Chandigarh, January 9
The Haryana Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (Ad hoc) has urged Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to stop the ongoing election process under the Sikh Gurdwara Act, 1925, and constitute a separate committee to manage gurdwaras in the state.

The election process under the 1925 Act is on these days to elect the new Amritsar-based SGPC. In a letter sent to Hooda, working president and general secretary of the HGPC Didar Singh Nalvi said the Haryana government should accept either the 1925 Act or the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, Section 72 of which provides for a separate gurdwara management committee for Haryana.

Nalvi said instead of following the 1966 Act, the Haryana government, by conducting elections under the 1925 Act, was doing injustice with the Sikhs of the state.

He also demanded the status of second language for Punjabi in the state. He said a Bill for this was passed by the Assembly in September, 2004, but had not been implemented for want of necessary notification.

Nalvi also demanded establishment of a state minorities commission.

He regretted that the Sikhs of Haryana had gathered an impression after meeting various state and national political leaders over the past decade that the leaders based outside Punjab, considered the Punjab Akali Dal and the Amritsar-based SGPC as the sole repository of the Sikh Panth, and the rest of the Sikhs and their institutions as of little significance, which, he said, was “undesirable”.

Kurukshetra, January 9
President of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (ad hoc) Jagdish Singh Jhinda, talking to mediapersons here today, said the HSGPC would directly talk to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh for safeguarding the interests of Sikhs in Haryana.

Expressing satisfaction over the Chatha committee report, Jhinda said though Haryana Agriculture Minister Mohinder Singh Chatha had submitted his report in their favour, they would not sit patiently till their demand of forming a separate gurdwara committee was fulfilled. What so ever sacrifice was required to be made for meeting their demand, they would not lag behind, he added.

Jhinda alleged that president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Amritsar, Avtar Singh Makkar had been working as desired by the RSS. Moreover, changes were being made in the Nanakshahi calendar, which was prepared after a hardwork of seven years and with an expenditure of crores, for their politically vested interests.

He said when the Sikh community had started relying upon the Nanakshahi calendar, changes were being made in it to get votes for Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal as desired by the RSS by hurting their sentiments.

He said a “nikkar” would be presented to Makkar by the RSS in Karnal on Sunday as Makkar had been working as per the wishes of the RSS.

He refused to divulge any information regarding the new action plan prepared by the HSGPC for the interests of Sikhs in Haryana.

Acting upon the verdict of the Akal Takht, Amritsar, Jhinda, accompanied by other leaders, started polishing shoes of pilgrims and cleaning of utensils on the premises of the Gurdwara Sixth Paatshaahi here on January 6. They will undergo the punishment till tomorrow.

Earlier, Jhinda, with his supporters, allegedly took over the management of the local Gurdwara Sixth Paathsaahi here on September 13, 2009.

Ellenabad, January 9
“Try me. Give me a chance. You have given enough chances to Om Parkash Chautala, but he has failed you every time.” These were the words of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda from atop his “Vijay Rath”, a luxury bus with a lift fitted inside it, during his electoral campaign at Ellenabad constituency, here today.

He urged the voters to “aim at three targets with one vote”. “With one vote, you chose one MLA as Bharat Singh Beniwal, second MLA as me, as I too will be looking after your interests, and as the third you get rid of Chautalas forever,” said Hooda while halting at villages falling along the Sirsa-Ellenabad road.

Biting cold failed to dampen the spirit of the people, who waited all along the route taken by Hooda’s cavalcade even in dense fog. Some villagers gathered at the Ravi Dass Temple near Pohraka village, where Hooda stopped to pay obeisance. State Congress president Phool Chand Mulana, minister Gopal Kanda, MP Ashok Tanwar, KV Singh and chief parliamentary secretary Rao Dan Singh accompanied Hooda on his “Vijay Rath”, while Congress nominee Bharat Singh Beniwal joined him midway.

On his part, Hooda addressed gatherings from daises set up in some villages; from atop the roof of his “rath” in others and from inside it in some villages.

He addressed gatherings at Mallekan, Mehnakhera, Chilakni Dhab, Pohraka, Bhrutwala, Umedpura and other neighbouring villages, and even tried his hand at Punjabi where people of the Sikh community were in good numbers.

Meanwhile, Partap Singh Bajwa, Congress MP from Gurdaspur (Punjab), also campaigned in Ellenabad today. Accompanied by Gurjeet Singh Kaura, a local Congress leader and a senior advocate of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Bajwa toured Sikh-dominated villages of the constituency. “Congress workers from Punjab will arrive to campaign in Ellenabad soon,” Bajwa said. 

Ellenabad, January 9
The Indian National Lok Dal has shot two more complaints to the Election Commission accusing the ruling Congress and its leaders of violating the model code of conduct.

“Gopal Kanda, a Haryana minister, is campaigning with a fleet of vehicles escorted by a police pilot gypsy,” stated a complaint sent by the INLD to the Chief Election Commissioner, copies of which have been sent to the Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana, District Election Officer, Sirsa and Returning Officer for the Ellenabad assembly constituency.

