Yamunanagar, May 26
A curfew-like situation prevailed in the district after over three dozen vehicles, mostly cars and motorcycles, were damaged, a fire engine was burnt and the office of the municipal council and Government Senior Secondary School in Jagadhri were damaged by people protesting against the killing of Sant Ramanand of Dera Sachkhand in Vienna.

Seeing the gravity of the situation, officiating District Magistrate J Ganeshan has imposed Section 144 of the CrPC in the district till July 25 and has also ordered the closure of government and private schools, colleges and other institutions on May 27 and May 28.

Meanwhile, three companies of the Haryana police commandos have reached here to control the situation.

Ambala Range IG KK Sindhu visited the district to monitor the situation in the evening. The police has rounded up 28 persons believed to have been involved in the violence.

The protest began in the morning when a group of people gathered near Rakshak Vihar and blocked the National Highway No. 73 for about an hour. However, the situation deteriorated when a 1,000-strong mob, carrying swords and rods, damaged vehicles parked outside the municipal council and also damaged the MC office and a government school besides a private school in Jagadhri.

The protesters also burnt a fire engine and damaged SBI ATM machines, vehicles and government and private property on the National Highway No. 73, the Civil Lines, the bus stand and Rakshak Vihar. Many establishments, including schools and shops, were closed.

A group of the protesters allegedly misbehaved with schoolgirls in Jagadhri. Following this, a large number of locals and shopkeepers came out and allegedly beat up some protesters.

The police was deployed in strength in Jagadhri and reportedly used lathicharge and burst teargas shells to disperse protesters who reached in large numbers at the bus stand and began damaging property. The police held a flag march in the Jagadhri area to instill confidence among the people.

During the protest, traffic on the national highway was disrupted.

SIRSA: Angry demonstrations over the killing of Sant Ramanand spilled over to Sirsa on Tuesday when hundreds of people held a demonstration and blocked traffic on the national highway. The protesters also forced shopkeepers to close their shops.

However, the situation was controlled by the police and the protesters dispersed after Deputy Commissioner SK Goyal and SP Subhash Yadav reached Lal Batti Chowk where the protesters had blocked traffic and accepted their memorandum.

The protesters demanded investigation into the Vienna incident, security in all deras belonging to Dalits and building of international pressure on Austria to seek security for Dalits in that country.

KURUKSHETRA: Hundreds of followers of Guru Ravidass, mostly Dalits, held a protest and raised slogans near Ambedkar Chowk here on Tuesday in protest against the Vienna incident.

The protesters, a majority of them carrying sticks, forcibly pulled down shutters of business establishments near the chowk.

AMBALA: After Monday’s violent outpouring, calm prevailed in the district on Tuesday. However, incidents of protest were reported from Naraingarh where supporters of Dera Sachkhand took to the streets blocking the highway.

The administration, however, later brought the situation under control.

The local administration is taking no chances and has deployed extra forces, while the Army has been put on an alert.

Meanwhile, train services were restored in the region after 2 pm. Railway officials told The Tribune that full normalcy would be restored after a day. At present, trains had started going towards Punjab and Jammu.

CHANDIGARH: The Haryana police has got four additional companies of paramilitary forces from the Centre to maintain law and order in the state. The forces have been deployed in Yamunanagar, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Ambala districts to check any fallout of the Vienna incident.

Karnal, May 26
Peeved at the police “inaction”, family members and relatives of 35-year-old Kamala, who was murdered and thrown into a local canal allegedly by her in-laws, today held a protest outside the Sadar police station.

They alleged that despite enough evidence against Kamala’s in-laws, the police was being reluctant to register a case against the accused.

Harpal Singh, brother of the deceased, alleged that his sister was married to Ranpal of Phusgarh village. On May 17, her in-laws informed them that Kamala had gone missing and expressed suspicion that she might have been kidnapped.

He alleged that instead of searching Kamala, her in-laws took it lightly and told them that nothing much could be done in this regard. However, he himself started looking for his sister and a few days ago found some of her belongings in a local canal.

