SPECIAL COVERAGE
CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI



THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
H A R Y A N A   E D I T I O N

Yet another witness shot at after appearing in court
Injured witness Manjeet Kaur, who was shot at by motorcycle-borne assailants inside the court premises in Assandh, talks to Superintendent of Police on Monday. Assandh (Karnal), April 30
Close on the heels of gunning down of two witnesses in Panipat on April 27 and 28, a woman witness was shot at and injured at Assandh when she was returning after appearing as a witness in a land dispute case.

Injured witness Manjeet Kaur, who was shot at by motorcycle-borne assailants inside the court premises in Assandh, talks to Superintendent of Police on Monday. A Tribune photograph

Haryana Annual Plan finalised at Rs 26,485 crore
New Delhi, April 30
Deputy Chairperson of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at a meeting to finalise the Annual Plan of the state in New Delhi on Monday. The Annual Plan for 2012-13 for Haryana was today finalised at Rs 26,485 crore, which is a handsome 30 per cent hike over last fiscal’s plan of Rs 20,358 crore.

Deputy Chairperson of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at a meeting to finalise the Annual Plan of the state in New Delhi on Monday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal



YOUR TOWN
Chandigarh
Gurgaon
Panipat


EARLIER STORIES



No gratuity for new pension-scheme beneficiaries in Haryana
Chandigarh, April 30
Thousands of Haryana Government employees covered under the new pension scheme will not be entitled to gratuity.

Ex-sarpanch shot dead over half an egg 
Panipat, April 30
Enraged over half of his egg being eaten by another co-drinker, a person shot him dead in one of the local drinking joints on Barsat road, late last night.

PANIPAT LAND ACQUISITION
SC notice to state on farmers’ demand for relief
New Delhi, April 30
The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Haryana Government on a petition filed by farmers in Sonepat pleading for a near 10-fold hike in the compensation amount -- from Rs 210 to Rs 2,000 per square yard.

Superspecialty hospital to come up at Kundli
Sonepat, April 30
Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare S Gandhiselvan lays the foundation stone of a superspecialty hospital at the TDI City, Kundli, on Monday Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare S Gandhiselvan today laid the foundation stone of a 150-bed superspecialty hospital on the premises of the TDI City, Kundli. The hospital is to be completed at a cost of Rs 50 crore.



Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare S Gandhiselvan lays the foundation stone of a superspecialty hospital at the TDI City, Kundli, on Monday. Photo by BS Malik

Class IX student loses ear to dog
Fatehabad, April 30
In yet another incident of attack by stray dogs in the area, a class IX student lost his ear at Dhani Sanchla near Bhuna last evening. Only four days ago, a pack of over 15 stray dogs had mauled a 10-year-old girl at Bahiya village near Rania.

65.60 lakh tonnes wheat procured
Chandigarh, April 30
About 65.60 lakh tonnes of wheat has been procured in Haryana mandis in the current season till yesterday. Of this over 65.59 lakh tonnes of wheat has been procured by the six government procuring agencies and the remaining 432 tonnes of wheat has been purchased by traders.

State to fill 1,035 posts of Assistant Professor
Chandigarh, April 30
The Haryana Government has decided to fill 1,035 posts of Assistant Professor in government colleges of the state.
NDRI workers burn dry leaves and grass near the Director’s residence in Karnal.
Ban goes up in smoke: NDRI workers burn dry leaves and grass near the Director’s residence in Karnal. Tribune photo: Ravi Kumar

Schools to hold special classes during vacations: Bhukkal
Jhajjar, April 30
The state government has decided to conduct special maths and chemistry classes at government schools across the state during summer vacations in order to create interest among students in the subjects.

Attempted suicide: BJP urges NHRC to intervene
Gurgaon, April 30
The state Human Rights Cell of the BJP has requested the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to intervene in the case of the girl who had tried to end her life at the Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner’s office recently after being cheated in a property case and harassed by government officials.

Accident leads to recovery of poppy husk worth
Jind, April 30
An accident of a private vehicle that took place due to overtaking another vehicle on the Jind-Patiala Highway last night led to recovery of 370 kg of poppy husk, the cost of the seized husk has been estimated around Rs 4 lakh.