The INLD has alleged that the police department itself is violating the model code of conduct by providing police pilot gypsy to a minister, who is misusing this facility to influence voters.

The party has also sent a CD to the Chief Election Commissioner to substantiate its allegations and demanded action against the minister and the local police.

In its second complaint, the INLD has accused that the Congress candidate Bharat Singh Beniwal was using an Independent, Deepak Goyal, as his dummy candidate.

“Deepak Goyal, who is an Independent candidate in the Ellenabad bypoll, has issued an advertisement in an evening newspaper expressing his faith in the policies of the Congress and has appealed to people to vote for Congress nominee Bharat Singh Beniwal,” the second complaint of the INLD alleged.

Even the photograph of Beniwal has been published opposite the picture of Goyal in the same block of the advertisement, the letter written by INLD secretary NS Malhan maintained.

The INLD has demanded registration of FIR against Goyal and also demanded cancellation of his candidature as he has violated the model code by being a dummy candidate, and also sought action againt Beniwal for misusing his position. The Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer Yudhvir Singh Khyalia said an inquiry has been initiated on the complaints and action would be taken against violators.

Earlier, the INLD had sent a complaint against the Commissioner, Hisar Division, DC, Sirsa and SP Sirsa, after which the Election Commission had ordered the transfer of SP Subhash Yadav. 

Sirsa, January 9
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said the CBI would take further action against former DGP SPS Rathore in the Ruchika case, including his arrest for abetment of suicide, registered by the Panchkula police.

Hooda, who was addressing mediapersons here today, said the state government had written to the CBI to take up the matter and any further step would be taken once the central agency took up the case.

Assuring justice for Ruchika’s family, Hooda said his sympathies were with them and there would be no leniency to Rathore from his government. Answering another query, Hooda denied that the interests of Sirsa farmers would be jeopardised in any manner due to the Hansi-Butana Link Canal.

“It is not the Hansi-Butana Link Canal but the delay in construction of Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal that is cause of concern for people of Haryana, including those from Sirsa, but a hobnob between Om Parkash Chautala and ruling party leaders from Punjab is causing hiccups,” Hooda maintained. He claimed that had Chautala’s father Devi Lal not opposed Rajiv-Longowal Pact, the issue would not have been delayed for that long.

He said the Congress government constructed the Link Canal and now water would also be brought by the Congress.

Panipat, January 9
After having tripped the previous night, the three units of the Panipat thermal power plant again developed technical snags late last night, resulting in power disruption.

Units 1, 2, and 4 (110 MW each) of the plant stumbled at 10:07 pm due to tripping of Inter Connecting Transformer (ICT) of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) in Sewah (BBMB, Panipat) and simultaneous tripping of all four 220 kV circuits between 400 kV Sewah (BBMB, Panipat) and PTPS, Panipat, sources said.

The trunk lines, including 400 kV Panipat (BBMB)-Dadri (in UP) circuit-1, 220 kV BBMB Sewah (BBMB, Panipat)-Narella Circuit 1 and 3, Panipat-Dhulkot-1 and Panipat-Kurukshetra, also tripped.

The authorities of the state power utilities maintained that this was the third consecutive time in the past three days that a snag at Sewah (BBMB, Panipat) sub-station caused outage of Haryana generating units in Panipat which could even have lead to the collapse of the northern grid.

However, the system collapse situation was averted due to timely action by the Haryana Power Utilites in coordination with the Northern Region Load Dispatch Centre by load regulation and voltage control. The supply to the railway lines was also disrupted for about 15 minutes which was restored by giving supply from 220 kV substation in Safidon.

The three units of the Panipat thermal power plant were revived by 10.34 am today and power supply position in the state stabilised by 11.30 am.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the power utilities said the BBMB authorities had already ordered investigations to find out the fault in the ICT.

The spokesman for the Haryana Power Utilities said the matter of installation of anti-fog insulators on the system had also been taken up with the BBMB authorities to avoid further tripping of the system. He said the state had already provided 2,400 anti-fog insulators to the BBMB for the purpose.

The power utilities authorities have directed senior officers to personally monitor the transmission and distribution network in order to ensure uninterrupted and good quality power supply to the consumers, the spokesman said. 

Karnal, January 9
Normal life remained disrupted in Karnal region for the third day today as chilly winds sent shivers down the spine and thick fog engulfed Karnal and adjoining areas throughout the day.

Thick fog disrupted rail services and five trains, including 3049 Amritsar to Hawra, 4673 Sahid Express, 1708 Amritsar-Browni, Ganganagat intercity and 4217 Unchar Express, were cancelled while a majority of trains ran late by 5 to 10 hours, the railway authorities said.

The fog reduced the visibility to a few meters and vehicles were forced to move at snail’s pace to avoid accidents.

Humidity increased to near 100 per cent causing sharp fall in the day temperature. The day temperature dipped to 10 °C, 10 degrees below normal and strong winds forced people to stay indoors. Motorcyclists faced a lot of inconvenience due to fog. Karnal, Ludhiana and Chandigarh recorded a low of 6.7 °C, 6.8 °C and 7 °C, respectively.

