Fatehabad, July 14
A farmer in Fatehabad opposing the acquisition of his land for the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited’s (NPCIL) upcoming nuclear power plant at Gorakhpur tried to commit suicide by consuming poison last night.

Badloo Ram (52) is battling for his life at a private hospital in Fatehabad. Doctors said his condition was stable but he was still not out of danger. “He has consumed some insecticide after taking liquor,” a doctor said.

Sources said the victim had 26 acres of land which was acquired by the authorities for the upcoming nuclear power plant. “My father was under severe depression ever since the authorities issued notification for acquisition of our land. He suffered a minor stroke after confirmation of acquisition last year,” said victim’s son Rajesh Kumar. He said the family members reportedly heard his father last evening saying, “We will be rendered homeless and landless now.”

The authorities will hold a public hearing for granting environment clearance to the Gorakhpur Atomic Power Project. The compensation amount for the land will be announced on July 17. Hans Raj Siwach, president of Kisan Sangharsh Samiti spearheading the farmers’ agitation, said Badloo would often say that he would rather die than have his land ‘snatched’.

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner (DC) ML Kaushik refused to comment saying he was not in Fatehabad when the incident took place. Superintendent of Police Satinder Kumar Gupta said the victim took some medicines to get rid of his drinking habit but he consumed liquor after taking medicine last night. Gupta said the police would record his statement after take his blood sample and gastric fluid for testing once he was in a position to speak.

Chandigarh, July 14
A week after the licence of Cyber City project was cancelled in Sector 34, Gurgaon, the state Town and Country Planning Department has cancelled the licence of New Delhi-based AJS Builders in the backdrop of “serious acts of omission and commission” on the part of the builder.

AJS Builders was granted licence to set up a multi-storeyed residential complex on 11 acres of prime land in Sector 62 of Gurgaon about four years back.

In his order, Director-General, Town and Country Planning Department, said the builder failed to pay an outstanding amount of Rs 5.8 crore-Rs 3.14 crore as the external development charge (EDC) and Rs 2.66 crore as the enhanced EDC despite repeated reminders. The building plans approved by the authorities concerned have not been collected by the builder apparently delaying the construction, added the order.

The order said that it was clear the builder had collected the amount from the allottees but did not start the construction on ground. Besides, the mandatory submission of bank guarantee for carrying out the internal development works had not been submitted despite passage of considerable time and written undertaking given on May 17 last year.

Under the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Area Rules, 1976, the licensee is under an obligation to supply a statement of accounts duly audited and certified by a chartered accountant within a period of three months from the close of every financial year. However, the licensee failed to submit even a single statement even after four years of grant of licence which necessitated the cancellation of the licence, the order said. On the complaints pending against the developer with the Delhi police, the order said the department was totally “in dark” regarding names and addresses of allottees to whom allotment of plots and flats had been made.

Ravi Bhushan, the authorised signatory of AJS Builders, had requested that an amount of Rs. 4.63 crore deposited for other licence application in Ganaur (Sonepat) should be adjusted towards their dues.

“However, it has not been explained as to when and how the builder will make the balance payment,” the Director-General said rejecting the licence renewal application.

Jhajjar, July 14
State Education, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Geeta Bhukkal today hailed the initiative of the khap panchayats, especially the women of Bibipur village in Jind, to raise voice against the menace of female foeticide.

While interacting with media persons, Bhukkal said people belonging to all sections of society should come forward to launch a drive against the social evil which has made a dent in the gender ratio.

“Such initiatives would not only generate mass awareness about social evils like female foeticide but will also help in launching mass movements,” said the minister. In reply to a question, she said the Teachers Selection Board would soon recruit junior basic training (JBT) teachers and masters and the recruitment process for the post of post graduate teachers (PGT) was in progress.

“The state government wants to develop Haryana as an educational hub and hence prominent educational institutions like Rajiv Gandhi Education City, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS-II), Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) have been set up in the state in this direction,” Bhukkal said.

“Priority of the government is to provide quality education and employment. Educational institutions like Teacher Training Institute and Police College are being set up in Jhajjar. By implementing Right to Education Act, the Haryana government has given right to education to each child in the state,” she said.

