Kurukshetra, March 31
The Kurukshetra University Court today approved a budget of Rs 256.88 crore for 2011-12, leaving an uncovered deficit of Rs 52.43 crore. It approved the non-plan budget at Rs 30 crore and plan at Rs 12 crore while pegging the total income from all sources, including self-financing courses, at Rs 204.45 crore.

The Court also passed the Annual Report of the university for the year 2010 and unanimously nominated Ram Pal Saini, Assistant Professor, SD College, to the Executive Council while Dr Mandeep Singh, Assistant Professor, GN Khalsa College, Yamunanagar, Dr Suresh Deshwal, Assistant Professor, Rajiv Gandhi Government College, Saha, and Vijay Sabharwal, treasurer, DAV College, Naneola, were nominated to the Academic Council. Earlier, the Executive Council decided to award “constituent autonomous” status to the University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Kurukshetra University, to facilitate greater academic and administrative freedom.

It also decided to increase the number of Academic Council members from affiliated colleges to eight and Court members to 13, including teachers and principals of affiliated colleges.

In a novel move initiated by Lt Gen (Dr) DDS Sandhu, VC, Prof Brajesh Sawhney, Chairperson, Department of English, Prof RC Kamboj, Chairperson, Department of Chemistry, and Prof Ranvir Singh, Director, Institute of Indological Studies, made presentations before the Executive Council. 

Sirsa, March 31
Former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala organised a rally at Government College at Meethi Surera near Ellenabad today after unveiling the statue of Mani Ram Jhorar. Jhorar’s family has donated land for the college and classes in the new building will begin from this academic session.

Unveiling the statue, Chautala alleged that the Hooda government’s policies had made education a saleable commodity.

He claimed that efforts for a college in the area were first made by the INLD with the help of the Jhorar family. Even now the government had been able to open the college because of the efforts of this family.

Abhey Singh Chautala, MLA from Ellenabad, reiterated that but for the efforts of the Jhorar family, the college could not have come up in the area.

Former minister and state president of the INLD Ashok Arora, Rajya Sabha member Ranbir Singh Gangwa, Rania MLA Krishan Kamboj and Kalawali MLA Charanjit Singh were among those present at the rally.

A college for Ellenabad had become an important issue during the last byelection with the INLD accusing the Congress government in the state of “slanted development”.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had at a public rally announced that he would lay the stone of a college after the victory rally of his candidate. Criticising the announcement, the INLD had alleged that Hooda had set a pre-condition for opening a college in Ellenabad, which was unfair. It

announced that it would open a college on its own.

The Congress lost the byelection and the Hooda government started a college in a private building last year. As it was looking for land for the college building, the Jhorar family volunteered to donate land to it on two conditions- that the college be named after Mani Ram Jhorar and his statue be installed on the college campus.

Rohtak, March 31
As many as 64 persons, including women, have courted arrested in the past two days while protesting against the land acquisition policy and the move by the government to acquire more land for setting up an industrial model township(IMT) here.

More such arrests are likely to follow. The authorities have imposed Section 144 at the protest site. The residents have been on a dharna for the past about two months. The situation appears to be getting worse with residents of some nearby villages and other parts of the state offering to court arrest over the issue.

It may be recalled that a former sarpanch of nearby Kheri Sadh village was shot dead while on dharna on February 24. The deceased was an INLD activist and the party leaders had alleged that he was murdered as he had been leading the stir. The ruling party had denied the allegation. The protest is being staged right on National Highway-10 that connects Rohtak with Delhi.

The protesters hail from several villages, including Kheri Sadh, Baliyana, Pehrawar, Kanheli and Kharawar. The Opposition, including the BJP, the INLD and the HJC, say the government is “anti-farmer and pro-industrialists.” The BJP has demanded a White Paper on the land acquired so far.

Chandigarh, March 31
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has called upon insurance companies to change their attitude. The call came soon after the High Court ruled that the companies chase prospective clients while selling the insurance policy, only to be chased by them at the time of settling the claims.

Justice Ranjit Singh asserted: “Insurance companies are charging hefty premium for insuring vehicles. Once the question of liability arises, the companies resort to one technical objection or the other.

“These companies really chase people and literally promise everything at the time of selling the policy. It is usual to see people struggle to run after agents and surveyors to get their rightful claims.

“Such agents then look the other way and make insurers make rounds of company offices. Insurers are then made to approach courts. This attitude must change. At least, the courts should not be burdened with this uncalled-for litigation”. The assertion came on a petition filed by Oriental Insurance Company Limited against Khursheed and another respondent.

The company has challenged an order passed by the Gurgaon permanent lok adalat public utility service.

