Sirsa, October 2
Irked at the alleged apathetic attitude of the police in the case of murder of four members of a family at Peepli, villagers today blocked vehicular traffic and stopped a goods train at Kalanwali town, 42 km from here.

The angry villagers demanded immediate arrest of the culprits responsible for killing the whole family, when they were sleeping in their home yesterday.

The villagers were also piqued at the behaviour of an ASI of the police, who allegedly made some insensitive remarks in front of them after the bodies of the widow Hardev Kaur (55) and her three sons, Jaspal Singh (26), Darshan Singh (23) and Hardeep Singh (20), were taken to Sirsa for the post-mortem examination yesterday. Their post-mortem examination held this evening confirmed that they were strangled.

The villagers alleged that the police had earlier been trying to dismiss the case as suicide or accidental poisoning. They sat on the railway track forcing a goods train to stop at Kalanwali Railway Station for over two hours. The agitators also blocked the Dabwali-Rori road and the Kalanwali-Odhan road.

They were pacified only after SDM Satish Jain and DSP Babu Lal Yadav came their and announced the suspension of the ASI Manphool Singh for his comments. They also assured the agitators that the accused would be arrested soon.

The villagers will close the Kalanwali market and hold demonstration tomorrow, if the culprits are not identified and put behind the bars by then.

Meanwhile, the police, it is learnt, is clueless about the culprits. It has quizzed family members of the estranged wife of the eldest brother Jaspal Singh, but it has not led the police in any direction.

The police, sources said, was also working on a theory that the killers might be from persons, who stand to benefit from 12 acres of fertile land belonging to the family.

The villagers maintain that the entire family was peace-loving and had no enmities with anyone.

The family was well-off with reasonably good crops and had a tractor too.

Rohtak, October 2
Rohtak has joined the select league of cities like Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Lucknow and Calicut having Indian Institute of Management (IIM), as Union Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal laid the foundation stone of new IIM at Garnawathi village in Rohtak on Friday.

The classes of the IIM course were being held at one of the buildings of the Maharashi Dayanand University (MDU). This is the first and only city of the Northern India after Lucknow to have an IIM.

The IIM has been paying a monthly rent of about Rs 15 lakh to the MDU for the building and hostel facility here. The new building will come up on 200 acres of land which was acquired at a cost of about 35 crore. The IIM’s own campus is likely to be ready within three years and may cost Rs 300 crore as per the reports available.

Assuring people of taking up the demand of a campus of National Sports University in Haryana also, Sibal expressed concern over the low percentage of students taking to colleges and universities after finishing their basic education. He said only 1.4 crore of the total 20 crore students, who passed out from schools, had gone for higher education. Hoping that Rohtak would be among the leading educational hub in the country, he said the government had been earnestly trying to bring the desired change in the education system and its pattern. Stating that the textbook style of teaching and learning had become outdated, he said the government had been focusing on the critical and creative aspects of learning and the IIMs had been an example of such method. Stating that there was a shortage of about 14 lakh teachers in the country, he said the management graduates should be solution providers for the various issues.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who presided over the function, claimed that Haryana had emerged as a leader in the field of both education and sports. He said while several universities and professional institutions had come up in the state, about 33 per cent of the total Arjuna Awardees in the sports had been from Haryana, while it had just 2 per cent of the total population of the country. Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda said he had a special reason to be happy as his dream project was finally taking shape. He added that the year 2010 would be a remarkable year in the field of education as recently the state had managed to get nod for the first Defence University of the country and one Central University at Mahendergarh.

The state government had already taken up the ambitious project of the Rajiv Gandhi Education City at Kundli, where world-class education institutes would provide quality education.

Chandigarh, October 2
A prayer meeting was organised at the Haryana Raj Bhawan here today to mark Gandhi Jayanti. Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda paid floral tributes to Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, on their birthday today.

The Governor said Mahatma Gandhi gave a message of peace, brotherhood and amity to the world, adding that the greatest religion is to serve the humanity.

Paying tributes to Shastri, the Governor said the service rendered to the nation by the former Prime Minister would always be remembered. He described him as a true Gandhian.

A Sarv Dharm Prathana Sabha was also organised on the occasion in which priests of all religions highlighted the higher values of life enshrined in their respective religions.

Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite religious bhajans were also sung to commemorate the occasion.

SONEPAT: Rich tributes were paid to Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on their birth anniversary by various organisations here on Saturday. Office-bearers and other Congress activists led by DCC (urban) president Pradeep Gautam garlanded the statue of Mahatma Gandhi here at Gandhi Chowk. Gautam said Gandhi’s principles of non-violence were still relevant even in the opinion of USA President Barack Obama.

