Hisar, September 23
Jai Prakash, Congress nominee for the byelection to the Hisar Lok Sabha seat, today filed his nomination. He was accompanied by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Immediately after the nomination, the Congress leadership descended on the Improvement Trust grounds where the party had organised a rally to show its strength.

Most of the members of the Hooda Cabinet, party legislators, seven Independents backing the government, several MPs and PCC chief Phool Chand Mullana were present on the dais.

In a display of solidarity, scores of former MLAs, district Congress chiefs and important workers from all over Haryana made a beeline for the venue of the rally. Vehicles bearing placards of Congress leaders from different assembly constituencies jammed the roads, leading to the venue of the rally.

Addressing partymen Hooda made no bones about the importance of victory for the Congress in this prestigious election. Hooda said he had ensured that every part of the state received its share of development funds. Besides, he claimed that his government had launched several welfare schemes to benefit every section of society. “Now that I have done my bit, it is your turn to convince the voters that the Congress deserves their votes. Make sure you contact every single voter and seek his vote,” Hooda said. The Chief Minister said the byelection was as important for Congress president Sonia Gandhi and himself as for every Congressman.

Mullana said Haryana had seen INLD-BJP rule in the past and the people shuddered to think of the law and order situation that prevailed in the state during those days. Likewise, the HJC was a start-up and had nothing to offer to the state as a whole. Only the Congress could deliver the goods.

This was by far the biggest show by the Congress in this area ever since the party returned to power in 2005. However, Union Minister Selja and Rajya Sabha member Birender Singh were conspicuous by their absence.

Meanwhile, seven others filed their nomination papers today, raising the number of candidates to 24.

Besides Jai Parkash, Randhir of Dubal village in Kaithal district filed his nomination papers as a candidate of the INC. Suresh Aggarwal of Gurgaon, a candidate of the Samast Bhartiya Party, also filed his nomination.

Those who filed their nomination papers as Independent candidates included Mahender, Surajmal, Satbir, Om Parkash and Kuldeep. 

Pataudi (Gurgaon), September 23
Thousands of people, including family members, friends, film and cricket stars, admirers and local residents, bade a tearful adieu to the former Indian cricket squad captain, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, as his mortal remains were laid to rest here this afternoon.

Pataudi, who was fondly called Tiger, was also the last Nawab of this erstwhile state. He was buried at the family’s burial ground on the premises of Pataudi Palace, next to the grave of his father, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi. The last rites were performed by Pataudi’s son and Hindi movie actor, Saif Ali Khan.

Tiger’s wife and yesteryear’sfamous film actress, Sharmila Tagore, and their daughters Soha and Saba were consoled by Indian movie stars Kareena, Karishma and their mother, Babita, besides Malaika Arora Khan and Amrita Arora, at the funeral ceremony.

Indian cricket icon, Kapil Dev, former skipper Anshuman Gaekwad, Pakistan High Commissioner Shahid Malik and his wife, santoor maestro Amjad Ali Khan and Punjab Cricket Association chairman IS Bindra also paid their tributes to the charismatic cricketer.

Pataudi (70), who led team India to their maiden Test series victory on foreign soil, died yesterday at Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi, where he had been undergoing treatment for an acute lung infection.

His body was taken to his Vasant Vihar residence in New Delhi early this morning, where Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Congress leader Digvijay Singh and BJP leader Arun Jaitley paid rich tributes. Later, the body was taken to his native village, Pataudi.

A large number of people gathered at the Pataudi Palace to catch the last glimpse of the last Nawab. The police personnel deployed there had to use mild force to control the crowds as film actresses were sighted in a balcony overseeing the burial place.

Ambala, September 23
Ambala DC Sameer Pal Srow on Friday ordered an inquiry into an alleged fraud in Sabla scheme. The scheme was launched to make meals available to girl students of classes IX to XII in government schools.

He also announced that henceforth, a committee of senior officials of the departments concerned would oversee supply of eatables to schools.