Harpal said on May 23, a body of female was found in the canal in Hisar district, which was later identified as that of Kamala.

The Hisar police confirmed that Kamala was murdered before her body was thrown into the canal. A piece of cloth was also found tied around her neck, Harpal added.

Even as the family members filed a complaint against Ranpal and his two brothers, Dharampal and Dilbagh Singh, accusing them of having murdered Kamala and throwing her body into the canal, the police did not register a case in this regard.

Following this Kamala’s family members and relatives assembled outside the police station and demanded proper action in this regard.

The police summoned the three brothers to the police station, but when no case was registered against them, they staged a protest.

Later, the police assured them that a case would be registered against them and the accused would be taken into custody.

Chandigarh, May 26
Water polluting industries in the state will no longer have the advantage of personal hearings to “manage” failed samples and get away with as a mere rap on the knuckles.

Mincing no words, state Minister of State for Environment, Forests, Tourism and Sports Kiran Choudhry said these personal hearings were “manipulated with underhand dealings” and should be done away with.

Chairing a meeting of regional officers (ROs) of Haryana, she directed the officers to give the mandatory 15-day notice period to the polluting unit and proceed against it once the sample had failed.

In what has come to be typically her style of functioning, she was aghast at the revelation that there were no units manufacturing plastic carry bags less than 30 microns.

“I don’t believe that there are no such units and all plastic bags below 30 microns are coming from Saharanpur and Delhi. It’s just not possible. So, all of you get moving,” she instructed the ROs.

After much denying, one of the ROs finally admitted that these were household units and difficult to zero in on.

“I want two prosecutions a week and send in monthly reports for the same. Also, fine stockists and prosecute those who are not adhering to our directions,” she said.

Choudhry pulled up her officers for failing to act against the lead industry, which was responsible for pollution to a large extent and continuing to operate despite being sealed.

“As many as 25 units are still operating and I want them closed,” she stated.

To this, the officers sought a week’s time for action against the erring units.

She also constituted a two-member team comprising ROs- CV Singh and Chand Saini-to take action in the 700-odd violations in the Aravallis and expedite the matter.

Choudhry said a complaint or suggestion box should be put on the premises of the board so that redressal of complaints was done regularly.

The minister added that she would write to all Deputy Commissioners to clear the pending NOC cases in a time-bound manner so that industries did not get penalised due to any sort of delay.

She said four representatives from various industries would be included as members of the board to enable them to voice concerns of industries.

Sirsa, May 26
A Haryana Roadways bus skidded off the road and fell in fields injuring eight passengers near Khuiyanmalkana village in this district today. 

The injured were being treated in a Dabwali hospital, while a seriously injured passenger, Jaswant Singh ,has been shifted to the district hospital here.

According to reports, the Haryana Roadways bus belonging to the Sirsa depot had started from Dabwali. As the driver applied the brakes finding some passengers waiting for the bus near the village bus stand, its front tyre busted.

The driver lost control over the steering and after hitting an electric pole, the vehicle fell in fields, some 10 ft below the road level.

New Delhi, May 26
The Supreme Court today sought the response of the Haryana government to a PIL seeking demolition of illegal construction in Anangpur village in Faridabad district and restoration of the forest cover decimated due to mining.

A vacation Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and Deepak Verma also issued notices to other respondents -- Chief Conservator of Forest, Haryana, Faridabad Municipal Corporation, through the Commissioner and the District Forest Officer.

The petition, filed by Surender Kumar, has sought a direction to stop all construction activity under the August 18, 1992, notification issued by the Forest Department of the state government under the Land Preservation Act, aimed at protecting the forest cover.

The PIL has also sought demolition of all unauthorised construction allowed after the notification through “illegal” permission and restoration of the “forest to its original condition”.

It pointed out that the one-member commission of PH Vaishnav, retired Secretary of Punjab, submitted a report in March 1997 that “speaks volumes about the irregularities and illegalities committed by law-enforcing agencies and politicians”.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had, on November 7, 1997, observed that there was need for addressing issues relating to environment, urban development and mining, but did not “proceed further” as the state government assured the court that it was “seized of the matter,” the petition said.

