Rohtak, September 17
Development in this town, known as the Chief Minister’s city, may have attracted allegations of “bias” from other parts of the state, but the town is yet to get a local transport system.

With there being no local bus service, the authorities have now announced to set up “state-of-the-art” bus shelters in the town to improve civic amenities.

According to an official press note, the local administration plans to build at least 40 such shelters in the town that has a population in excess of four lakh.

There has been no such facility in the town till now though the authorities claim to have spent several crores of rupees on development here. The cost of each bus shelter will be between Rs 3 to 4 lakh and it will have space to display advertisements to generate revenue for its upkeep.

The first such shelter is expected to come up at Rajiv Chowk in the next few weeks. While, according to officials, there was a need to set up bus shelters in the town as the residents were forced to brave sun and rain while waiting for conveyance, the residents appear to be somewhat surprised at this “late awakening” of the authorities.

“The officials ought to start a local bus service to prove the worth of such shelters as the residents here have been forced to use the polluting and noisy auto-rickshaws,” says Nitin Singh, a local resident.

He said the mini-bus service of the Haryana Roadways on various routes could solve the problem to a great extent and it would help in curbing the growth of auto-rickshaws in the town.

“Travelling to the railway station or the main bus stand in the town was a tough exercise especially for women as there is no safe and dependable mode of transport in the town. One is forced to use private vehicles to move from one place to another,” claimed Sonika, a student.

There was a local bus service many years back but it was withdrawn by the department, said Raj Singh, another resident. The local traffic is chaotic due to no check on the movement of polluting auto-rickshaws and private vehicles, he added.

Jind, September 17
Due to rampant corruption in the Power Department, the poor farmers are being exploited and harassed by officials in the name of releasing new tubewell connections.

“As the farmers were facing delay and harassment in getting their tubewell connections, they were left with no option, but to launch an agitation,” this was stated by the spokesperson of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), Ram Phal Kandela, who had written to senior officials for action in this regard.

He said several cases had surfaced in the past few months in which officials of the Power Department, which also includes the Meter and Transformer Testing Laboratory had demanded bribe from applicants and when they had failed to give bribe, the work on their applications had either been delayed or stalled, citing various lacunae.

“While the applicants were asked to shell out Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 per case at the initial level, a total amount ranging from Rs 30,000 to 40,000 was charged from applicants at various stages till the connection was finalised,” Kandela said.

Those applicants, who fail to oblige officials were asked to make rounds of the office and were told that they would not get the connection till they fulfill all the formalities, he added.

According to Kandela, the corruption had breached all the levels and had been threatening the very existence of the farmer community, as the authorities had failed to ensure a transparent system for releasing the tubewell connections.

Several applications were kept pending for a year.

Demanding a probe into the process of releasing the new connections, he asked the state government to transfer the officials, who had been occupying particular posts for more than two years.

He said the BKU had staged demonstrations at various occasions, but no relief had been provided so far. He said the union would launch an agitation on a large scale soon, if no measures were taken by the state government to curb the menace of corruption in the department.

Hisar, September 17
Heavy late night rains flooded several low- lying areas of the city besides causing extensive damage to the standing bajra and cotton crops.

While the area did not experience any rains during July and August, heavy rain has lashed the district every other day since the beginning of the month. So far 210.2 mm of rain has been recorded.

Farm experts said any more rains in the next few days would cause severe damage to the standing crops that were almost on the verge of ripening. They said the damage so far could be controlled.

Farmers of several villages of this district have demanded a survey to asses the loss to their crops so that compensation could be paid to them in time for them to sow the next crop. 

Madhuban (Karnal), September 17
“Save the girl child to save the universe” is the message from 14-year-old Ishita, who has made the campaign against female foeticide her mission. Named as brand ambassador by the Haryana Government for its “save the girl child” programmes, Ishita has so far travelled 6,000 km to spread the message that the girl child and trees are like our parents and they must be saved to preserve the environment and improve the female sex ratio.

