Fatehabad, February 19
The six-month-old standoff between farmers and the power utilities over the setting up of a 220-KV power substation at Samain village in Fatehabad ended today with both sides signing a “truce” document.

After officials of the power utilities conceded some major demands, the farmers agreed to end their opposition to the substation.

Haryana Agriculture Minister, Paramvir Singh, who represents the area in the state Assembly, and Deputy Commissioner ML Kaushik, intervened in the negotiations.

An official spokesperson said the power utilities had agreed to provide 24-hour supply to Samain village on urban mode from the 11 KV substation.

The villagers have agreed to pay their three current bills according to the agreement reached with the authorities and their power meters will be installed outside their houses in future.

The power utilities have also agreed to pay Rs 8 lakh per acre to the village panchayat as compensation for the land acquired for the 220 KV power substation.

The power utilities have agreed that the issue of old pending bills of the villagers will not affect this agreement.

Earlier, the power utilities had maintained that the villagers did not qualify for the 24-hour supply, as many of them had not been paying their power bills for long.

Meanwhile, Sube Singh, a leader of the agitating farmers, informed mediapersons on phone that the “truce” was not acceptable to them.

He said the farmers wanted direct power supply from the 220 KV substation not only for domestic purpose, but also for their tubewells.

He alleged the authorities had engineered an agreement with a handful of farmers as a majority of them, including he, were in Mayyar (Hisar) today in connection with the Jat agitation. 

New Delhi, February 19
The government has given its nod to the DRDO for setting up a national centre to train armed forces and paramilitary personnel as 'first responders' in Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) emergencies, a top official of the defence research body said.

Besides preparing a pool of trained manpower that will be technologically equipped to deal with a CBRN situation, this centre will also act as an Emergency Response Centre (ERC) to co-ordinate action during such emergencies, DRDO's Chief Controller W Selvamurthy said here.

"The mandate of this centre will be to provide quality training for military, paramilitary, police and civilians as 'first responders' in handling a CBRN eventuality as well as to function as an Emergency Response Centre," he said while addressing a conference on CBRN disaster management and security.

The first such centre, which will come up in Panipat in Haryana, shall function under the overall supervision of the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a DRDO lab.

"We have intentionally kept away the centre from major cities because if any incident happens, it could be in large cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad etc. So we have kept away from these places," he said.

Besides training military, paramilitary, police and the civilian population, this centre will also create awareness on CBRN emergencies, he added.— PTI

Chandigarh, February 19
The government has given additional charge to 10 IAS officers. While nine of them have been given additional charge during the period of election duty of other officers, one of them has been given additional charge during a leave period of another officer.

Ajit M.Sharan will also look after the work of Principal Secretary, Renewable Energy Department, during the period of election duty of Vijai Vardhan.

Sarban Singh has been given additional charge as Principal Secretary, the Sports and Youth Affairs Department, during the period of election duty of RP Chander.

Roshan Lawill also look after the work of Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Department during the period of election duty of Hardeep Kumar.

SS Dhillon has been given additional charge as Principal Secretary, Housing Department and Secretary, Cell for Proper Utilisation or Disposal of Government Property; Nodal Officer, for monitoring the CM’s announcements and looking after the work of monitoring and coordination during the period of election duty of M. Kithan.

SS Prasad, will also look after the work of Principal Secretary, Science and Technology, during the period of election duty of PK Das.

Surina Rajan has been given the additional charge as Principal Secretary, Archives Department, during the period of election duty of RR Fuliya.

P. Raghavendra Rao has been given the additional charge as Principal Secretary, Printing and Stationery and Archaeology and Museums Departments, during the period of election duty of Shashi Bala Gulati.

Sanjeev Kaushal will also look after the work of Principal Secretary, Industrial Training Department during the period of election duty of VS Kundu.

Vineet Garg will also look after the work of Special Secretary, Administrative Reforms Department, during the period of election duty of SN Roy.

Anurag Agarwa has been given additional charge as Special Secretary, Personnel, Training, Vigilance and Parliamentary Affairs Departments, Director General, Training (ex-officio) and Science and Technology, and Inquiry Officer, Vigilance, during the leave period of Vineet Garg with effect from February 22. 

Hisar, February 19
Members of the the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti today criticised the Haryana government and the Centre for not granting reservation to Jats in government jobs at a rally in Mayyar village, near here.

