Sirsa, October 25
Having suffered the worst floods for over two months, residents of Bani are now facing the curse of living with the stench of rotten wheat emanating from the storehouse of the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation (HSWC).

As many as 1,70,000 bags of wheat were submerged in floodwaters in the storehouse, when floodwater from the right bank of the Ghaggar entered the village on July 17.

The cost of wheat submerged under floods was estimated at Rs 11 crore.

The storehouse between Bani No. I and Bani No. II is located in the middle of the village market near the state’s border with Rajasthan.

The storehouse remained under 10 ft-12 ft of water.

The wheat stored there kept rotting for over a month till the warehouse authorities started sorting the foodgrain in mid-August. “Large quantities of rotten wheat are lying in the storehouse and the emanating stench is making the life of villagers miserable,” alleged Neeraj Bansal, who runs a grocery shop in the village market.

The reek is so pervasive that one cannot escape it, even if one goes to the fields or dhanis on the village outskirts. Villagers allege they have approached the authorities several times to rid them of the menace, but to no avail.

“Our children cannot go to school as the common wall that the school shares with the warehouse fell during the floods and the conditions there are hell,” said Bansi Lal, another villager.

He alleged that over a lakh bags of rotten wheat were lying in the storehouse.

“We have already suffered huge financial losses due to the floods and now the fear of diseases stares at us due to heaps of rotten wheat lying in our middle,” said Rattan Lal.

Krishan Kumar, Managing Director of the warehouse, maintained that 65,000 of the 1,70,000 lakh bags that were submerged in water were found fit for human consumption and sent to the FCI.

He said he was not aware of the exact number of bags lying in the storehouse, but the disposal process would begin soon. Deputy Commissioner CG Rajini Kaanthan said the process of floating tenders for the disposal of rotten wheat was on.

Rohtak, October 25
The state government will soon assess the damage caused to standing crop in the recent hailstorm in various parts of the state. Compensation would be paid to the farmers as per the policy of the state government in case of loss due to a natural calamity, said Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in a statement issued here today.

He said the state government had launched a survey to assess the damage to the crops.

Defending the land acquisition policy, he said the compensation paid to the farmers had been one of the highest in the country. This came with an assurance of yearly return to the owners in the form of royalty up to 33 years from the date of acquisition.

He said the government was aware that it should desist from acquiring fertile land. Regarding the completion of his first year of the second term in office, the CM said the state had made tremendous progress. Power shortage would be a thing of the past with plants in Yamunanagar and Hisar having started generation.

Another plant at Jharli in Jhajjar district would start production in the a couple of months. Besides, another plant would come up in Jhajjar district soon, he added.

Sirsa, October 25
Farmers coming to the grain market here with their paddy are a harried lot. An unholy alliance of traders, procurement agencies and officials of the market committee is reportedly fleecing the farmers.

“There is a well-planned strategy under which farmers are made to wait in the grain market for days. This is to force them to sell their produce at cheaper rates,” alleged Balraj Singh, a farmer.

Another farmer alleged that he had been sitting in the grain market for the past five days with his paddy.

The traders on Saturday suddenly started filling bags of his paddy without any bids, claiming that the produce had been sold for Rs 1,700.

However, the “muchhal” variety was fetching Rs 1.950 to Rs 2,000 in the neighbouring grain markets, he claimed.

He alleged that unsuspecting farmers were being fleeced by unscrupulous traders in league with the procurement agencies, mostly private, and officials of the local market committee.

“The government has set a minimum price of Rs 1,030 per quintal for the paddy. However, the farmers are being forced to sell their parmal variety at Rs 900-Rs 1000,” alleged a farmer from Moriwali village.He alleged that this was being done on the plea that the paddy carried moisture content more than the prescribed limit.

“When the matter was brought to the notice of the market committee, the latter too sided with the procurement agencies.

Angered at the attitude of the market committee, hundreds of farmers blocked the Sirsa-Dabwali national highway outside the grain market here for over two hours.

Meanwhile, there is a glut of paddy in the Rania grain market of the district due to the ongoing tiff between the traders and the truckers.

