Chandigarh, October 26
Rapid response teams (RRTs) have been constituted in every district for prevention and monitoring of dengue and other vector-borne diseases. Physicians, microbiologists and Deputy Civil Surgeon, Malaria, have  been included in the RRTs, which are visiting the affected areas and ensuring that regular fogging was carried out, Haryana Health Minister Rao Narender Singh said.

He said besides, diagnosis of dengue was being done free of cost at government hospitals and, if needed, platelets were being provided to those suffering from dengue. Platelets separation and transfusion facility was available at the PGIMS, Rohtak, Gurgaon and Karnal.

The minister said wards had been reserved for dengue patients in all district hospitals and sub hospitals and directions had been issued to all Civil Surgeons in this regard. Maximum suspected cases of dengue are from Gurgaon, he said adding two cases of dengue deaths had been reported at Gurgaon and Rohtak.

In view of the suspected dengue cases in Gurgaon and Panchkula, the required number of fogging machines have been provided to both districts, he added.

Kaithal, October 26
Seema Devi, sarpanch of Chousala village in this district, who remained in ghoongat for four years after marriage, will now be able to see the world with new insight and work with more confidence and authority.

An initiative taken by the district administration motivated her and some other women to shed the ghoonghat and play an active role in the fight against social evils like the parda system and foeticide.

Deputy commissioner Chander Shekhar had invited Seema Devi and her husband Baldev Singh in his office recently and honoured them, DIPRO Randhir Sharma told media persons here today.

The administration has decided to project her as a role model for a campaign to eradicate the parda system.

It happened on October 5 when the administration held a night camp at Chousala in which senior officials, including deputy commissioner Chander Shekhar, superintendent of police Kuldip Singh Yadav and additional deputy commissioner Dinesh Singh Yadav, took part. The sarpanch, Seema (24), had welcomed the DC with a bouquet on behalf of the panchayat in ghoonghat.

Addressing the villagers, the deputy commissioner urged the women to play an active role, and shed the ghoonghat and work against foeticide, the two prevailing social evils.

The sarpanch realised that if she remained in parda how would she be able to persuade other women to shed this custom. With the consent of her husband Baldev Singh, she removed her ghoonghat at the programme.

It is learnt that now Seema, who was married four years ago and is a mother of two daughters aged two years and five months, has launched a campaign to create an awakening among the women against the purdah system and foeticide. On her initiative, a survey is being conducted in the village to identify elderly women who are in favour of doing away with ghoonghat so that their services could be utilised in this drive.

role model
The administration has decided to project her as a role model for a campaign to eradicate the purdah system

Gurgaon, October 26
To deal with the ever-increasing incidents of crime against women, the Gurgaon police will visit women working in corporates and BPOs across the city.

The initiative, spearheaded by deputy commissioner of police (west) Maheshwar Dayal, aims to instill confidence amongst the women and bridge the gap between them and the law enforcing authorities by getting to know their problems better and working out solutions.

The visits, which will be either weekly or fortnightly, would also aim at apprising women of various safety measures which could rule out the possibility of such incidents.

“Women’s security is our prime concern and tops our priority charts. We will visit them to understand their problems and strengthen our measures for their security. We also look forward to increasing awareness and self-confidence in them as it would ensure that they take security precautions which are always better than cure. We look forward to interacting with the women employees of information technology firms, BPOs and corporate houses twice a month regularly as they are generally considered to be most vulnerable,” said DCP Dayal.

The police visited a few corporates, including IBM, on Thursday and spoke to company officials about the safety measures for their women employees and 
took many suggestions from them.

“The move is appreciable. It is a big step towards bridging the communication gap between us and the police. Such visits will ensure that the women get the confidence that the police is there for them and is approachable,” said a woman employee of IBM

Sonepat, October 26
A number of unauthorised constructions on the bypass and the Thana Kalan Road in Kharkhoda town were demolished by a team of the district administration led by the SDM Kharkhoda, Mahender Pal, and DTP Sonepat, Dilbag Singh.

Dilbag Singh said a number of constructions, including 180 DPCs, boundary walls and temporary road networks in four colonies of Kharkhoda were demolished by a squad. Two colonies were located on the bypass and two on the Thana Kalan Road.

With the construction of the bypass about four years ago and upgradation of Kharkhoda as a subdivision headquarters last year, there were reports of a large scale unauthorised plotting and constructions on both sides of the bypass.

Gurgaon, October 26
The millennium city is all set to host the 12th meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim - Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) from October 29 to November 2.