The rally was held under watchful eyes of the police which had taken all measures to prevent a repeat of violence that marked the rally last year. The administration had changed the routes of buses in view of the rally.

Those who addressed the rally included Mool Chand Dahiya and Ram Bhagat Malik. The crowd at the rally must have come as a disappointment to the organisers.

The samiti leaders asked the government to withdraw police cases registered against 150 members of the community in connection with last year’s violence by tomorrow evening failing which the railway track would be blocked at Ramayan village. They sat in dharna near the track today.

Karnal, February 19
“Treat me as a human being and help me survive,” are the words of a 38-year-old AIDS patient, Om Prakash, who lost his three children to the dreaded AIDS disease and is struggling to save the fourth child.

The blood count of the fourth HIV-affected child (eight-year-old daughter) of Om Prakash, a resident of Raipur Jattan in Gharonda, has come down to 300 but he is not in a position to get anti retro viral therapy (ART) immediately for survival due to an acute financial crunch.

The treatment being given to his child at Deen Dayal Upadhaya Hospital, Delhi, is free of cost but he does not have even a penny to meet the sundry expenses during his stay in Delhi and is running from pillar to post to get some financial support.

Working as a labourer to make both ends meet, Om Prakash received the biggest shock of his life when he went for a check-up of his ailing wife. After the tests, the doctor told him that he, his wife and four children were affected by the HIV virus in 2008.

Three of his children, including a 10-year-old girl, had already succumbed to the disease and saving the fourth child has become a torture as he has no money and no help is coming from any quarter.

Already under a debt of Rs 1.5 lakh, Om Prakash has no source of income as the powerloom factory he was working in closed down eight months ago. The only silver lining for him is that the factory has given him accommodation and he has a roof over his head.

“I am desperately looking for a job but whenever I get a job, my disease comes in the way and I am forced to quit,” says Om Prakash.

Even on AIDS Day on December 1, he got nothing except an assurance for a job.

“I have met politicians many times but they either ignored or avoided us on one pretext or the other. I will soon be left with no option but to kill myself and my family to get rid of my miseries,” he said. 

Chandigarh, February 19
The Haryana Government has sought much higher Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for various crops for the Kharif season 2012-13.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has approved a proposal in this regard to be sent to the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). A government spokesman said the state had proposed the MSP of Rs 1,800 per quintal for the common variety of paddy; Rs 1,880 per quintal for the fine variety; and Rs 1,960 per quintal for the superfine variety.

The MSP fixed by the Central Government for 2011-12 was Rs 1,080 per quintal for the common variety and Rs 1,110 per quintal for fine and superfine variety (Grade A). The state has sought the MSP of Rs 1,215 per quintal for bajra for 2012-13 against Rs 980 fixed by the Central Government during 2011-12.

Similarly for maize, Haryana has proposed the MSP of Rs 1,730 per quintal for 2012-13 against Rs 980 fixed for 2011-12. The MSP proposed for cotton (America) is Rs 3,900 per quintal against Rs 3,300.

The spokesman said the cost of cultivation of paddy, bajra, maize and cotton had gone up due to the increase in labour charges and higher cost of agricultural inputs during the current year. The cost of production of paddy had gone up by six per cent during 2011-12 as compared to 2010-11, and would shoot up by 22.6 per cent in 2012-13.

Similarly, the cost of production of bajra had increased by 0.9 per cent in 2011-12 but would increase to 7.1 per cent in 2012-13. The cost of production of maize increased by 3.4 per cent in 2011-12 and would go up by 26.2 per cent in 2012-13.

In case of cotton (American) it increased by 4.7 per cent in 2011-12 and would further increase by 21.6 per cent in 2012-13, the spokesman added. — PTI

Fatehabad, February 19
A tipsy cop was suspended and attached to the Police Lines after he came at a meeting addressed by the SP, Satinder Kumar Gupta, in a drunken state at Ratia in the district last evening.

Gupta had visited the Ratia police station last evening for inspection when he called a meeting of all non-gazetted officers (NGOs) of the police to review law and order in the area. Police officials in charge of all police posts attached to Ratia police station, were also summoned to attend the meeting.

Surjit Singh, an assistant sub-inspector posted in the Ratia city post, came at the meeting in an inebriated condition and was not in his senses when the SP asked him some question.

Gupta immediately suspended him and sent him to the community health centre for a medical examination.

