Jhajjar, April 18
Concerned over the deteriorating child sex ratio in the state, the government has decided to get tough against the district health authorities to curb the menace of female foeticide. Now, those civil surgeons will have to face official action who will be found unsuccessful in improving the gender ratio in their districts concerned.

Haryana Health Minister Rao Narender Singh said this while interacting with mediapersons after a felicitation function organised in his honour by the Yadav community at Yadav Dharamshala here recently.

“For bringing improvement in the gender ratio, responsibilities of civil surgeons have been fixed and now, they are to decide that which way they should opt to check the female foeticide in their districts concerned,” said the minister, adding that firm action would be taken against those civil surgeons who would fail to achieve the target.

Directions in this regard had already been issued to all health officers in the state to conduct regular inspection of ultrasound centres and take strict action against the doctors found indulging in sex determination practice, he maintained.

Exhorting the people of the state to extend every possible cooperation to the state government in its efforts to eradicate this social evil, the minister said he himself had talked to the top brass of the neighbouring states in connection with this social evil.

Narender said the decreasing number of the girl child was a matter of great concern and earnest efforts were being made by the state government to correct male-female ratio in the state.

“The state government has taken concrete steps to provide accessible, affordable and quality health care to people of both urban and rural areas. The government hospitals in the state are being equipped with the state-of-the-art facilities,” he said, adding that the state government had implemented a number of welfare schemes and people of all communities were benefitting from these schemes.

Addressing the people on the occasion, Haryana Education and Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Geeta Bhukkal said positive steps were being taken by the state government to eradicate the issue of unemployment in the state. She maintained that the Right to Education (RTE) was being implemented earnestly in the state. Bhukkal was also honoured by the Yadav Community on the occasion.

Karnal, April 18
In a drive launched by the Karnal police to check violations of traffic rules, 22,191 vehicles, including 10,857 two-wheelers, were challaned for various offences from January 1 to March 31 this year. A fine of Rs 56.13 lakh was imposed in 13,595 cases compounded by the Police Challan Authority.

Hamid Akhtar, Karnal SP, said 5,105 two-wheeler riders were challaned for driving without helmet while 5,722 drivers were challaned for riding three passengers on pillion.

Drivers of 1,084 vehicles were challaned for driving without licence, 1,291 for not having the RC, 1,081 for overspeeding, 1,472 vehicles were impounded while 1,467 vehicles were challaned for not having the number plate as per specifications.

As many as 1,258 drivers were challaned for driving without safety belt, 78 for not having valid insurance, 438 for not having PUC (pollution under control) certificates, 488 for wrong parking, 456 for using black film on window screen and 292 for not having number plate.

Further, 428 drivers were challaned for using mobile phone while driving, 277 for changing lane without signal, 125 for wrong side driving, 23 for jumping the red light, 82 for using pressure horns and 162 for disobeying police orders.

The SP has sought cooperation of the people in regulating traffic by abiding by traffic rules and said such drives would continue in future also. 

Kaithal, April 18
Indian National Lok Dal president Om Prakash Chautala has said the sharp hike in circle rates for registration of immovable property in the state is aimed at giving maximum benefit to a chosen few at the cost of the common man. Chautala, who was here to attend a wedding, was addressing a press conference at the residence of district INLD chief Kailash Bhagat here.

He hailed the people of Faridabad, who had forced the government to roll back the enhanced circle rates in their area. He said the government coffers were empty because of its faulty policies and to cover up its deficiencies, it was putting burden on the people in the form of enhanced duties and taxes.

The former Chief Minister said another reason for increase in circle rates was that the government wanted to sell public property to make huge money out of the deals. He said the people must see through the game of the government and force it to correct its wrong decisions.

The INLD chief said that when the Hooda governnent presented a tax-free budget this year, he had sought an assurance from the government that the period between this and the next year's budget should also be “tax free”. By increasing the circle rates substantially, the government was back to its “old game and is doing what I had predicted”, he added. Chautala said the Hooda government was already under a debt of more than Rs 52,000 crore, and the situation was so bad that the goverment had now asked some corporations and boards to secure debts by keeping their property pledged. "We will see more taxes being imposed on the people in the coming months," he said.

