Manesar/Gurgaon, September 13
With a view to compensating the shortfall of workmen at its Manesar plants due to the ongoing workers’ protest, Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) today initiated a fresh recruitment drive.

As many as 100 regular workers were recruited today while five agitating workmen were dismissed from service on charge of assaulting three supervisors and a worker in a reported bid to prevent them from reporting for duty.

In order to mount pressure on the protesting workmen and dissipate their agitation, the company has also asserted that it would not enter into any dialogue with the striking workers.

It will focus on scaling up production by recruiting fresh manpower for the Manesar plants.

“The company will continue to recruit more regular workers in the coming days to scale up production, and minimize dependence on permanent workers who have refused to sign good-conduct bonds and remained absent from work at the Manesar plant,” the MSIL management said in a statement issued here today.

MSIL functionaries were on the lookout for qualified and experienced workmen after the ongoing agitation began more than two weeks ago. A number of trained and experienced persons were identified and the first batch of 100 persons was issued appointment letters today.

Production at the Manesar plant of MSIL had come to a halt on August 29 after the company suspended and dismissed a number of employees on charges of sabotaging production and deliberately causing quality problems in vehicles manufactured at the plant. It also asked all workers to sign good-conduct bonds.

Meanwhile, after having attained the normal production level of Swift cars and producing 500 units yesterday, MSIL today produced another 500 units of Swift at its Gurgaon and Manesar plants today.

“With fresh recruitment continuing, the company expects the production of Swift to go up in coming days,” the statement maintained, adding that 104 workers from the Manesar plants had so far signed the good-conduct bond.

MSIL chairman RC Bhargava and Suzuki Motor Corporation chairman Osamu Suzuki have categorically stated that indiscipline would not be tolerated and workmen would be allowed in the company only after they sign the good-conduct bond.

Kaithal, September 13
Jubilation prevails among residents of Jagdishpura village of Kaithal following the commutation of the death sentence awarded to one of its youths, Taranjit Singh, by a Sharjah court. He, along with 16 other persons of Punjab had been sentenced to death for killing a Pakistani national, Mishri Khan, in Dubai years ago.

The court has now sentenced all of them to two years' imprisonment. However, since they have already spent three years in jail, the judgement means they would be released immediately. Taranjit's father, Balbir Singh, and mother Sukhwinder Kaur burst into tears of joy when they got a call from Taranit Singh yesterday, informing them about the court judgement. They distributed sweets in the village and soon a huge crowd gathered at their residence to congratulate Taranjit's family.

The commutation of the sentence of all those in jail was made possible after blood money amounting to over Rs 4 crore was deposited in the court about two weeks ago by the Indian Punjabi Sabha.

Hisar, September 13
In a major relief to the Hooda government, the All-India Jat Reservation Sangharsh Samiti today decided to let the Haryana unit of the samiti decide its future course of action regarding the pro-reservation agitation in February next year.

However, the national core committee members of the samiti will meet at Ghaziabad on September 30 to chart out the future strategy at the national level.

These decisions were taken at a meeting of the samiti held at Mayyar village, near here, today. The samiti had convened a panchayat of the Jats to honour Sunil Sheoran, who had been killed in police firing here last year during the Jat pro-reservation stir. A rally was also held at the village today.

According to samiti leaders the Haryana unit of the samiti would meet on February 19 next year to decide its future strategy. The February meeting had been fixed in view of Assembly elections in several states.

The decision should come as a big relief to the Hooda government as a strident posture by the samiti at this juncture when the Hisar Lok Sabha constituency is due to go to the polls a month from now, would have put the Hooda government on the back foot. The government now need not worry about the likely fallout of the pro-reservation stir by Jats on the outcome of the Hisar Lok Sabha seat byelection.

Karnal/Kurukshetra, September 13
The prestige of the presidents of the rival factions of the HSGPC-ad hoc, Jagdish Singh Jinda and Didar Singh Nalvi, is at stake in the SGPC elections. Both the leaders, facing an “acid test”, are fighting the elections on the poll plank of a “separate Sikh gurdwara committee”.

With just four days left for the elections, slated for September 18, all candidates have covered the entire constituency and are now concentrating on door-to-door convassing.

The Nalvi faction has fielded Didar Singh Habri, president, Sarv Hind Akali Dal, from Karnal and the rival faction candidate (Jhinda group) Apar Singh is opposing Nalvi from Kurukshetra while the SAD has fielded Harbhajan Singh Masana and Bhupinder Singh Assandh from Kurukshetra and Karnal respectively.

The Kurukshetra constituency has 58,000 voters while the Karnal constituency has 68,000 Sikh voters spread over more than 400 villages.

The fight has become bitter in these two key constituencies as rival HSGPC leaders are accusing each other of sabotaging the separate HSGPC movement, creating confusion among the voters and making them apprehensive about the bona fides of their leaders.

Nalvi is attacking Jhinda for allegedly misusing funds and discriminating against Haryana. The Miri-Piri Medical Education and Research Project and due status to Punjabi in Haryana are major issues raised by Nalvi, who is also claiming that Haryana Sikhs are unhappy with the SAD for seeking the support of the INLD and consider it “interference” of non-Sikhs in the religious affairs of Sikhs.

The Jhinda faction is also raising the same issues while the SAD-backed SGPC candidates are banking on the achievements of the SGPC.

The SAD-backed Masana and Assandh are harping on the social work done by the SGPC and maintain that “Guru Ghar ki sewa”, preaching and propagating Sikh culture and religion and fighting drug menace among the youth will continue to be their main priority.

They said that four schools and one girls’ college had been opened by the SGPC and five more schools and the Miri-Piri project were in the pipeline.