Truckers have been demanding a hike in tariff in view of the increased rates of diesel, while the traders are not ready to pay more. The procurement process has been affected due to this tug-of-war. The farmers are the sufferers.

The patience of farmers ers is wearing thin and there could be an ugly situation if the issue is not resolved soon.

Chandigarh, October 25
IPS officer Bharti Arora is in the dock. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has not only held that the Superintendent of Police-level officer “with mala fide intentions tried to get adjournment after adjournment”, but has also asked her to remain present before the Kurukshetra special judge on October 27.

Arora is facing allegations of attempting to save Ran Singh, an accused in a drugs case. Taking cognisance of a letter, then Kurukshetra SP Arora had marked an inquiry to DSP Ram Phal. After completing the inquiry the same day, a report was submitted saying Ran Singh was innocent and “Surjeet Singh, Angrez Singh and Mehar Deen” planted opium.

The very next day on January 9, 2005, a discharge report was prepared.

On conclusion of the trial, the court held Ran Singh guilty and acquitted Surjeet Singh, Angrez Singh and Mehar Deen. The judgment said the petitioner wanted to save Ran Singh. Subsequently, a notice was issued to her. Dismissing the revision petition, the court held prima facie the allegations against her could not be said to be false.

Justice Ajai Lamba also asked the state Director-General of Police and the Home Secretary to ensure her presence, along with the attendance of two other police officers, on the specified date.

The case had reached the High Court after Arora challenged the order passed by the Kurukshetra special court on May 30, 2008. Presiding officer Sarita Gupta had observed: “Bharti Arora, SP, is again not present in person in spite of opportunities given to her for personal hearing…. No person is above law. Since Bharti Arora, SP, fails to appear in person and also to avail of the opportunity of hearing, I proceed to pronounce the order in the case, as the arguments have already been heard.

“Before the order could be pronounced, counsel for Arora has raised objection that in sensitive matters, the order should not be pronounced after the receipt of transfer orders by the officer…. It is important to mention that the order has already been dictated and typed. To avoid any lapse on my part, I put the order in a sealed cover….

Justice Lamba asserted: “No illegality or prejudice to the rights of the petitioner has been caused by the trial court by signing the judgment, putting a date on it, and putting it in a sealed cover, for it to be pronounced by the successor presiding officer after concluding all proceedings and hearing arguments, in the facts and circumstances of the case.

Justice Lamba also asked the special judge to open the sealed cover and “pronounce the order there and then and carry further proceedings as required by law”.

Chandigarh, October 25
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today ruled it could not be oblivious of the fact that high grades were given to candidates securing poor marks in the written test for HCS (executive) and allied services examinations. The posts were advertised in January 1999.

The Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Ajay Tewari made clear its intentions to have instances of irregularities looked into by an independent body and asked counsel for the parties to address arguments on the issue on November 16.

Pronouncing the directions in an open court, the Bench observed it was aware of the fact that certain discrepancies had been pointed out in the inspection report,and was of the view that the court could not be oblivious to the poor marks given to candidates securing high marks in the written test.

The appropriate method would be to have the instances of irregularities looked into by an independent body.

The matter was brought to the High Court’s notice initially by Haryana’s former Advocate-General Mohan Jain, now Additional Solicitor-General of India at Delhi.

Jain was appearing as the petitioners’ counsel in a PIL for CBI probe into alleged irregularities jointly filed by former MLA Karan Singh Dalal and two candidates.

So far, the probe into the selections carried out in 2001, 2003 and 2004 has placed the examiners in the dock. The probe has found “the examiners re-checked the answer-sheets on their own, whereas there are no rules.”The forensic report has also indicated irregularities in marking of answer-sheets.

Chandigarh, October 25
The Haryana School Education Department has started the scrutiny of irregularities in the selection of guest teachers. Such cases had come to light in Faridabad where selections were made without following the due process. Also, some appointments were made in 2008 when a ban was in force.

Following this, the department had directed removal of all teachers appointed after enforcement of the ban and also those guest teachers appointed without following the procedure or those who did not have proper qualification.