Nearly 100 delegates, including foreign ministers, Ambassadors and newspersons from 19-member countries are expected to attend the meeting.

Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Secretary Sudhir Vyas and Haryana Chief Secretary PK Chaudhary reviewed the arrangements made by the district administration.

Vyas maintained that the political motive behind the meeting was to showcase India as an economic 
power through Gurgaon city, which complements the national capital.

The HSIIDC and HUDA have been carrying out beautification and repair works on the stretch from toll plaza to the meeting venue.

Haryanvi artistes will give a live performance of the state’s folk music to give the delegates a feel of the local culture.

The IOR-ARC comprises 19-member countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Besides, the association has five dialogue partners including China, Egypt, France, Japan and the United Kingdom. The Indian Ocean Tourism Organisation and the Indian Ocean Research Group are observers.

Panipat, October 26
The de-addiction centres running without licence in Panipat would be closed and the patients in these centres shifted to the de-addiction centre in the PGI, Rohtak.

These centres, including New Freedom Mukti Kendra, Mahabir Colony, Panipat, Navjeevan Nasha Mukti Kendra, Samalahka, Suprabhat Nasha Mukti Kendra, Badshan and Nai Kiran Nasha Mukti Sansthan, Jatal, running without valid registrations and licences have been ordered to be closed.

An RTI activist, P.P.Kapoor, who filed an application on September 3 seeking information regarding the de-addiction centres running in Panipat district for years, said the information supplied to him by the public information officer revealed that most of the centres were not registered and were running without a valid licence and the director-general (health), Haryana, had directed the civil surgeon, Panipat, to close the centres and shift the patients to the de-addiction centre at the PGI, Rohtak.

The Haryana government had amended the NDPS Act, 1985, and formulated the Haryana de-addiction Rules-2010 which laid the conditions for the establishment of de-addiction centres.

The rules provided for mandatory registration of de-addiction centres and prescribed the minimum conditions for their registration, which included the appointment of qualified doctors and staff, upkeep, management, training and treatment of patients in a conducive environment.

But many centres were running without any registration and licence and fleecing the patients and violating their human rights, Kapoor said.

The rules also provide for the constitution of a seven-member committee at the state level for proper implementation of the rules and three-member committee comprising the deputy commissioner, civil surgeon and district welfare officer in the district to implement the rules.

The rules also provided that these centres should have proper water and power supplies, sanitation and recreation facilities, but some de-addiction centres did not follow the rules.

Rewari, October 26
An eight-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a middle-aged man at Dhani Mehaniawas village, 7-km from Dharuhera in the district, yesterday.

When the man was taking the girl to a field, two women, who suspected his intention, also reached there after sometime and raised an alarm following which a field worker overpowered the accused when he tried to flee after committing the crime.

The accused has been identified as Kanchan (45), a migrant worker from Madhya Pradesh, and presently residing at a colony at Akeda village, near Dharuhera. The accused, who was handed over to the police, was presently working as a mason at Dhani Mehaniawas village.

The police has registered a case of rape against the accused after medically examined the girl.

He was today produced in a local court which remanded him in 14-day judicial custody.

Hisar, October 26
Special teams raised by the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) for a month-long campaign against theft of electricity in its area detected irregularities committed by 1,085 consumers, including 548 cases of power theft. The teams imposed a penalty of Rs 4.16 crore on the erring consumers.

A DHBVN spokesman said here today that the teams checked 1,757 suspected meters and detected 548 cases of theft of electricity. As many as 200 meters had been sent to the meter testing laboratory.

In case these meters were found tampered with, cases of theft of power would be framed against these consumers. During raids, the teams found 112 defective meters and 159 cases of unauthorised extension of load. The highest number of thefts -162 - were detected in Faridabad operation circle followed by 101 in Gurgaon, 65 in Narnaul, 62 in Hisar, 49 in Sirsa, 52 in Rewari and 44 in Bhiwani.

He said the teams functioned independent of the operation staff. Officers of the enforcement wing coordinated and provided police support to the teams in their respective areas of jurisdiction . Two teams operated in each operation circle area under the control of the Additional Managing Director, Directors and Chief General Managers posted at the head office. These senior officers remained in their areas for at least two days in a week.

He said the teams prepared reports on each raid even if there was no theft. In case a meter was found suspect, it was sent to the meter testing laboratory to determine whether there was theft. 