Asha workers seek incentives
Karnal, April 30
The Karnal chapter of the Accredited Social Health Activist (Asha) Workers Union, Haryana, has urged the health authorities to convene a monthly meeting of Asha workers at the Primary Health Centres (PHC) and provide them training regularly to keep them updated.

RTI activist booked for using false documents
Hisar, April 30
A case of cheating and criminal conspiracy was lodged against an RTI activist here for allegedly taking a residential plot from HUDA using false documents.

Minor girl raped
Sirsa, April 30
A minor girl was allegedly raped at Nathusari Kalan in Sirsa by a village youth last evening.

3 booked for gang rape
Sonepat, April 30
A 17-year-old girl of Kheri Manazat village was gang raped for seven days by three youths after she was abducted from the village on April 19.

3 of four persons involved in suicide bids dead 
Jind, April 30
Three of the four persons who consumed a poisonous substance under mysterious circumstances in the district during the past 36 hours have died. The condition of the fourth one, who is in hospital, is stated to be serious. Separate cases have been registered . The victims include a couple and a staff nurse of a government hospital.

Nine arrested for betting, gambling
Chandigarh, April 30
The Haryana Police has arrested two persons for allegedly betting on the IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils and seven for gambling.

Two arrested for pilferage of LPG from cylinders
Jind, April 30
The local police has busted a racket of pilferage of LPG from cylinders during transportation. With the arrest of two persons, it has recovered a truck having as many as 432 cylinders. The truck was on its way to Chandigarh from the bottling plant here.

Auto thieves gang busted, 2 held
Rohtak, April 30
The police has busted an inter-district gang of motorcycle thieves with the arrest of two youths. Seven motorcycles have been recovered from their possession. While six of motorcycles had been stolen from Rohtak, one of these had been lifted from Gurgaon.

 





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Yet another witness shot at after appearing in court
Bhanu P Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Assandh (Karnal), April 30
Close on the heels of gunning down of two witnesses in Panipat on April 27 and 28, a woman witness was shot at and injured at Assandh when she was returning after appearing as a witness in a land dispute case.

The victim, Manjeet, from Dupedi village, said she was returning after appearing in the court of local judge Kuldeep Singh when two persons came on a motorbike and shot at her while she was on her way to the main gate.

Manjeet was provided security but she asked the gunman to go after appearing in the court and the assailant took advantage of the situation and fired at her. However, the bullet pierced through her shoulder and she was rushed to the hospital from where she was referred to Panipat on her request, police sources said.

The incident caused panic in the court complex and Superintendent of Police (SP) Rakesh Arya and other police officers reached the spot immediately. The assailants fled after firing at Manjeet and could not be apprehended but the SP assured that the culprits would not be spared at any cost.

Manjeet alleged that Sanjay of Dupedi village and his accomplice fired at her and added that Sanjay was involved in the murder of her husband and was out on bail. The Court had convicted 14 accused and awarded them life sentence. Their appeal is pending in the appellate court.

Manjeet had married Sandeep after the death of her husband, Rajinder, but Sandeep was also murdered when she went to the village along with him in 2007. Since then, she is not living in the village. The share of Rajender's land (3 acres) was in the name of her son and daughter, Deep and Dipika, and she wanted to sell it even though the family members were opposed to it and the matter was in court. The third case of firing on witnesses in past four days has scared people and put the police on alert.

Witnesses as targets

* Kuldeep Singh, a key witness in a murder case and a former sarpanch of Nara village, and his security guard, Ram Niwas, were gunned down by some persons near Guru Gobind Singh Public School on the outskirts of Nara village early morning on April 27

* Just hours after the above incident, Sardara Singh of Bhadar village in the Matlauda segment of district, who owned a property business on Assandh Road, was found dead on the Jatal Road on the night of April 28. Sardara Singh was also to appear in a local court two days later in a property dispute case

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Haryana Annual Plan finalised at Rs 26,485 crore
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 30
The Annual Plan for 2012-13 for Haryana was today finalised at Rs 26,485 crore, which is a handsome 30 per cent hike over last fiscal’s plan of Rs 20,358 crore. This was announced after a meeting between Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chief Minister of Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Haryana’s fast-rising graph got an appreciable nod from Ahluwalia who said “the state has been performing satisfactorily on all counts, performance in human development is appreciable. Creation of an investor-friendly environment has helped the state in accelerating the growth rate and also in improving both social and physical infrastructure”.