Explanation of the then DEO and various principals had been called. In 2006, to ensure that studies of students did not suffer on account of shortage of teachers, the department had authorised heads of institutions/Block Education Officers to assess the shortfall of teachers, keeping in view the enrollment of students, and engage teachers as guest faculty wherever required.

Now, 16,047 guest teachers (2,482 lecturers, 4,800 masters, 1,858 C&V teachers & 6,907 JBT teachers) were working in the government schools of the state, he added.

A spokesman said in the light of major irregularities in appointments of guest teachers, the DEOs had been directed to scrutinise all appointments, including the educational qualification of the guest teachers.

Rohtak, October 25
Pt BD Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, which came into existence over two years ago appears to be taking time to bloom. Though development works worth crores had been undertaken, the university has yet to establish itself.

The university was upgraded from the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) on June 2, 2008, vide Haryana Act No 26 of the same year.

Though the authorities concerned claim that the university had already established itself with several achievements, for the common man it had been mainly a medical college and hospital which was still catering to thousands of patients through its indoor and outdoor facilities of medical treatment.

“I do not know whether it’s a university or the PGIMS but I am sure that it facilitate medical treatment at either free or nominal charges with a huge rush at all days at OPDs of various departments, claims Virender Phogat, a local resident. He said someone had recently told me that it had been made a university, but claimed that there had hardly been any major change in the overall system or set up in the way patients get treatment, though some of the generic medicines were given at free of cost.

The State institute of Mental Health constructed at a cost of about Rs 7 crore was still lying unused, despite the fact that it was completed on August 15, 2009.

“The upgrade of the PGIMS to a health university may have increased the budget of the institution, but the result of its expansion was still to be seen, claims an employee on condition of anonymity.

He said the construction work had been going on in several departments, but the benefit was yet to come. Setting up of the office of Vice-Chancellor and other officials of the university had been perhaps a proof of the new university, while the progress on several projects was not up to the mark, he claimed. The university offices have itself been running from the premises of the College of Nursing of the PGIMS here. On other hand, Vice-Chancellor Dr SS Sangwan claimed that the university, which was just over two years old, had achieved a lot.

The achievements include holding of the first MD/MS/MDS/PG Diploma entrance exam on March 1, 2009, organising of its first annual exam of the MDS in different specialities and that of BPharmacy (First year) in the State of Haryana, conducting of the two Pre-Medical Entrance Examination for admission to various MBBS/BDS/BAMS/BHMS courses in the state.

With an annual budget of about Rs 192 crore, the university has a total of 70 medical institutions affiliated to it. These include three medical colleges, 10 dental and 57 colleges of pharmacy and nursing in the state.

Dr Sangwan said while the PGIMS had been selected under the national-level Pradhanmantri Swasthya Surkasha Yojna with a special grant of about Rs 150 crore, there had been a substantial increase in manpower that include doctors, nurses and paramedical staff in the past couple of years.

While projects worth Rs 14.5 crore had been completed, work on several others worth about Rs 135 crore had been going on. These include a new OPD block, superspeciality blocks, trauma centre, extension of dental college and a mother and child hospital, he added.

Rohtak, October 25
The Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) has lambasted the state government for the recent hike in bus fares and power tariff in the state. Charging the state government of its failure on various fronts during the first year of its second tenure, it claimed that the performance of the Hooda government was no better than its previous tenure.

At a state-level public meeting held here today, leaders and representatives of the party adopted a resolution condemning the hike in power tariff and bus fares and called for a mass campaign against the decisions of the government.

The resolution blamed both Centre and the state government for promoting price rise, unemployment, corruption, capitalistic exploitation and discrimination in various spheres. It announced that the party would carry out a campaign to create awareness among the people on various issues concerning their interests and in exposing the government regarding its failures.

Issuing an appeal for holding public meetings, conventions and demonstrations, it alleged that the government machinery had reached to a defunct level and it was only the masses who could take the rulers to task.

Anoop Singh Matanhail, who presided over the meeting, criticised the land acquisition policy of the state government by claiming that it had not only led to a shortage of the availability of fertile land area, but also resulted in undue exploitation of the farming community in the name of acquisition.

