Chandigarh, November 21
After nearly four years, former Haryana DGP MS Malik has won the first round of his legal battle against the state government.

The government has agreed to treat his suspension period from June 14, 2005, to October 31, 2006, the day he retired from service, as "duty period for all intents and purposes."

However, the order issued by Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Home, Krishan Mohan, made it clear that it was subject to the decision of the special leave petition filed by the state government in the court.

Malik was placed under suspension on June 14, 2005, for his alleged "dubious" role in the recruitment to the now defunct Haryana Industrial Security Force and other cadres.

He challenged the suspension order before the Chandigarh bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).

Meanwhile, he was issued a chargesheet on August 3, 2005. The CAT quashed his suspension on September 9, 2005. The government went in an appeal before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which stayed the CAT order. Malik's suspension was extended till his retirement on October 31, 2006.

He again approached the CAT against the extension of his suspension, which quashed his suspension on April 17, 2008.

Deciding the state's appeal, a Division Bench comprising Justice Ashutosh Mohunta and Justice Uma Nath Singh held that the findings recorded by the CAT while quashing of extension of Malik's suspension "are just and proper and do not suffer from perversity. The petitioner (government) has failed to make out a case warranting our interference."

When the government did not implement the CAT order, Malik filed a contempt petition against it, which is still pending before the CAT.

Meanwhile, the government yielded yesterday.

Yamunanagar, November 21
Yamunanagar has become the first district in the state to depute a woman advocate in each police station to provide free of cost legal aid in cases of sexual offenses and other crimes against women and children.

The model scheme was inaugurated by judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice Vinod Kumar Sharma at the mini-secretariat here today.

“Women and children need to be protected and under the scheme they will feel secure and empowered with the free of cost legal assistance. It’s our responsibility to protect the rights of women and children,” said Sharma.

“The Supreme Court felt the need of such a scheme in 1994 and thereafter the model scheme has been planned to benefit women and children. With the inauguration of the scheme here, the scheme has been implemented in all over the state,” he added.

SP Vikas Arora said the woman advocate would help women and children to register their complaints and provide other legal assistance. The presence of a woman advocate with the victim of sexual exploitation would also help the police solve the case.

District and Sessions Judge Dr Bharat Bhushan Parsoon said with the help of legal service authority woman advocates had been deputed in all police stations of the district.

The model scheme would eventually help reduce crime against women and children.

Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar Agarwal said the scheme was a major help for poor. We all have to make efforts for the success of the scheme and it’s the responsibility of the society to respect women and protect their rights, he added.

Jind, November 21
Tightening the noose around the process of issuing new pre-paid mobile phone connections in the district, the authorities concerned have made it mandatory to get a police nod before activation of the number.

Each and every number released by various mobile companies and their outlets will have to submit relevant documents regarding the identity of the consumer with the cyber cell of the police department here daily.

Jind is perhaps the first district in the state to announce the implementation of such an order and have made applicable with instant effect.

Stating this here yesterday, Deputy Commissioner M Shayin said this had been done to keep a record of all new connections issued and to ensure a check on the misuse of connection in unwanted and criminal activities.

There had been instances of mobile outlets and companies issuing new connections on the basis of identity of another person who might have not been using the number, he added.

All companies, including BSNL, Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Indicom, Reliance, Virgin, Idea and Aircel, have been asked to submit the details of the new prepaid connections purchased from them to the cyber wing of the police department on daily basis. The record sought by the police included the photocopy of application form, photo, address, communication number and the number of the SIM card to be issued to the customer. This should be submitted by 4 pm daily, said an official. The SIM card would be activated after proper verification and a nod by the department within a stipulated time period. Any dealer or company violating these orders will be liable for a legal action under Section 188 of the IPC, it is stated.

There have been certain cases which are still to be cracked due to unavailability of clues and information, including the bomb blast that rocked the city about a month ago.

The district administration had got verified the details of the consumers of a leading mobile company about 18 months ago, but the companies had not been maintaining a strict policy regarding the issuing of new connections for the past several months, claimed the authorities.

Sirsa, November 21
The Congress MLA from Nalwa Sampat Singh today said the central government’s announcement to amend the new sugarcane pricing rules was a welcome move, but a bonus of Rs 50 per quintal should be first given as an incentive to farmers.

Sampat Singh said the amendment was a welcome move although farmers were not at a loss without it as the state governments were empowered to fix their own state advised price (SAP) higher than the Government of India’s Fair Remunerative Price (FRP). The only difference was that the gap between the SAP and the FRP, which is around Rs 14,000 crore, was to be paid by the state government. Now, the sugar mills will have to pay the difference, he said.

FRP fixed by the central government currently is Rs 129.84, while the SAP is Rs 160 to 170 by Uttar Pradesh and Rs 185 by Punjab and Haryana.

Haryana has been giving Rs 25 per quintal as bonus on sugarcane sold to its cooperative sugar mills, which makes the SAP Rs 210 per quintal.

He demanded that the central government should pay a bonus of Rs 50 per quintal to the farmers to motivate them to bring more acreage under sugarcane cultivation.

“Even by the government’s own calculations, the cost of inputs like seeds, pesticides, fertilisers, labour and irrigation is Rs 155 per quintal. But, given the fact that irrigation costs have escalated this year due to drought-like conditions, the SAP is not sufficient to meet even the input costs,” he said.

He added that in all types of industries, interest on the investment is also taken into consideration while calculating selling price of the products, but if the farmers calculate the interest on their land, the costs would go much higher.

Sampat Singh also urged the industry to come to the rescue of poor farmers as they had been getting very high rates for sugar this time.

He maintained that from one quintal of sugarcane, mills produce 10 kg sugar which fetches Rs 380. In addition, there are byproducts worth Rs 150, which leaves ample scope to pay bonus to sugarcane producers.