Jhinda is vociferously raising the issue of a separate SGPC for Haryana and accusing the SGPC of taking away the offerings made in the Haryana gurdwaras. The SGPC was only interested in “Golaks” of the Haryana gurdwaras, he adds.

Habri is accusing the SAD of “misusing” the SGPC funds and telling people that ”Akalis believe in ‘kabja’ and not in religion and sewa”. He is also accusing Jhinda of not spending the money collected from Sikh sangats in a transparent manner.

Chandigarh, September 13
Jagpal Singh, an IAS officer of the Punjab cadre, has been appointed an election observer for the SGPC elections scheduled for September 18.

He will ensure that the campaigning in Kurukshetra, Yamunangar and Karnal districts is conducted in accordance with the model code of conduct.

An official spokesman said here today that voting would be conducted without break at 75 polling centres from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on September 18.

He said the election material would be dispatched on September 17 and all arrangements regarding the election would have to be completed by the presiding officers and electoral officers by 6:30 a.m. on September 18.

Voters were required to bring identification proof, which might include driving licence, PAN card, post office passbook, ration card, weapon’s licence, SC/ST/OBC certificate, pension certificate, railway identity card, freedom fighters’ identity card or handicapped certificate.

Rohtak, September 13
As many as 30 illegal structures coming up in an unauthorized colony located on the Makrauli- Gohana road in this district were razed by the Department of the Town and Country Planning today.

“This had been a part of the ongoing drive against illegal constructions in and around the city which has witnessed a huge growth of residential colonies in the past few years,” said a spokesman of the department. Private colonisers had been carving out such colonies in several outer parts of the city and selling plots claiming that the colonies would be regularised in due course.

While some of the constructions brought down today were small structures, the rest were foundations raised on 28 plots in the colony being built on about 15 acres of land.

Several such constructions had been demolished about a fortnight back in another colony, stated an official. However, Pravin Kumar, a local resident, said only those who had no political connections faced such action Describing the demolition drive as only a formality , he said several commercial buildings built illegally or in violation of the building bylaws had come up in the city. The civic body which had sealed several of these builidings had to bite the dust after a reprieve from the higher authorities to such structures.

Panipat, September 13
Even as the CBI had arrested two con men for duping film producer Rakesh Roshan by posing as senior CBI officials, the third accused in the case, who is believed to be their aide, continues to elude the sleuths, who have been camping here since August 20.

Investigators have learnt that Ashwini Kumar Sharma from Panipat, who had shifted to Mumbai about 20 years back, and his accomplice, Rajesh Ranjan from Bihar, who now lives in Mumbai, posed as CBI officers and managed to extract Rs 50 lakh from film-maker Rakesh Roshan on the pretext of helping him settle a civil case pending against him, which they claimed had now been transferred to the CBI.

The two were arrested from Mumbai and during their interrogation they revealed that they had invested their ill-gotten money in Panipat through a local resident, Anirudh Agarwal, who is a CA by profession.

Joint director of the CBI Rishi Raj Singh of Mumbai Zone, who was here today in connection with the investigations, stated that the bureau had already seized 25 properties that had been registered in the name of Ashwani Sharma and his family members, the net worth of which was more than Rs 25 crore. Besides, two bank lockers in the local branch of IDBI Bank were also opened by the CBI from which 25 kg of gold and Rs 3 crore were recovered.

The joint director said Aggarwal was at large and the CBI had been camping here to arrest him. He said it was a major case of impersonation in which the two were duping businessmen, film-makers and senior government officials in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The CBI had on August 20 registered a case based on a complaint filed by Roshan against the two. Sharma had approached Roshan posing as a CBI SP posted in New Delhi. Sharma is a Class X dropout and his accomplice, Ranjan, is an MBA. The duo threatened Roshan that he was in a legal fight over the shooting of his film “Kites” in Canada. "The two accused told Roshan that the case had been transferred to the CBI for investigation. The accused later took Rs 50 lakh from Roshan who came forward only after the suspects again demanded money from him," Rishi Raj Singh said.

Sonepat, September 13
“The alliance between the BJP and the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) spells a change in state politics and it will provide an alternative to the people of Haryana,” said the state media in charge of the BJP, Rajiv Jain, while addressing a joint press conference of the district units of both the parties here today.

From the BJP, MLA Kavita Jain, district president Manoj Jain, former MLA Devi Dass, Azad Nehra, Lalit Batra and Pradeep Sangwan were present at the press conference and the HJC was represented by the district president, Dharambir Khatri, Ranjit Kaushik and Joginder Malik.

Rajiv Jain said both the parties had decided to contest the Lok Sabha as well as the Assembly elections together so that the alliance sustained for a long time. “The victory of HJC nominee, Kuldeep Bishnoi in Hisar parliamentary byelection will prove to be a trendsetter in state politics in the coming period,” he added.

Rohtak, September 13
“The alliance between the BJP and the HJC has been natural and it will prove to be a milestone in the state politics as the BJP has always been playing the role of a ‘king maker’ in the state.”

This was stated by the state BJP chief, Krishan Pal Gurjar, here today.

Gurjar, who was here to chair the meeting of the state executive of the party, said the alliance was the need of the hour as the people were fed up of “corruption” and “misrule”.

He said the alliance by the BJP with any party had always proved lucky as it had helped that party to form the government in the state. A state-level political rally of the alliance would be held on October 11, which would be addressed by BJP president Nitin Gadkari among others.

Stating that the INLD supremo had also been interested in a tie-up with the BJP, he said the party leaders and workers of the BJP had been opposed to it due to the issue of corruption.

The state executive of the party had also endorsed the alliance at the meeting held today, said Gurjar.