Ahluwalia complemented the state for economic
growth and state income. He said during 2010-11, the growth rate was 9.59 per cent against the all-India figure of 8.39 per cent. The per capita income of the state at constant prices (2004-05) has also increased from Rs 40,628 in 2005-06 to Rs 59,221 in 2010-11. The corresponding All-India figure is Rs 26,015 to Rs 35,993 respectively in the same period.

Briefing the commission on plan priorities, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the priority will be to Education (11.79%), Transport (5.53%), and Energy (5.12%). In terms of increase in outlay for 2012-13 over 2011-12, the maximum increase has been in the sectors of Science, Technology, Forestry & Wildlife and Environment (101%), Education (48%), General Economic Services (41%) and Decentralised Planning (27%).

The plan outlay includes Rs 14,500 crore for State Budget, Rs 9,950 crore for State Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) and Rs 2,035 crore for Local Bodies.

Hooda laid stress on modernisation and diversification of agriculture, reasonably fixing the minimum support price for agriculture produce, enhancing sports infrastructure to encourage sports and channelising energies of youth. The share of Agriculture and Allied Sector in the State GDP was recorded as 23.1 per cent and the share of Industry and Services Sectors were 32.9 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively, during 2004-05.

The share of the Services Sector in State GDP further increased to 54.6 per cent while the share of Agriculture and Allied Sector decreased to 16.3 per cent in 2011-12.

Distributing the State’s Budgeted Outlay of Rs 14,500 crore among various sectors, highest priority has been given to the improvement of social services, comprising mainly of education, health, drinking water supply and sanitation, urban development, housing and promotion of social justice through pensions to the old, handicapped, widows and the destitute. Accordingly, an outlay of Rs 8198.91 crore has been kept for these services, which is 56.54 per cent of the Budgted Plan outlay.

Rs 2965.10 crore have been earmarked for education, including technical and vocational education. Rs 566.55 crore have been kept for health services and medical education. A sum of Rs 780 crore have been allocated for drinking water supply and sewerage schemes. An amount of Rs 1255.91 crore has been allotted for housing and urban development.

Second highest priority has been given to improvement of basic infrastructure of irrigation, power, roads and road transport by earmarking an amount of Rs 3682.62 crore.

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No gratuity for new pension-scheme beneficiaries in Haryana
Pradeep Sharma/TNS

Chandigarh, April 30
Thousands of Haryana Government employees covered under the new pension scheme will not be entitled to gratuity.

A communication from the Financial Commissioner-cum-Principal Secretary, Finance Department, to all heads of departments, commissioners of divisions, DCs and SDMs and the Registrar of Punjab and Haryana High Court has put to rest all speculation on the payment of gratuity to the beneficiaries of the new pension scheme.

Official sources said the state government had come out with the clarification as certain departments implementing the new scheme were in a Catch-22 situation on the payment of gratuity to the beneficiaries.

In a significant order, the Finance Department had issued revised guidelines for the implementation of the Defined Contributory Pension Scheme, rechristened as the Haryana New Pension Scheme 2008 in December 2008. The deductions towards the new scheme started from the pay bill of January 2009.

The new scheme covered all regular government employees joining service on or after January 1, 2006.The pension scheme worked on defined contributory basis and had two tiers. Contribution to Tier-I was mandatory for government servants joining service on or after January 1, 2006.

In the Tier-I category, the government servant made a contribution of 10 per cent of his basic pay plus dearness pay and dearness allowance which are deducted from his salary bill every month. A matching contribution was made by the state government for each government servant contributing to the scheme.

A senior functionary of the state government said the government made the matching contribution, there was no need to pay the gratuity under the new scheme. 

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Ex-sarpanch shot dead over half an egg 
Manish Sirhindi/TNS

Panipat, April 30
Enraged over half of his egg being eaten by another co-drinker, a person shot him dead in one of the local drinking joints on Barsat road, late last night.

The dispute erupted between Sushil, a former sarpanch of Kutana village in Rohtak district and Pritam, a resident of the tehsil camp area of Panipat. The police said Sushil, who along with his friends was consuming liquor on a separate table, picked up the egg from Pritam’s plate and ate it.

