Chandigarh, February 23
Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia today asserted that the effects of the state’s economic rise were being felt across the nation.

Addressing the Budget session of the Haryana Assembly on its opening day, Pahadia said according to quick estimates, the state’s economy had achieved a growth rate of 9.6 per cent during 2010-11. Also, according to the advance estimates for 2011-12, the per capita income of Haryana was expected to be Rs 1,09,227 at current prices and the state ranked second, after Goa, among all the states.

The average growth rate of industrial production was 7.9 per cent during 2010-11 according to the index of industrial production. The state continued to retain its position as a preferred investment destination. He claimed that the rate of implementation of the pledged investment in the state was the highest in the country. Notwithstanding the market uncertainties and volatility at the international and national levels, an investment of Rs 59,000 crore had been catalysed in the state since 2005, when the present government took over. An investment of about Rs 96,000 crore was in the pipeline.

The state had so far received foreign direct investment of Rs 13,128 crore, of which, investment of Rs 9,629 crore had come up after the implementation of the Industrial Policy, 2005. The total exports from the state increased from Rs 43,679 crore during 2009-10 to Rs 48,530 crore during 2010-11.

The Governor said seven years ago, the government had outlined the broad framework of its plans and programmes. It had since been marching steadily but surely towards achieving the goals of transforming Haryana into a modern, viable and vibrant state.

The power sector has experienced an impressive growth during the past seven years, with power generation capacity reaching more than three times that of the year 2004-05. The state is steadily moving towards its objective of becoming self reliant in power by 2012-13.

To ensure transparency, accountability and efficiency in the public distribution system (PDS), the government was implementing end-to-end computerisation of the system.

He said his government was committed to providing a safe and secure environment to all the citizens.

Chandigarh, February 23
There was a “spark” to the usually mundane day one of the Budget session of the Haryana Assembly.

A few crackers, some repartee and three walkouts -- it all happened in just over an hour after the House resumed following the Governor’s address.

The “big trouble” happened when the issue of extension of a House committee on irregularities committed by Trusts/Societies of family members of Leader of Opposition Om Prakash Chautala came up.

No sooner did the chairperson of the committee, Congress MLA BB Batra, present the customary preliminary report before seeking an extension, INLD MLA Sher Singh Badshami, quoting rules and the Constitution, challenged the very constitution of the committee.

His main contention was that the committee was “illegal” because a person could not be tried for the same charges twice. Haryana’s Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Randeep Singh Surjewala, reasoned that while the constitution of the committee was not under consideration, the House was only deciding on an extension.

At this, the INLD benches erupted, stating that if the very committee is “illegal”, the issue of an extension did not arise. While Surjewala was still reading out the terms of reference of the committee, the Speaker, Kuldeep Sharma, offered a discussion on the legality of the committee as also the “whole issue” in question.

While Surjewala agreed to this readily, the INLD demanded the Speaker’s verdict on the committee’s legality while Sharma offered to fix a time for discussion. Chautala alleged that the issue was unnecessarily being twisted while the INLD wanted to know was whether or not the committee was legal. “Please give your verdict,” he urged the Speaker.

As the pitch of protests from the Opposition grew, a number of Congress MLAs intervened. However, the INLD stuck to its guns, seeking an instant verdict on the “legality” even as Surjewala offered that they were ready to examine the legality issue. “If it turns out that the committee is indeed illegal, we will disband it,” he said. In the midst of all this, as soon as Batra sought extension of time for the committee, peeved INLD MLAs staged a walkout.

Earlier, after Adampur MLA Renuka Bishnoi of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) was sworn in as MLA and the report of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) was presented.

INLD MLA and state unit president Ashok Arora contested the recommendations, stating that the MLAs would not get enough time to list out their grievances.

BJP’s Anil Vij, seeking a month-long session, said that the government would hold only one session if meeting every six months was not laid down in the Constitution.

To this, Surjewala retorted that this was a “unanimous decision” as leaders from the opposition were present at the meeting. At this, the Opposition, the INLD and the BJP, separately, staged a walkout.

Chandigarh, Feburuary 23
Bringing the functioning of the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government under a scanner, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pegged the losses of Haryana’s public sector undertakings (PSUs) at a whopping Rs 1,239 crore in the last financial year. The overall accumulated losses of the PSUs for 2,010-2,011 stood at Rs 5,676 crore.

In its latest report, which was presented in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha here today, CAG said the lion’s share of the loss was accounted for by the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited (UHBVN), which reported losses worth Rs 884.22 crore followed by the Rs 779-crore losses of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN).

Attributing losses to various deficiencies in the functioning of the PSUs, the report said the loss-making power corporations accounted for about 95 per cent of the total investment in 2010-11. The government contributed Rs 6,847 crore towards equity, loans, grants and subsidies to the PSUs in the last financial year.

