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Budding handball player raped; 3 booked
Ellenabad Bypoll
INLD’s Abhey Singh Chautala (left) and Congress nominee for the Ellenabad bypoll Bharat Singh Beniwal at Dera Bhumman Shah of the Kamboj community to seek blessings for their victory. Photo: Amit Soni
BJP not to field candidate
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Victory not important: SBP
Inside Babudom
Bajrang Das Garg, president, Haryana Beopar Mandal, addresses mediapersons in Ambala on Sunday.
A Tribune photograph
Finding financiers for meaningful films ‘not easy’
Corporate houses have ‘captured’
Bollywood: Writer
Govt to include GK books in school curricula
Forest ranger’s death: No headway yet
Youth dies in mishap;
villagers block traffic
Jats to launch stir for quota
Low-floor buses to make travel comfortable, says minister
Forest cover to be raised to 10 pc
Ex-serviceman killed in road mishap
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Budding handball player raped; 3 booked
Jind, December 27 According to the complainant, a Class XI student, she had been playing handball for the past couple of years and used to practise at the local stadium. She told the police that a person, who identified himself as Sajjan Kumar of Rambash Colony, promised to get her selected to the state team if she wished and asked her to accompany him so that she could be introduced to some “influential persons” in the department concerned. She alleged that the accused, on this pretext, took her to a person, Hariom, in Sonepat on December 4 where she was raped by the accused for about 10 days. She was taken to Hisar a few days later where she was sexually exploited at a house at Gita Colony belonging to a kin of the accused. She said she was forcibly confined to the house, belonging to Vidya Devi, and threatened with dire consequences if she narrated the incident to anyone. She was not allowed to move from the house. However, on December 24 she somehow managed to flee from the place and reached her house here where she told her kin about the incident. The victim was medically examined and after confirmation of rape, the police registered a case against three persons — Sajjan Kumar, Hariom and Vidya
Devi. |
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Cong, INLD mobilise support for rallies
Sushil Manav Tribune News Service
Ellenabad, December 27 Congress nominee Bharat Singh Beniwal will file his nomination papers on December 30 and the party will organise a rally in the Ellenabad grain market on that day. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, AICC general secretary in charge of Haryana Prithviraj Chavan, HPCC president Phool Chand Mullana, Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar and several other senior leaders of the party will address the rally. The INLD nominee, on the other hand, will file his nomination on January 2 and party supremo Om Prakash Chautala will address a rally at Ellenabad on that day. Congress nominee Beniwal and INLD’s probable nominee Abhey Singh Chautala today went to Sangarsadha village near Sirsa to pay obeisance in Dera Baba Bhumman Shah. The dera has a mass following in the Kamboj community, who are a sizeable number in the Ellenabad Assembly segment. Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar accompanied Beniwal, while Rania MLA Krishan Kamboj accompanied Abhey Singh. Beniwal later opened his election office in Chopta, a big village in his constituency and then accompanied by Tanwar, he toured over half a dozen villages to extend invitation for the December 30 rally. “Exercise your vote to defeat forces that kept your area backward,” Tanwar said in his appeal to voters, referring to the INLD, which has won the seat on most of the occasions since 1967. Ajay Singh Chautala, secretary-general of the INLD and party’s MLA from Dabwali, toured over 12 villages today and mobilised support for his party’s January 2 rally. “Owing to the misrule of the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government, people of Ellenabad have not been getting enough water to quench their thirst and have been forced to bring water from neighbouring Rajasthan,” Ajay Singh alleged. Ajay Singh made the INLD’s oft-repeated charge that the Hooda government had little concern for Sirsa district and alleged that this government had done nothing for this area during the past five years. “There was a time when people of Rajasthan took away water from Haryana. Now, people of Fatehabad, Sirsa, Hisar, Bhiwani, Mahendragarh and Narnaul bring water from that state,” the INLD MLA from Dabwali claimed. Meanwhile, a press note issued by the INLD said Abhey Singh Chautala will start his three-day tour of the Ellenabad Assembly segment from December 28. “Abhey Singh will seek support for the party for the forthcoming Assembly bypoll and also mobilise people for the January 2 rally,” it said.