This led to a heated exchange of words between the two following which Pritam left the spot only to return after some time with a revolver and opened fired inside the joint. On seeing Pritam carrying a revolver, Sushil and his friends tried to overpower him and in the scuffle that followed two more shots got fired, one of which hit Sushil in his chest and the other hit Pritam in his arm.

The police said that immediately after the incident, both Sushil and Pritam were rushed to a nearby hospital where Sushil succumbed to his injury, while Pritam survived.

The police said they had already recorded statements of the owner of the drinking joint and some of the eye-witnesses and seized a revolver from which the shots were fired. 

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PANIPAT LAND ACQUISITION
SC notice to state on farmers’ demand for relief
R Sedhuraman
Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, April 30
The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Haryana Government on a petition filed by farmers in Sonepat pleading for a near 10-fold hike in the compensation amount -- from Rs 210 to Rs 2,000 per square yard.

Seeking the state government’s response, a Bench comprising Justices BS Chauhan and JS Khehar also admitted the petition for detailed hearing.

The petitioners, through their counsel, Mohan Lal Sharma, contended that the state government had acquired 310 acres of land in 1994 for setting up a fruit and vegetable complex under a World Bank project.

However, the government handed over the land to the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) which established an industrial estate after changing the purpose for which the land was acquired under the Land Acquisition Act 1894, a law meant for people’s welfare, the petition said.

In fact, the state government had awarded a compensation ranging from Rs 24 to Rs 40 per square yard depending on the nature of land. This was raised to Rs 210 by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 5, 2011.

The petitioners pointed out that HSIDC had made huge profits by allotting 25 acres each to Anant Raj Industries Ltd and DLF Ltd at the rate of Rs 4,000 per square metre and 12 acres to Reliance Industries Ltd at the rate of Rs 3,000 per square metre.

In the light of this, even the enhanced compensation awarded by the high court after more than 17 years was a “meagre amount” and was only 12-20 per cent of the tentative market price, the landowners averred.

For 17 years, while the farmers waited empty handedly, the HSIDC accumulated huge profits by selling the land to private companies and large corporate houses, the petitioners said.

Even if the cost for developing the land was taken at the “highest range of 50 per cent,” the farmers and other landowners were entitled to a compensation of Rs 1,500-2,000 per square yard, they contended. The land in question is situated in Rai Village, just 5-6 km from the Delhi border. 

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Superspecialty hospital to come up at Kundli
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, April 30
Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare S Gandhiselvan today laid the foundation stone of a 150-bed superspecialty hospital on the premises of the TDI City, Kundli. The hospital is to be completed at a cost of Rs 50 crore.

The minister said a superspecialty hospital was the need of the hour to provide the best possible medical facilities especially for patients from Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh on the outskirts of the congested areas of Delhi.

He hoped that the hospital authorities would take care to provide affordable and trusted health care across all sections of society, including some sort of reservation of beds for the poor people. Kamal Taneja, Managing Director of TDI Infrastructure Ltd, said the TDI City, Kundli, was the largest township in North India, which was integrated in 1,250 acres.

Dr Harish Kumar, one of the directors of the NCR Healthways, said the first phase of the hospital would be completed within six months and 20 per cent of beds in the hospital would be reserved for BPL families.

The hospital would be conglomeration of various specialties and managed by the joint medical teams headed by experienced doctors. 

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Class IX student loses ear to dog
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Fatehabad, April 30
In yet another incident of attack by stray dogs in the area, a class IX student lost his ear at Dhani Sanchla near Bhuna last evening. Only four days ago, a pack of over 15 stray dogs had mauled a 10-year-old girl at Bahiya village near Rania.

In the latest incident that occurred in Dhani Sanchla Bhojraj village near Bhuna in Fatehabad, a stray dog attacked Ajay, a Class IX student, when he was walking on a village street.

The dog suddenly pounced on him and by the time some villagers could rush towards and rescue him after hearing his cries, the canine had eaten his ear.

Ajay was rushed to a private hospital in Bhuna with blood oozing from his wound.

His father, Ran Singh, and other villagers alleged that stray dogs had made life difficult for them, but the authorities were not coming to their rescue.