Fatehabad, July 14
The police yesterday arrested Rakesh Bansal, an ayurvedic doctor from Tohana, in connection with Thursday’s raid at his residence in case of female foeticide. The health department had raided a private hospital at Kulan in Fatehabad on Thursady where the doctor had conducted abortion on a pregnant woman and a female foetus was also recovered from the spot.

The police said a case under section 3, 4 and 5 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971, Drug and Cosmetic Act and section 312 and 313 of the IPC (causing miscarriage) has been registered against the accused doctor. The accused was produced before a court in Tohana where he was remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.

A cash award of Rs 20,000 has been given to the person who informed the health authorities about the yesterday’s incident. The name of informer was kept secret as per the government policy, Civil Surgeon Dr SB Kamboj said. The health officials accompanied by a police party raided the house of Dr Rakesh Bansal at Tohana and recovered an unregistered ultrasound machine used sex determination of unborn children.

Chandigarh, July 14
The Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC), which has been marred by allegations of corruption, nepotism and favouritism in the past, will no longer be a dumping ground for the state government’s favourites, including politicians and bureaucrats.

Acting on the directives of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the high-level search committee of the Haryana Government headed by Chief Secretary PK Chaudhery, at a recent meeting, decided to prepare separate panels for the chairman and members of the HPSC.

The Chief Secretary’s Office will prepare panels of suitable candidates after considering all names which come to its notice or are forwarded by any person or any aspirant for appointment. “The panel would be prepared keeping in view the integrity, fairness and transparency of the candidates,” according to Chaudhery.

However, left to itself, the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government, notorious for rehabilitating its favourties on various constitutional positions, could not have come up with a fair and transparent selection criteria. The state government seems to be following the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the backdrop of the last year’s quashing of the appointment of SAD leader Harish Rai Dhanda as the Chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC).

The guidelines had asked the states of Punjab and Haryana to form a search committee under the chief secretaries to prepare separate panels for members and chairmen of the public service commissions. The panel will be approved by a high-level committee comprising the Chief Minister, Vidhan Sabha Speaker and the Leader of the Opposition before being sent to the respective Governor.

The initiation of the selection process for the appointment of the chairman and members of the HPSC assumes importance as there are 11 vacant posts of members out of the total strength of 13 members. Besides Manbir Singh Bhandana, who is the acting HPSC chairman, the commission is working with only one member — Jai Singh Sangwan. Recently, the government decided to prune the strength of commission to seven members.

Chandigarh, July 14
The Haryana Government has fixed a target for skill development of about 1.8 lakh students under the National Vocational Education Qualification Framework (NVEQF) during the current financial year.

This was stated by Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Technical Education, Dhanpat Singh, while addressing a workshop on NVEQF organised jointly by the All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) and the Haryana Technical Education Department here.

He said under the proposed framework, a student might get vocational diploma or degree depending on the accumulated credits by undergoing various modules and getting satisfactory completion certificates from the Skill Knowledge Providers (SKPs).

Dhanpat Singh said about 50,000 students would be trained. Also, 80,000 students would be trained in technical education and the remaining 50,000 in other departments, including tourism, Swarjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana and Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana during 2012-13. He said that tentative requirement of funds for the current financial year was about Rs 50 crore. The targeted number of students under NVEQF during 2013-14 and 2014-15 would be 2.5 lakh and 3.3 lakh respectively. He said about Rs 135 crore would be required for 2013-14 whereas Rs 350 crore would be needed for 2014-15 for implementation of NVEQF.

New Delhi, July 14
Eight more former leaders of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) headed by Kuldeep Bishnoi today testified before the Vidhan Sabha Speaker that their party had in fact decided to merge with the Congress.

Speaker Kuldeep Sharma recorded their statements as part of the proceedings being held on the application of Bishnoi seeking disqualification of the five MLAs of his party for joining the Congress.