Rohtak, November 21
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today announced to enhance the cash award given to medal winners of national games besides constituting a state-sports fund to promote sports and sportspersons.

He also announced to open a state-level sports academy and a sports university in the state. He said wrestler Ramesh Kumar Gulia, who had won the gold medal at international championship, would be made a DSP in the Haryana police. He was speaking at the inauguration of the 23rd Haryana State Games here today. About 6,000 players are taking part in the four-day event.

The Chief Minister declared the state games open and hoisted the flag of the games. He took salute of the march past by the participating sportspersons. He also released a souvenir and technical handbook of the games. Arjun awardee and judo player of Rohtak Virender Singh administered oath of playing with sportsman spirit to the participants.

Hooda said now gold medal winners at the national games would get cash reward of Rs 3 lakh, silver medal winner Rs 2 lakh and bronze medal winner would get Rs 1 lakh.

Earlier, the medal winners of these games were given Rs 51,000, Rs 31,000 and Rs 11,000, respectively.

He said the state government would spend a sum of Rs. 56.48 crore during the financial year for promotion of sports in the state.

Hooda said the number of sports nurseries had been increased to 46 and sports stadiums in the name of former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi were being constructed in 171 villages of the state.

He said a modern sports complex was being developed on 90 acres in Rohtak. A synthetic athletic track was being laid in Panchkula at a cost of Rs 4 crore and an astroturf had been laid in Gurgaon and Shahbad.

He said a sum of Rs 5,000 per month would be given as honorarium to Arjun and Dronacharya awardees. An amount of Rs 14.31 crore had been disbursed among award winners during the past four and a half years. Hooda said a new sports policy had been formulated as a result of which sportspersons in such a large number were participating in the mega event.

According to the Haryana Olympic Association, as many as 175 coaches had been promoted as senior coach and they had been given gazetted status. As many as eight players, who won medals in international sports events, had been recruited as DSP in the Haryana police.

The Haryana Games torch which was flagged of from Panchkula reached here today.

Rohtak, November 21
"Haryana had an important role in the nation's first war of independence in 1857 as the mutiny by the soldiers had started from Ambala before it spread to other parts of the country." This was stated by the Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda after he unveiled the memorial of India's freedom struggle of 1857 at the Maharshi Dayanand University campus, here today.

Hooda said the mutiny was the beginning and later freedom-fighters from the state contributed in a big manner till the county was liberated from foreign yoke. Now, he said, the need was to maintain this freedom in real sense and build upon a strong country with dignity and respect for everyone.

The CM said the memorial had been erected on the occasion of 150the anniversary of "First War of Independence" which was being observed across the nation. He said the memorial was dedicated to all those unsung heroes who laid their lives for the nation and claimed that it would inspire the younger generations in times to come. Hooda also praised Chakradhar Behra, who had been instrumental behind the setting up of this memorial.

Regarding the demand for a Central University, he said such a varsity was coming up in Mahendergarh district. He said the state was being converted into an education hub.

Earlier, the CM laid the foundation stone of three hostels for boys at MDU - Vindhaya, Udaigiri and Himgiri - to be constructed at a total cost of Rs 34.29 crore.

Kurukshetra, November 21
Determined to restore the sanctity of Saraswati, one of the country’s chief Rigvedic rivers, a number of religious heads and scientists of repute have come together and vowed to work to revive the lost watercourse.

Researches and delegates from the USA, the UK, Estonia and from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), ONCG, Geological Survey of India (GSI), state irrigation department, Haryana Space Applications Centre (HARSAC) and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) have converged at the Kurukshetra University to participate in the three-day international conference on the Saraswati river.

On the second day of the conference, which has been hosted by the Sarasvati River Research Centre (Sarasvati Nadi Shodh Sansthan), Cabinet Minister for Finance, Irrigation and Planning Capt Ajay Singh Yadav stated that the Haryana government was committed to revive the lost river and would provide all logistic support to the researchers and scientists for the purpose.

He said during the last financial year the government had spent Rs 10 crore on excavating the Saraswati channel using the revenue records and satellite imagery.

Earlier, the conference was inaugurated by Jagadguru of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam Sri Jayendra Saraswati Swami, who blessed all those present and exhorted the delegated to work wholeheartedly to further the hard work put in by scientists and researchers.

Swami Omanand Saraswati of Shukratal also blessed the conference. President of the Saraswati River Research Centre Darshan Lal Jain, who had played a pivotal role in holding the conference, narrated his dream of reviving of the river.

In the evening session, scientists and researchers presented their work through presentations. The second day of the conference was presided over by Lt Gen Dr DDS Sandhu, Vice Chancellor of Kurukshetra and Jamdeshwar universities.

The theme of the second day was Saraswati River and its role in water resource augmentation while during the third day of the conference, the researchers would deliberate over the culture and civilisations associated with the river.

Kaithal, November 21
Some miscreants made an unsuccessful attempt to break open the lockers of the main branch of the Union Bank of India on Ashoka cinema road here last night.

However, unable to loot any cash or other articles from the lockers the accused only took away one computer from the bank.

Later, the bank staff informed the police which started its investigation with the help of forensic experts summoned from Madhuban police complex.

According to information, the manager NR Mittal and other staff members found in the morning that some miscreants had entered the bank by removing the iron grill of a window in the toilet.

An attempt was made by them to break open the locker safe by removing bricks and plaster. They also searched some almirahs and drawers in a bid to find the keys of the strong room.

Following the incident, the general public was not allowed to enter the bank to facilitate the team of investigators from Madhuban. Jagat Singh, DSP, and SHO City Ravinder Tomar also rushed to the spot.