An inter-school declamation contest was organised in local Hindu Vidyapeeth to mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and 18 teams from various schools participated in the contest.

Karnal: Floral tributes were paid to the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi on his 141st Birth anniversary which was marked by launching of cleanliness drive. People from various walks of life garlanded the Mahatma’s statue and a programme was organised under the auspices of Kalidas Rangshala to propagate the message of peace and non-violence. On this occasion, Deputy Commissioner Neelam Pradeep Kasni reminded the people of Gandhi’s message of peace, harmony and non-violence exhorting them to follow his path. She also paid tributes to former PM Lal Bhadur Shastri.

Kurukshetra: Bhartiya Yoga Sansthan, Kurukshetra district unit celebrated the birthdays of Mahatama Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri by organising 44th Yoga Day on the premises of Purushutam Bagh in the midst of the sacred Brahamsarover here today. The Yoga Day was inaugurated by Prof Surender Mohan Mishra of Kurukshetra University by lighting the traditional lamp.

Pranayam assans and meditation were also performed under the guidance of Yogacharyas.

Faridabad, October 2
Farmers of Palwal and Ballabgarh subdivisions of the district today took out a procession on the Delhi-Mathura national highway to press for more monetary compensation against their land acquired by the government.

The procession disrupted traffic for two hours. However, the agitation was peaceful and the police had made all security arrangements.

Announcing support of the Sarv Karamchari Sangh, General Secretary Subash Lamba said a panchayat in Chandauli village on October 10.

Farmers of Ballabgarh area are staging an indefinite dharna in Chandauli village since August 9 and the farmers of Palwal have been on the warpath since August 30. Leaders of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti said the farmers wanted a compensation of Rs 2 crore per acre. The decision of the government to provide compensation of Rs 16 lakh per acre was not acceptable to the farmers. — TNS

Rohtak, October 2
Hundreds of newly purchased bicycles for girl students under the policy of the education department have been awaiting the process of handing over to the school authorities and further distribution among the needy students. These have been lying dumped in the backyard of the school premises here in disassembled condition and have been at risk of getting damaged or stolen before they reach the deserving students.

According to reports, the unassembled bicycles had reached the school about 10 days back, but had still been awaiting the process of assembling and distribution among the girl students. The number of these bicycles is stated to be around 500.

“The supplier placed these in the school a few days back without actually handing these over to the school authorities. He had promised to be back soon to start the process of assembling and handover these to the school, claimed Promila, officiating principal of the school when contacted by this correspondent.

Adding that these had come under the scheme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, there had been no irregularity on the part of the school as these were still to be handed over to the school by the supplier, but there appears to be delay on the other side. Claiming that bicycles had been given to the school in the past also and in disassembled state, she said it was the duty of the supplier to assemble these and hand over formally to the school so that there was no delay in the process and there was no damage to any bike. The photograph of the items showed that while the tyres, rim and the main axle of the cycles had been laid separately in open, these had been at risk of getting damaged or theft.

Though a watchman had been stationed at the spot, one of the employees in the school claimed that it had been an unnecessary burden on him. There was a danger of a theft of the bicycles or its parts.

Elementary Education Officer Krishna Dalal, who has been holding the additional charge of the office of the DEO, claimed that she had no knowledge of the issue and would be able to say anything after she would go to the office on Monday. She had taken the charge recently, she added.

One of the two main solar panels of the school that had been installed, had also been lying in damaged condition for the past many weeks. The panels had been installed on the rooftop of the school about one-and-a-half-year back, but got damaged before the system could be formally inaugurated, said the sources in the school.

Chandigarh, October 2
An attempt by 52 head constables for repatriation from the II Indian Reserved Battalion has failed to find favour with the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Their deployment “is at the call of the nation,” the High Court has ruled while dismissing their plea as “unjustified”.

Justice Ranjit Singh has also quoted the Punjab Police Rules to say: “Every police officer is liable to serve at any place whether within or outside the state and in any organisation under the Central Government on being ordered to do so by the appointing authority”.

Taking up the petition filed by Ajay Kumar and other petitioners against the State of Haryana and other respondents, Justice Ranjit Singh asserted: Fiftytwo head constables belonging to the II IRB have filed the petition for directing the respondents to relieve them from the IRB, where they had been sent for three years and would pray for their repatriation to the parent unit.

“As can be seen, the petitioners have been sent to serve in the IRB for three years after obtaining their willingness. Having been so sent, the petitioners have continued to serve in the IRB and apparently will not have any right to seek the direction as prayed for in the petition”.