Chautala hailed Anna Hazare for forcing the government to take a reasonable step on the Lok Pal issue but added that there was already no dearth of laws against corruption, but the "problem is there is no willingness to enforce them effectively".

He said his party would give a call for Haryana bandh on the issue of corruption if the government did not take effective steps on its own to tackle this menace. In reply to a question, he said the issue of a separate High Court for Haryana would be practicable if the issue of Chandigarh, Abohar, Fazilka and 107 villages of Punjab was resolved. He also said he favoured reservation for Jats in Haryana. 

Kaithal, April 18
“There is need for decentralisation of powers and the elected representatives should be given more powers for good governance and effective functioning of democratic institutions as they have a better understanding of the aspirations of the people as compared to government officials,” said Shamsher Singh Surjewala, president of the All-India Kisan Khet Mazdoor Congress and former Haryana HPCC chief, while addressing a press conference here recently.

He said some government officials adopted a lackadaisical attitude towards the problems being faced by the public. Surjewala exhorted the elected representatives to read carefully the statute book concerning their respective institutions to exercise their powers more effectively.

He said if they were well-informed about their powers, officials and bureaucrats would not be able to create unnecessary hurdles in their day-to-day functioning.

Surjewala also hit out at those involved in adulteration of food items and medicines. He stressed the need for strengthening the office of the Lokayukta to check corruption.

Yamunanagar, April 18
Roshan Lal Arya, a former legislator and president of the Haryana Vanchit Varg Sangharsh Samiti, has threatened that a movement on the lines of Anna Hazare campaign would be launched in Haryana.

Talking to mediapersons, Arya alleged that Haryana had probably taken a lead in corruption in the country. Arya threatened that if corruption was not curbed, there would be a mass movement and he would tour the entire state to mobilise people to participate in a big way to combat the menace of corruption which had polluted the entire social and political fabric.

He demanded the issuance of White Paper on the economic condition of Haryana. He said fertile land had been acquired for meagre compensation which was a clear case of exploitation of the peasantry class. He dared Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to clarify his position so far as his government was concerned.

In Faridabad, the Chief Minister had announced that if there was any case of corruption, people could directly contact him on telephone or mail, but nothing concrete had been done to weed out corruption which had seeped deep into the administrative setup and the people had to bribe the officials to get even their petty jobs done, he added.

Arya asked the Hooda to publicly state how many corruption-related complaints he had received in the past one week. He said if no complaints in this regard had been received then it proved that the people had no faith in his leadership.

He demanded that more power should be given to the Lokpal in Haryana so that this office should be able to control corruption. He said the present Lokpal had expressed that there should be better infrastructure available for his office.

The veteran leader demanded that the government should furnish district-wise details of budget allocation that how much money had been spent on development works. 

Bhiwani, April 18
Irked over the agitation launched by the Jats for reservation and difficulties faced by the common men during the protest, the Sindolia Khap Chaurasi of the Brahmin Samaj has decided to launch an agitation to protest against the quota system.

Addressing a meeting at Badhra here, khap president Amar Chand Chaihad and treasurer Sita Ram Sharma said a day-long dharna would be staged to protest against reservation and a memorandum would be sent to the President and the Governor through the tehsildar.

Amar Chand said the khap would celebrate Parshuram Jayanti on May 4 “Lord Parshu Ram had founded “dharma” by eliminating demons and following the ideals, the Sindolia Khap Chaurasi will launch an agitation in protest against the reservation,” said Sita Ram. He saidsociety was on the verge of division because of reservation which was axing the rights of the youth. Even, the castes having reservation through constitution had got no higher status even after 64 years of Independence. Moreover, true beneficiaries were still deprived of it.

He said the Sindolia Khap Chaurasi felt that reservation should go but the poor should be given concession on an economic basis and their children should be provided with education and grain at cheap rates. The unemployed should be given regular employment.

