New Delhi, November 6
Following the expression of strong resentment by party MLAs in Haryana, the Congress high command has with much difficulty arrived at a stop-gap formula that will pave the way for cabinet expansion in Haryana tomorrow.

Talks between the Congress and the Kuldeep Bishnoi-led Haryana Janhit Congress have failed. No early breakthrough is expected, said sources, adding that at least seven legislators are expected to take oath as ministers tomorrow.

The Congress is in a bind, faced with the prospect of not having enough of its own partymen in the cabinet.

Haryana has a provision for a 14-member cabinet, including the CM. The HJC is under pressure from the Congress high command for ministerial berths to four of its six MLAs. The high command has asked the HJC to merge with the Congress, but the HJC is in no mood to oblige so far. Bishnoi, is said to have quoted the plight of the Bansi Lal-led Haryana Vikas Party after it merged with the Congress.

Another four berths are being sought by the Independents. In case the Congress agrees to this formula, then more than half of the cabinet will comprise Independents and the HJC, said a senior leader. The Congress, of course, wants to have a majority in the cabinet for smooth day-to-day functioning.

The Congress bosses in Delhi are not prepared to “trust” the seven Independent MLAs to maintain a majority in the 90-member House.They are keen on an alliance with Bishnoi. In the past few days, back-channel discussions have been on with Bishnoi, who has made clear that he has no qualms about supporting a Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led government.

The swearing-in ceremony earlier slated for Friday morning was called off at the eleventh hour due to differences within the party. Hooda and his entourage left the Capital for Chandigarh late this evening.

Chandigarh, November 6
The Haryana Cabinet will be expanded tomorrow.

The swearing-in ceremony of the Council of Ministers will be held tomorrow at 11 am at Haryana Raj Bhawan where Haryana Governor Jagan Nath Pahadia will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers.

The swearing-in ceremony of the new Chief Parliamentary Secretaries/Parliamentary Secretaries will also be held tomorrow at 12.30 pm at Haryana Niwas, Sector 3.

They will be sworn in by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh hooda.

Sirsa, November 6
Abhey Singh Chautala, the youngest son of former CM Om Parkash Chautala, is likely to be the INLD candidate for the Ellenabad byelection, which fell vacant after the senior Chautala resigned from the seat on November 4.

Chautala was elected to the Uchana Kalan and the Ellenabad seats in the recently concluded assembly elections in which his party sprung a surprise, winning 32 seats along with its alliance partner SAD.

The INLD expects that the byelection will be held on December 18 along with the last phase of the Jharkhand assembly elections.

Abhey Singh hinted at his possible candidature at a party workers’ meeting in the Rori assembly constituency at his family farmhouse in Teja Khera yesterday.

When his loyalists demanded that he contested the Ellenabad seat, he said he was not averse to doing so if the party decided to field him.

He instructed his loyalists to take charge in different villages of Ellenabad in preparation for the byelection

.“Yes, I will contest the forthcoming bypoll if the party decides to nominate me,” Abhey Singh told The Tribune on the phone. Sources close to him maintained that Abhey was almost certain to contest the bypoll. “Since he has announced that he will contest the byelection if the party decides so, it means his candidature is almost certain.

“ In the INLD, it’s the three Chautalas whose word is the law,” observed a party worker, who did not want to be named.

He said the party was of the opinion that a member of the Chautala family alone could offer a tough fight to the rival Congress candidate.

Abhey Singh represented the Rori assembly seat in the assembly from 2000 to 2005.

In the 2000 elections, Chautala won both the Rori and Narwana seats. He decided to resign from Rori.

Later, Abhey contested the bypoll on May 26, 2000, and won the seat, polling 93,402 of the 10,3233 votes.

Rori has since been abolished as a constituency and its villages now fall either in Kalanwali (reserve) or Rania seats.

A sports lover, Abhey Chautala is the president of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation.

Chandigarh, November 6
Files untouched, babus having a blast and work at a standstill. This has been the state of affairs in Haryana in the past over two months since the squabble for power began with the announcement of elections.

If initially it was anticipation of an early poll that kept the babus occupied, the imposition of the model code of conduct post-dissolution of the assembly till nearly the last week of October brought work to a grinding halt.

Ever since the results, with hardly any work on hand in the absence of political bosses, the process of a “stable” government formation has kept the bureaucrats busy, deliberating and discussing the fate of the new government.

The usually busy Haryana secretariat has hardly had any visitor in the past couple of months. No politicians has meant no crowd. With politicians working towards having their say at the Delhi darbar, they have been in no mood to listen to public grievances. Though the last four-and-a-half years of the Hooda regime are considered “a golden period without the stress and strain associated with government functioning”, these past months have come as the icing on the cake.No policy-making, no decisions, no movement of files. So, to “kill time” the officers come late, go early and spend the better part of the day room-hopping to catch up with the colleagues.With the focus shifting to cabinet formation, officers have had their own “informed guesses”. Now, with at least seven ministers expected to take oath tomorrow, the next big thing on their minds is an administrative shake-up.