The menace of stray dogs is serious both in Sirsa and Fatehabad and people have still nor forgotten the incident when 10-year-old Seema was mauled to death by a pack of 15 dogs at Bahiya in Rania on April 26. 

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65.60 lakh tonnes wheat procured

Chandigarh, April 30
About 65.60 lakh tonnes of wheat has been procured in Haryana mandis in the current season till yesterday. Of this over 65.59 lakh tonnes of wheat has been procured by the six government procuring agencies and the remaining 432 tonnes of wheat has been purchased by traders.

A spokesman said over 18.62 lakh tonnes of wheat had been purchased by the Food and Supplies Department and over 22.37 lakh tonnes by HAFED.

CONFED purchased 3.64 lakh tonnes of wheat, Haryana Warehousing Corporation 6.55 lakh tonnes, Haryana Agro Industries Corporation 6.62 lakh tonnes and the Food Corporation of India procured over 7.75 lakh tonnes of wheat. — PTI 

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State to fill 1,035 posts of Assistant Professor
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 30
The Haryana Government has decided to fill 1,035 posts of Assistant Professor in government colleges of the state.

Haryana Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal said that requisition for 140 vacant posts of Assistant Professor had already been sent to the Haryana Public Service Commission whereas requisition for the remaining 895 posts would be sent shortly to the commission. She said out of these vacancies, maximum posts would be filled for science stream. Also, vacancies in different subjects had also been considered and finalised according to demand of people.

Bhukkal said Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda wanted to develop Haryana as an educational hub of international standards. Thus, infrastructure was being upgraded in all schools and colleges in a big way. The state government was committed to provide avenues and opportunities for education at all levels so that the youth could contribute their mite in building a modern India, she added.

The minister said six new language labs were being set up in government colleges during the current financial year. As many as 25 language labs had already been set up in 25 government colleges of excellence. Also more than 20 job-oriented courses were being run in different government colleges of the state. “We are of the view that the introduction of more job- oriented courses in the colleges would increase the employability of the youth,” she added.

She said out of about 140 posts which had been sent to the commission included 13 posts of Hindi subject, 18 each of English and geography, 12 posts of history, nine of economics, two of Sanskrit, seven of political science, 10 of computer science, 25 of commerce, 15 of mathematics, one each of music (V), Punjabi, physics, botany and sociology and three each of psychology and zoology.

Bhukkal said out of the remaining 895 vacancies, which would be sent to the commission included 25 posts of botany, six each of bio-tech and defence studies, 134 of chemistry, 154 of commerce, 125 of computer science, seven of economics, two each of fine arts, geology, music (V), political science, public administration and Punjabi, 63 of geography, 13 each of home science and psychology, one of MBio, five each of mass communication and music (I), 16 of physical education, 120 of physics, 20 of Sanskrit, 10 each of sociology and tourism and 30 vacancies of zoology. 

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Schools to hold special classes during vacations: Bhukkal
Ravinder Saini

Jhajjar, April 30
The state government has decided to conduct special maths and chemistry classes at government schools across the state during summer vacations in order to create interest among students in the subjects.

Haryana Education and Social Empowerment Minister Geeta Bhukkal stated this after listening to public grievances at her residence here today. The decision was taken to encourage the trend of special classes in government schools, she added.

In reply to a question, she said the government would reconsider the decision regarding recruitment of pregnant women for the posts of teacher. “The government is contemplating on the issue from various angles so that the education of students could not get interrupted due to leave taken by pregnant teachers,” said the minister adding that the government was also taking steps to effectively implement the RTE Act directing private schools to give 25 per cent admission to children belonging to BPL families.

Bhukkal said such rules would be strictly implemented and strict action would be taken against those educational institutions not abiding by these rules. New schemes were being implemented to bring improvements in the field of education, she added.

She said the government was also considering a proposal to provide free education to students above Class VIII. 

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Attempted suicide: BJP urges NHRC to intervene
Sunit Dhawan/TNS

Gurgaon, April 30
The state Human Rights Cell of the BJP has requested the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to intervene in the case of the girl who had tried to end her life at the Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner’s office recently after being cheated in a property case and harassed by government officials.

Following the publication of a news report titled “Girl consumes poison at DC’s office: Was cheated in property case, harassed by naib tehsildar” in The Tribune, RP Malhotra, the state convener of the cell, has written a letter to the NHRC chairman in this regard.