Justice Ranjit Singh asserted: “The justification offered in the reply will further bring out the unjust nature of the prayer made in the petition. It is pointed out that the IRB is a young force and constables serving therein are not eligible to appear in B-1 Test for promotion as head constables.”

“The force became operational and was required to be deployed for law and order duties in the State of Haryana and outside the state as well. There was requirement of head constables to provide leadership/command to the constables.”

“The Director-General of Police being competent to issue such instructions filled the vacant posts of head constable in the IRB. The willingness of such head constables to serve in the IRB for three-year period extendable up to five years was sought to induct their names for B-1 Test for promotion.”

“The petitioners, thus, cannot now make a prayer as contained in the writ petition. It is clarified that the seniority of the petitioner is not going to be affected in any manner as their lien had been maintained in the parent units and there has been no pecuniary loss to the petitioners”. 

Rohtak, October 2
Hundreds of guest teachers, who have been protesting here in support of their demand to get their services regularised in the education department, took out a procession in the town this evening when they were asked by the district administration to vacate the area of protest in front of the mini-secretariat.

The authorities have warned them of forcible removal and book them for alleged violation of Section144 imposed yesterday, if they fail to vacate the spot by tomorrow morning. The agitators have, meanwhile, declared this evening that their stir would continue till the acceptance of their demand.

According to a spokesperson of the Guest Teachers Association of Haryana, the agitation has been on for the last 12 days and the members of the association have been sitting on a dharna outside the mini-secretariat.

He said teachers had been upset after the authorities ordered them to move from here while they had been protesting peacefully at the spot.

On the other hand, the Deputy Commissioner(DC) PC Meena claimed that the protestors had violated section 144 imposed by the authorities yesterday which banned the assembly of five or more persons in the designated area. He said hundreds of protestors had assembled in the area which had been an important part connecting the mini-secretariat and the district courts causing severe inconvenience to the litigants and commuters.

He said the local court had directed the administration to remove the protestors from the site after a petition was filed in the court by some lawyers citing problems in performance of their daily routine due to the protests.

“We will take action including registering a case against the protestors for violating section 144 of the IPC,” the DC said.

He further said the protestors had sought time till Sunday morning to get their dharna shifted and if they failed to do so, action would have to be taken.

It may be recalled that about 15,000 guest teachers in the state, have been demanding regularisation of service. While the wages being paid to such teachers ranged from Rs 8000 to 14000, the state government had recently announced a hike of 20 per cent in their salary. 

Chandigarh, October 2
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said the state government will explore the possibility of setting up a Film Promotion Board in the state to promote films on the Haryanvi culture.

Film director and actor Satish Kaushik, who called on Haryana Chief Minister here today, gave the suggestion that Haryana should have a body for the promotion of Haryanvi films.

Later, addressing a press conference, Kaushik said the government was also setting up a film and TV institute in Rohtak and he would offer help and consultancy as and when it was sought.

Maintaining that Haryana had failed to showcase its culture through regional cinema, he said the success of Bhojpuri, Tamil and Punjabi films clearly indicated that these too had a sizeable market.

“Lots of films have provided a peep into Haryanvi dialect which has earned a lot of appreciation. There is a serial running on television where the main character speaks Haryanvi. The fact that such serials are applauded is enough to indicate that we are accepted. It is for us to cash in on this popularity,” he said.

Kaushik said he was ready to make five Haryanvi films in the next two years and his first Haryanvi film could be expected in a year. “I am motivating entrepreneurs to fund Haryanavi films and in touch with actors from Haryana as well. However, I think that the state government, too, should come forward to support Haryanvi cinema on the lines of support to the Marathi film industry from the Maharashtra government. We may have to struggle initially. Our fight is only till the time we get one big hit,” he said.

Kaushik was of the opinion that rather than issue-based movies, Haryanvi cinema should begin with entertainment as its motto. Expressing concern over the poor state of cinema halls, he suggested that budget theaters should be set up with the government support so that cinema could reach out to a larger audience. 

Fatehabad, October 2
Relatives of a farmer, who was allegedly murdered and the body was found from the fields of Akanwali village here yesterday, held a demonstration today demanding the arrest of the accused.

The police has booked seven persons, including an NRI, for the murder and the kin alleged that the police was not arresting the main accused due to their influence. The kin also refused to get the post-mortem done in General Hospital here and took it to PGIMS, Rohtak.

The victim, who lived in the local Bhatia colony, was found dead in the fields.

The murder is said to have taken place over a property dispute at the instance of the NRI. The police said the investigations were in progress. — TNS