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Rajya Sabha
Dandi Swami’s hospitalisation angers villagers
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Gotra Row
Youth’s Lynching
Harassed tribal girl flees from employer’s house
HC puts check on illegal sand mining
Centre has failed to check price rise: BJP
CPM holds protest march
Teachers continue protest
Protest against ‘organised prostitution’
SI cremated with honours
Drive to plant saplings of khejri trees
Narrow escape for kids
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Rajya Sabha
Chandigarh, July 29 The seat fell vacant after former Union Law Minister Hans Raj Bhardwaj resigned following his appointment as Governor of Karnataka. Batra is the first member of the Punjabi community to be offered the Rajya Sabha ticket by the Congress in Haryana. Before that the party had once nominated a Sikh, Lachhman Singh of Kalka, to the Rajya Sabha but not a Punjabi Khatri. Though many were in the race for this seat, Hooda prevailed upon the party high command to give the ticket to Batra so that the Punjabi community, which is the second largest in the state after the Jats, could be given representation in Parliament. During the last Lok Sabha elections, the Congress could not give the ticket to any Punjabi. Local Urban Bodies Minister A.C. Choudhary, who was seeking the ticket for himself from Faridabad, had sent his resignation to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, alleging discrimination against his community. The resignation never reached the Chief Minister. Finance Minister Birender Singh is also believed to be keen on going to the Rajya Sabha and so was the president of the All-India Kisan Khet Mazdoor Congress Shamsher Singh Surjewala. Many Brahmin leaders also wanted that the ticket should be given to their community as the seat had fallen vacant following the resignation of a Brahmin. Former working president of the Haryana Congress and Rajya Sabha member Ram Prakash said the party high command had taken the right decision by nominating a member of the Punjabi community, which had always supported the Congress in the state. Batra’s nomination is being viewed as a measure of Hooda’s clout with the party high command, which has further grown after the party won nine out of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in the last elections. However, a dissident said that since they were busy preparing for the Assembly elections, they did not make any effort to secure the nomination for any of their candidates. Moreover, the dissidents were regrouping to get as many tickets as possible during the next Assembly elections. Batra will file his nomination papers here tomorrow. |
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Dandi Swami’s hospitalisation angers villagers
Karnal, July 29 The trouble started after the police whisked away fasting Dandi Swami from Amupur village in the Nissing area and admitted him to the trauma centre here on the pretext that his health condition was deteriorating. Dandi Swami has been on indefinite fast since July 22 to press the demand for a complete ban on cow slaughter and wanted Parliament to bring legislation to this effect during its current session. Enraged at the police action, the villagers followed Swami to the hospital and raised slogans against the administration and the police. They refused to buy the argument that Dandi Swami had gone weak due to a weeklong fast. Sensing trouble, heavy police was deployed at the hospital. Police personnel led by senior officers, including DSP headquarters Surinder Bhoria and DSP city Surinder Singh, virtually outnumbered the protesters. The entire area turned into a heavily guarded fort as local VHP and BJP leaders and managers of gau sadans also reached the hospital and tried to give it communal twist. Tension mounted as the VHP and BJP leaders charged the government with sheltering terrorists like Afzal Guru, whose death sentence was not being executed, and using repressive measures against Hindu leaders demanding a ban on cow slaughter. While the police and protesters were engaged in verbal arguments, the police quietly took Swami to the PGI in Rohtak. The villagers were unnerved by the swift action of police and reconciled with the situation after a minor scuffle with police. As the tempers appeared to cool down, the police disappeared from the scene and villagers’ ire was directed towards mediapersons. The protesters tried to browbeat mediapersons, but realised their folly after they were told that they were there only to report the facts. Justifying the action of admitting Swami to hospital, the police said it was necessary to save his life. The police could not allow him to play with his life at any cost and took the right step, said a senior police officer. Meanwhile, villagers and members of the Haryana Rajya Gaushala Sangh held a protest demonstration in front of the mini-secretariat. President of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (ad hoc) Jagdish Singh Jindha and members of various Hindu organisations lent their support to the sangh, said Rajesh Arya, spokesmen of the sangh. |
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Gotra Row
Jhajjar, July 29 Sensing the gravity of the situation, not only the security has been beefed up in the village but more police personnel have also been called from Madhuban and adjoining districts. Besides, nakas have been put up in the village to disallow the entry of anti-social elements in the village. Ignoring the ultimatum of the khap panchayat, the Gehlout family is living in its ancestor house in Dharana village under a heavy security cover. “The police has been keeping a close watch to avoid any untoward incident in the village. No one will be allowed to violate the law and order situation,” said SSP Sourabh Singh. Meanwhile, Raj Singh, acting president of the khap panchayat, said they had not got any intimation from the Gehlout family regarding the ultimatum. Therefore, they had started the preparation to launch a march towards Dharana village tomorrow morning. “The protest march will be carried out peacefully. We will stage an indefinite dharna in the village for getting the khap panchayat’s verdict enforced. We will not hesitate to court arrest if the police try to prohibit our entry in the village,” maintained Raj Singh, reiterating that the khap panchayat was firm on its stand and would ensure the expulsion of the Gehlout family from the village at any cost. |