The SP said the cop had been suspended and had been attached to the Police Lines. 

Chandigarh, February 19
The Haryana State Legal Services Authority (HSLSA) has decided to set up the district Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Centres in 10 districts of the state.

A budget of Rs 125 crore had been approved for this project. A foundation stone ceremony for such centre in Kurukshetra would be held on February 25. The foundation stone would be laid by Justice Satish Kumar Mittal, Executive Chairman of HSLSA, and Justice Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia, High Court Judge and Administrative Sessions Judge, Kurukshetra.

These centres were being set up with an aim to reduce the pendency of cases in the courts and to help litigants, especially poor and downtrodden, to easily approach the judiciary to seek justice.

Gurgaon, February 19
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has ordered an inquiry against a senior official of the Gurgaon Municipal Corporation for alleged financial irregularities, PC Meena, DC said.

"The Chief Minister has instructed me to probe some alleged financial irregularities reported during the tenure of BS Singhora as Chief Engineer of the Gurgaon Municipal Corporation," Meena said.

Meanwhile, Singhora claimed that under his supervision, the urban body had generated a revenue of Rs 20 crore in 2011-12. We carried out several drives against illegal hoardings and advertisements, and it appears that someone annoyed with the campaign has made a false charge against me," he said.— PTI 

Chandigarh, February 19
Two persons were arrested today after they were found possessing various kinds of birds and a rabbit kept in cages for sale at their shops in Surajkund in Faridabad.

The two have been booked under various sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act, 1960, and Prevention of Cruelty (Capture of Animals) Rules.

Acting on a complaint by a Delhi resident that some birds were kept in cages at two shops near the Anangpur Chowk in Surajkund with the purpose of selling them, the police raided the shops yesterday and found 52 birds and a rabbit kept in cages.— PTI 

Chandigarh, February 19
The state government has sought Rs 125-crore compensation for crop loss due to frost in some areas after the Centre deputed a team to assess the situation.

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar acceded to the request of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda by deputing a team to assess damage to crops, including moong and mustard, due to frost in the state. The team will soon visit the affected areas of the state. Hooda told reporters that he had written a letter to Pawar to include compensation for frost loss in the Natural Calamity Fund.

He said the state had sought Rs 125 crore as compensation for the crop loss, particularly in southern Haryana. “I request you to include cold wave and frost in the list of natural calamities.... I would request that at least Rs 125 crore be provided to Haryana so that relief can be provided to the affected farmers,” Hooda has said in a letter written to Pawar. To a question, Hooda said he had ordered a 'special girdawari' (revenue survey) to assess the loss to the crops caused by frost. Hooda said the budget would be presented in March.— PTI 

Madhuban, February 19
“The opposition to the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) by some states is unnecessary as terrorism is a central subject and jurisdictional issues could not be allowed to create impediments in fighting terrorism across the country,” Union Home Secretary RK Singh has said.

An agency like the NCTC was required as lack of coordination between states was a major problem in tackling terrorism effectively and there was no reason for the states to oppose it, said RK Singh, who was here at the Haryana Police Academy to attend the passing-out parade of DSPs, Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors yesterday.

The NCTC would come into force on March 1, as decided, and the amendments in this regard were made in 2004, he said asking that objections were not raised at that time by the states.

Impressed by the sports and other infrastructure at the Madhuban Police Academy, Singh said training for the IAS, IPS and IRS officers would also be started at Madhuban as in patterned in Andhra Pradesh and announced financial assistance of Rs 5 crore for the academy.

Later, addressing the pass outs, Singh said terrorism was one of the major challenges faced by the police in all states and it was imperative that jurisdictional issues were kept at bay while talking national problem like terrorism.

He urged the police to be sensitive towards the problems of poor and deprived sections of the society, especially women and children.

As many as 23 probationary DSPs, 18 Inspectors and 157 Sub-Inspectors, including 10 women DSPs, two Inspectors and 13 Sub-Inspectors participated in the passing-out parade.

Chandigarh, February 19
As many as 26 lakh children, all below five years, were administered polio drops in the state today.

Polio drops were given to children at booths on the first day of the campaign to wipe out the disease from the state, a Health Department spokesman said. House-to-house surveys to administer polio drops to left out children would carried out in the next two days, he said.

Nearly 65 per cent of the targeted 41 lakh children were covered today, he added.— PTI