Asserting that it was a clear-cut case of human rights violation, Malhotra has requested the NHRC chairman to take cognisance of the news report and initiate suo motu action in the matter.

Meanwhile, Poonam, who had been charged with attempted suicide and booked under Section 309 of the IPC, was presented in a district court, which granted bail to the girl.

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Accident leads to recovery of poppy husk worth
Rs 4 lakh 
Tribune News Service

Jind, April 30
An accident of a private vehicle that took place due to overtaking another vehicle on the Jind-Patiala Highway last night led to recovery of 370 kg of poppy husk, the cost of the seized husk has been estimated around Rs 4 lakh.

The contraband drug was being transported in an illegal manner by smugglers, who managed to flee from the accident site. A case has been booked against three persons in this connection.

While this has been perhaps one of the largest seizure of poppy husk in the past couple of years, it is reported that the accused who were driving a Scorpio with a fake number plate sped off at a police barricade near Kharak Bura village in the district after they were signalled to stop by some cops. The failure to halt led the cops to chase the fleeing vehicle which got overturned after about a kilometre after it tried to overtake a combine harvestor machine. “As the accident took place in darkness, the accused managed to flee from the spot before the police vehicle could reach there,” said a police official. However, the police has been able to identify two of the accused as Sube Singh and Karnail Singh. The third accused who had been driving the vehicle has not been unidentified so far.

The police suspected that the drugs could had been brought from Rajasthan and was on its way to Punjab and smugglers had changed the number plate to escape the police net. 

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Asha workers seek incentives

Karnal, April 30
The Karnal chapter of the Accredited Social Health Activist (Asha) Workers Union, Haryana, has urged the health authorities to convene a monthly meeting of Asha workers at the Primary Health Centres (PHC) and provide them training regularly to keep them updated.

Asha workers, engaged in functions to improve primary and supplementary health services, have been demanding the regularisation of their services, a hike in emoluments and payment of an extra amount of Rs 150 for each night delivery in the health centres and Rs 200 for delivery in private hospitals.

Demanding the immediate payment of incentives and an improvement in the health infrastructure, district president of the union Sudesh Rani threatened of a protest if their demands were not met. — TNS

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RTI activist booked for using false documents

Hisar, April 30
A case of cheating and criminal conspiracy was lodged against an RTI activist here for allegedly taking a residential plot from HUDA using false documents.

RTI national awardee Manoj Karwasra was booked yesterday under Sections 420 (cheating) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC for allegedly availing the plot under the defence category quota on a false affidavit of ex-servicemen, teh police said.

In his complaint, a Hisar-based ex-Armyman Jagan Nath Godara had alleged that Karwasra had served in the ITBP and hence, he was not entitled for the plot under the defence category because the ITBP is a paramilitary force.

According to the complaint, Karwasra was not entitled for the plot under the defence category. The police is investigating the matter. This is the second case registered against Karwasra within a month.

Earlier on March 26, he was booked for allegedly using a bogus BPL card to seek information from the authorities free of cost. — PTI

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Minor girl raped
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, April 30
A minor girl was allegedly raped at Nathusari Kalan in Sirsa by a village youth last evening.

The victim’s mother has alleged that the accused, Bhup Singh, raped her 14-year-old daughter, while she had gone to fields for work. The victim narrated the incident to her mother on her return from fields. The police said an FIR had been registered and the girl was taken to the General Hospital for a medical examination.

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3 booked for gang rape
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, April 30
A 17-year-old girl of Kheri Manazat village was gang raped for seven days by three youths after she was abducted from the village on April 19.

The girl alleged that after her kidnapping, she was kept in a house at Bankner village and was raped by the accused for seven days before she was dropped back on April 25. The police said the victim was medically examined at the Civil Hospital and the rape was confirmed in the medical report.

A case of kidnapping and rape against three youths, Sunit, Vishal and Sagar, has been registered . However, no one has been arrested so far.

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3 of four persons involved in suicide bids dead 
Bijendra Ahlawat/TNS

Jind, April 30
Three of the four persons who consumed a poisonous substance under mysterious circumstances in the district during the past 36 hours have died. The condition of the fourth one, who is in hospital, is stated to be serious. Separate cases have been registered . The victims include a couple and a staff nurse of a government hospital.