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Youth’s Lynching
Jind, July 29 The father and brothers of the deceased, Ved Pal, met the SSP here today and demanded the arrest of the members of the khap panchayat, which had announced the death sentence of Ved Pal and his wife Sonia on March 19 after they had eloped from the village. The victim’s kin threatened to start an agitation if the culprits were not arrested. They also submitted an application in this regard. Meanwhile, the police arrested another person last night in connection with the murder taking the total arrests to seven so far. This was the first time that the kin of Ved Pal, a resident of Mataur village of Kaithal district, met the district police authorities to express their resentment over the alleged delay on the part of the police to nab all accused and to seek arrest of some other persons, who they claimed had been responsible for the killing of Ved Pal. In the memorandum submitted to district police chief Harikishan, father of Ved Pal, alleged that the main culprits in the case were three persons - Pawanjit, Laxman Ram and Ramraji - members of the khap panchayat, who had pronounced death sentence for Ved Pal. Urging the police to arrest all three persons named by them, the kin demanded registration of a murder case against the accused. Police officials said none of the guilty would be spared and all accused would be arrested soon. Ved Pal, a private medical practitioner, was beaten to death in the presence of cops and warrant officer of the high court on July 22 when they had gone to get the custody of Ved Pal’s wife in Singhwal village of Narwana subdivision. |
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Harassed tribal girl flees from employer’s house
Gurgaon, July 29 While the case of a minor girl, Lokhi, who was seriously injured by her employers, surfaced a few months ago in the city, another such case came to light today. According to sources, Stuti, a 12-year-old tribal girl from Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal, was recently sent to a local family to work as a domestic help by a Delhi-based
placement agency. However, the girl was allegedly verbally abused and slapped by members of the family. Yesterday, she fled her employer’s home. She met a policeman, who handed her over to Child Helpline. Today, a team from Child Helpline, led by Chandan Kumar, produced the girl before Deputy Commissioner Rajender Kataria, who ordered appropriate
action in this regard. Kataria contacted the District Magistrate of Jalpaiguri and apprised him of the matter. He also directed the officials concerned to lodge the girl in a juvenile home and get cases registered against her employer and the placement agency through which she had been hired by them. On being asked about how she landed in Gurgaon as a domestic help, Stuti said she had been brought to Delhi by a woman, Runa, who handed her over to the
placement agency. “From there, I was sent to this home in Gurgaon to work as a domestic help. But I was often scolded by my employer; and so I decided to run away...now I want to return to my family...,” she said before breaking down. Stuti said she had lost her father and lived with her mother and two brothers. Her mother worked as a labourer in a tea estate. The Deputy Commissioner admitted that such children provided by placement agencies to work as domestic helps was a matter of serious concern, adding that action in accordance with the law would be taken against those found involved in the racket. |
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HC puts check on illegal sand mining
Chandigarh, July 29 The assertion by the Division Bench of Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia came on a bunch of public interest petitions filed by Ajeet Singh and other petitioners. They had sought directions to the state of Haryana and other respondents to put an end to the indiscriminate, illicit and mindless sand mining on the fertile agricultural land in Harsinghpura, Shekhpura and Kond villages in Karnal district, along with Janti Kalan in Sonepat and Khotpura in Panipat district. Taking up the matter, the court on August 31, 2005, had sought the views of specialists in the agriculture sector; Hisar-based Haryana Agriculture University was made as a party to determine the environment hazards. A committee, comprising seven experts from different disciplines constituted by the vice-chancellor, submitted a report asserting sand mining on agriculture lands had destroyed the natural soil profile and resulted in land degradation due to soil erosion in the fields adjacent to the mined area. The court had then, prima facie, asserted the situation arising out of sand mining on fertile agriculture lands was alarming. In case remedial steps were not taken, it might adversely affect the environment. The court had stopped the on-going mining activity in the villages in April 2006. As the matter came up again, state counsel Randhir Singh said auction of leases for sand mining was now subject to proper evaluation of environmental hazards, and clearance by the impact assessment authority, constituted by the Government of India, in terms of notification dated September 14, 2006. Disposing of the petition, the Bench asserted: All we need say is the respondent state government and its agencies shall ensure the terms of the auction notice are strictly adhered to by the lessees concerned and no mining activity is allowed to be carried out, except after obtaining proper clearance from state-level Environment Impact Assessment Authority…” The Bench also granted the petitioners the liberty to re-agitate the matter, in case of violation of the state government policy.