With this, 40 former HJC leaders have confirmed that the party had decided to merge with the Congress at a meeting held at Karnal on November 8, 2009. According to them, the merger proposal had been endorsed by as many as 75 of the 108 party delegates who attended the Karnal meeting.

At today’s proceedings held at the Haryana Bhavan here, Senior Advocate Harbhagwan Singh appeared for the five MLAs -- Rao Narendra Singh and Satpal Sangwan (at present Cabinet ministers), Vinod Bhayana, Zile Ram Sharma and Dharam Singh.

Bishnoi had challenged the Speaker’s recognition of the merger at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, upon which the HC declared them as “unattached members.” The Supreme Court, however, stayed the HC order on petitions filed by the five MLAs. The SC has already heard the petitions and reserved its verdict.

Hisar, July 14
Two armed youths looted Rs 1.5 lakh from a petrol pump in Barwala, about 30 km from here, last evening. The police said two youths came to the filling station located near Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Power Plant on a Splendour motorcycle. One entered the cabin while the other stood guard at the entrance.

The youth inside the cabin forced the owner and the employees to part with all the cash at gunpoint, the police said.

Thereafter, the duo fled on their motorcycle towards Hisar.

The police was informed in this regard but no arrests could be made.

Karnal, July 14
Members of the Jammu Kashmir Bachao Manch staged a dharna near the mini-secretariat here in protest against the Jammu and Kashmir interlocutors’ report, terming it as anti-national.

Leaders of the manch alleged that the report was contrary to the stated stand of India that “Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India” and regretted that by terming Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) as Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the report had only “legitimised the claims of Pakistan over PoK”.

The manch took exception to the recommendation to review the post-1952 laws and resolutions, saying that it would “prove to be a disaster”.

People of Jammu and Kashmir were facing terrorism, regional discrimination, low economic growth and unemployment. “However, none of these problems was addressed by the report of the interlocutors,” they added.

Opposing the recommendation for the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the leaders said it would be a disservice to the armed forces who are risking their lives to protect the nation. — TNS

Sirsa, July 14
A man, who suspected the chastity of his wife, killed her by slashing her throat by a sharp-edged knife used to cut leather in the early hours this morning at Dabwali town in Sirsa.

The police has booked the husband, Mahender, his brother, Jitender, and a brother-in-law Ram Kumar for the murder on the complaint of the victim Tara Wanti’s brother, Moti Ram.

The complainant alleged that his sister was married to Mahender Paul, who hailed from Hansi and had settled in Dabwali for pursuing the business of making ‘juttis’ (footwear) nearly 17 years ago.

The couple had a son, Hardik (15), and a daughter, Kanupriya (13).

He said Mahender often quarrelled with his wife as he suspected her character.

Today, after an altercation, Mahender allegedly attacked his wife with a knife used for cutting leather and hacked her neck.

He alleged that the other two accused also helped him in the attack.

Kanupriya, who tried to save her mother, was also hurt.

Hardik escaped unhurt as he rushed towards Moti Ram’s house after the clash ensued.

The victim died when Moti Ram was rushing her to hospital.

The police said a case of murder had been registered on Moti Ram’s complaint and efforts were being made to arrest the accused.

Chandigarh, July 14
The Haryana Government has allowed its employees to travel in AC Volvo super luxury buses while on tour for official purpose and all expenses on this account would be reimbursed by the state government.

Terming it as a gift to government employees, Sultan Singh Jadaula, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Transport, said that grade I, II and III employees with a grade pay of Rs 4600 and above would be entitled to travel in Haryana Roadways AC Volvo super luxury buses.

He said Haryana Roadways had 35 AC Volvo super luxury buses out of which 28 buses were operating on the Chandigarh-Gurgaon-via Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi and Chandigarh-Delhi-Faridabad routes. — TNS

Chandigarh, July 14
The State Election Commission has issued the programme for the Loharu (Bhiwani) Municipal Committee poll.

Dharam Vir, State Election Commissioner, said the model code had come into force.

The nomination papers would be filed from July 19 to 24. Scrutiny would be done on July 25 while the date for withdrawal was July 26.

Polling, if required, would be held on August 5 with EVMs. Counting would commence after the close of polling.