Chandigarh, April 18
Aasan village of Rohtak district will be awarded the “Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar” at a function in New Delhi on April 24 on the occasion of “Rashtriya Panchayat Diwas”. The village will get Rs 10 lakh in cash.

The panchayat of Aasan has been chosen as the best village panchayat of the state for its various initiatives. The village has got its development works audited by the “Gram Sabha”.

Transparency was also observed by the panchayat in the MNREGA scheme. The inhabitants of the village who belong to various communities have shown appreciable unity and awareness.

Rewari, April 18
Haryana Finance, Irrigation, Forest and Environment Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav laid the foundation stone of a prestigious Kribhco Container Depot on the Rewari-Narnaul road at Gobimdpuri village, 12 km from here, recently.

The container depot will be constructed by Kribhco Infrastructure Limited on 40 acres at a cost of Rs 150 crore by December 2012.

Highlighting the importance of the establishment of such a container depot in this agriculture and industry-oriented region, the Finance Minister said though it would provide employment to about 500 persons, mostly local jobless youths, the long-awaited facility of conserving their agricultural produce in its cold storage cells and warehouses on profitable terms would also be at the disposal of the peasantry here.

Enumerating various schemes implemented by the state government for the welfare of farmers, the minister appreciated the hard-working peasantry as well as the brave jawans who had done the region proud with their achievements.

Mentioning about the strides Haryana had made in the twin domains of agriculture and industry, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Rao Dan Singh, who was a distinguished guest on the occasion, hoped that the depot would prove a milestone in the advancement of the peasantry as well as the corporate sector here in the coming years.

BN Shikla, managing director of Kribhco Infrastructure Limited, also spoke on the occasion.

Panipat, April 18
Analysis of different performance parameters reveals that 2010-11 has been the best year for the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam since its formation in 2001-2002. The nigam created a record of sorts in six areas - detection of power theft cases, imposition and recovery of penalty amount from erring consumers, release of new tube well connections, increase in revenue collection, reduction in aggregated technical and commercial losses and record power supply during the last fiscal.

Giving details, Managing Director of the UHBVN Arun Kumar said as many as 33,310 cases of pilferage of power had been detected by the nigam during the last fiscal. Earlier, as many as 20,935 cases had been detected in 2009-10.

A penalty of Rs 52.11 crore had been levied in these cases on erring consumers.

On the persistent demand of farmers, over 20,000 tube well connections had been released last year compared to 12,737 in 2009-10.

The nigam had realised a revenue of over Rs 3,248.54 crore with an average of over Rs 270 crore per month from April 2010 to March 2011.The nigam saw a reduction in the aggregated technical and commercial losses from 32.16 per cent in 2009-10 to 26-27 per cent in 2010-11 due to various factors, including detection of theft cases and increase in collection efficiency.

Referring to the highest-ever power supply in the history of the nigam, he said on an average, electricity was supplied for 22 hours and 16 minutes to urban and “mixed urban” consumers, for 21 hours and 25 minutes to industrial category consumers, 12 hours and 27 minutes to rural domestic consumers and for seven hours and 27 minutes to agricultural tube wells. He claimed that 2010-11 was the best year on these parameters.

Kurukshetra, April 18
After experiencing the three wars of Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan now, American nationals are striving most among citizens of all countries to bring peace in every corner of the world.

These were the views expressed by Prof Paul Joseph, Fulbright scholar of Tuft University, Boston, USA, at the seminar on “Are Americans becoming peace loving?", organised by the political science department of Kurukshetra University at the Faculty Lounge here recently.

Speaking at the seminar, Prof Joseph stressed that what American Government has done doesn't mean that what Americans want.

Further supporting his argument he said there had been many surveys and reports published in the American media which reveal that views of Americans were totally against the policies of the American Government.

Perception of a normal American was totally different from the perception of the US government towards war, he added. At present many universities in the US are running various programmes in close association with religious organisations to bring peace and mutual admiration among different nations.

He admitted that “World’s strongest army is of America and it is the biggest seller and exporter of weapons in the world. A big share of the US budget is spent on American defence. He said in 1973, there were 2 per cent female in the American army, but now the number rose to 17 per cent.

