Fatehabad, November 1
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the schedule for the byelections to fill vacancies in the Ratia (SC) and Adampur Assembly seats in Haryana.

According to the schedule issued by the ECI today, the notification for one parliamentary constituency and seven Assembly seats of the country, including Ratia and Adampur in Haryana, will be issued on November 5.

The last date of making nominations is November 12.

Scrutiny of nominations will be held on November 14 while the last date of withdrawals is November 16.

Polling of votes will be held on November 30 and counting on December 4..

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said that the result of the Hisar parliamentary byelection will not have any impact on the forthcoming byelections to Ratia and Adamapur Assembly seats.

Hooda, who made a brief visit to Fatehabad to condole the death of former parliamentary secretary Dura Ram’s son-in-law, Dr Gaurav Bishnoi, was talking to mediapersons at chief parliamentary secretary Prahlad Singh Gillankhera’s office here today.

Hooda said the Hisar byelection was contested under different circumstances, which, he said, did not exist in Adampur and Ratia.

Without elaborating on the circumstances, the Chief Minister said there were several reasons for the defeat of the Congress at Hisar, which the party was analysing at its own level.

He said what happened at Hisar would not have any effect on Ratia and Adampur.

“My candidate did not win in any of the nine Assembly segments of Hisar in the 2009 parliamentary elections, but now we have five MLAs from these segments, though the Assembly elections were held within months of the parliamentary poll. The Congress again lost in all nine Assembly segments this time,” Hooda explained, adding that every election was contested under different circumstances and produced different results.

The Chief Minister said the Congress would contest both the byelections vigorously and hoped to win the seats.

Chandigarh, November 1
The BJP has accused Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar of being biased against wheat and paddy-growing states of Punjab and Haryana.

President of the BJP Kisan Morcha Om Prakash Dhankar said here today that Pawar had one yardstick for fixing the price for the cane growers of his home state and another for fixing the minimum support price of wheat and paddy.

Dhankar said wheat and paddy were primarily responsible for making the country self-sufficient in foodgrains as these two commodities constituted three-fourth of the grain production of the country. However, the government had adopted a “negative” attitude towards these crops as was clear from the MSP announced for various grains this year. While the MSP for the pulses and oilseeds was increased by 33 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively, for wheat the increase was less than 10 per cent.

The low MSP for wheat and paddy had made these crops unviable for farmers. If the farmers stopped growing wheat and paddy, the food security of the country would be in peril.

Insisting that the MSP for wheat and paddy was less than the cost of production, Dhankar said the government had ignored the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission, which had said that the MSP of wheat and paddy should be at least 50 per cent more than the cost of production.

The BJP leader said his party would organise a two-day workshop of the farmers of North India at Panipat from November 26 to work out the actual cost of paddy. Representatives of the farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh would participate in the workshop.

Similar workshops would be organised for the farmers of eastern and southern India. 

Chandigarh, November 1
Political circles of Haryana remained agog with speculation over the identity of the MP, belonging to the state, who might have been issued summons by the Income Tax Department to appear before it regarding the alleged parking of funds abroad, after a report appeared in a section of the press.

The report claimed that the recently constituted Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) in the Income Tax Department had summoned three MPs, belonging to Haryana, UP and Kerala, to appear before it for questioning regarding their bank accounts in Geneva. One of the MPs was reported to have Rs 200 crore in foreign accounts. The report did not name any MP.

The most worried was the Congress as the party has nine MPs out of 10 in the state. In the last Lok Sabha elections, the only non-Congress MP to win was Bhajan Lal, who died some months ago. Therefore, the summons could not have been issued to him. His son, Kuldeep Bishnoi, has become an MP only recently from the Hisar seat vacated by the death of his father, though he remained a member of the Lok Sabha from Bhiwani from 2004 to 2009.

The INLD had no such worries because it has no MP from the state at present.