Kaithal, January 9
Martyrs do not belong to one community, caste or region. They are an asset to the nation and society.

This was stated by PWD and Public Health Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala while unveiling the newly constructed statue of martyr Bhagat Singh at Bhagat Singh Chowk here today.

He said the statues of Lala Lajpat Rai and Madan Lal Dhingra would soon be installed at selected places in the town.

Randeep Singh said sacrifices of martyrs, who laid down their lives for the freedom of the country, could never be forgotten and they would be remembered for all times to come.

The minister also dedicated “Children Park” to children of the town today.

The park was recently constructed in the area adjoining “Bidhikyar Lake”. Earlier, the minister heard public grievances at the local PWD rest house.

Residents of HUDA sectors raised the problem of poor sanitation in their area. Some local power consumers raised the issue of receiving electricity bills which were allegedly not based on actual consumption.

The minister directed officials to make proper arrangements for sanitation in HUDA sectors and inquire into the issuance of inflated power bills.

Deputy Commissioner Amneet P Kumar, Superintending Engineer, UHBVN, SK Bansal, SDM Hawa Singh, XEN, public health, KK Verma and GM Haryana Roadways RK Goyal were among those present on the occasion.

Gurgaon, January 9
The Governor of Haryana Jagannath Paharia will hoist the nation flag here on the Republic Day. He will be the chief guest at a function which will be organised at the Ch. Surender Singh Memorial Cricket Pavilion.

This was disclosed by the Deputy Commissioner Rajender Kataria after a meeting with district officers who were called to discuss the preparations for the Republic Day function, here today. He also assigned duties to various officers.

Kataria said the police authorities would take care of the march past in which contingents from Haryana Police, Home Guards, NCC senior wing, NCC Junior wing, Girl guides and scouts would participate. The Haryana Police band would play the tune during the march past and unfurling of the tricolor.

The DC has also directed all the government departments to prepare tableaus on the welfare schemes of the government for presentation before the audience on that day. Additional Deputy Commissioner Pushpender Singh Chauhan has been appointed overall in charge of the tableau presentation.

Six cultural programmes based on the theme of patriotism will be presented at the function and a committee comprising SDM Gurgaon (North) Satender Singh Duhan, SDM Gurgaon (South) KK Gupta, lecturer in music from Government College, Mehrauli Road, Gurgaon, District Education Officer Ajit Singh Kadian and District Information and Public Relations Officer RS Sangwan, will select the cultural items. He said all local public schools and colleges should participate in the event and the SDM were asked to ensure the same.

Kataria emphasised that no school, college or government organisation should hold a separate programme on the Republic Day; instead everybody should be present along with their respective family members at the programme organised by the district administration.

He said if any school or college wanted to organise a programme on its premises, it can be done a day before. He said the SDM Gurgaon (South) and SDM Pataudi would hoist the national flags in Sohna and Pataudi, respectively.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Commissioner of Police (HQ) Kulvinder Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner Pushpender Singh Chauhan, SDM Gurgaon (North) Satender Singh Duhan, SDM Gurgaon (South) KK Gupta, City Magistrate Yashender Singh, Estate Officer HUDA-II Satbir Singh Lohchab, Joint Municipal Commissioner Veena Hooda and YS Gupta, District Revenue Officer Ramautar Gupta, District Development and Panchayat officer Alka Chaudhary, among others. 

Chandigarh, January 9
Haryana Finance Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav today urged the Central Government to release the entire Central Sales Tax (CST) compensation amount for the last two financial years since 
Haryana was the biggest loser due to introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and abolition 
of CST.

He was speaking at a meeting of finance ministers of all the states held under the chairmanship of Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee at New Delhi today.

Ajay Singh Yadav suggested the compensation formula should be retained as such for the current financial year also and the states should also be compensated for the loss on account of reduction in CST rate for the forthcoming 
year 2010-11.

The Finance Minister said as per the roadmap of GST drawn by the empowered committee of state finance ministers in consultation with the officers of Union finance ministry, Central Sales Tax was to become zero rated from April 1, 2010, and for the year 2007-08 and 2009-10, the Centre was to compensate the states for loss incurred on account of phasing out of CST.

He said Haryana had filed 
compensation claims worth Rs 1959.99 crore for the year 2007-08 and 2008-09, but the claims received till date had been only Rs1446.49 crore.

The compensation received in the last two financial years had been Rs 513.5 crore less than that submitted by the government.

The Haryana government was informed that the compensation claims for these two years had been finalised, which means that the claims of the state worth Rs 513.50 crore had been rejected. 

Chandigarh, January 9
Taking up a petition against Haryana government’s circulars on securing prior sanction for conducting vigilance raids against suspected corrupt employees, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Jasbir Singh yesterday asked the state to file an affidavit.

The Bench also called for details of failed traps while fixing March 5 as the next date of hearing on the petition filed in public interest by advocate HC Arora. Nearly 40 vigilance traps are believed to have failed in 2008 due to leakage of information on vigilance raids from the offices of the deputy commissioners.

The petition seeks quashing of Haryana government circulars of April 13, 1972, and January 24, 1990, which stipulate such prior sanction for vigilance raids.