Gurgaon, October 26
Panic gripped thousands of people on the MG Road as a fire broke out at a store in the ground floor of MGF Metropolis late this evening. The fire broke in a multi-brand store, Spar, reportedly due to a short-circuit and, within minutes, the floor was filled with smoke. This unleashed fear and panic amongst the visitors who rushed to evacuate the mall.

The fire brigade and local police were informed, but the confusion and panic prevailed. People whose cars had been parked in basements tried to get out in haste, leading to jams in the exits and on the road.

Though nobody was hurt in incident, goods worth lakhs were reportedly gutted. The exact loss is yet to be calculated.

Meanwhile, the fear also spread to the MGF Metropolitan across the road as word went around that the fire had broken in its basement. Within minutes, a similar rumor spread to others malls situated on the road and thousands of vistors went on an evacuation spree, running and driving out in haste.

This ‘mass’ evacuation lead to a major traffic jam on road.

Though officials are yet to fix the responsibility of the fire, the police blamed mall owners for the havoc.

“There were no preparations to deal with such a situation. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained but short-circuit seems to the likely reason. When we reached the spot, we found the shop and floor full of smoke. More than the fire, it was panic and confusion which was hard to handle. The mall had no security or other officials to manage the rush or oversee the evacuation as everybody was fleeing for life, leaving the visitors to work their own way out. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but the chaos and confusion which was witnessed everywhere should be a wake-up call for all malls busy in festive spirit,” said a police officer on the spot.

Chandigarh, October 26
The Haryana Congress has welcomed the reports of the Deputy Commissioners of four districts, giving a clean chit to various land deals of Robert Vadra and his companies.

In a statement issued here today, Haryana Congress spokesman Krishan Murti Hooda said the reports of the Gurgaon, Mewat, Faridabad and Palwal DCs had clearly proved that the allegations levelled by Arvind Kejriwal and Om Prakash Chautala of the INLD that these land deals were undervalued to evade stamp duty were baseless and a figment of imagination.

Hooda said the reports had clearly stated that the land purchased by Vadra and his companies were at rates far above the collector rates for the land in question.

He said earlier Chautala had alleged that Rahul Gandhi had evaded stamp duty while purchasing land in Haryana. This allegation was also found to be untrue.

He said the opposition should not indulge in such gimmicks for narrow political interests and it should stop vitiating the country’s political atmosphere. 

Hisar, October 26
INLD secretary-general Ajay Singh Chautala today accused the Haryana government of ‘gifting prime land in four districts to Robert Vadra, Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law.

Answering questions from intellectuals in a question-answer session organised here, he said though the Hooda government was trying to justify Vadra’s land deals, the fact was that these ‘dubious’ deals were made possible by government connivance.

He said the land was forcibly purchased from poor farmers at throwaway prices and then sold to builders at high prices. This was just an attempt by the Chief Minister to keep himself in the office by pleasing Sonia Gandhi, he added.

Chautala said the present Congress government was by far the most corrupt government in Haryana. Most of the ministers were involved in criminal activities and there was no rule of law in the state.

Earlier, at a function several leaders of the Samast Bhartiya Party joined the INLD in Chautala’s presence. Welcoming them, Chautala said the party would give them the desired recognition. 

Hisar, October 26
Additional District and Sessions Judge Ritu Tagore today stayed an order issued by a Hansi court asking the district police chief to take action against the SHO of Hansi for cancelling the FIR registered against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on charge of sedition following his statement against Bihari settlers in Maharashtra.

On September 7, the Hansi police had registered a case against Thackrey on orders of a judicial magistrate of Hansi. The case was closed and the SHO stated in the court on October 11 that the matter did not fall under his jurisdiction.

Sonepat, October 26
A team of the FCI led by the area manager of Rohtak, Ved Prakash, today arrived at the Sonepat grain market to investigate into farmers’ charges regarding the alleged nexus among buyers, government officials and commission agents in procurement of the basmati varieties of paddy.

The Tribune carried the report of the farmers’ allegations in its columns today.

The team checked the auctioned stock and interacted with the farmers who had brought their produce in the market. The team also supervised today’s auction and sought a clarification from market committee officials.

Ved Prakash said farmers who had brought their produce in the market today said they had no complaint. “I have asked the market committee officials to ensure that there is no irregularity in the open auction and the farmers are given the remunerative price,” he added. A commission agent explained that some farmers bring paddy with more moisture and less maturity. When their produce is not given the good quality rates they feel being discriminated against and make allegations.

However, the farmers maintained that the current procurement prices of basmati varieties ranging between Rs 1,800 and Rs 2,300 were not remunerative if the increased cost of input was taken into account.