Besides the discoms, the audit report pointed out serious “deficiencies” in the functioning of several departments, including Haryana State Roads and Bridges Development Corporation Limited, Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited, Haryana Land Reclamation and Development Corporation Limited, Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, Haryana Tourism Development Corporation, Haryana Seeds Development Corporation Limited, Haryana Roadways Engineering Corporation Limited and Haryana Forest Development Corporation Limited.

New Delhi, February 23
The five MLAs of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC), whose merger with the Congress had been suspended by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, today pleaded in the Supreme Court that it was HJC chief Kuldeep Singh Bishnoi who had attracted action and not them.

Arguing before a Bench comprising Justices Altamas Kabir and J Chelameswar, their counsel Mukul Rohatgi contended that under the provisions of the anti-defection law in the 10th Schedule of the Constitution, three-fourth members of the legislature party of any political party could decide to merge their party with another.

In this case, five of the six MLAs of the HJC had merged their party with the Congress. It was Bishnoi who had refused to go with the majority view. The HJC had ceased to exist the moment the merger took place and it was Bishnoi whose status in the Assembly had become uncertain, Rohatgi argued.

While the merger had been approved by Speaker Kuldeep Sharma and a single Judge Bench of the HC, a Division Bench declared the five MLAs, including two Cabinet Ministers Rao Narendra Singh and Satpal Sangwan, as unattached members. The other three MLAs are Vinod Bhayana, Zile Ram Sharma and Dharam Singh.

It was unfortunate that the HC had rendered the status of the five MLAs uncertain like that of “Trishanku” despite the fact that the power to declare any member as unattached vested exclusively with the Speaker, their counsel argued. “What will my clients tell their voters on their status in the House? The common man does not understand what is meant by unattached. Further, the word “unattached” does not figure anywhere in the Constitution,” Rohatgi said.

It was Bishnoi who should have been disqualified or reduced to the status of being an unattached member, he averred.

Rohatgi contended that Parliament, in its wisdom, had inserted the provision for allowing two-third members of the legislature party to decide on the merger issue as it was not possible to assess the views of all the primary members of a party which might run into millions.

Any party that was merged with another party could continue to exist in the same name, it was contended. In its verdict, the HC had failed to examine the law of merger, he pointed out.

With today’s day-long hearing in the case, the arguments on behalf of the Speaker and the five MLAs have concluded. The Bench will hear the arguments of Bishnoi on February 28.

The merger of the five MLAs had lent stability to the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government which had only 40 MLAs then in the 90-member House.

Hisar, February 23
The committee spearheading the pro-reservation stir by the Jats today agreed to resume talks with government representatives on Saturday.

This decision was taken at a marathon meeting of the committee at the venue of the dharna in Ramayan village of this district late this evening.

Suresh Koth, a senior khap leader and key member of the committee, said the government team would include, among others, former Speaker of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha Raghbir Kadian, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dharamveer Singh and Meham MLA Anand Singh Dangi among others. The talks would be held in the office of the PowerGrid Corporation of India in the village.

Meanwhile, four members of the community today went on an indefinite hunger strike today. The six persons, who had gone on a 24-hour fast yesterday, ended their hunger strike this morning paving the way for the four-member team to undertake an indefinite fast.

Rail traffic remained suspended for the fifth day today. Keeping their promise of not blocking the railway track, the protesters, including women, squatted on both sides of the track today also. No roads were blocked and vehicular traffic on the national highway plied as usual.

Leaders of the Jats again appealed to the railways authorities to resume traffic on the track and assured them that they would ensure the safe passage of trains. They said the protesters were not in favour of causing any inconvenience to the public. They reiterated that the protest would remain peaceful.

It is learnt that Kadian, Dharamveer Singh and Dangi held several rounds of talks today with the Jat leaders and ultimately succeeded in bringing them to the negotiating table. The Jat leaders had left the meeting with senior minister Randeep Singh Surjewala on Tuesday in a huff at the Hisar airport.

The Jat leaders had yesterday set up an 11-member panel for talks with the government making it clear that they would not approach the government but would respond positively to any move from the government side.

Sirsa, February 23
Residents of 1,200-odd illegal colonies of Haryana may get some relief soon, as the government has stepped up the process for their regularisation.

The government has directed the Deputy Commissioners of all the districts in the state to send lists of unauthorised colonies to be regularised to the state headquarters within 10 days.

In a video-conferencing with all the Deputy Commissioners today, DPS Nagal, Director-General, Urban Local Bodies, Haryana, directed them to visit the sites themselves and send the lists of colonies complying with the government’s guidelines on this subject.