“Peace is a process and it needs regular efforts. The philosophy of MK Gandhi is not the only way to bring peace. Sometimes other ways are to be adopted to bring peace, Prof Joseph added.

In his presidential address, Kurukshetra University Vice-Chancellor Lt-Gen (retd) DDS Sandhu said peace was a relative term and there was a need to understand the hard facts of politics.

The lecture was followed by various questions from teachers and students to which Prof Joseph responded.

Guest Prof RS Yadav, chairman of political science department; Prof Girish Arora, Dean, Academic Affairs; Prof PD Sharma, former chairman and dean of the political science department; Prof Leela Yadav; Prof Saroj Malik; Dr Nirupama Gupta; Dr Sanjeev; Dr Vinod; Dr Rajneesh Sharma; Dr Anil Vashisht; Dr CP Singh; Dr Ramesh Bhardwaj; Prof SS Rahel; Prof Saroj Malik and students were among those present who were present on the occasion.

Hisar, April 18
Rohtak Division with 20 points emerged overall champions in the state-level labour sports meet held here. Hisar were declared runners-up with 16 points.

In the men’s section, Joginder Singh of Hisar bagged the top spot in high jump. Sanjiv of Ambala and Inder Singh of Panipat were placed at the second and third spot, respectively.

In long jump, Pardeep of Gurgaon came first. Vikram of Bhiwani and Deepak of Panipat were placed second and third, respectively.

In the women section, Babita of Hisar bagged the first position. Jyoti from Gurgaon and Saroj from Faridabad were placed at the second and third spots.

In long jump, Gurgaon’s Rekha, Hisar’s Gloria Pande and Faridabad’s Seema were placed first, second and third, respectively.

Rohtak won the football competition while Yamunanagar were the runners-up.

Ram Swarup Jaanbaaz, vice-chairman of the Haryana Labour Welfare Board, who presided over the prize distribution function, said the board had given Rs 11 crore last year as financial help to over 28,000 labourers last year.

He appealed to industrialists to treat their labour force as family members as it would result in increased efficiency and also lead to harmonious relations between them.

He said the board had launched several welfare schemes for industrial labour and their families. The board was running several sewing and embroidery training and labour welfare centres. Children of industrial labour were also being given scholarships.

Ambala, April 18
The government is committed to making education universally accessible and inclusive for all sections of society. This was stated by Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal at the Convocation function of the Government Postgraduate College, Ambala Cantt in which she was the chief guest.

“Haryana is keen on implementing the Right to Education Act, which has already been implemented by the Central government”.

She said a number of schemes were being run by the state and the Centre to attract children to schools and to retain them. And schemes are also being implemented to enable children from weaker sections to acquire education, she added.

Bhukkal lauded the efforts of staff and students as the government earlier declared it a “college of excellence”. She called upon the degree holders to recognise their roles and responsibilities in their individual and national interest to be able to meet the challenges related to all walks of life. She said, “A degree means that students have imbibed the values and skills needed to deal with the world. This degree you receive today opens a new horizon in your life”.

As many as 1,094 graduates and postgraduates in various streams and job-oriented courses were awarded degrees.

Principal Dr Gurdev Singh read out the Annual Report. Emphasising the importance of education, he said the true meaning of education was to provide an element of confidence, sacrifice and affection. It must help to carve the personality of the young and permit the emergence of hidden power of the young minds.

Ambala, April 18
Haryana Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal said here that management committees would be set up to oversee the working of government schools in the state. These committees would evaluate the performance of teachers.

Interacting with mediapersons, Bhukkal said the management committees would comprise 75 per cent teachers, including 50 per cent women members. The committees would evaluate the performance of teachers and this evaluation would be recorded in the ACR of the teachers.

The Education Minister said 25 per cent vacancies in the education field would be filled through allied services to include latest educational techniques and boost the educational standard in the state.

In reply to a question of 332 government-aided schools awaiting recognition in Haryana, Bhukkal said a decision would be taken very soon after having meetings with the managing committees of such schools and the Education Department would sympathetically recognise such schools on completion of necessary requirements.