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BJP not to field candidate
Sirsa, December 27 “The party leadership was of the considered opinion that the Ellenabad byelection is not going to change in any manner the political scenario in Haryana. Hence, the party has decided to concentrate on strengthening the organisation during the next five years,” said Krishan Pal Gurjar, state president of the BJP. The party has not given any direction to its local workers regarding the bypoll. “Our workers in Ellenabad can take their independent decision in this regard. They are wise enough to decide the candidate, who deserves their support,” Gurjar added. Asked whether the BJP could take a decision to extend its support to any other party or candidate contesting the poll, Gurjar said, “If any party contacts our Central leaders and our party’s top leadership takes a decision to support some party, we will honour that decision.” |
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Victory not important: SBP
Ellenabad, December 27 Agarwal, who campaigned in Chopta and Ellenabad with his party’s candidate Kusum Chaudhary, told mediapersons in Ellenabad town that the main objective of fielding a candidate in the byelection was to inform people about what his party stood for. “Political power is a double-edged weapon; while good politicians will serve people, bad ones will have the tendency to rule people with selfish motives,” said Agarwal. He said the main objective of the party was to cleanse the political system and work towards constituting a corruption-free and clean government in the future. “We understand our party may not be able to win the bypoll, but by fielding our candidate, we will be able to provide a good alternative to people who are fed up of voting for those parties, which forget the poll promises once the election is over,” he said. He said the SBP had got good support in the recent Assembly elections and the party aimed at coming to power in Haryana in the future. He said his party nominee Kusum Chaudhary would file her nomination papers on
December 29. |
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Friend in need
becomes top exporter indeed
Gurgaon, December 27 The Chandigarh friend borrows money from his father, goes to Delhi and gets 1,000 shirts stitched and exports to his friend in need. A little later, he gets a share in the profit made by his friend. He develops a liking for the garment trade and tells his father about it. “Ab itna parh-likh kar tu darzi banega?” is his father’s shocked response to his future plans. However, he manages to convince his father, moves to Delhi and hires a tailor to stitch clothes for him. The enthusiastic young man gets his garage vacated and sets up a garment workshop there. This was in the 70s. “The rest, as they say, is history,” says the man, Sudhir Dhingra, while talking to The Tribune at his plush office in Gurgaon. True, and see how rich the history is: Today, Dhingra, the managing director of Orient Craft Limited, employs nearly 25,000 persons, manufactures lakhs of woven and knitted garments and home furnishings and exports these predominantly to the USA, Canada and the European Union. The company has got 21 manufacturing facilities (mainly in Gurgaon and NCR) and has a turnover of about Rs 800 crore. Dhingra’s company, which happens to be the single largest employer in Haryana, exports garments to reputed brands like GAP, Tommy Hilfiger, Macy’s, CSI, Dillards, Marks and Spencer, DKNY, Marc Jacob of Louis Vuitton, Armani, Polo Ralph Lauren, Limited, Express, Banana Republic, Liz Claiborne and Ann Taylor. A recipient of several coveted national as well as international awards and honours, including the Udyog Ratna Award, Dhingra recently won the national award for being the country’s third highest global exporter. He is an executive member of the advisory committee of the Apparel Export Promotion Council and an active member of many business associations such as the FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM, CIAe and the CMAI, besides various government ministries. “We have utilised the last year to consolidate our operations and concentrate on new ventures that will leverage our brand value in the coming years,” he said on being asked how he combated the impact of the recent recession. Apart from employing a strict quality-control regime, Dhingra also spends a great deal of time, money and efforts in philanthropic activities. The company set up a hand embroidery training centre at Khandsa village in the district to train local women and subsequently using their skills by employing them.
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Inside Babudom Prabhjot Singh Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 27 A cross section of social scientists, including university professors, teachers and even retired and serving civil servants, admit that not only did the police, the judiciary and political rulers of the state fail to live up to the roles assigned to them by the system, including the Constitution, even the bureaucracy failed to intervene to save the victim’s family from agonising 19 years of torture. There was not even a single instance when any of the civil service or police service associations even suggested or protested against the “gross injustice being done to the Girhotra family.” Professional rivalries within the cadres, both in civil service and police service notwithstanding, no one ever took up the cudgels on behalf of the victim’s family to call a spade a spade and put a full stop to the “one-sided blitzkrieg”. “Are these associations only to raise their voice when one of their members is booked/charged or harassed either by the ruling clan or a lobby within their respective service that has the backing of the rulers?” asks a senior Professor. Has any IAS/IPS association ever condemned actions like those of SPS Rathore? Unfortunately, Haryana does not have a human rights commission but even if it was there, nothing would have come out of it. Even unassailable cases of police harassment and torture in neighbouring Punjab brought to the notice of the State Human Rights Commission have never been taken to their logical conclusion. Suggesting the need for a watchdog to keep an eye on the wrongdoings of the all-powerful bureaucrats and policemen, the Professor suggests active involvement of non-government organisations with people of impeccable track record in them. Only an effective and fair civil watchdog can act as a deterrent to people who misuse their official positions to cover up their illicit and condemnable actions.