A couple, Ramdiya (30) and his wife, Sudesh(25), residents of the Hari Nagar locality of Narwana town in the district, who consumed poison on Sunday night, died in the past 24 hours. While Ramdiya had been shifted to the PGIMS here, his wife was admitted to a hospital at Barwala, Hisar. It is learnt that doctors could not save their lives and both of them died on Monday within a gap of a few hours. Though the real cause of the couple consuming poison in their house was not known, the police and the neighbours suspect that they could have taken poison due to some domestic dispute as no suicide note has been left behind by the couple.

The other incident took place in Jind city when a young woman, Neetu, a resident of Railway Colony here, who was employed as a Staff Nurse in the Civil Hospital here, consumed a poisonous substance on the hospital premises on Sunday evening.

She had joined here a fortnight ago and was deputed to the Gynaecology Ward of the hospital after her transfer from Alewa village. Police sources said Neetu had befriended a youth, Vijay, hailing from Rohtak. Both of them consumed poison near the main gate of the hospital and were rushed inside by the locals. While Neetu died at a private hospital in Hisar, the condition of Vijay, who was shifted to the PGIMS here, is reported to be stable. The failure of the kin of the girl to find a groom for her, who was physically challenged perhaps led to the incident, said police sources. “Though she could have been in love with Vijay, lack of consent from parents for matrimony could have added to the woes of the victim, who took the extreme step,” added the sources. 

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Nine arrested for betting, gambling

Chandigarh, April 30
The Haryana Police has arrested two persons for allegedly betting on the IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils and seven for gambling.

On receiving information that some persons were allegedly betting on the IPL cricket match between Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals at the Anaj Mandi in Karnal, the police raided the place and arrested Sunny and Sanjay.

The police also arrested seven persons, four near the NIT, Faridabad, and three in Gharaunda, on the charges of gambling. A case had been registered against them under the Gambling Act.— PTI

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Two arrested for pilferage of LPG from cylinders
Bijendra Ahlawat
Tribune News Service

Jind, April 30
The local police has busted a racket of pilferage of LPG from cylinders during transportation. With the arrest of two persons, it has recovered a truck having as many as 432 cylinders. The truck was on its way to Chandigarh from the bottling plant here.

The breakthrough came after a joint team of officials of the District Food and Supplies Department and the police raided a spot near Pega village in the district on Sunday evening after reports that some persons were taking out gas from cylinders which had been loaded in a truck parked near the village. The truck had come from the bottling plant here and was on its way to Chandigarh to supply cylinders to gas agencies there. “We found that two persons identified as Jagram hailing from Barabanki in UP and his assistant Surjit of Kishanpura village in the district were involved in taking out gas from cylinders when the raid was conducted,” claimed an official.

He said while four empty cylinders were kept on the ground, the company seal of four others was found to be broken by the team. “The truck had around 432 cylinders that were meant to be supplied to gas supply outlets of Hindustan Petroleum (HP) there,” he said.

The accused have been arrested after registration of a case under various sections of the IPC. However, according to officials, this was not the first such incident when pilferage of gas from cylinders while being transported had surfaced. Such cases had been reported earlier also in the district. While four persons had been arrested and 900 gas cylinders had been seized in July 2010 from Didwara village in the district, six persons had been nabbed at Shadipur village in the district in December 2009 while pilfering LPG from cylinders in a similar manner. Around 1,200 cylinders had been seized in the raid by the officials, it is claimed. Underweight cylinders have been one of the main grievances of the LPG consumers in the region.

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Auto thieves gang busted, 2 held
Tribune News Service

Rohtak, April 30
The police has busted an inter-district gang of motorcycle thieves with the arrest of two youths. Seven motorcycles have been recovered from their possession. While six of motorcycles had been stolen from Rohtak, one of these had been lifted from Gurgaon.

The police said Vijay of Mokhra village was nabbed from his village after a tip-off that he had been involved in auto thefts. “Arrest of Vijay led to nabbing of his accomplice, Rinku, of Gatauli village who then told the police that they had been involved in several case of auto thefts,” said a police official. He said the arrest could lead to cracking of several other cases of motorcycle thefts in the region. 

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