Chandigarh, September 18
The Haryana excise and taxation department today swung into action following the publication of a report in The Tribune today that certain rice exporters had been buying non-exportable paddy on “D-2” form to avoid paying purchase tax.

Following instructions from the head office, the field staff issued instructions to commission agents (arhtiyas) not to sell any non-exportable paddy on “D-2” form to anyone. The government does not charge 4 per cent purchase tax on paddy, which is exported, to encourage rice export.

Since only basmati can be exported, the exporters can buy basmati paddy on “D-2” form and not any other variety, the export of which is not allowed.

The basmati paddy or certain other varieties like Pusa-1121 and “Muchhar”, which are also considered basmati and can be exported, arrive in mandis only towards the end of October. Hence, anyone purchasing paddy now on “D-2” form is obviously trying to evade tax.

Sources in the trade say that a large quantity of non-exportable paddy was purchased on “D-2” form last year too.

They say if the department verifies last year’s records, it can recover a huge amount from unscrupulous elements as purchase tax. An exporter has to prove to the government that he has exported the rice made out of the basmati paddy purchased on “D-2”. Then alone is he excused from paying purchase tax.

Chandigarh, September 18
As expected, not many nomination papers were filed on the opening day of the nominations for the Haryana Assembly elections today, which also happened to be the last day of the “Sharaadas”, considered to be an inauspicious period for starting an important work.

Only one Independent, Balbir Singh, filed his nomination papers from the Ateli Assembly constituency.

In fact, not many parties have even announced their candidates yet as they are waiting for the start of the Navratras, which begin tomorrow.

The ruling Congress is yet to strike a balance between various factions, with each demanding its pound of flesh in the ticket distribution. With the party being considered as a hot favourite, the rush for its ticket is understandably heavy. Senior leaders are trying hard to accommodate their supporters in the list of probable candidates.

The Congress may take a couple of days more before it comes out with the list of candidates. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) is expected to announce another list of its candidates tomorrow. Party Secretary-General Ajay Singh Chautala had said party president Om Prakash Chautala would declare the candidates on the first Navratra. Earlier, the party had nominated about 40 candidates.

The BJP is also expected to announce its first list tomorrow after it is approved by its Central Parliamentary Board, which will meet tomorrow.

The BSP, which will kick off its campaign with a big rally to be addressed by party president Mayawati in Jind on September 20, will declare its candidates on September 21.

The HJC is also expected to follow the suit. In any case, the last date for filing of nomination papers is September 25.

The papers will be scrutinised on September 26 and the last date for withdrawal is September 29.

The polling will take place on October 13 and the votes will be counted on October 22. The election process will end on October 25.

Fatehabad, September 18
A girl student of class V from the primary wing of Government Senior Secondary School in Baliala village of this district was badly beaten up by her teacher, when she broke the queue during the morning assembly yesterday.

The teacher pulled the girl by her hair and hit her head against a bench.

The teacher ran away from the school, when the profusely bleeding girl fell unconscious.

Fellow students brought the matter to the notice of principal Neelam Rani, who informed the girl’s parents.

Angry villagers assembled in the school as the news spread and expressed anger over the incident.

Later, led by the sarpanch, angry villagers met Deputy Commissioner CG Rajini Kaanthan and sought action against teacher Harjinder Singh.

Kaanthan has asked Additional District Education Officer Gurdev Singh to probe the incident, who in turn, has asked the Block Education Officer, Ratia to look into the matter.

“The teacher concerned has been debarred from going to school and has been told to report at the BEO office till the inquiry is complete,” Singh said.

Meanwhile, the villagers have threatened to lock the school unless action is taken against the teacher soon. Meanwhile, the victim is hospitalised and is said to be in a stable condition.

Sirsa, September 18
Two new cases of swine flu have been detected here, taking the total number of persons suffering from H1N1 in the district to three.

An orthopaedic surgeon at the local General Hospital and a resident of Khairpur studying in an engineering college in Faridabad are reported to have been afflicted by the virus. Civil Surgeon PS Dhawan said both patients were recuperating at home.

The orthopaedic surgeon had gone to Mumbai for work where he was believed to have contacted the disease. 

Panipat, September 18
Deplorable sanitation conditions coupled with careless attitude of residents, who drew water from pipes passing through septic tanks, has resulted in outbreak of diarrhoea in the local Batra Colony, which has so far claimed five lives and left several others seriously ill.

Waking up to the gravity of the situation, the administration has disconnected all water supplies to the colony and asked the health officials to take water samples and initiate corrective measures. Besides, huge quantities of chlorine tablets have also been distributed among the residents.

The Deputy Commissioner has directed a team of doctors to remain stationed in the affected area and administer medical treatment to those who are suffering from gastroenteritis. The residents are also seeking medical help from the dispensary nearby.

It was learnt that the locality did not have legal water supply connections and most of the households used pumps to draw water from the main water pipelines. These illegal connections passed through septic tanks. According to the officials, the temporary connection led to the leakage in the main water pipeline, which led to the outbreak of infection.

