A candidate is physically examined by the authorities. Photos: Manoj Dhaka

Rohtak, November 17
The authorities of the Indian Army today nabbed over 20 youths on charges of possessing suspected drug material at the time of the recruitment process which started here this morning.

The recruitment drive for various wings of the Army is expected to continue for the next 10 days. Around 3,000 candidates reported for the recruitment process being held at the local Chottu Ram Stadium. No case has been booked in this connection so far.

“We have caught several youths possessing various types of drug material when they reported at the recruitment centre set up in the stadium here,” claimed Colonel B. Patnaik, in charge of the Army Recruitment Office here.

He said these candidates had been declared unfit for recruitment but no legal action had been initiated against them so far.

The suspected drug materials, including tablets, syrups and dry powder-like substances, were found from their belongings when the recruitment officials searched them after reports that some drug addicts had reported at the centre.

This is perhaps the first time that contraband drugs have been found in possession of the candidates aspiring to get recruited in the defence sector. The authorities could not clarify the number of candidates it was expected to recruit under this drive.

The army officials had also served a warning to the candidates that anyone found to be using drugs or any type of addiction would be rejected straightaway and no one with such a habit or tendency should report here. The authorities had also announced that youths with tattoos on their bodies would not be recruited.

The recruitment process on the first day was meant for those who wished to join the clerical staff of the Army, it added.

The ARO office had recently advertised for the recruitment drive in the Army for the eligible candidates of Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat and Panipat districts.

Fatehabad, November 17
The increasingly “negative atmosphere” in the village in the wake of the alleged rape of a 13-year-old schoolgirl and subsequent removal of the victim and her two sisters from her school in Khai village beckoned a former student of the village school do something to provide alternative and parallel vision to schoolchildren.

Driven by this urge, Sushil Kumar, assistant professor in English in the Punjabi University Regional Centre at Talwandi Sabo, came to his alma mater with some other teachers from his workplace to provide some tips to the students on academics and soft skills.

Faculty members of the Talwandi Sabo Regional Centre of Punjabi University, Patiala, organised a workshop titled “Youth Empowerment” in Government Senior Secondary School at Khai in Fatehabad.

Dr Kuldeep Singh Deep, a recipient of the Haryana Punjabi Sahitya Akademi award, emphasised the importance of good literature and exhorted children to inculcate reading habits.

Sushil Kumar, who had his early education in Khai, his native village, said education was the only answer to ills like poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, caste discrimination and superstition.

“We have been lighting diyas for thousands years without much avail. It is high time to enlighten our minds this Divali season,” Sushil Kumar said.

Raenee, an assistant professor in English, and Brij Lal, a retired principal also addressed the students and gave tips on becoming better individuals.

“The recent negativity associated with infamous incident in my village prompted me to be among the children and do something positive for them,” said Sushil Kumar about the workshop.

The objective of the workshop is to motivate the students to study in order to be employable.

“Over 69 per cent of our population lives in villages but in higher education, their participation is only 5-7 per cent. There is a huge imbalance between rural and urban areas as far as the higher education is concerned,” he said.

Sushil Kumar said higher education in rural Haryana was not an all-sunshine story. However, the students who were getting higher education had a golden future and they should grab this opportunity with hard work in their studies.

Chandigarh, November 17
The Airport Authority of India has conveyed its in-principle consent to the project site of a cargo airport in Haryana after carrying out a preliminary site visit and a pre-feasibility study.

This was disclosed by Haryana Chief Secretary P.K.Chaudhery, who was addressing media persons in connection with the ongoing India International Trade Fair in New Delhi today.

A press note issued here today said the state government intended to set up a cargo airport in Haryana in the NCR sub-region. The application was filed with the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation for site clearance. The Ministry of Defence had issued the requisite NOC to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the case was being processed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, he added.

He said the Ministry of Railways was developing a dedicated freight corridor between Delhi and Mumbai, covering a length of 1,483 km. To tap the opportunities likely to be generated by the freight corridor, a band of 150 km on both sides was being developed as the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), covering the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Sirsa, November 17
District and Sessions Judge Subhash Goyal today sentenced two youths to imprisonment of 10 years each for the rape of a minor girl at Kanwarpura village in Sirsa.

The 15-year-old victim, a schoolgirl, was waylaid by youths Sandeep and Suresh, also from Kanwarpura village, outside her school on May 25, 2011.