The Congress MPs from Haryana are Selja (Ambala), industrialist-turned-politician Naveen Jindal (Kurukshetra), Arvind Sharma (Karnal), Jitender Malik (Sonepat), Avtar Bhadana (Faridabad), Rao Inderjeet Singh (Gurgaon), Deepender Hooda (Rohtak), Shruti Chaudhary (Bhiwani-Mahendragarh) and Ashok Tanwar (Sirsa).

The speculation continued till evening when the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) denied that any summons were issued to any MP in connection with the investigation of black-money cases.

Chandigarh, November 1
A controversy of sorts over the number of witnesses examined in the defection case surfaced today with counsel for the Speaker and Kuldeep Bishnoi at variance with each other on the figures.

Appearing for the Speaker, Sanjeev Bansal claimed five witnesses had been examined during a specific period. Refuting the assertion, Bishnoi’s counsel, Satya Pal Jain, claimed only two had been examined.

It was later clarified by Harbhagwan Singh, counsel for the MLAs, that two of the five witnesses were examined

Taking up the matter, the Bench fixed November 11 as the next date of hearing, giving the last opportunity to the Speaker to file a status report.

The special Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Gurdev Singh orally asked counsel whether the Speaker intended to take a decision on the petition. If the Speaker is not willing, the court would interfere, the Bench made it clear .

The Bench had earlier asked counsel for the Speaker and petitioner Kuldeep Bishnoi to furnish the status reports.

The ‘defecting’ MLAs --Satpal Sangwan, Vinod Bhyana, Narender Singh, Zileram and Dharam Singh -- had joined Congress in November, 2009.

The matter was placed before the Division Bench after the Single Judge’s order fixing a four-month deadline for the Haryana Speaker to decide Bishnoi’s plea was challenged.

The Single Judge had also ruled judicial intervention in the matter was justified. 

Hisar, November 1
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam(DHBVN) today launched a voluntary disclosure scheme (VDS) for domestic, non-domestic and industrial consumers under which they can declare their unauthorized extension of load voluntarily without paying any penalty. The scheme will be available till December 31.

A DHBVN spokesman said here that that domestic and non-domestic consumers might declare the extended load by submitting an “application and agreement” (A&A) form along with advance consumption deposit (ACD). They need not submit any terms and conditions forms or affidavits. The consumers were not required to submit any fresh test report also, up to 20 KW load. They might submit a self-declaration form. However, for extension of load beyond 20 KW, a fresh test report was required to be submitted. Their load would be regularised without any penalty.

He said that the industrial consumers might declare their unauthorised load on A&A forms along with revised test reports and consumption security and service-connection charges for extended load. They also need not submit any terms and conditions form and affidavits.

The extension of load shall be regularised with the existing system if lines and transformers could take up the extended load. In case the existing system could not bear the declared load, the consumer would be asked to remove the unauthorised load.

He said the extension of load shall be deemed to be regularised from the date of submission of A&A forms in the office of the SDO concerned .

However, the benefit of the scheme shall be permitted to the consumers who were not defaulters.

Hisar, November 1
The local markets remained closed today in protest against the failure of the police to nab the culprits who had demanded ransom of Rs 50 lakh from the owner of a showroom in Jambheshwar Market here a day before Diwali.

The call for the bandh had been given by all political parties, market associations and a number of employees’ and citizens’ organisations.

Jambheshwar Market has been closed for the past six days. However, the bandh today was complete all over the city. All shops remained closed till 3 p.m. when the bandh was lifted.

The shopkeepers staged protests at several places in the city demanding arrest of the culprits.

Meanwhile, INLD workers took out a candle-light procession here last evening in support of the agitating shopkeepers.

It may be recalled that two miscreants had come to a showroom and handed over to the owner a letter allegedly written on behalf of two criminals lodged in the Tihar jail in Delhi. It demanded ransom of Rs 50 lakh from the shopkeeper.

The miscreants then fired a shot and escaped on their motorcycle. No arrests have been made so far despite the fact that the police was informed immediately after the incident .

