Panchkula, February 14
Expressing resentment over the “lowering” of the pay scale of doctors recruited after 2006, the Haryana Civil Medical Service Association has decided to hold a three-day protest by wearing black badges during working hours.

At a general body meeting of the association here today, attended by more than 500 doctors from different parts of the state, it was also decided that on February 18 a memorandum would be submitted by all district branches through their respective deputy commissioners and the next day a token hunger strike would be observed by office-bearers of the association in front of the office of the Director-General of Health Services (DGHS).

The president of the association, Dr Kamla Singh, and other office-bearers alleged that hurdles were being created by the authorities regarding the genuine demands of the doctors, including the entry-level pay scale and class 1 status at the entry level.

They alleged that the attitude of the DGHS was indifferent towards the cause of the doctors and that was the reason why the department had failed to present the facts regarding there genuine demands before the government.

The doctors also alleged that some of their colleagues were being victimised.

Blaming the stir on the authorities, the doctors said the department would be responsible if the people of Haryana suffered due to this agitation as enough time had already been given to fulfil the genuine demands of the HCMS doctors.

After the meeting, the doctors went to the residence of the DGHS and submitted a memorandum.

The Director-General, Health, Dr Narveer Singh, however, denied the allegations levelled by the doctors.

He said while a majority of the demands of the doctors had already been met, the matter regarding the remaining ones had been lying before the government. Of the 2,295 members of the association, a majority of the doctors were satisfied with the steps being taken by the department for their welfare, he claimed.

However, some members of the association, who were finding it difficult to work under the strict disciplinary measures being enforced by the department, were misguiding other members of the association, he claimed.

Ellenabad, February 14
Actor Sanjay Dutt today floored the villagers with his disarming smile and “Munnabhai” dialogues as he toured over a dozen villages in the Ellenabad assembly constituency to thank voters for electing Abhey Singh Chautala in the January 20 byelection.

“Munna”, along with actor Suneil Shetty, had campaigned for Abhey Singh and had promised voters that he would come again to thank them if they elected the INLD nominee to the assembly. Sanjay Dutt kept his date with Ellenabad voters and addressed over 12 meetings during his roadshow on a fabricated bus in the shape of a chariot.

At Arniawali, the first village on his tour, appearing on the roof of the “ rath” with Abhey, he addressed the gathering thus: “Aap sab ko Munnabhai ka Ram, Ram,” sending the crowd into a rapture.

The crowd, mostly comprising schoolgoing kids and youngsters, responded to each greeting by the actor with a thunderous roar.

Sanjay repeatedly addressed abhey as brother. “By electing Bhai Sahib (Abhey Singh), you have ensured the progress of your constituency and I wish he represents you for the next 20 elections,” he said in his brief speech. He begged leave but the crowd wanted more. “Koi dialogue suna do Munnabhai,” was the common refrain.

He obliged. “Bole to dushmanon ki waat laga dee” had the crowd lustily cheering for the cine star. It was Abhey Singh’s birthday today and villagers did not forget to wish their MLA. Large hoardings wishing him happiness adorned several spots in Sirsa town and en route Sanjay’s cavalcade.

Speaking to The Tribune at the Abhey’s Sirsa residence, Sanjay refused to comment on the controversy surrounding Shiv Sena’s protests against Shah Rukh Khan’s “My name is Khan.”

“My next movie ‘No Problem’, a comedy starring Anil Kapoor and Akshay Khanna is expected to be released by April,” he said.“Another with Kangana Ranawat and Irfan Khan will be released in May and ‘Lamhe’ with Bipasha Basu and Kunal Kapoor by June,” he added.

Chandigarh, February 14
Putting aside recession, multinational companies in infrastructure development have started looking for new projects in the vicinity of cities and towns with air connectivity and IT parks.

DLF, for example, is now planning a mega township, on the Panchkula-Shimla national highway adjoining Chandimandir cantonment.

The company has not only acquired over 200 acres for its ambitious project, but also claims to have got the necessary clearance from various departments to begin work immediately.

Ensconced in idyllic environs, surrounded by two rivers and hills and forests on either side, the fully builtup complex will have two, three and four-bed room flats. Independent floors will also be on offer, says Sanjey Roy, a spokesman of the DLF.

“We are foraying into the region in a big way with projects in multi-locations. The project in Panchkula is going to be very prestigious and its first phase is expected to be launched within a week,” says Roy. DLF is not only targeting IT professionals from the region as its prospective clients, but has its eyes set on the virgin market potential of the defence personnel and the corporates from the Parwanoo-Baddi-Barotiwala belt.

To rope in government employees, there will be a special package with exclusive benefits, says Roy.

He says Panchkula has been chosen for company’s showcase project in this part of the country.

Panchklula is ideally located next to the hills and is growing rapidly as a commercial centre with top international brands setting up base in the city and malls and restaurants coming up in a big way. Besides, the area has a couple of golf courses and a few more are coming up in the region.

The six-laning of the National Highway from Panchkula to Kalka is expected to give a big boost to the growth graph of the area.