As many as 180 bags containing wheat and rice were supplied to a government school at Naraingarh and 88 bags to Shahbad by a contractor on an order placed by CONFED under the scheme. More than 90 per cent of the bags supplied by the contractor to the two schools were found underweight, containing between 35 kg and 48 kg wheat or rice, that too wet.

On getting complaints, SDM Naraingarh, O P Sharma directed district food and supply department officials to undertake a probe and submit a report. Investigations thereafter confirmed large-scale embezzlement.

According to sources, there is a possibility of involvement of some officials of the departments concerned in this fraud.

The SDM has directed Sat Pal Singh, SHO, Naraingarh, to register cases against supplier Suresh Kumar and CONFED salesman Satish Kumar

New Delhi, September 23
A Delhi court is likely to pronounce its judgement tomorrow in a case lodged against 98 persons accused of burning alive a 70-year-old Dalit man and his physically challenged daughter at Mirchpur village in Haryana last year.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Kamini Lau had on March 11 commenced trial against 98 persons for allegedly killing the father-daughter duo.

The court had, in its order on framing of charges, termed the "Jat community" as "aggressor" and Dalits as "sufferers" in the incident.

The accused have been tried under provisions of the IPC, dealing with murder, rioting, making unlawful assembly, promoting enmity between different communities, physical assault, creating mischief and damaging public property. They have also been charged under the Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The case, related to killing of 70-year-old Tara Chand and his physically challenged daughter on April 21 last year allegedly by a mob of over 100 persons, was transferred to Delhi by the Supreme Court to ensure a free and fair trial.

After the April 21 incident, about 150 Dalits had fled Mirchpur. — PTI 

Chandigarh, September 23
The mood in government and ruling party circles is upbeat following the rejection of Punjab’s plea by the Supreme Court on the 3.8-km-long toe wall Haryana is constructing along a Ghaggar bundh opposite Tatiana village in Kaithal district.

Haryana is constructing is toe wall to strengthen the breach, which occurred near RD 1,47,000 on the left side of the Ghaggar during July, 2010, submerging over 5200 hectares of agriculture land in 19 villages of Kaithal district.

Punjab had approached the apex court, urging it to restrain Haryana from constructing the toe wall on the ground that it would lead to floods in its territory.

Sources in the Haryana government say the Supreme Court’s order can clear the way for commissioning of the Hansi-Butana canal, a prestigious project of the Hooda government. The canal has been constructed in Haryana territory to ensure equitable distribution of irrigation water in the state. The canal which has a 2000-cusecs capacity would bring irrigation and drinking water to the parched land of southern Haryana.

The commissioning of the canal has been stayed by the Supreme Court on a plea by Punjab filed in 2007. One of the grounds taken by Punjab against the canal, which runs along the Ghaggar, is that it would obstruct the natural flow of water and would, thus, cause floods in its territory. This ground is similar to what Punjab had taken in its application filed in June, 2011, against the toe wall, which has not been accepted by the Supreme Court.

Haryana Public Works (B&R) Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala said the historic decision of the Supreme Court would go a long way in freeing Guhla, Cheeka and Kaithal city from the fear of floods forever. He directed officers of the Haryana Irrigation Department to complete the remaining work of the wall within 30 days. 

Gharonda , September 23
About 1,500 retrenched workers of the Liberty Group have been fighting a battle for justice against the management for the past five years.

These workers were retrenched in 2006 when they launched an agitation against exploitation and non-payment of minimum wages by the management, which laid off 3,000 workers and closed down two units.

The plight of these jobless workers was miserable but neither the management nor the government showed any concern. The workers alleged that they had neither been reinstated nor paid adequate compensation as per the Worksmen’s Compensation Act. On the contrary, criminal cases had been instituted against them.

The workers were piqued over alleged bias of the government in favour of the management and maintained that the company had backed out from implementing the agreements reached with the union. The agitating workers got a fresh lease of life with support from the Youth Congress and had been sitting on an indefinite dharna outside the factory for the past 64 days to press their demands for reinstatement with full wages and withdrawal of cases registered against them.