She said the government-aided schools had been getting 75 per cent financial aid by the government and the decision regarding 95 per cent aid demanded by private government-aided schools would be taken after having a meeting with the Chief Minister.

Bhukkal further said that the state government had undertaken a series of measures to improve the quality of education in the government-run schools. Infrastructure was being strengthened and more amenities, including well-stocked library and laboratory, had been provided.

She said because of the incentives being given by the state government to school-going children, the number of students enrolled in schools had registered a steep increase.

When pointed out that certain private schools particularly in Ambala, Hisar and Sonepat were fleecing students by charging exorbitant fee, the Education Minister said she had received complaints against such private schools from the three districts. She said she had constituted committees to look into the complaints and assured that remedial action would be taken soon. Bhukkal said the state government had been negotiating with a number of foreign universities to set up units near Rajiv Gandhi Education City. She said the response had been encouraging.

Ambala, April 18
Dissemination of quality education is a must in today’s globally competitive market. The institutions that care little for parameters of quality and development of skills will be eliminated in the due course. The information technology has revolutionised the world and hence, there is no scope of complacency.

Ajit M Sharan, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Department of Finance and Technical Education, Haryana, stated this during the annual day celebrations at Jai Polytechnic in Adhoi, near here.

Sharan had a word of praise for infrastructure and equipment in various laboratories and workshops and particularly commended the practice of teaching through e-learning modules. He also lauded the efforts of the polytechnic with regards to the placement of students in good companies.

He said there was no doubt that the college would develop under the guidance of Dr KL Johar, former Vice-Chancellor, Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar.

He called upon other institutions to emulate Jai Polytechnic in respect of its language lab, e-learning modules, cleanliness and development of communication skills. Earlier, students of the polytechnic presented a colourful cultural bonanza consisting of dance, music and choreography.

The chief guest honoured 98 meritorious students with trophies and cash prizes. A trophy and a cash prize of Rs 5,100 each was presented to Sunil Kumar and Neha Kharbanda who stood first in Electronics and Communication Engineering and Computer Engineering, respectively, in the entire state.

The principal presented the annual report listing various achievements of the polytechnic, including board results, development of teaching skills, hostel and transport facilities. DR Johar, vice-chairman of the Board of Management, thanked the chief guest and other dignitaries who were present on the occasion.

Sirsa, April 18
Jan Nayak Chaudhary Devi (JCD) Lal College of Engineering here has celebrated its 7th annual day with great zeal and festivity. Vivek Sharma, SP, Fatehabad, and an alumnus of the IIT, Mumbai, was the chief guest on the occasion. Dr NS Bhal, a renowned structural engineer from Gurgaon, and an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur was the special guest. While Dr Shamim Sharma, executive director of the JCD Vidyapeeth, presided over the function.

A wide variety of events, including song, dance, play, choreography, board art, nail art, junkyard, chalk carving, extempore, picture speaks, arm wrestling, tug-of-war, under arm cricket, flip carom, quiz, egg catching etc., formed the core of this two-day annual function - Enorme’ 11.

The event commenced with garlanding Mother Saraswati and lighting the lamp.

It was followed by the welcome speech and presentation of annual report by Prof Gurcharan Dass, Principal, JCD College of Engineering, in which he read that the college has won the educational excellence award, organised by the Indo-global education summit held at Hyderabad in 2010.

Dr Shamim in her speech introduced the chief guest, guest of honour to the audience and boosted up students and members of staff for their coordination and wonderful performances. Dr Bhal shared his experiences with the audience and encouraged students with his words of wisdom.

In his address, Vivek Sharma said it was an age of competition and for success in one’s career, one ought to aspire for perfection.

He said the old students of any institution had a greater role to play in the success of the organisation. He added that the old students could pay back to their alma mater by keeping in touch and helping the new students by sharing their experiences and assisting them in the matter of placements.