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Exempt commercial property from house tax: Traders
Ambala, December 27 Talking to mediapersons here today, he said the government had already exempted the residential property from the house tax, which was a big relief to the common man. He said a deputation of traders would soon meet the Chief Minister in this regard. He said the Chief Minister had assured the beopar mandal to modify the sales tax form - 38 as the present form was complicated and traders have been facing difficulty while submitting it. He said a conference of the traders of northern states would be summoned in Chandigarh to discuss the common problems of trade and industry. He said small-scale industries should be promoted in the country to create job opportunities. Garg said the union government should provide concession in the income tax and central excise duty to the entrepreneurs of Haryana like the neighbouring states as a number of pharmaceutical and other industries had shifted to Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. He urged the Union Industry Minister to withdraw the tax concession to Uttarakhand and Himachal if the similar concession could not be offered to Haryana. Referring to Ellenabad byelections, he said the members of the Haryana Beopar Mandal would campaign for the Congress candidate. He said the Beopar Mandal was of the view that a fresh probe should be conducted in the Ruchika molestation case and the guilty should not be spared and the matter should not be politicised. Former Union Minister and Congress MLA Venod Sharma also addressed the traders and assured to support their demands. District president of the Beopar Mandal Arun Garg was also present on the occasion.
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Finding financiers for meaningful films ‘not easy’
Yamunanagar, December 27 “Even after having a good story, it is a tedious task to find a producer to finance and actors charge too much. These days, films are produced and script is written keeping Bollywood actors in mind. However, nothing can stop you when you have to highlight something. Besides the films, documentaries are a very strong medium to draw attention towards different social problems by highlighting the plight of suppressed people, Anwar said while talking to The Tribune during the second Haryana international film festival at the DAV College for Girls here today. “I made “Swaraj” with a budget lower than the NFDC budget and made the movie after shooting continuously for 35 days,” he added. “Swaraj” was based on the true story of Leelavati in Madurai, who had promised to bring water after winning the elections. After two years of struggle, she had managed to fulfil her promise. However, the morning after the pipes were placed in her village, she was murdered by the tanker mafia, he said. Anwar, whose all films and documentaries have highlighted various social issues, including the plight of women, said: “After much research and hard work, I have completed a new documentary, “Harvest of Grief”, on farmers’ suicide in Punjab. It will be soon screened in Chandigarh,” he added. “My documentary, “The Call of Bhagirathi”, won the first national award as the best investigative film in 1992. The film drew attention towards how a big dam displaced a large number of people. My film, “Dream of a Dark Night”, explores the tenacity of the human spirit through the story of his namesake Anwar, an immigrant to Delhi. My first completely independent documentary was “My Name is Sister” on nurses in Delhi. My movie “Sikandar” was a 14-year-old school boy in Kashmir whose parents were killed by the militants,” he added. “The cinema should be introduced as subject in colleges to impart the right kind of information and education to the students,” he further said.
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Corporate houses have ‘captured’
Bollywood: Writer
Ranjit, who wrote the dialogues of “Halla Bol”, “Mangal Pandey”, “The Legend of Bhagat Singh”, “Lajja”, “Tere Mere Sapne”, “Bandit Queen”, “Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa”, “Khamosh” and “Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro”, has also acted in “Kalyug”. He said after being in the film industry for 27 years, he was able to direct his first movie - “Chintuji”. He said this while talking to The Tribune during the second Haryana international film festival at the DAV College for Girls here today. “Chintuji” was also screened in the film festival here. Kapoor, who wrote dialogues for many hit movies and contributed significantly for the India theatre, said things have now changed in Mumbai. Bollywood had been captured by big corporate houses. There was less scope for offbeat movies. However, many big-budget movies failed this year due to lack of theme and story, he added. “At the age of 60, I was able to direct my first film. I had got offers to direct films for big banners. However, due to too much interference by producers, I did not accept their offers because I belonged to theatre and wanted to do things my way,” he added. “I made my point through “Chintuji”. Rishi Kapoor worked as the lead actor in it. “Chintuji” indisputably was the heart and soul of the film. I do plays for public and experiment new things keeping in view the audience. I have been continuously associated with theatre to highlight various things. Theatre is a fast medium and you get immediate reaction of audience,” he further said. |
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Govt to include GK books in school curricula
Bahadurgarh (Jhajjar), December 27 Haryana Education and Health Minister Geeta Bhukkal disclosed this while addressing a gathering at the annual sports function of DAV Centenary Public School here last evening. “Following a tough contest in competitive examinations, general knowledge has become a top priority for every aspirant. Hence it is essential to make GK of schoolchildren sound from the beginning so that they do not face any difficulty in GK to succeed in competitive exams,” said the minister, adding that besides, efforts would be made to change the curriculum at school level in case it was felt that it was needed to bring about further qualitative change in education and make it job oriented. Expressing concern over the complaints received in the recent past against some teachers regarding their behaviour in schools, Bhukkal asserted that erring teachers would not be spared. Highlighting the traditional relationship of teachers and students, she made it clear that no one found guilty would be allowed to go scot free. Harping on the development being taken place in the field of education in the state, Bhukkal said it was because of the farsightedness of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda that his dream of making Haryana an education hub was being realised. In this era of globalisation, the Rajiv Gandhi Education City being set up in Haryana would prove to be a milestone, she added. Underling the significance of education for girls, she said with a view to promoting education among girls in Haryana, north India’s first women university known as Bhagat Phool Singh (BPS) Women University had been set up at Khanpur Kalan (Sonepat). A medical college for women was also being set up on the university campus. A central university was coming up in Mahendragarh district, Bhukkal added. She also gave away prizes to meritorious students. |