It is ironical that the agitation launched in mid-July with the support of the Youth Congress is in the knowledge of Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary, but even then the state government has not intervened to settle the five-year-old dispute.

Trouble started in 2005 when the workers demanded payment of daily minimum wages fixed by the government, issue of uniforms twice a year, reinstatement of 72 workers and return of original certificates by the management but instead of getting justice they lost their jobs. “The company adopted repressive measures to intimidate workers with the help of the police and eight leaders were arrested overnight and booked under Section 307, IPC, the police resorted to a brutal lathi charge, injuring 40-50 workers and instituted false cases to crush the agitation during 2006,” KS Rana, union president, said.

However, Shami Bansal, Managing Director of the Liberty group, said the workers were asked to rejoin duty within six months and 1,500 workers joined while the rest refused to do so. They also did not accept compensation offered by the management. As the company had made fresh recruitments, it was not feasible to reinstate the retrenched workers. 

Jind, September 23
Cotton growers are worried due to delay in the start of the procurement process. Private cotton mills which procure produce have gone on strike against the hefty market fee. The district unit of the BKU has asked the government to come to the rescue of growers by procuring cotton at a justified rate.

‘The crop is either ready or at the ripening stage but the chances of its procurement have got bleak due to a strike by cotton ginning mills across the state. If the strike prolongs, it could hit farmers hard as they will not be able to sell their produce on time, claimed Kartar Singh, a farmer.

Claiming that farmers had fetched an average rate ranging between Rs 3200 and 3800 per quintal, the rates being quoted by some buyers at this stage were about Rs 2000 against the MSP of Rs 2500. The government had hiked the minimum support price (MSP) of cotton by Rs 300 each for both medium and long staple length fibre to Rs 2,800/quintal and Rs 3,300/quintal, respectively.

Ram Phal Kandela, president of the BKU (Kandela), said the government should step in to save farmers. He said the crop was ready for procurement and any delay could cause a severe loss to growers.

Sirsa, September 23
Four members of a family, including three women, were killed when their Maruti Alto car collided head-on with a Punjab Roadways bus near Moriwala village, 10 km from here, this morning .

The victims, followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda, were coming from Udampur village in Ambala to participate in the “coronation day” function of dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh today.

The accident was so fierce that the car turned into a mass of mangled metal.

The police reached the spot and began rescue operations.

While two women and the car driver died on the spot, an injured woman succumbed to her injuries in the local General Hospital.

Dera sources identified the bodies from the registration numbers given on the lockets worn by the victims.

The victims have been identified as Rohit (24), his mother, Pushpa (45), and two elderly women, Dhara Bai (75) and Dewa Bai (70).

Subhash and Krishna, both residents of Mela Ground, Sirsa, who were travelling in the bus, have also been injured The police has impounded the bus but its driver absconded after the accident. 

Gurgaon, September 23
ZENROREN, the National Confederation of Trade Unions, Tokyo, Japan, has supported the stir of Maruti Suzuki India’s workers at the company’s Manesar plant.

Expressing solidarity with the Maruti workers in a communiqué sent to CITU, the confederation has maintained that it stood by the workers and condemn the stance of the company management.

State CITU president Satbir Singh said this would prove to be a shot in the arm for the protesting workers to carry forward their struggle.

“We condemn the Suzuki management and any Japanese multinationals exploiting workers abroad,” the communiqué maintains, adding that Suzuki and other car-manufacturing companies were trying to sacrifice workers in Japan even after the earthquake and tsunami six months ago.

Meanwhile, the agitating workers of Maruti Suzuki India Limited did not send their representatives for a tripartite meeting with the district administration and the company management convened today.

Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner PC Meena said the workers had been invited for talks with the management as they had requested him to hold a meeting after the tripartite talks failed last time.

“However, they expressed their inability to come for the meeting convened in this regard today,” he maintained.