Gurgaon, November 6
Workers at Rico Auto Industries ended their about 50-day strike following an agreement with the management on reinstatement of some employees late last evening.

It was after the intervention of the district administration, the dispute between workers and the management of Ricco Auto Industries Limited was sorted out.

“As per the agreement, out of the total 16 workers, who were suspended after the strike started, the management has agreed to revoke the suspension of eight, while one worker will be taken back after one month”, Rico Auto Senior vice-president (HR corporate) Surinder Singh Chaudhary said. The case of remaining seven suspended employees will be considered after conducting of in-house inquiry by a retired judicial magistrate, the name of whom will be finalised by the Labour Department, he added.

It was also agreed upon that the agitating workers would have no right of pay for the period of agitation from September 21 to November 5 under the principle of ‘no work no pay’ but their services would be considered continued.

The workers went on strike from September 17 demanding, among other things, hike in salary and recognition of their union. The strike turned violent on October 18 as clashes broke out between two groups that led to the death of a 26-year-old employee and the agitation soon spilled over to workers from other companies in the Haryana industrial belt.

Jind, November 6
The driver of a Haryana Roadways bus and four passengers, including two women received minor injuries when a mob comprising mainly students of a polytechnic college went violent against the treatment given to them by the roadways staff at Safidon town in the district this morning.

The groups of students assaulted the passengers boarding buses of the Haryana Roadways at various places, including the main bus stand, Khalsa Chowk and near the grain market in protest against an incident in which some students had been made to get off from the bus near the college located at Karsindhu village on Safidon- Panipat road in the district. This led to disruption of traffic movement for some time.

The incident sparked off when the bus slowed down near the college and students climbed up on the rooftop of the bus, which led to a clash between them and the bus staff. It is claimed that the staff of the bus asked the students to get off the bus and this resulted in heated exchanges and a near physical assault.

According to the complaint lodged with the police, the students gathered at various spots, stopped buses and pelted stones on them with passengers inside them. The accused managed to flee before the police reached there. Dharam Pal, a driver of one of the buses, and four passengers identified as Randip, Subhash, Santosh and Neeraj Kaur were injured when stones were pelted at them while they were inside the buses which were on their way to their destination.

The buses that damaged belonged to different depots. A group 50 to 60 students were allegedly involved in this incident, said the police. An investigation was on and a case was likely to be booked , said the police.

Rewari, November 6
Irate villagers, including women, resorted to a traffic jam on the Kund-Dahina road at Mandola village, 30 km from here, yesterday in protest against the alleged apathy of the Excise authorities to shift the liquor vend from the inner area of the village to its peripheral precincts.

Defying persuasive efforts made by the police to seek removal of the blockade, the infuriated villagers, who wanted an assurance from a senior officer regarding shifting of the liquor vend, made a bid to burn the vend, which was foiled by the police. They lamented that their repeated requests made to the authorities were not attended to.

Eventually the blockade was lifted after about six hours at the intervention of Excise Inspector Jitender Yadav who, at the behest of the top brass of the Excise Department, sealed the liquor vend. The villagers warned that if it was not shifted immediately, they would again come out on the road for agitation.

Panipat, November 6
The Haryana Working Journalists Union (HWJU) has expressed grief over the death of well-known journalist Prabhash Joshi, who breathed his last at a private hospital in New Delhi late last night.

In a statement issued here today, general secretary of the union Dharamvir and secretary Neeraj Mohan said Joshi, who died of a heart attack at an age of 72, was a towering personality in the field of journalism.

He began his career with the Hindi newspaper Nayi Duniya. Prabhash Joshi was the founder and editor of the leading Hindi newspaper 'Jansatta'. In 1995, he retired from the newspaper but continued as the chief editorial advisor. A renowned writer and Gandhian, Joshi, changed the definition of Hindi journalism with the publication of 'Jansatta'.

Joshi also worked with the Indian Express as the resident editor at Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Delhi.

The noted journalist and writer is survived by his wife Usha Joshi, two sons, Sandeep and Sopan, daughter Sonal and mother Leela Bai.

Meanwhile, a condolence meeting was held at the Media Centre in Rohtak. It was presided over by Gyan Singh, president of Ranbir Singh Chair in the Maharshi Dayanand University. He said Joshi was among the few pillars of independent journalism who remained devoted and was unbiased.

CHANDIGARH: Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda expressed shock and grief over demise of noted journalist Prabhash Joshi. In a condolence message, the Governor said Joshi was well-known in personality in the Indian print media. The CM described Joshi as a seasoned writer who changed the definition of Hindi journalism. INLD supremo Om Parkash Chautala also expressed grief at the sudden demise of Joshi.