The proposed bypass to Parwanoo from Nadha Sahib and the planned lake near the barrage on the Kaushalya river are an added attraction, says Roy.

Sirsa/Fatehabad, February 14
Sirsa and Ellenabad towns in Sirsa district and Fatehabad and Tohana towns in Fatehabad district are among 15 towns of Haryana that will be covered under a scheme for the augmentation of the water supply.

The Haryana government has approved a Rs 955.71

crore project for comprehensive coverage of water supply and sewerage in 15 towns of the state under the Economic Stimulus Package.

An official spokesperson said the government had introduced the Economic Stimulus Package for providing drinking water supply in selected towns in a holistic manner.

The towns that would be covered under the package are Ambala City, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Fatehabad, Hansi, Jullana, Kalayat, Assandh, Kaithal, Mahendragarh, Narnaul, Sirsa, Ellenabad, Tohana and Uchana.

The detailed project reports for phase I of the project for these towns had already been approved.

A provision of Rs 200 crore had been made for the current financial year and during the next financial year 2010-11 an equal amount was proposed to be spent on this package, he added.

He said there were 76 towns in the state where water supply was maintained by the department.

During the current financial year, a sum of Rs 64 crore would be spent on the augmentation of the water supply in the towns, besides providing safe water supply in approved colonies.

There were 23 towns in the NCR and steps were being taken to improve the water supply infrastructure in these towns.

Of these 23 towns, drinking water facility was being providing in 19 towns through financial support from the NCR Planning Board.

During the current financial year, a sum of Rs 77 crore was being spent on the improvement of water supply facilities in the towns covered under the NCR.

The drinking water supply in rural and urban areas of the state was being provided after proper chlorination of water.

In order to improve the quality of water, bleaching powder had been replaced by other disinfectants as well as gaseous chlorination, the spokesperson added.

Rewari, February 14
With the arrest of two more gangsters - Maman Singh, the kingpin of the gang and serving soldier of the Army, and his brother Ram Lal, both residents of Seethal village in Alwar district in Rajasthan - the Rewari police has smashed an inter-state gang of bank robbers.

While two other gangsters - Prakash Yadav, a Lance Naik, and Hoshiar Singh, both residents of Khanpur village in Alwar district, were arrested by the police on February 6, Maman Singh was arrested from his Army unit at Faridkot in Punjab and brought to Rewari on February 12 whereas his brother Ram Lal was apprehended from Seethal village the same day.

However, their fifth accomplice, Arvind, a serving soldier of the Army and resident of Kheda Khurrampur village in Pataudi tehsil in Gurgaon district, is still out of the police dragnet.

The police has recovered Rs 10.70 lakh of the total looted amount of Rs 66,69,007, five motorcycles, 10 pistols, 215 live cartridges, including cartridges of AK-47 assault rifles and SLRs, as well as three hand grenades from the arrested gangsters.

The gang had looted Rs 66,69,007 from three branches of the GGB and two branches of the PNB in Rewari district, two branches of the GGB and one branch of the Punjab and Sind Bank in Gurgaon district, one branch of the PNB in Mahendragarh district and two branches of the SBBJ in Alwar district during the past 30 months, said police sources.

The gang had also allegedly shot dead a security guard at the Kapriwas branch of the GGB (Rewari), a branch manager of the Godh Balawa branch of the PNB (Mahendragarh) and a security guard of the Laxmangarh branch of the SBBJ (Alwar).

Yamunanagar, February 14
Two motorcycle-borne youths allegedly opened fire on a 34-year-old man identified as Vikram Sharma in Jagadhri today.

The victim got seriously injured in the incident. The injured was accused in a double murder case and recently released on bail. Vikram, who sustained bullet injury, was admitted in the Civil Hospital, Jagadhri.

The police has registered a case under Section 307 of the IPC against the unidentified youths.

Police sources said the incident took place when Vikram, who had been working for a local cable network, was collecting payments at 11.30 am near Devi Bhawan. Vikram is an accused in the double murder of Hardev Singh of Mundikhera village and Shiv Kumar of Ghugri.

Hardev Singh and Shiv were murdered by a group of 25 youths on October 9, 2008, following an old dispute. The main accused - Rajan - had made arrangements to attack Shiv and his associates.

As soon as Shiv and his three friends came out of their car, Rajan along with his 25 friends attacked them with sharp-edged weapons.

Shiv Kumar and Hardev Singh had sustained serious injuries and later died while their other two companions managed to escape from the spot, said police sources. On January 19, Karambir, who was a witness in the double murder case, was shot dead while his associate was injured when a gang of five members opened fire on them in Chhacchhrauli.

The five attackers were later arrested and the police had recovered 9 mm pistol and four country-made pistols from the possession of the accused.

The police said Vikram had blamed the rival group for the attack. The police has been raiding different places to arrest the accused.

Sirsa, February 14
The district unit of the Shiv Sena today held a protest against Valentine’s Day by torching greeting cards at the local Subhash Chowk.

Som Nath Duggal, district president of the Shiv Sena, alleged that western culture was being imposed on India to “mislead” the country’s youth.