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Centre has failed to check price rise: BJP
Rohtak, July 29 Javedkar, who is also a member of the Rajya Sabha, charged the Manmohan Singh government at the Centre with failure to control price rise. He alleged that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had committed a blunder by issuing a joint statement with Pakistan on Balochistan. Javedkar set aside rumours about the possibility of the BJP doing a rethink on its alliance with the INLD in Haryana. |
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CPM holds protest march
Sonepat, July 29 Their main demands included opening of ration shops on the pattern of the Delhi government for supply of essential commodities on controlled prices. |
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Teachers continue protest
Karnal, July 29 Office-bearers of the Haryana Federation of University and College Teachers Organisations (HFUCTO) will meet at Kurukshetra tomorrow to take stock of the situation. The teachers are agitated over the inordinate delay in the implementation of the revised UGC scales notified by the Union HRD Ministry.They are on the warpath to ensure that the new scales are implemented before the code of conduct for the Assembly elections is enforced. State president of the Haryana College Teachers Association RS Kundu alleged that the government was trying to create a division among government and private college teachers and had not paid 40 per cent of the arrears of the revised scales as interim relief to teachers of aided colleges. SIRSA: University and college teachers are in agitation mode against the alleged delay in the implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission. Shish Pal Harda, state secretary of the federation and district president of the Haryana Government Colleges Teachers Association, said teachers of Chaudhary Devi Lal University had also joined their stir, although their association was not a part of the federation. “The teachers will stage a dharna in front of the office of Higher Education Commissioner in Panchkula on July 31, a dharna will be organised in front of the office of vice-chancellor of the MDU, Rohtak, on August 3, the teachers will go on mass casual leave on August 6 and will go on indefinite strike from August 7,” said Hardu, revealing the future course of action of the federation. YAMUNANAGAR: Teachers of the government-aided private colleges on Wednesday held a protest against the non-payment of 40 per cent of the arrears as interim relief to the teachers. Besides, the teachers complained that the government had so far failed to implement the UGC pay scales. |
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Protest against ‘organised prostitution’
Sirsa, July 29 The residents alleged that brothels were being run in the locality, a slum colony, and certain police personnel had been acting hand in glove with those involved. The local unit of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), which led the demonstration, blocked the road outside the colony and raised slogans against the police. “Some women have been running brothels in our colony for a long time. Every time we complain, police personnel connive with them and as a result the women start using abusive language against peace-loving residents,” alleged Beg Raj, an activist of the federation. The residents then marched towards the city police station and handed over a list of alleged prostitutes and pimps to SHO Ajay Sharma. Sharma, however, denied the allegations of the residents and said the police raided the places mentioned by them but could not find any activity contrary to the law. He said five women had been arrested. |
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SI cremated with honours
Rewari, July 29 Yadav, along with five other jawans of the CRPF, was killed in an explosion in a tunnel laid by Naxalites in the Dantewara area of Chhattisgarh on Monday. While Kuldip Dhar, DIG, CRPF; legislator Anita Yadav (Salhawas); Jaideep, SDM, Kosli; and Ram Phal, DSP, Kosli, placed wreaths on the pyre, the CRPF and the Haryana police contingents gave a salute to the slain SI. Yadav is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son. |
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Drive to plant saplings of khejri trees
Fatehabad, July 29 He launched a drive to plant saplings of khejri trees in the area and began the drive from the Bishnoi-dominated villages - Kajal Heri, Dhangar, Bhoda Hoshnak, Khara Kheri and Chindar. “Khejri has been selected for its various qualities. It requires less water, does not compete with other crops for its sustenance, improves the quality of soil, its fruits are used as vegetables by villagers, its foliage used as fodder by animals and its wood is considered good for furniture,” said Kunal Bhadoo. “We have a target of planting 51,000 saplings in Fatehabad area, which is equal to the number of households in this Assembly segment. |
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Narrow escape for kids
Fatehabad, July 29 The kids were sitting in the room of the play way school when a huge portion of the wall fell on its roof during rain this afternoon. Teachers evacuated the children to a safer place. Meanwhile, the windstorm that accompanied the rain in the area caused widespread damage. |
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