Rohtak, November 6
Four members of a criminal gang operating in Hosangabad district of Madhya Pradesh were nabbed by the police from an ‘akhara’ (wrestling centre) near Chamarian village in the district about 10 km from here. The raid was carried out by a police team from Madhya Pradesh with help of the local police. The gangsters wanted in several cases of crime, including those of murder and attempt to murder had been staying at the spot.The gang is led by Arjun Palia, a former MLA of MP.

The MP police led by Shalim Khan, SHO of the Piparia police station of Hosangabad district, reached the district after a tip off regarding the hideout of the wanted criminals. A joint raid was conducted with the help of the district police and arrested four members of the gang identified as Dinesh Dhimole Rajkumar, alias Kallu ,Jhahnu and Baldau.

All these have been booked by the police in several cases of crime, including six cases on Dinesh, who carries a reward of Rs 5,000 on his head, Kallu with six cases four on Jahanu and two cases on Baldau.

This gang reportedly being run by Arjun Palia had been operating in Hosangabad and neighbouring for the past about 30 years and had been notorious and a synonym of terror in that region claimed the police sources.

The gang had opened fire on Balram Singh of Piparia on June 5 last and had been absconding. The local police led by DSP Dalbir Singh and Inspector, CIA staff reached the Akhara located on the Chamarian road this noon and managed to nab the culprits before they could manage to give a slip, said the police.

The police recovered a Tata Sumo vehicle (UP-80-L-9704) from their possession. This is perhaps the first case in which criminals operating in other state had been arrested while residing in the district, this year.

Kurukshetra, November 6
Continuing their protest over the failure of the police to arrest the school owner and his accomplices who allegedly kidnapped a local journalist, Pawan Ashri, the Jansargharsh Manch, Haryana, today held a procession from the new bus stand to the DC’s office and staged a dharna there.

The manch, comprising mediapersons and NGOs, alleged that the the culprits were moving scot free and no arrest had been made even after 10 days of the incident. Though DSP Kamal Deep had nabbed some persons when he came to the rescue of the kidnapped journalist on October 28, the police had freed them later.

The police owed an explanation as to why the accused had been let off when a criminal case was registered against them, spokesperson for the manch Santosh Kumari said. The manch submitted another memorandum to the CM through the DC, seeking immediate arrest of the culprits and security to journalists who feared threat to their life.

The culprits booked under sections 148,149, 323, 341, 365, 420 and 506 of IPC were very influential persons and even pressurised Ashri to reach a compromise and on his denial to succumb to pressure, he was threatened, she added.

Manch chief Pal Singh charged the local DSP, Ram Chander Rathi, of interfering in the case and sought his transfer. The manch demanded stringent action against the school authorities and said schools existing on paper alone should not be allowed to run.

“We demand that the owner of the school, Majboor Singh, be directed to return all grants received from the government in the name of the school,” said manch member Usha Kumari.

Pawan Ashri earned the ire of the authorities when he exposed a “nexus” between the school and officials of the education department which allowed the school to be converted into a banquet hall.

Ashri was attacked while trying to click a photograph of the school authorities removing the “Banquet Hall” board. Cases were registered against 10 persons (under non-bailable sections) including the owner, his sons and the manager (Deepak) of the banquet hall.

Karnal, November 6
Officials of the Fun Cinemas who were here to remove the logos from the Harsha K3 Mall following termination of the agreement with the franchise were not allowed do the same yesterday.

Senior vice-president of Fun Cinemas, Deepak Taluja said they had terminated the agreement with the Harsha K3 mall on May 8 and they should not use the logos anymore.

However, mall manager Surinder Singh Chauhan said the matter was pending in court.

Taluja said the agreement was terminated as the mall did not have the requisite fire safety systems in place as well as other issues, including salaries to the staff, operational and management fees to Fun Cinemas etc.

He claimed that the mall authorities did not install exhaust inside the auditoriums, no beam detectors were in place, smoke detectors and fire panel alarms were not functional.

On the other hand, the Mall manager Surinder Singh Chauhan said: “We have NOC from all the departments. The fire apparatus is in working condition, but the water pump is non-functional due to leakage, which will be repaired at the earliest”.

Faridabad, November 6
A fire broke out in a storage house containing scraps here, late last night.

The storage located near Durga Bari Temple on the Bata-Hardware road was functional for the past several years and heavy amont of scraps were stored in it.

The owner of the store, Surender, could not specify on the amount of loss. However, according to an estimate, the scraps worth several lakhs of rupees have been gutted.

The entire building of the store has been gutted. The peon of the store informed the owner about the outbreak of fire, who further informed the Haryana Fire Brigade Service.

Apart from fire tenders from Faridabad city, those from Palwal, Ballabgarh and other places were called to douse the fire.

The fire was doused this afternoon. The police had not yet registered a case till the filing of the report.