Ishita, who was here to address police personnel at the Haryana Police Academy, said girls occupied an important place in society and the idea to work for saving the girl child and changing the mindset of people about girls struck her on the auspicious day of Lohri in January 2007 and she launched the campaign with full support of her parents.

Ishita formally launched her campaign on November 19, 2007, on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from Fatehgarh in Punjab and concluded it at Mumbai on March 10, 2010. Her determination and relentless campaign against female foeticide prompted the Haryana Government to name her as brand ambassador.

Sudhir Chowdhary, director of Madhuban police academy, stressed the need for changing the old mindset about girls and said merely holding workshops, seminars and rallies would not bring about the change. Small changes should come from our homes to bring bigger changes, he stressed.

The staff and trainees took a pledge to end female foeticide and preserve the environment.

Gurgaon, September 17
A Rezangla war memorial will be constructed by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) at Rezangla Chowk in Gurgaon at a cost of about Rs 55 lakh. This was announced by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at a programme organised in memory of the brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives at the Rezangla post during the Indo-China war of 1962.

The Chief Minister also laid a foundation stone of the memorial here last evening. The programme was organised by the Vijay Diwas and Rezangla Shahidi Samaroh Samiti. Paying tributes to the Rezangla martyrs, Hooda said the war memorial in their memory would be constructed by HUDA and the amount collected through donations by the Vijay Diwas and the Rezangla Shahidi Samaroh Samiti for the construction of this memorial could be spent on the welfare of other soldiers.

In the Indo-China war of 1962, as many as 114 soldiers of Kumaun regiment sacrificed their lives. Majority of those martyrs were from this region. The memorial is being erected to inspire the future generations, who would come to know about the heroic deeds of the brave soldiers of Kumaun regiment. Hooda also announced naming of a road in Gurgaon after martyr Commodor Babrubhan Yadav and directed the district administration to do the needful in consultation with the samiti.

Haryana Power Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav also paid tributes to the Rezangla martyrs. The Chief Minister honoured the war widows and released a book published in memory of Rezangla heroes.

Earlier, Hooda also laid the foundation stone of a boosting station constructed at a cost of Rs 12 crore for supply of drinking water at Rajendra Park colony in Gurgaon. 

Karnal/Kurukshetra, September 17
Elaborate security and other arrangements have been made for the SGPC poll in Karnal and Kurukshetra where the prestige of the presidents of the rival factions of the HSGPC-ad hoc, Jagdish Singh Jhinda and Didar Singh Nalvi, is at stake.

Polling parties were dispatched for 176 polling stations in the twin constituencies and instructions have been issued to them to complete all arrangements before 6.30 am tomorrow so that polling could be held from 8 am to 4 pm.

Six duty magistrates and 16 supervisors have been deployed for 68,411 voters in the Karnal constituency comprising Rohtak, Jhajjar, Panipat, Sonepat and Karnal while 10 duty magistrates and 13 supervisors would facilitate smooth and peaceful polling in Kurukshetra with around 58,000 voters, spread over Babain, Thaneswar, Shahbad, Pehowa and Ladwa.

Additional security arrangements have been made at about 70 polling booths, which have been declared as sensitive and hypersensitive in the twin constituencies.

The polling will be through ballot and showing proof of identity will be a must while only Keshadhari Sikh voters, above the age of 21, will be allowed to cast their votes.

About 3,000 employees, including 2,000 police personnel, 300 home guards and 700 other officials, will be on duty. No voter will be allowed to take away the ballot paper and blind and disabled voters will be allowed to take helpers to cast the vote. 

Sirsa, September 17
Workers of the Haryana Roadways paralysed the bus service at a local bus stand for a few hours today after two officials of the Taxation Department and a driver of a private bus allegedly beat up a worker.

The worker, Vinod Kumar, was on duty on the yard of the roadways workshop, when the officials asked him to allow exit of a private bus, which was earlier impounded by the taxation authorities for evasion.