So far, those who have lost their lives include five children and a teenager. The deceased were identified as Seema (3), daughter of Satypal, Monu (2), daughter of Satish, Nisha (8), daughter Nishar, Preeti (1), daughter of Rajesh, and Rinku (17), son of Santosh. As many as 64 persons have been admitted to various hospitals of the district.

The colony is inhabited by labourers from Bihar and other states. Naresh Kumar, a resident, said they had no idea that illegal connections could result in outbreak of infection. He said cases of gastroenteritis were being reported from the locality for the past 10 days, but in the past three days, more number of people reportedly fell ill.

Meanwhile, in a statement here today, the district administration said that all measures to check further spread of infection were being taken and proper medical care was being offered to the affected persons. A rapid response team of the health officials had also been pressed into action.

Local legislator Balbir Pal Shah and senior officials of the district administration, including DC Vijay Singh Dahiya visited the area to take stock of the situation and speed up measures to keep the infection in check. 

Chandigarh, September 18
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today permitted Rohtak-based Maharishi Dayanand University to hold final counselling for admission to available BEd seats from among “all the applicants, irrespective of the categories or quota”.

Taking up a petition by the Association of Educational Colleges (Self Financing) of Haryana, Justice Permod Kohli directed the “counseling will be held from September 23 to September 27 and thereafter, on September 29 and 30. This shall be the final and the last counselling to be held by the university”.

Asking the varsity to issue a public notice for information to the candidates after hearing advocates ML Sarin, Balram Gupta, Rakesh Nehra and others, Justice Kohli added: “The unfilled seats out of 85 per cent quota meant for the residents of Haryana shall be utilised both for the residents of Haryana and non-residents of Haryana on the basis of counselling. The unfilled seats, after the final counselling shall be allowed to be filled up by the recognised/affiliated colleges at their own level”.

For the purpose, the college concerned “will issue a public notice notifying the unfilled seats available with it after the allocation in the final counselling by the university. The colleges will make admissions on the basis of inter-se merits of the non-applicants, who may seek admission pursuant to the public notice issued by the colleges.

“The colleges will not charge any extra fee, other than the fee prescribed by the university or the government. All the colleges after making the admissions will submit a list of admitted candidates, along with their details and merit position to the university within 10 days from the date of such admission and the university shall have the right to conduct scrutiny in accordance with the norms/procedure laid down by it.”

Ambala, September 18
Believe it or not, but the school grounds of Government Primary School, Bakra Market, Ambala cantonment, last week began emitting oil, much to the delight of the tiny tots. It was later found that heavy rains had led the oil, which is heavier than water, to come to the surface.

The authorities say there have been minor oil spills over the years by the HP and the IOC depots located near the rear school wall. The district administration visited the school yesterday and ordered closure of the primary section. The classes will now be held in the senior wing in a second shift.

Officials of HP and IOC visited the school today and ensured all help to solve the problem. They said oil that had spilled during loading from the IOC depot had seeped into the ground. During rains, it had re-surfaced. DC Sameer Pal Srow said: “We will not risk the health of students and have ordered closure of the school till the problem is rectified.”

The DC has also written to the education department to start construction of a new building for the primary section. A similar problem, the school authorities informed, had occurred in 2004 when Ambala was flooded. 

Sirsa, September 18
The authorities concerned last night razed the Panchmukhi Chowk in Ellenabad town here to bring an end to years’ long controversy over the naming of the roundabout.

The roundabout had become a bone of contention between the local Agarwal community, who wanted to install a statue of Maharaja Agarsen at the chowk, and Shaheed Radhey Sham Bhakar Yaadgar Samiti, an organisation that wanted to set up a statue of the Kargil martyr.

A clash took place between the police and activists of the samiti yesterday when the police removed the statue installed by the samiti earlier in the day.

The police today booked 14 persons, including samiti president Sukhdev Bhadu, for rioting, wantonly act, promoting enmity between groups, obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions and disobedience of order duly promulgated by public servant.

Yamunanagar, September 18
A Nepali domestic help reportedly decamped with valuable household items and mobile phone from the residence of Rewari SP Rajinder Singh after giving intoxicants to the SP's wife and son at Tagore Garden here today.

The SP's wife, Saroj, and son Jatinder were admitted to a private hospital here and are still unconscious. A case has been registered against the servant.

The servant, who was hired about a week ago from a private firm in Delhi, served intoxicants to Saroj and Jatinder in their meal last night. Then he left the house with the belongings. The SP was in Rewari when the incident took place, police sources said.

Bhondsi, September 18
Nearly 161 cadets became part of the BSF after passing out from the Battalion’s Recruitment Training Centre here today.

The ceremony followed a parade reviewed by battalion commandant Sudhir Kumar.

In their 40 weeks’ training, the cadets of the BSF Bench number 75 were taught to imbibe the credo of the academy.