They took her to a secluded house on the outskirts of the village and raped her. The two threatened her of dire consequences if she narrated the incident to anyone. However, the girl went ahead and told her family members.

Her father approached Ding police station with a complaint against the two accused.

The medical examination of the victim confirmed that she was sexually assaulted.

The police recorded the statement of the victim before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code and arrested the accused.

Jind, November 17
A minor girl found abandoned near the milk plant here was finally rescued by officials of the Women and Child Welfare Department here today.

Aged about 13, she had been allegedly raped by some persons, including a truck driver, after abduction from Bihar recently. The girl has been shifted to the civil hospital for medical and health examination.

The girl who has not been able to reveal the place from where she was abducted was found lying at a spot opposite the milk plant and the highway connecting Jind with Hansi. A local residents who found her lying in a semi-conscious state had taken took her to his house. Police officials concerned failed to contact him and take the custody of the girl even after he had informed them on Wednesday.

The officials of the women and child development and the police contacted the family which had rescued the girl today and shifted her to the civil hospital.

The victim who had been petrified and hardly unable to speak initially later revealed that a truck driver had abducted here from her village in Bihar a few days ago.

Chandigarh, November 17
Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Sambhajirao Shinde today said a decision had been taken to give the status of ex-servicemen to para-military personnel.

Shinde was addressing a largely attended ‘Samriti Rally’ organised on the occasion of 66th birth anniversary of former minister Surinder Singh at Tosham in Bhiwani district. He and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda dedicated various developmental projects worth over Rs 67.64 crore in the presence of Haryana Public Health Engineering Minister Kiran Choudhry and MP Shruti Chaudhry to the people of the area.

While describing Haryana as the land of the brave, Shinde assured that whatever the demands Shruti Choudhry would put forward, he would try to fulfill. He said former Chief Minister Bansi Lal and former minister Surinder Singh had undertaken development of the area and he had the privilege to work with both of them. He described Surinder Singh as a man of progressive ideology.

Hooda assured the people that the government would ensure availability of the Bhakra’s water to this area as a Rs 350-crore BML-Hansi Butana Link Canal has been got constructed, but the issue was pending with the Supreme Court. Although a leader of Haryana, in connivance with the Chief Minister of Punjab had tried to create hindrance in making this canal functional, but there would be an equitable distribution of canal water. He said after holding the reigns of the administration in 2005, he had decided to ensure equitable distribution of water.

Hooda said the Opposition parties, while being in power had always halted the progress of the state and also of the Tosham area. Two leaders of the Opposition parties remained MP from Bhiwani, but had never raised their voice for welfare of the people of the area. Presenting the statistics, he said since 2005, the present state government had incurred a sum of Rs 4,000.54 crore on the developmental projects in Bhiwani whereas merely Rs 618.31 crore was spent by the INLD-BJP government from 1999 to 2005. Similarly, the Congress government had spent Rs 746.35 crore from 2005 to 2012 on the developmental schemes and projects in the Tosham Assembly segment. On the contrary, the INLD-BJP had spent only Rs 138.56 crore during their six-year rule. Since 1966 to 2005, the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board had constructed 65-km long roads in the Tosham assembly constituency whereas 86 km-long roads had been constructed in the area during the past seven years. Apart from this, the present government had upgraded 35 schools of the area, he added.

Sonepat, November 17
Within nine months, 13 of the 21 municipal councillors (MCs) of the Gohana municipal committee have again raised a banner of revolt against Raj Kumar Sharma who was elected chairman after dethroning Sunil Mehta on February 8, this year.

The MCs held a meeting at the Gohana office of Rajbir Dahiya, member of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, on Friday and resolved to meet Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his MP son Deepender Singh Hooda to lodge a complaint against the chairman.

In a press statement issued after the meeting, the MCs -- Geeta Goyal, Shushma Sehrawat, Savitri Jangra, Rajesh Nain, Banke Bihari, Sunil Mehta, Rubi Miglani, Jyoti Sethi, Mahesh Kumar, Vinod Rajora, Radhe Shyam, Krishan and Om Pati Dhama -- alleged that there were cases of misappropriation of development grants and interference of the Gohana Congress MLA, Jagbir Singh Malik.

They also alleged that they did not have any say in the working of the municipality. They were being humiliated and insulted and their areas were being discriminated against in the execution of development grants, they alleged and added that the cleanliness in the town was affected because of shortage of safai karamcharis.