Charging the government of ditching farmers at the time of procurement of crops at adequate and justified rates, he said farmers had been at receiving end as no agency had come forward to purchase bajra and paddy at remunerative prices in mandis at present.

Jhajjar, October 25
A significant number of candidates who have qualified the State Teachers Eligibility Test (STET) today not only staged a dharna in front of the residence of Haryana Education and Health Minister Geeta Bhukkal but also held a demonstration to press for their demand of appointment of eligible candidates as regular teachers in government schools without further delay.

Protesters also submitted a memorandum, addressed to the Education Minister, to Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Chander Shekhar.

They warned the state government that their campaign would continue till their appointments were not made. A state-level huge rally would also be organised on November 28, besides holding demonstration at all four commissioner ranges of the state at regular intervals if soon their demands were not met.

The police administration had made elaborate security arrangements for preventing any untoward incident.

Earlier, a large number of candidates from various districts of the state under the aegis of the Patra Adhyapak Sangh gathered at the Shri Ram Park here and pondered upon intensifying their campaign to mount pressure on the government for getting their demands met.

Addressing the gathering, founder of the sangh Sumer Singh, president Rajender sharma and vice-president Archana Suhasini alleged that guest teachers had crippled the whole education system.

“Guest teachers had been appointed for only six months by the state government, but now they are trying to build unnecessary pressure on the government by raising meaningless demand of their regularisation,” said the leaders, adding that the government should initiate the process of regular appointment of teachers after removing guest teachers in schools with immediate effect as they were not legally entitled for that.

The protesters also urged the state government that the newly appointed JBTs should be posted in their hometowns in place of guest teachers.

Jind, October 25
Freedom fighter Baldev Singh (92), a resident of Lijwana Khurd village in the district, died here today. He was cremated with full state honours. The pyre was lit by his eldest son, Satya Narayan. Wreaths were laid by a large number of persons, including freedom fighters and senior citizens.

Baldev Singh joined the Azad Hind Fauj, led by Subhas Chandra Bose, at the age of 20.

He was jailed by the British after he was captured during a war in the eastern sector. He served a jail term of about seven years in Singapore.

Fatehabad, October 25
Residents living in the vicinity of Ratia Road near Manohar Memorial Postgraduate College were scared when they heard gunshots outside a branch of Punjab National Bank near the college.

Rumours did the rounds that three terrorists had entered the bank premises and the police was trying to tackle them.

The “terrorists” warned the police that they would “kill” the bank staff if the police tried to act against them.

The police, however, surrounded the bank and warned the “terrorists” to either surrender or face their bullets.

The terrorists “opened fire” on the police, forcing the cops to return the fire.

Meanwhile, the traffic on the Hisar-Sirsa road was stopped for some time.

The police later “gunned down” one terrorist and apprehended two others who were “trying to escape by scaling a wall”.

Later, SP Jagwant Singh Lamba revealed that this was a mock exercise to check the preparedness of the police.

Fatehabad, October 25
Six members of the in-laws’ family of two sisters have been booked for alleged harassment for dowry in Tohana in this district.

The sisters - Sudesh and Suman - were married in a Kaithal village to two brothers and were allegedly beaten up mercilesly and shown the door.

Sudesh is still missing, while Suman reached her parents’ home at Bosti village in Fatehabad and narrated their ordeal after which their father, Kharaiti Lal, lodged an FIR with the police.

The complainant, Kharaiti Lal, alleged that he married his daughters to Billu and Saisa Ram, both sons of Hukam Chand of Shimla village in Kaithal district, on June 7, 2004.

However, their in-laws started harassing them for more dowry soon after the wedlock, he alleged.

He alleged that the in-laws beat up his daughters on September 26 and forced them out of their house and added that since then there was no news of Sudesh.

The police has booked the husbands of both women, their mother-in-law,their father-in-law and two other kin for harassment for dowry.

However, the police said that a case pertaining to the alleged disappearance of Sudesh could not be registered in Fatehabad as she had gone missing from Kaithal.