Chandigarh, March 14
Making clear its intentions of monitoring the issues arising from the Jat agitation in Haryana, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today set a six-week deadline for the state to furnish details of agitators and leaders spearheading the stir.

The high court also asked the state to place before it the details of mob violence and any damage to public property. The details of burning a judicial officer’s car were also called for by the Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Mahesh Grover this afternoon.

The Bench asked the state to come out with the names of the agitators’ leaders spearheading the agitation.

This was required so that the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the destruction of public and private properties versus the state of Andhra and others case could be adequately implemented, the Bench said.

The apex court in the case has laid down guidelines to be adopted to assess damage, where mass destruction to properties takes place due to protests.

The Bench also called upon the state to specific details of the incident involving the Jind district and sessions judge and other related incidents of mob violence and damage to public property, if any.

Taking up the case, the Bench observed the agitation undertaken in February and March, before its temporary suspension, was required to be monitored by the court in the present case.

The burning issue of traffic blockades and violence during the Jat stir had come under the judicial scanner soon after the Session Judge’s car was set afire. After taking up the issue with Haryana Advocate-General Hawa Singh Hooda in the open court, Chief Justice Gogoi had directed the Chief Secretary and the Home Secretary to submit a report into the car burning case.

On Tuesday last, the car carrying Jind District and Sessions Judge Raminder Jain was set afire by protesters near Mirchpur, the police said.

Available information suggested that the protesters had even snatched the weapon from the judge's gunman and blocked the Hisar-Delhi highway.

Faridabad, March 14
A two-day job fair organised by the government commenced here today.

As many as 43 industrial units, including Escorts Ltd, Top Tech Automobiles Pvt Ltd, Starwires India Ltd, JCB India Ltd, New Allanbury Works Ltd and Tabros Automobiles Company Ltd, set up stalls on the Industrial Training Institute (NIT-5) campus to look for suitable candidates in the “skilled” and “unskilled” categories.

Official sources said 1,300 candidates registered their names for interviews on the first day. Sheela Yadav, Divisional Employment Officer, Gurgaon, said the fairs were organised in various districts jointly by the Department of Labour and Employment and the Department of Industrial Training. A similar fair would be organised at Rewari later this month.

Veer Bhan Verma, an instructor at the IIT, said interviews were held for 1,861 posts of electrician, helper, driver, press operator, data-entry operator, machinist, painter and machine fitter, among others. Most of the jobs related to courses run in ITIs. He said more industrial units and candidates were expected to take part in the job fair tomorrow.

Representatives of various firms conducted interviews at stalls allotted to their firms. The final list of successful candidates would be released by the authorities after the fair ends.

A local girl, Kamlesh, was happy after getting shortlisted by a firm for a tailoring job, hoping that she would eventually make it.

Dinesh Kumar, hailing from Ballabhgarh, was ecstatic at being shortlisted by Digit Services Pvt Ltd, which is also associated with the an IT major, IBM, for a post of backend support engineer. He, said such job fairs help find good placements with a number of firms present at one place.

Chandigarh, March 14
The Rail Budget presented by Dinesh Trivedi in the Lok Sabha today has sanctioned a new rail line from Rohtak to Hansi via Meham, which would connect Hisar with Delhi directly. This would fulfil the 40-year-old demand of residents of the area.

At present, trains from Hisar have to take a circuitous route to reach Delhi. Since the road route is much shorter, people prefer to travel between Hisar and Delhi by it. Trivedi has also agreed to sent the proposal for a rail line between Hisar and Sirsa via Agroha and Fatehabad to the Planning Commission for appraisal. Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda said once the Hisar-Sirsa rail track was laid, it would pave for the Sirsa-Delhi Shatabadi Express. He said during the NDA government supported by the INLD, this project was not approved and declared to be non-feasible.

The Railways would introduce new daily passenger trains between Panipat and Rohtak and between Rewari and Phulhera stations this year. The minister had also announced that the trains from Jind-Sirsa would be extended up to Hisar. The Delhi-Jind passenger train had been extended up to Narwana and the Rewari-Degana passenger train had been extended up to Jodhpur. With the sanctioning of electrification of the Manheru-Hisar rail track, the electrification of the Hisar-Rewari route would be completed.

Rail lines between Badi-Kalka, Jakhal/Narwana to Patiala via Samana, Kurukshetra to Patiala, Yamunanagar to Chandigarh via Sadhaura and Naryangarh and Ghanoli-Dehradun via Jagadhari, Surajpur, Kala Amb, Paonta Sahib would be sent to the Planning Commission for appraisal.

Survey for rail line from Pehowa to Ponta Sahib via Jagadhari-Yamunanagar and Sirsa to Sardarshahar would be taken up this year. The rail track between Jakhal and Mansa and that between Panipat and Khukarana would be doubled in 2011-12. The gauge conversion work of the Loharu-Sikar route would be completed in 2012-13. The Palwal-Tuglakabad junction cabin route and the Hodal-Chata route would be doubled.