However, the chairman refuted the allegations, stating that there was no discrimination in the development works and all MCs were being given due regards. After receiving sanction from the deputy commissioner, new safai karamcharis would be enrolled, he added.

Faridabad, November 17
Call it vote bank politics or voice of conscience, various major political parties in the state have associated themselves with organisers of ‘Chhath Puja’ in South Haryana, especially Faridabad, which has a large chunk of its population from Bihar and eastern UP.

Faridabad Deputy Commissioner Balraj Singh today directed the SDMs of Faridabad and Ballabhgarh to spruce up the embankments along the Agra Canal, Khedi and Palla Bridge, Sector 3 (new bridge) and several other points along the Yamuna in this district to facilitate prayers and offerings to the sun god by devotees.

Dhanpat, who is part of an organising committee relating to the festival in Badkal and NIT, said: “The concerns of the political parties is a testimonial to the growing presence of people from eastern India in Haryana and their active contributions to its economy.”

The two-day festival, commencing from November 19, is dedicated to the sun god. The devotees keep a two-day fast and offer prayers to the sun. On the first day of the prayers are offered at dawn, and the subsequent morning when the sun rises. During both occasions the devotees remain immersed in water at the time of the rites. Sometimes the wait is long, as the prayers have to be synchronised with the precise period of setting and rising of the sun. Although the festival is celebrated with fervour, the scale appears to be bigger this year.

Ram Kumar Sain, state leader of the INLD, said his party units in the districts would participate in the festival. Tejpal Sharma, Faridabad president of the HJC, said his party leaders were organising the festival rites. He further said his party would involve its self with the festival in a big way throughout the state next year.

BR Ojha, Faridabad president of the Congress, said people from Bihar and eastern UP had contributed in a big way in the industrialisation of this district. His party leaders always took part in the festival, he added.

Kurukshetra, November 17
In order to make people aware of AIDS, a Red Ribbon Express Train carrying a message will halt at Kurukshetra junction on 8th and 9th December. Deputy Commissioner Mandip Singh Brar said the Health and Family Welfare Ministry had sponsored this train under a campaign throughout the country.

Brar was addressing a meeting of the Health Department at a conference hall in the mini-secretariat to boost up the programme measurement against AIDS to make people aware about its consequences.

Brar said for the event, a district-level executive committee had been formed. Vandana Bhatia, Civil Surgeon, would be the nodal officer of this committee and monitor the event.

“The service of this train was introduced on 12 January, 2012, and till now 23 states have been covered. The train had halted at 162 places of the country for effective publicity,” Brar said.

Mahendergarh, November 17
Residents of Jant and Pali villages in the district, who have been struggling for reservation in jobs and admissions at the Central University of Haryana coming up on their land, have decided to stage a protest demonstration in support of their demands at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on December 12.

While the protesting villagers have received permission to hold a dharna at Jantar Mantar from the authorities concerned, the final outline of the protest would be decided at a meeting to be held tomorrow.

The panchayats of Pali and Jant villages had leased out nearly 500 acres of their land for the university at a token rate of Re 1 per acre per year on the promise of reservation in university jobs and admissions.

However, when the villagers approached the university authorities in this regard, they were shown the door.

Tired of running from pillar to post for justice, the villagers decided to stage a dharna. The dharna began on July 30 and continued for more than two months, but it failed to elicit any favourable response from the authorities. Eventually, the protesters got the construction work on the university campus stopped. Soon after, they were invited for talks with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

However, during the talks, Hooda maintained that provision of reservation did not come under the purview of the state government.

Hooda later urged Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal to “sympathetically consider” the demand of the villagers for reservation in jobs and admissions at the university. In a demi-official letter written to the Union Minister, Hooda had stated that the panchayats of the aforementioned villages had given their land free of cost for the construction of the university. However, the Chief Minister did not mention in the letter that the villagers had been promised reservation in jobs and admissions before they gave their land to set up the university.

Faridabad, November 17
The Faridabad police will set up an exclusive range to examine the driving skills of applicants before clearing their applications of driving licences.

Faridabad DCP, Traffic, Krishan Murari, said the range would be set up on 2.5 acres in Sector 12. The project would be funded by the National Hydro Power Corporation. The project would start from January. The police had also tied up with Maruti Udyog Limited with regard to this project.

Murari said earlier, the police completed mere formalities in clearing the cases sent to it by the office of the SDM, who is the authority to issue the licences. Now, the police gave written and practical tests to the applicants. Test of the driving skills is a part of the practical exam, he added.