The SP said the police would bring here on November 4 two persons whose names were mentioned in the ransom note handed over to the showroom owner and who are lodged in the Tihar jail. Regretting the incident, he said instead of organising a bandh, the shopkeepers should help the police. Meanwhile, Gagan Chugh, president of the Jambheshwar Market Association, said the law and order situation in Hisar had been deteriorating steadily. He said a fear psychosis had gripped the business community. Ramesh Jain of Rajguru Market said the shopkeepers had kept the bandh peaceful and they did not block traffic or otherwise did anything which could inconvenience the public.

Sirsa, November 1
Farmers of the Sirsa and Fatehabad area are a worried lot due to the declining prices of “muchhal” and Pusa 1121 varieties of basmati paddy.

The “muchhal” variety of paddy that fetched Rs 2,200 to Rs 2,300 per quintal to the farmers last year has few takers for a price as low as Rs 1,400 per quintal today.

Pusa 1121, which was sold for Rs 2,500 per quintal last year, sold for the highest price of Rs 1,650 per quintal today.

The prices of these varieties have fallen by Rs 200 per quintal in the past one week.

After these varieties fetched handsome returns last year, a large number of farmers had opted for these basmati varieties instead of the commonly grown parmal paddy.

Several farmers, who had been keeping their crop on hold in the hope of a hike, have been at the receiving end due to the fall in prices in the past few days.

Some farmers have been sitting with their heaps in the grain markets in the hope of a reversal in trends while some others have lifted back their paddy in disappointment.

The exporters and millers purchase basmati varieties of paddy and there is no MSP fixed by the government for these as these are not procured by the government agencies. Demand in the export market and policies of the Central Government governing exports decided the prices of basmati varieties. This year, even the purchase by exporters has been hit in Sirsa due to a recent stand-off between exporters and the arhtiyas over the mode of payments. 

Chandigarh, November 1
The INLD has demanded the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 3,000 per quintal for aromatic variety of paddy.

So far the government has been fixing MSP only for non-basmati varieties of paddy, mainly because the export of these varieties is not allowed. The non-basmati varieties of rice are generally perceived to be consumed by lower and lower-middle classes. Therefore, the government does not allow the export of these varieties.

Since the export of basmati variety is open, it generally fetches a good price in the export market and the government, therefore, does not feel the necessity to fix the MSP for this variety. However, at times the price of basmati falls below if the export orders are fewer.

Making the demand here today, INLD secretary-general Ajay Singh Chautala said basmati, which used to sell for about Rs 2100 per quintal about 20 years ago, was today being sold for anything between Rs 1500 to Rs 1800 per quintal though the cost of inputs had gone up manifold during this period. He also demanded a bonus of Rs 500 a quintal on all other varieties of paddy.

Taking a dig at the Hooda government’s claim that it had set new records of development, Chautala said the government had definitely set new records, be it the bad shape of economy with a mounting debt, labour unrest, worsening law and order situation, grave power and water shortage or the ruling party candidate forfeiting his security deposit in the election. He said the people were fed up with this regime and they rejected the Congress in the Hisar Lok Sabha byelection.

On possibilities of a third front at the national level, Chautala said like-minded forces were working on this. “You may hear a positive development before the next session of Parliament." He said his party had already started campaigning in the Adampur and Ratia Assembly constituencies, where the byelections would be held on November 30 . 

Kadarpur (Gurgaon), November 1
The CRPF today celebrated its 72nd anniversary here today. An impressive parade was organised on this occasion.

Union Minister of State for Home, Jitendra Singh, who was the chief guest, took the salute. He was escorted by CRPF Director-General K Vijay Kumar.

Addressing the gathering, the minister appreciated the CRPF’s crucial role in conducting peaceful elections, especially in the border zones and other disturbed areas.

Underlining the key importance of such community service initiatives of the force in Left-wing extremist areas, the minister asserted that the central armed police and paramilitary forces were in no way inferior to the armed forces.