The agitated workers alleged that the officials and the driver of the private bus beat up Vinod mercilessly, when he demanded written orders for the release of the bus. The officials ran away when other workers came to Vinod’s rescue. The agitated workers refused to allow the buses to ply till a criminal case was registered against the guilty officials.

They relented only when an executive magistrate assured the workers that an FIR would be registered against the guilty persons.

Jind, September 17
The scare regarding the disruption of bus services to Hisar and Barwala towns from here petered out, following reports that the verdict on the Mirchpur violence had got postponed for another week. The bus services from this town to other places and routes remained normal today.

Earlier, the officials concerned had decided to keep the bus services on this route suspended in view of the possible fallout of the case in which judgment was expected to be delivered today. Mirchpur village is located near the border of Jind and Hisar on Jind-Barwala route. Though a couple of buses in the morning were either diverted or delayed but all buses plied on the route without any problem, claimed an official. 

Fatehabad, September 17
The District and Sessions Judge, Raj Kumar Tewatia, today sentenced four members of a family to imprisonment for life for the murder of a youth for protecting family honour at Rattakhera village in the district.

The convicts include Kiran Bala with whom the victim, Vinod, was alleged to have an affair, her two brothers, Bajrang and Devender, and mother, Baljit Kaur.

The victim had gone missing from his house on November 15, 2009, and his body was recovered from a well in the village three days later.

The victim’s bother, Rohtash, lodged a complaint with the police that his brother had been done to death by the accused, who later disposed of the body by throwing it in the well.

Circumstantial evidence proved the allegations and the court found the four guilty under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the IPC. 

Karnal, September 17
A local doctor, Brij Sharma, who was arrested along with his assistant while conducting a sex determination test on April 20 was today found dead under mysterious circumstances in his clinic.

The police found a bottle of liquor from the spot and called forensic experts to ascertain the cause of the death. Dr Sharma was released on bail in September by a local court and has been attending his clinic, sources said.

The police is yet to ascertain whether it is a case of suicide, foul play or there is some other reason behind the mysterious death. — TNS

Jhajjar, September 17
Member Parliament (MP) from Rohtak, Deepender Hooda, today said the Congress would provide an effective Lokpal Bill to the people in the country and it would be based on the suggestions of the government’s Lokpal Bill and the Jan Lokpal Bill.

Deepender was interacting with mediapersons after listening to the grievances of the residents of Kharman and Dujana villages here while taking stock of the problem of waterlogging.

“The Bill is now with the standing committee and the country will hopefully get a Lokpal Bill, after a general consensus is reached, by the winter session of Parliament,” said the MP.

Reacting to the complaints of the villagers, Deepender directed the executive engineer of the Irrigation Department to ensure water drainage from the area within one week; otherwise strict action would be taken against him. Expressing his sensitivity towards the concerns of the common man, he said the state government was implementing development works without delay.

He assured the people that the technical snags in the newly constructed Dhaur Link Drain would be removed soon. Similarly, he also ordered the officials concerned to construct a new drain in Kharman village, taking all technicalities into consideration. He was accompanied by Dr Raghubir Singh Kadiyan, MLA, Beri segment of Jhajjar district. 

Sonepat, September 17
Activists of the district CPM yesterday staged a protest against the petrol price hike and handed over a memorandum, addressed to the President of India, to Pankaj Aggarwal, DC, demanding its rollback.

The memorandum said the hike was unjustified when the prices of crude in the international market were decreasing.

It would also result in increasing the prices of essential commodities.

State BJP media in charge Rajiv Jain alleged the oil companies had been increasing the prices of petroleum products on one pretext or the other whereas these companies- IOC, Bharat Petroleum (BP) and Hindustan Petroleum (HP)-- had been earning net profits in crores for the past four years.

The companies had increased the petrol price by Rs 8 per litre during the past four months.

Volunteers of the “Vishav Brahmin Federation organised a protest march with switched-off motorcycles in the town in protest against this hike.