Dr Shweta Sharma, wife of Vivek Sharma; Bhupinder Singh, a member of the JCD Management; Dr Jai Parkash, Principal of the JCD College of Education; and principals of all colleges associated with the JCD Vidyapeeth were among those who were present on the occasion.

Rewari, April 18
Haryana Tourism, Transport, Civil Aviation and Hospitality Minister Om Prakash Jain inaugurated a multipurpose hall at the Jungle Babbler Tourist Complex at Dharuhera recently.

Rs 2.25 crore has been spent on its construction and other renovation works of the complex. The hall can accommodate as many as 250 tourists at a time.

Mentioning about the prime location of the complex, which pivotally lies on the Delhi-Jaipur Highway, the minister said: “With enhanced facilities for tourists, it will be developed into a superb tourist complex of the state.”

Reiterating the state government’s commitment to boost tourism in the state, the minister announced that Rs 200 crore would be spent on renovation-cum-beautification-cum expansion of the existing 46 tourist centres in the state during the next two years.

Finance Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, who presided over the proceedings, sought establishment of a three-star hotel at the Dharuhera tourist complex and a tourist complex at Bawal.

Kalka, April 18
Resentment prevails among railway employees over the sale of lucky draw tickets in the name of charity by a social organisation.

Northern Railway Women’s Welfare Organisation (NRWWO), Ambala Division, has been collecting lakhs of rupees from employees every year. The Class IV and Class III employees have alleged that every year in January, the organisation forces them to purchase lucky draw tickets on an average of 1-30 tickets (Rs 10 per ticket). The said draw was scheduled to be held on March 27, 2011.

According to sources, about 250 employees of Diesel Shed, Kalka, had purchased 2,300 tickets as per the orders of senior officials. Though many staff members did not want to pay this imposed amount, none dare say anything against.

The Ambala Division has about 17,000 employees and the NRWWO collects Rs 50-70 lakh every year for the Republic Day lucky draw. The cost of prizes for the draw is at about Rs 1 lakh only while the welfare body has minted crores of rupees in the last couple of years through this racket, alleged the employees .

They have urged the higher authorities of Northern Railway and the Ministry of Railways for a CBI enquiry in this matter. They have also asked the Income Tax Department to check the records and accounts of the welfare body.

The Divisional Railway Manager, Ambala Division, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. 

Sirsa, April 18
Under the Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojna (SJSRY), a scheme for urban employment funded by the Central government, 50 families of rickshaw- pullers of this town, will have their own rickshaws.

Ashok Tanwar, MP, distributed rickshaws to these families in a function organised at the local Panchayat Bhawan recently. Wishing them good luck, he expressed hope that the families would be able to earn their livelihood in a better way.

The SJSRY, a scheme of the Union Ministry of Urban Poverty Alleviation, was launched in 1997 after subsuming the earlier three schemes for urban poverty alleviation, said Additional Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Chaudhary.

The key objective of the scheme, she said, was to provide gainful employment to the urban unemployed or underemployed through the setting up of self-employment ventures. She added that under the SJSRY, women were imparted training in stitching, embroidery designing as well as for beautician.

The Central government funded 75 per cent of the money spent on this scheme. Those unable to get rickshaws were assured that they would get one very soon. 

Panipat, April 18
Despite repeated appeals to the state government for bringing about parity in pay scales of assistant engineers in the state, the demand of the power engineers still remains to be fulfilled.

The Haryana Power Engineers’ Association (HPEA), which has been raising the issue with the state government, has lamented that despite performing their duties well, the assistant engineers are still the lowest paid in the country.

RS Dahiya, president of the HPEA, stated that power utility engineers were getting higher pay scales than the state services engineers, as per the recommendations made in the Fifth Pay Commission report. But, this aspect had been completely ignored in deciding the pay scales of assistant engineers, who were getting their salary in a scale of Rs9300-34,500, with an initial salary of Rs12,090 with grade pay of Rs5,400.

Putting up a strong case for the assistant engineers, Dahiya said the assistant engineers of the state government were better placed, and getting an initial salary of Rs14,880 with grade pay of Rs5400.