The Budget has also sanctioned survey for electrification of the Kurukshetra-Kaithal-Narwana, Hisar-Jakhal-Ludhiana and Hisar-Bathinda routes. The frequency of certain trains has also been increased, which would benefit the people of the state. The Dibrugarh-Chandigarh Express and the Chandigarh-Bandra Express would now run twice a week. The Delhi Sarai Rohila-Bikaner Superfast Express via Rewari would run daily.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Trivedi for sanctioning the state a number of new projects and trains.

Ratia, March 14
In a system where people often complain of bureaucratic hurdles in their routine official work, 16 Pakistani residents managed to get ration cards and their names included in the electoral rolls at Ratia in Fatehabad.

Jittery officials of the Food and Supplies Department and the local administration have initiated the process of cancelling the ration cards and voter identity cards, respectively, after a complaint was lodged in this regard.

These Pakistani Hindus had come to India in the last decade, overstayed their visas and started living in Ratangarh and Jallopur of Ratia after initially settling in Rohtak.

Some of the Pakistani Hindus settled in Ellenabad in Sirsa while others settled in Ratia, where their strength has now swelled to nearly 60.

“We are looking into the matter as how these people, who are not Indian citizens, could manage to get ration cards in their names from the department,” said Rajbir Singh, District Food and Supplies Controller, Fatehabad.

He said he had summoned the relevant records to find out if someone from the department was involved in the matter.

Harish Bhatia, SDM, Ratia, summoned the Pakistani Hindus to his office for an inquiry.

Bhatia said the authorities had no option but to cancel their ration cards and delete their names from the voter’s lists.

Des Ram, alias Doaya Ram, a spokesperson of the Pakistani Hindu families, however, maintained that they had been casting their votes since 2005.

“We came to India from the Punjab province of Pakistan in 2000 following atrocities perpetrated on us there. Our visas had expired in 2005 and we will not return to that country, whatever be the consequences,” he said. He added that the families had married their children to locals and they had no other place to go.

Chandigarh, March 14
Against the backdrop of rising complaints of the human rights violations in Haryana, the BJP today demanded immediate setting up of a human rights commission in the state.

Avinash Rai Khanna, a Rajya Sabha member heading the human rights cell of the BJP, alleged that Haryana was one of the most-affected states regarding human rights violations in the country. “The setting up of a human rights commission would go a long way in providing cheap and alternative system of grievance redressal to residents of the state,” he added. Meanwhile, taking cognizance of at least three cases of human rights violations in the past couple of days, RP Malhotra, Haryana covener of the human rights cell of the BJP, has moved the NHRC.

Malhotra asserted that clearcut cases of human rights violations and deteriorating law and order situation were made out in these cases. The cases related to the gangrape of a 23-year-old woman in Gurgaon, murder of a CBI constable and suicide by a railway clerk, both in Panipat district.

In 2,007, the state government, reacting to a petition filed by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties(PUCL) for setting up a human rights commission in Haryana, stated in the Punjab and Haryana High Court that it did not feel the need for the commission as adequate mechanism existed to deal with people’s grievances.

However, following uproar in the wake of large-scale human rights violations, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was forced to publicly announce the formation of a human rights commission in 2010. A committee headed by Justice IP Vashisht was formed early last year to work out modalities for commission’s formation and assist the Chief Minister in recommending the names of the chairperson and members to the Governor. The report is still awaited.

Hisar, March 14
The two-day annual Kisan mela began at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University here today.

Dr KS Khokhar, Vice-Chancellor, inaugurated the mela. He urged farmers to adopt new farming techniques and make Haryana a leader in agriculture production. He said Haryana was already leading in production of wheat and mustard, it had the potential to become the country’s top state in agriculture production if farmers adopted improved techniques in other crops as well.

He said the crop production targets would have to be achieved amid the challenges posed by dwindling landholdings due to urbanisation and industrialisation, rising temperature and declining water availability for irrigation. He said diversification of agriculture was the best option for small and marginal farmers in this scenario. Calling upon agricultural scientists to make special efforts, he said they should also come out with technology which was capable of facing the new challenges of various biotic and abiotic stresses.

He advised farmers to use biotechnology to develop insect-resistant and high-yielding varieties of crops. He said the varsity was already offering farmers help through a toll free helpline, community radio station and mobile SMS service.

Dr JS Dhankhar, Director of Extension Education and coordinator of the mela, reiterated that the university was aiming at increasing agriculture production as well as income of farmers. He said the technologies displayed in the mela would be very useful in this direction. He exhorted the farmers to develop rapport with agriculture scientists in order to keep themselves abreast of the latest technology.

An agro-industrial exhibition housing nearly 250 stalls put up by various government, non-government agencies and MNCs was a major attraction at the kisan mela. The farmers purchased improved seeds worth Rs 13.5 lakh of various kharif crops from the seed sale counter of the university on the first day of the mela.

Jhajjar, March 14
Taking a serious view of the sensational Dulina shootout case, Haryana DGP Ranjeev Singh Dalal today visited the incident spot and issued directions to Jhajjar SP Patram Singh regarding adequate security of the undertrials, besides preventing the rising crime in the district.

On Saturday, three undertrials were killed and four other persons, including two cops, sustained injuries after they were attacked by a group of armed assailants.