Chandigarh, May 26
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the state of Haryana and other respondents to ensure toll is collected from the commuters only at places specified in the contract.

The directions by a Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Hemant Gupta, come on a petition filed by Mandrup and other petitioners belonging to Rewari district.

In a petition filed in public interest against the state and other respondents, the petitioners had contended the state and other respondents had set up a plaza for collection of toll on Shahjanpur-Rewari road in terms of contract between Haryana state roads and bridges development corporation, and Star India services.

But the respondents had, in collusion with each other, set up a toll collection point at Jaitrawas village in the district in an unauthorised manner.

This was in violation of the contractual stipulations, the petitioners had asserted.

After hearing the arguments and going through the documents, the Bench observed: “It is not in dispute no collection can be made by the corporation or any of the agency employed by it at any point other than the place specified under the contract.

“The co-called check-point/naka at Jaitrawas village was, according to the respondent, only meant to keep a vigil on the working of the employees engaged by Star India. Since the check point has also been removed by the respondent, which in fact is not disputed by the petitioner, whether or not any collection has been made at the village is no longer required to be investigated, at least in the present proceedings.

“All that we need to say is that the respondents shall ensure that the collection of toll is only at place or places specified under the contract.” 

Bhiwani, May 26
The Haryana Board of School Education has never made any change in the status of the subjects of Punjabi, Sanskrit and Urdu in the middle class examination and these will remain in the list of subjects of external examination.

While stating this today, secretary of the board A Sreenivas said the board would continue to hold external examinations in six subjects--- Hindi, English, mathematics, social science, science and technology and also Punjabi, Sanskrit and Urdu.These details had been specified in the annual circular of the board sent to all affiliated schools.

Students were required to opt for the third language subject out of Punjabi,

Sanskrit and Urdu. These subjects had been kept in the category of third language.The marks obtained in all six subjects would be

counted towards the overall performance of the student.

He said home science, drawing, music, agriculture, computer science, general awareness and life skills would continue to be in the list of internal subjects.The assessment based on the overall performance of the students in these subjects would be sent by the school.

At the same time, every student would be essentially required to study and qualify in general awareness & life skills besides another subject to be opted out of the remaining subjects of internal examination.

Sreenivas clarified that the school would follow the syllabi and guidelines for assessment in these subjects and accordingly assess the students before sending internal assessment to the board.This would be shown in their certificates.

The scheme of studies for the middle school examination 2009-10 would comprise external examination in the subjects of Hindi as first language, English as second language, Punjabi or Sanskrit or Urdu (any one opted by the student as third language), mathematics, social science and science and technology. Each of the six subjects would carry 100 marks.

The subjects of internal assessment by the school would be home science, drawing, music, agriculture, computer science, general awareness and life skills and co-curricular activities, including games and sports, cultural, literary, scientific activities, NCC and Scouts and Guides.

Sirsa, May 26
Hundreds of landline telephones of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) have gone dead after telephone cables were cut by the labour of the Public Health Department while laying water pipes on the national highway last night. Telephones of those living in the Court Colony, Railway road and Barnala road have gone dead much to the inconvenience of subscribers.

A war of words between senior officers of the BSNL and the PWD (Public Health), meanwhile, has ended up in compounding the problem of subscribers.

While subscribers have been complaining about disruption in services, officers of the two departments are busy pointing an accusing finger at each other.

Area manager of the BSNL MR Verma alleged: “It is due to the negligence of the public health authorities that started digging operations during the night without informing us. The JCB machines of the authorities have cut our cables, rendering over 450 telephones dead. Earlier, they did it on the Natar road.”

He maintained that efforts were being made to reconnect the damaged cable and hopefully it would be repaired in a day or two.

Superintending engineer of the PWD RK Malhotra described allegations of Verma as uncalled for.

“Our labour has not cut the cable knowingly. Had we informed the BSNL authorities, even then the cable could have been damaged. Our labour has to work during night to avoid inconvenience to the public,” Malhotra added.