In Punjab Powercom, assistant engineers were receiving an initial pay of Rs16,680, he said.

He also said that the starting pay of assistant engineers in UP was Rs17,740 with grade pay of Rs5,400, and in Delhi the initial pay of engineers was Rs19,000 with grade pay of Rs5,400.

Yamunanagar, April 18
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Yamunanagar, has directed an insurance company to pay Rs 7,98,000 as claim to the complainant along with the interest.

Manoj Banerjee, a resident of Yamunanagar, through its counsel Bhanwar Singh filed a complaint that he got his truck insured with Oriental Insurance Company, Jagadhri, on October 10, 2008, till October 9, 2009.

On March 23, 2009, the truck met with an accident in Shillong and was burnt completely. A DDR was registered at Sohryngkham police post on March 23, 2009, and an intimation was also given to the insurance company in Shillong, whose surveyor inspected the truck and gave his report on the total loss of the vehicle.

Thereafter, Banerjee wrote several times to the insurance company regarding the claim of his vehicle, but no response came from the respondent company.

Following a notice from the forum, counsel for Oriental Insurance Company Parmod Gupta filed a written statement stating that the truck at the time of accident was loaded with wax, which was a hazardous substance, and the driver of the said vehicle was not having a valid driving licence. Thus, there is a wilful violation of the terms and conditions of the policy annexure R-1, as such the claim is not payable and the present complaint is liable to be dismissed.

However, according to the report of the survey, it is clear that the insurer was having a valid route permit for Meghalaya and the respondent failed to prove that wax is a hazardous good and the driver of the vehicle had a valid driving licence. Therefore, the ground for repudiating the claim by the respondent is not sustainable.

Dina Nath Arora and Dr VK Sharma, president and member of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, in their order dated April 11, allowed depreciation at the rate of 5 per cent on the vehicle and directed the insurance company to pay Rs 7,98,000 along with the interest of 12 per cent per annum from July 14, 2009. They also directed the insurance firm to pay Rs 10,000 as cost of proceedings. 

Karnal, April 18
The Karnal police has claimed to made a major breakthrough in solving theft cases in HUDA sectors during the past few months with arrest of three members of the gang.

The police was facing a lot of criticism due to the increasing number of thefts. The culprits were mainly indulged in petty thefts like stealing LPG cylinders, batteries and inverters etc. The police heaved a sigh of relief with arrest of three persons - Sanjay from karnal, Ranjit from Samastipur (Bihar) and Krishana from Nepal.

SP Hamid Akhtar said the police recovered a motorcycle from their possession. The motorcycle belonged to one Chander Mohan and was stolen from the Ram Nagar area in February this year.

The accused gave information about a large number of thefts committed by them. The police recovered 26 LPG cylinders, two inverters, two batteries one gold ring, one locket and cash from the accused. The total cost of the recovered stolen goods was Rs 2 lakh.

The SP said he constituted a three-member team that succeeded in nabbing the culprits, adding that they were allegedly involved in 15 cases of thefts and other petty crimes.

Rewari, April 18
A cavalier team of the Haryana Police, led by SI Leela Ram, bagged a gold medal by securing the first position in the Horse Riding Javelin Throw Contest of the National Horse Riding Championship held under the auspices of the Delhi Horse Show on the Army Polo Club premises at the Broad Square in Delhi recently.

Other members of the team were ASI Narsingh, ASI Ram Bhagat and ASI Rameshwar Das.

As many as 21 cavalier teams from the police constabulary of various states as well as the Army participated in the competition.

While the Haryana team won gold, the Army team bagged a silver medal by acquiring the second position in the contest.

During the concluding function, Army Chief Gen VK Singh, who was the chief guest on the occasion, distributed prizes among the winners.

The Haryana team, led by SI Leela Ram, who is a resident of Lukhi village of the Kosli subdivision of Rewari district, had also won a silver medal by obtaining the second position in the Horse Riding Javelin Throw Contest of the 29th All-India Police Horse Riding Championship held at the ITBP’s Basic training centre in Panchkula district of Haryana recently.