The minister said the serving as well as retired personnel of the central armed police forces would soon get CSD (canteen) and additional medical facilities.

“We are also making efforts to ensure that the wards of central armed police forces personnel get reservation in admissions to professional colleges and other educational institutes,” he claimed and added that the Central Government was committed to improving their working conditions.

CRPF chief K.Vijay Kumar maintained that the force was giving more emphasis on training and new specialised training schools were being established to upgrade the benchmark. Eight CRPF personnel were awarded the President’s Police Medal for gallantry and eight others the President’s Police Medal for distinguished service.

The Trophy for “Innovation in Training” was presented to CIAT (Counter-Insurgency and Anti-Terrorist) School, Silchar, Assam. The Best Group Centre trophy was lifted by Group Centre, Srinagar while the Best Operational Battalion in LWE, Jammu and Kashmir and North-Eastern area were lifted by 131, 152 and 128 Battalions, respectively. 

Chandigarh, November 1
The 46th Haryana Day was celebrated with zeal and enthusiasm at Haryana Raj Bhawan here today. Governor Jagannath Pahadia was the chief guest and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda presided over the function.

The Governor and the Chief Minister extended their greetings to the people of Haryana. A variety programme, projecting the culture and life of the people of Haryana, was presented. The programme included folk songs, folk music and folk dances.The Governor announced a grant of Rs 3 lakh for all participants.

Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal, chief parliamentary secretaries Ram Kishan Fouji and Sultan Singh Jadaula, MLAs Sampat Singh, Ashok Arora and Krishan Lal Panwar and Chief Secretary Urvashi Gulati were among those present.

SONEPAT: A “Healthy Walk — Healthy Talk” programme was organised on Tuesday at the Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal, in which students and members from the teaching and non-teaching staff of the university participated.

Presiding over the programme, Vice-Chancellor of the university HS Chahal said Haryana had taken rapid strides after its formation as a separate state and had established its identity in various fields at the national and international levels.

Karnal, November 1
Terming Haryana Day as “Black Day” in the history of Haryana Sikhs, Didar Singh Nalvi, president of the rival faction of Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (HSGPC), said the non-implementation of Section 72, Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, which provided a separate Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee for the state, has sealed the fate of the community.

Pointing out that as per the Act, the state today has separate general and agriculture universities, Governors and other institutions and the government was pressing the demand for a separate high court, he wondered that why a separate Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee was being denied to Sikhs and their “just and genuine” demand was being suppressed.

Lashing out at the Congress government for going back on its promise to create a separate Gurudwara Committee for the state made in the election manifesto, he cautioned that the Haryana Sikhs would pay the Congress back in the same coin in the next Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

Criticising the government for not acceding to the request of Haryana Sikhs, not to hold the SGPC elections as per the Sikhs Gurdwara Act, 1925, Nalvi said: “Even the Sikhs settled in Pakistan are better placed than the Haryana Sikhs as they have their own committee to manage the affairs while the Haryana Sikhs are still hooked to the Sikhs Gurdwara Act.”

Jhajjar, November 1
Two Junior Engineers (JEs) of the PWD & BR Department have been suspended for negligence while constructing a diversion road here.

A Sub-Divisional Engineer (SDE), Vinod Balian, involved in the process of building the road, has also been chargesheeted in this regard.

Order to this effect has been issued by Mahesh Kumar, Engineer-in-Chief, wherein he mentioned that the JEs, Sanjay Kumar and Manoj Kumar, have been suspended till further order on the charge of dereliction of duty.

According to the official information, the diversion road was built in 2006 and it had started developing potholes after sometime. Though residents had complained to the authorities concerned repeatedly to repair the road but no officer paid any heed to their complaints.

Later, taking a serious view of the complaints, a high-level team, including the Engineer-in-Chief of the PWD & BR, Section Engineer (SE) and Jhajjar District Commissioner, had inspected the road and found irregularities in building the road during the inspection. On the basis of a report, the JEs were asked for a reply about the worsening condition of the road but they could not give satisfactory reply.