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Forest ranger’s death: No headway yet
Jhajjar, December 27 He was reportedly chargesheeted by the Forest Department following complaints against him. Though the police maintains the exact cause of his death will be known after they receive viscera and chemical reports from Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), family members of the deceased are not ruling out the possibility of murder. SHO of the city police station Mohammad Hussain said the case was under investigation and statements of different persons had been recorded. Prime facie this seemed to be a suicide case, but they were also exploring other possibilities of some foul play behind the death, he added. “Besides other persons, domestic help of the deceased, who was in the house at the time of the incident, has also been grilled, but nothing concrete came out of him,” said the SHO, adding that the suicide note, which was recovered from the spot, was being examined by an expert. Tomar’s body was found lying on the floor of the fateful day. The body was spotted by his domestic help, who informed other employees of the Forest Department. The police had found a “dupatta” wrapped around the neck of the deceased while another piece of the “dupatta” was hanging from a hook on the roof. A suicide note was also recovered from the spot wherein it was alleged that Tomar had been facing harassment from some senior official of the Forest Department. Jhajjar SSP Sourabh Singh said it was yet to be established whether it was a case of suicide or murder. The police would be able to tell only after getting the reports, he added.
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Youth dies in mishap;
villagers block traffic
Fatehabad, December 27 The bus driver allegedly did not stop the bus though several villagers raised
the alarm. The incident took place when the youth identified as Chander Pal was waiting for a bus to Fatehabad. A bus going towards Sirsa hit him from the side and in the process his clothes got trapped in the bus. The bus dragged the victim for several meters. The driver escaped with the bus as the victim fell on the road after a short distance. The victim was rushed to Fatehabad for treatment, but he died before medical help could be provided. Angry villagers blocked the national highway leading to queueing up of vehicles on both sides of the road. SHO of the Sadar police station Kapil Kumar and in charge of Dariyapur police post Raghubir Singh reached there and persuaded villagers to lift
the blockade. The police assured the villagers that action would be taken against the
erring driver. |
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Jats to launch stir for quota
Sonepat, December 27 The mahasabha said for preservation and protection of the existing social customs and conventions like gotra marriages, the state government should send its recommendations to the central government for making an amendment in the constitution. National General Secretary of the mahasabha Yudhvir Singh recalled that the Jats fulfilled all conditions that were set by the Mandal Commission for identification and recommendation of the castes as OBCs; but they had been deprived of it because of political conspiracy. Reminding that the Jats in Haryana burnt buses and caused extensive damage to government property against the Manal Commission report in 1990, he opined had the Jats done it demanding reservation in the commission’s recommendations, they would have easily got it. |
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Low-floor buses to make travel comfortable, says minister
Rohtak, December 27 Jain, who was here on a private visit, said there would be no shortage of buses in any depot in the state and efforts were on to increase the number of routes and buses in every district. He said the low-floor CNG buses on the pattern of Delhi would help check the pollution level. On complaints of fire in low-floor buses in Delhi, the minister said the state government would ensure that the buses supplied to it did not have any such problem. The state government would soon issue about 2,800 permits to private transporters. |
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Forest cover to be raised to 10 pc
Chandigarh, December 27 Stating this here today, Haryana Forest Minister Capt Ajay Yadav said during the past five years, 906 lakh saplings were planted by the department in the state thus increasing the forest cover from 3.52 per cent to 3.53 per cent. He said in 2004-05, 132 lakh saplings were planted by the department. He said 1,700 forest societies had been working in the state. At present, over 7 per cent area was under forest cover in the state, out of which 3.53 per cent was under the control of the government while the remaining had been covered under the agro-forestry. He said 2,035 self-help groups were working in the state while these were only 171 in 2004-05. |
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Ex-serviceman killed in road mishap
Jhajjar, December 27 Rajender was on his way on a bike when a truck coming from the opposite direction hit him head-on. He reportedly died on the spot. The truck driver sped away after the incident. The police sent the body for a postmortem. Later, a case was registered against the truck driver, who is yet to be identified.
— OC |
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The Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal have started mobilising people for their
respective rallies in Ellenabad at the time of filing of nominations by their candidates.
Yamunanagar, December 27