During the visit, the DGP not only received detailed information about the shootout incident but also discussed the security measures being adopted by the district police authorities to ensure security of the undertrials while ferrying them to trial courts for hearing.

According to information, Dalal directed the SP to carry out special drives to check crime in the district, besides keeping a close tab on those people, who are accused in various crimes and are out of jail either on bail or parole. Dalal also advised to install naakas at all border points of the district so that criminals could not enter the district.

Dalal also asked the SP about the progress in the Dulina shootout case and the strategies being executed to apprehend the accused.

Meanwhile, Devender Dangi, Public Relation Officer of the Jhajjar police, said two more accused in the Dulina shootout case had been arrested by the Jhajjar and Rohtak police today.

“Deepak, alias Baniya, of Dichau Kalan village in Delhi and Pravesh Dahiya of Rohtak have been arrested by the Jhajjar police and the Rohtak police, respectively,” said Dangi.

He added that Mohit, who was arrested by the Delhi police yesterday, had been brought to Jhajjar on transit remand.

Faridabad, March 14
The Municipal Corporation’s project to cover the 7-km Gochi drain and construct shops there has become a bone of contention between the government and the INLD.

While the government has already given its nod to the first phase of the project, the INLD says it will oppose the construction of shops over the covered drain as a new marketplace will add to congestion in the area. The corporation proposes to execute the project through the public-private partnership (PPP) model. The first phase of the project covers the 3.5 km-stretch from Mujesar to the Sohna road. The area falls in the NIT Assembly constituency.

Shivcharan Lal Sharma, Minister for Labour and Employment and MLA from the NIT Assembly constituency, said: “INLD leaders are misleading public and indulging in cheap politics to muster support for its March 18 rally here to be addressed by former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala.” He accused the INLD of adopting “anti-development” agenda.

Nagender Bhadana, president of the Faridabad unit of the INLD, said his party was not opposing the covering of the drain. “We are only opposing the construction of shops on the covered drain as the residential areas on both sides of the drain were overpopulated. These colonies lacked proper infrastructure. The proposed shops will only add to congestion.” He said the people of the area were opposed to the construction of these shops. They instead favoured the construction of a bypass to connect inner roads.

D Suresh, MCF Commissioner, said the first phase of the project would cost Rs 120 crore. As the corporation was short of funds it would go in for the PPP model.

Anil Mehta, Executive Engineer and in charge of the project, said the modalities of the PPP model were yet to be finalised. According to him, the project includes provision for open spaces and parks. There would be wide roads on both sides of the drain. The area had sufficient space to set up public utilities and 550 shops. Mehta further said although a final decision was yet to be taken, private investor could be allowed to sell the proposed shops and retain the profits accruing from the sales.

Panipat, March 14
The district police has registered a case under Section 306 of the IPC against GRP SHO Lalit Sharma, after he was blamed for having abetted suicide of Ranjeev Thakur, a clerk with the Railways, whose body was found hanging from a ceiling fan of his house on Monday.

Suresh Saini, SHO city police station, said a case had been registered against Lalit Sharma on the basis of a complaint filed by the deceased’s wife, Mona, and a suicide note that had been recovered from Thakur’s room. In the suicide note, Thakur had blamed the SHO for his death and had also pleaded innocence claiming that he had nothing to do with the theft case in which Rs 51,000 had gone missing from the railway office.

The family alleged that the SHO was trying to implicate Ranjeev in the theft case, which had been registered against some unidentified persons for which he was being repeatedly called to the police station. On the fateful day also, the SHO had summoned Ranjeev at 7 pm and had not let him off till the midnight, after which Ranjeev had committed suicide. His relatives recently placed the body of the deceased on the railway track, which disrupted the rail traffic for about an hour.

Faridabad, March 14
A man raped a minor girl at the Indira Colony last night, after threatening that he would murder her brother.

Vijay, who is a jhugee dweller, left the victim at a hospital near her residence in the Sanjay Colony in the wee hours after committing the crime. The incident occurred when the girl’s family members had gone to a wedding and she was alone in her house. The police said the accused was arrested today and sent to 14-day judicial custody. — TNS

Karnal, March 14
Tripta (26) who got married to Babli of Ravidaspura last year was found hanging in her house on Monday.

Father of the deceased, Lekhraj, said the in-laws had untied her hanging body before the police arrived. Lekhraj alleged that his daughter had been killed for the want of money by her in-laws and husband. The police has booked the victim’s in-laws in this case. — TNS

Faridabad, March14
Three persons, Madan Kapur, Dharmender and Shashi, charged with manufacturing submersible pumps and selling them with logos of established companies, were sent in 14-day judicial custody by a local court yesterday.

Kapur had floated a fictitious firm. The gang used to manufacture counterfeit pumps and sell these under the brand names and logos of firms named Varuna (a firm based in Gujarat), Appollo and Tirupati.

Rewari, March 14
A Bihari youth, Jogender Sharma (25), a contractual safai karamchari at a Beer Malt factory near Dharuhera, was crushed to death by a truck in the factory premises this afternoon. — OC