfare Morcha, in collaboration with the state Sikh community, today organised a function here to commemorate the 109th birth anniversary of Shaheed Udham Singh during which a new political outfit, the Haryana Samajik Nyaya Manch (HSNM), was floated. The function was also attended by Rajya Sabha member Tarlochan Singh and Hira Singh Gabria, Punjab Cabinet minister.

Speaking on the occasion, Tarlochan Singh said Shaheed Udham Singh was a visionary who, by avenging the Jallianwala Bagh killings after 21 years by killing Sir Michael O’ Dwyer, had instilled a feeling of respect among the countrymen.

Gabria said it was important for all nations to remember its martyrs. He said the country could attain freedom only because of the great sacrifices made by the freedom fighters.

Didar Singh Nalvi, who was appointed president of the HSNM, said the newly floated party would fight for social justice for the Backward Classes as conceived by great freedom fighters like Shaheed Udham Singh.

He said the party would rope in all Backward Classes, and after consolidating its base, would contest elections.

Nalvi, who is also the general secretary of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (ad hoc), said the Sikh community in the state felt neglected by the political set-up and thus had extended support to the new party.

Baldev Singh Khalsa, SGPC member from Hisar who is also the vice-president of the HSGPC, senior vice-president Joga Singh, secretary Surinder Singh and treasurer Manjit Singh also participated in the function and vowed support to the HSNM.

Backward Classes Welfare Morcha president Om Prakash Verma said they felt it was high time the Backward Classes rose and stood for their social rights.

Gurgaon, December 26
Trouble has boomerang on the police after which they were forced to transfer ACP Krishan Murari to Karnal for attacking labourers, rickshaw-pullers and workers residing at Jama Masjid, whom he had forcibly taken to a police station on December 23.

Mohinder Lal, Commissioner of Police, has also admitted lapses on part of the Haryana police to people of all communities headed by Zakir Hussain, ex-MLA and candidate BSP Gurgaon Lok Sabha, Javed Aslum, chairman, Forest Department, advocate Net Ram, state BSP general secretary Rajeev Yadav and several religious leaders from Delhi and Mewat.

They condemned the state government and the district administration and gathered at the commissioner’s office here today. As many as 5,000 Muslims reached the office.

The people residing in the masjid alleged that on the night of December 23, a police team of around 40 persons, headed by ACP Krishan Murari, had allegedly beaten them up and even snatched their money and other belongings. Moreover, they entered there in uniform and shoes, defying sentiments of the people.

They also claimed that they were confined in a room with a fan on and at a high speed and released the next day. Some of the labourers also got their medical examination conducted at the General Hospital and the medical report of which confirmed injury marks. Hussain and the team has asked to suspend the ACP and lodge an FIR against him and his team.

Sources in the police said Murari was younger brother of Chief Parliament Secretary and MLA Dharambir Singh and their family and relatives were also involved in grabbing land of the people and getting them forcibly vacated. They said he also entered there to terrorise them and grab the property as it belonged to the Haryana Wakf Board.

While talking to The Tribune, Murari confirmed that he had been temporarily transferred to Karnal and would be joining there on Monday.

Sirsa, December 26
Kin of a “murder victim” held a demonstration at the local general hospital last evening after the doctors who conducted the postmortem gave a finding that he could have died of a heart attack.

Senior police officers pacified the irate relatives of the victim, and the hospital authorities referred the body to the PGIMS, Rohtak, for a second postmortem.

Balbir Singh, a resident of Dhukra village in the Chopta area of the district, was killed on Wednesday evening when he was allegedly beaten up by a villager, after he had gone to his residence to resolve a dispute over Rs 500.

He was allegedly hit on a sensitive part of his body and died after being rushed to hospital.

The body was brought to the local general hospital yesterday morning but the postmortem could not begin till the afternoon, causing hardship to the mourning kin.

When the doctors finally conducted the postmortem, they were of the view that a heart attack could be one of the reasons for the death.The report infuriated the relatives, who alleged that the doctors had deliberately tried to weaken their case by giving such a finding.

As the tension started mounting, SP Subhash Yadav, DSP Dheeraj Setia and several other senior police officers reached the hospital and controlled the situation. They pacified the relatives of the victim by assuring that the body would be sent for another postmortem. 

Kaithal, December 26
A student of local engineering college has allegedly committed suicide by hanging from a fan in a hostel. Sanjeev, first year student of the college, was reportedly not seen by his classmates for the past two days and his room was also closed . Later, his family and the police were informed about this. A police party broke the door open and found him hanging from the fan. After conducting a postmortem, the police handed over the body to his family.

The reason behind the suicide is not known and the police is investigating the matter.

Yamunanagar, December 26
The third day of the state International Film Festival witnessed a classic of renowned Bengali feature film, “Pather Panchali”, directed by world-renowned filmmaker Satyajit Ray and also “Schindler’s List” by Steven Spielberg besides others at the DAV College for Girls here today.

The “Pather Panchali”, which has received 13 international awards, is based on a novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandhoupadhayaya. It depicts the childhood of protagonist Apu in the rural countryside of Bengal in the 1920s. Satyajit Ray is the only Indian film director to have won Oscar award for his lifetime achievement.

The second movie screened was “Schindler’s List” by Steven Spielberg. This movie has won seven Oscar awards and is based on the Second World War. A movie by Gautam Ghosh, “Meeting A Milestone”, was also screened. This documentary film is based on the life of Ustaad Bismillah Khan. The second movie screened was, “In the Mood For Love”, by a famous Hong Kong filmmaker, Wong-kar-wai.

Giving details, director of the film festival Ajit Rai said tomorrow would be dedicated to Iranian cinema and this section would begin with screening of an Iranian film, Colours of Paradise.