Khursheed’s insurance claim following the theft of his vehicle was declined by the insurance company, against which he approached the lok adalat.

The company claimed Khursheed had violated the terms and conditions of the policy and, thus, was not entitled to the claim. “The objection by the company is that the theft was not intimated within 48 hours, as provided for in the policy and the insured was guilty of not taking due care and caution of the vehicle. “The permanent lok adalat, however, allowed 75 per cent of the claim,” Justice Ranjit Singh observed.

Dismissing the petition, Justice Ranjit Singh asserted: “I do not find any justification to interfere in the impugned award. Rather, the lok adalat is not apparently justified in denying the full claim to the respondent.”

Chandigarh, March 31
Haryana Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Sharma has a dream - to make the House and the institution of its presiding officer vibrant. It is not just a pipe dream. Sharma, a first-time Congress MLA from Ganaur in Sonepat district, has already drawn up plans to realise his dream. The first thing he wants is the training of new MLAs. For this he has already contacted Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.

The Lok Sabha secretariat has an elaborate infrastructure to train new MPs.

Sharma says a week-long orientation programme for new Haryana MLAs will commence from April 4. The purpose is to make MLAs meaningfully contribute to the proceedings of the House, which, at present is known more for ruckus than for learned debates.

Speaking at a meet the press programme organised by the Chandigarh Press Club here today, Sharma said he was also keen on improving the working conditions of the MLAs. They would soon be provided with laptops. A proposal to renovate MLA Hostel had already been discussed with officers of the Haryana PWD and the UT Administration. Now, he would meet the Punjab Governor and the Punjab Speaker in this regard. The plan would cost about Rs 8 crore and would be implemented in 18 months after clearance was given to the department.

Sharma, scion of a prominent political family of Haryana, said he was studying the rules of the House so that the institution of Speaker could be made vibrant. Recently, he sent a strong note to the Chief Secretary asking her to tell the officers not to take the presiding officer of the Assembly lightly. He said he would neither himself insult any member nor would he allow others to do so. 

Kurukshetra, March 31
Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia has called upon students to explore their full potential and become active contributors to the nation’s development if they desire that India should emerge as a world leader.

The Governor was addressing the eighth annual convocation of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Kurukshetra, here today.

Pahadia said within a short span of time, Haryana had become the education hub of northern India, with many universities and institutes having been set up in the state. Haryana was contributing immensely towards promoting technological, engineering and allied technical education for the youth of the entire country, he added.

Prof JK Palit, Chairman, Board of Governors, NIT, read out the annual report while Prof Krishan Gopal, Director and Chairman, Senate, NIT, awarded degrees to scholars.

As many as 780 scholars were awarded degrees in various streams at the convocation. They included 21 PhD scholars. 

Fatehabad, March 31
The kin of Pooja, who gave birth to a child at the General Hospital in Tohana on January 27, allege that a swab was left inside her body during delivery. Alleging that they were ill-treated by the SMO when they went to him to lodge a complaint against the doctor concerned, they held a demonstration outside the hospital today. They also blocked traffic for sometime.

Pooja reportedly started complaining of pain in the abdomen after delivery and was taken to a private hospital where a piece of cloth was removed from her body.

However, Dr Joginder Singh, Senior Medical Officer, said that Pooja underwent normal delivery on January 27 and left the hospital the same day against medical advice.

He alleged that a Class IV employee of the hospital, whom he had pulled up for unwanted interference in the operation theatre, was behind the demonstration.

Meanwhile, Ashwani Maingi, SDM, Tohana, has called the complainants as well as the doctor concerned in his office tomorrow for an inquiry. 

Jhajjar, March 31
Two persons - a six-year-old child and a woman - were killed and three others injured when the auto-rickshaw they were travelling in was hit by a tractor-trailer near the Power House on the Jhajjar road in Bahadurgarh town here today.

The deceased have been identified as Chandra and Krishna, residents of Madhya Pradesh.

The injured, including the father of the child, have been admitted to the Civil Hospital in Bahadurgarh where their condition is stated to be out of danger.

The police has registered a case against the driver of the tractor-trailer.

The incident took place in the morning when Santram, along with his son Krishna and three others, was coming towards Bahadurgarh from Noona Majra village in the auto-rickshaw. As the auto-rickshaw reached near the Power House, the tractor-trailer coming from the opposite direction collided with it. Krishna and Chandra reportedly died on the spot.

Hearing the sound of the accident, some passersby rushed to the spot and took the injured to the Civil Hospital. Later, the police reached the spot and sent the bodies for postmortem to the Civil Hospital.