He alleged that celebrating the day was against “our social values” and demanded that the government should ban such celebrations. Earlier, Shiv Sainiks gathered at their local office and marched through the town markets, raising slogans.

Ambala, February 14
Union Tourism Minister Kumari Selja yesterday said the government had sanctioned Rs 100 crore for the Ambala parliamentary constituency under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Modernisation Mission.

Laying the foundation stones of various development projects in Ambala City and Ambala Cantt costing around 1.25 crore yesterday, she said Rs 37 crore would be spent on Ambala City, Ambala Cantt and Naraingarh for providing basic amenities to the poor.

She said the Tourism Ministry had also finalised a project to encourage tourism in Ambala. She said she had directed the Ambala administration to make necessary arrangements to provide clean drinking water to the people.

She said, under the guidance of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the union government had been doing a lot for the poor, adding that all necessary steps were being taken to check price rise.

Later, she met party workers at her residence in Ambala Cantt and asked them to work for the strengthening of the party.

Senior Congress leader Rajpal Bhokri, Harish Sasan, Himmat Singh, Kiran Bala Jain, Narender Pal Shera, Vinod Dhiman, Amarjeet Kaur Sodhi, Mandan Lal Aggarwal, Raj Rani, Dharampal Chadda and Suresh Trehan were present on the occasion.

Chandigarh, February 14
The Haryana government has decided to grant loan to its employees for their marriage.

Stating this here today, Finance Minister Ajay Singh Yadav said earlier the marriage loan to Class I to IV employees was being given for the marriage of their daughters, sons and dependant sisters. This facility could be availed of three times during the service period.

He said the marriage advance was limited to Rs 1 lakh or 15 months’ basic pay (including DP/Spl Pay and NPA) of the employee, whichever was less. The advance would be recovered in 100 monthly instalments.

Meanwhile, a report form Sonepat said In a case of dowry death, Sandeep of Karewari, Mahabir and Kamla had been entenced to rigorous imprisonment of 10 years each by the additional and district sessions judge, Sanjiv Kumar. A case of torture and dowry death was registered in the Mohana police station on May 8, 2008 against them.

Craftsmen and artisans from the North-East who participated in the grand Surajkund Crafts Mela here have earned appreciation from visitors for their skills and creations. Subur Ali, a young entrepreneur from Assam’s Barpeta district, showcased his cane furniture creations at the fair.

Folding shoe racks and bamboo lamps, his specialities, are in great demand at the fair.

Subur, who took part in the fair for the third time, also has a National Award in 2003 for a harmonium made from bamboo.

The fair provides a platform to all artisans who have won national awards to showcase their wares.

“I came here to participate in this fair and I really like it. My business is also going well. I have met people from different states, which I really appreciate,” said Subur Ali.

Surmila, an artisan from Manipur, showcased her handloom creations.

She was very happy, as the fair has been profitable for her.

“At weekends the rush is high and we feel tired but other days are quiet and good for sales. I really like this fair. People from different countries have also come here,” said Surmila.

“Officers of the Haryana Tourism Department give a lot of respect to people who come here. We are getting love and respect from everyone and that’s why I really like coming here and being a part of this fair. Here people have big hearts. They buy our products and demand for it. My sale is good enough,” said Gwasenle Rengma, a participant from Nagaland.

The participants are happy with the huge turnout at the fair as they earned both appreciation and money.

The fair is a perfect example of “unity in diversity”. — ANI

Meham (Rohtak), February 14
Activists and members of some of the left front organisations have demanded rehabilitation of the couple Satish and Kavita of Kheri village in their native village and an action against all those who had been responsible for their ‘expulsion’ from the village.

At a meeting held at the Chabutra of Meham Chaubisi here yesterday, these organisations, including the Janwadi Mahila Samiti, the Sarva Karamchari Sangh, Students Federation of India (SFI), Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sabha and the Democratic Youth Federation of India described the recent development of Gotra Row at Kheri Meham of the district as unwarranted and unfortunate.

The couple were “banished” by the khap panchayat from their village on alleged violation of the gotra norms on February 5.

Veteran leader SS Surjewala had a few days ago appealed to the youth to join hands to tame the khap panchayats.

Jind, February 14
Three persons, including two elderly women, were killed and four others injured when the jeep they were travelling in collided with a truck on the Jind-Safidon road near Rajana village in this district, the police said today.

Basanti (52), Sharbti (58) and Rohtash (35) of Kukrawala village in Fatehabad district were killed on the spot last evening, they said.

The injured have been identified as Kalawati, Shanti Devi, Chandra Mukhi and Munni Devi. They have been admitted to the local hospital and a case has been registered against the driver of the truck. — PTI

Chandigarh, February 14
The Haryana police has decided to put close circuit cameras at all bus stands in the state. A police spokesman said here today that directions had been issued to all concerned to immediately lodge an FIR after getting information about any incident.

He said to bring transparency and to make the administration corruption free, toll-free numbers - 1800-180-2022 and 1800-180-2200 - had been started at the state vigilance bureau headquarters and the police headquarters, respectively.