Sirsa Deputy Commissioner J Ganeshan said the authorities had identified 51 colonies in the five urban towns of Sirsa - Ellenabad, Dabwali, Rania, Kalanwali and Sirsa - for this purpose.

The Haryana Government had recently announced that it would soon regularise nearly 1,200 illegal colonies of the state.

While announcing this, Haryana Urban Local Bodies Minister Gopal Kanda had said colonies with 50 per cent of constructed houses would be considered for this purpose.

The government, according to the minister’s announcement, was to complete the process by February 15, but it got delayed, as the DCs were yet to submit their lists.

Nagal asked the Deputy Commissioners to keep in mind that no colony, where the government has acquired land for some project, was recommended for regularisation.

Ganeshan said Haryana Space Application Centre (HARSAC), which was assigned the job of preparing site plan, had already completed the work for 24 colonies of Sirsa, Dabwali and Kalanwali, while the site plan of 27 colonies of Rania and Ellenabad would be completed soon.

Jhajjar, February 23
In protest against non-fulfilment of their demands by the district authorities, hundreds of irate residents of Bahujhholari village blocked the Bahujhholari-Kosli-Jhajjar road near the Khorda turn for over 30 hours.

The protesters were demanding Rs 10 lakh and a government job as compensation to the next of kin of those three residents of Bahujhholari village, who were killed in a road accident at Charkhi Dadri town in Bhiwani district yesterday.

They were persuaded to lift the blockade following an assurance made by Jhajjar SP Patram Singh and SDM Chander Shekhar that Rs 4 lakh besides a temporary government service at DC rates would be given by the authorities to each of the next of kin of the deceased.

Notably, three youths, identified as Suresh, Surender and Vinod, were reportedly crushed to death by a Haryana Roadway bus near Ramnagar in Charkhi Dadri when they were coming back to Bahujhholari village yesterday. They used to go to Charkhi Dadri daily to buy vegetables from the vegetable market.

As the news of their death spread in Bahujhholari village, a large number of villagers came out from their houses and blocked all roads leading to the village by sitting and parking their vehicles over there.

Commuters had to face a tough time as their vehicles got stuck in serpentine queues. The long queues could be seen on both sides of the road due to the blockade. Many of the commuters had to choose various approach roads to reach their destination.

Sirsa, February 23
A man was set on fire after sprinkling petrol on him, allegedly by his wife, mother-in-law and two brothers-in-law, at Jodhkan village in Sirsa last night. He was rushed to Hisar for treatment, where he died this morning.

The victim, Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Bighar in Fatehabad, was married to Asha Rani of Jodhkan village in 2009 and had a daughter from her.

In his statement to the police before his death, Rakesh said Asha left for her parents’ home after an altercation with him yesterday.

Later, he received a call from his brother-in-law, who asked him to come to Jodhkan.

He said during the night, he had an argument with his wife and mother-in-law Bimla Devi, after which his brothers-in-law Manoj and Kalu joined them and set him on fire after sprinkling petrol on him.

The badly burnt Rakesh called on his brother Karnail’s mobile and informed him about the incident.

Karnail rushed to Jodhkan and brought his brother to the General Hospital, Fatehabad, where the doctors referred him to Hisar in view of his serious condition.

The police said a case of attempt to murder was registered on the victim’s statement, which was later converted into case of murder after his death. No arrest has been made so far.

Rohtak, February 23
Activists of the CPM organised demonstrations in various parts of the state in protest against the alleged murder of two CPM workers in West Bengal yesterday. While a protest was held in Rohtak, a memorandum to President Pratibha Patil through the DC was submitted.

Stating this a spokesperson of the party claimed that this was done to express anguish against the gruesome murders of two of the party leaders, including a former legislator, allegedly by some goons of the Trinamool Congress in Bardhman district of West Bengal yesterday.

He said effigies of politics of violence were burnt in Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani, Jind, Gurgaon and Faridabad. Party members submitted a memorandum to President Pratibha Patil seeking her intervention on the issue and restoration of constitutional guarantee for the right to life in West Bengal.

State secretary Inderjit Singh and CITU secretary Surender Singh condemned the “dastardly” violent attack killing the party leaders in cold blood and described the heinous crime an attack on the foundations of democracy itself.

Ratia, February 23
As many as 170 fresh cases of hepatitis C have come to the fore during the eighth day of the ongoing survey in Ratia today.

Bharti Sharma, epidemiologist, Fatehabad, said the survey teams of the Health Department took blood samples of 861 persons today. Out of these, 301 samples were taken from the urban areas in a camp set up in the community health centre, 73 of these tested positive for the virus.

With today’s figures, the number of persons detected with virus has reached 1,435, Bharti said.