A deserted street in curfew-bound Sirsa town on Sunday

Sirsa, November 25
Tension prevailed in the town after yesterday’s incident of clash between Dera Sacha Sauda followers and anti-dera organisations with all roads and streets of the town giving a deserted look throughout the day today.

Besides curfew in the town, District Magistrate J Ganesan has promulgated prohibitory orders under Section 144, CrPC, in the entire district banning carrying of any type of arms.

“All schools, colleges and other education institutions in the district have been closed till November 28 in view of the dera row,” said Ganesan.

The authorities have made elaborate security arrangements in the town with Inspector General of Police (IGP), Hisar, AS Chawla and IGP (Law and Order) Mohammed Akil camping in the town.

Five companies of the CRPF and two companies of the Rapid Action Force arrived in Sirsa and conducted a flag march in the town. Entry of outsiders to the town has been banned from all sides.

The police has registered an FIR against 13 named and 1,500 to 2,000 unnamed Dera Sacha Sauda followers under various sections of the IPC, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, Noise Pollution Act and Arms Act.

Persons named in the FIR include Prithvi Singh Nain, senior vice-president of the dera, Krishan Pal Chauhan, Amarjit and Sat Pal, all members of the state committee, Ram Paul, head, political wing of the dera and Kasturi Lal, head, Sirsa block of the dera.

An official release stated that the condition of SGPC member Gurmeet Singh Tilokewala was better and he had been shifted to PGI, Chandigarh.

After the clash between dera followers and some organisations opposed to the dera, in which over 12 persons were injured and several vehicles were torched yesterday, the district authorities had clamped curfew in the town last evening.

Sirsa, November 25
The authorities have announced a relaxation in curfew restrictions from 6 am to 10 am and 2 pm to 5 pm tomorrow, Deputy Commissioner J Ganesan said today.

He said all government offices, boards, corporations, banks and other offices will remain closed tomorrow in view of the curfew.

The authorities have already announced the closure of all schools, colleges and other educational institutions in the district till November 28.

Sirsa, November 25
Organisations opposed to the Dera Sacha Sauda have given an ultimatum to the authorities to arrest those responsible for the attack on them by November 30 or face consequences. A meeting of the organisations opposed to the dera was held at Gurdwara Chilla Sahib today.

Sukhwinder Singh Khalsa, president, Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Sabha, who headed the meeting, said they had asked the authorities to arrest the accused by November 30 or they would be forced to take to the streets to seek justice.

Khalsa alleged that besides those mentioned in the FIR for yesterday’s incident, dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was also responsible for the attack.

Chandigarh, November 25
Unsafe sex continues to be the most common route to HIV/AIDS in Haryana with the state witnessing a spurt in the number of AIDS cases from 189 in 2010 to 355 in 2011. The state reported over 24,000 HIV positive cases last year.

While 85 HIV/AIDS cases were the result of unsafe sex, 4 per cent cases were reported on account of blood transfusion. Almost 4 per cent of the cases were the offshoot of the use of infected needles and syringes while other causes accounted for the remaining reported cases, sources told The Tribune here today.

Officials highlighted that the recent spurt in AIDS cases could be attributed to the increased awareness among the HIV positive patients and the setting up of a network of treatment facilities across the state. Since treatment for the disease is free, an increased number of patients is reporting for treatment at the state-run treatment centres, the officials highlighted.

Dr Vijay Garg, additional project director, Haryana State AIDS Control Society (HACS), claimed that HIV positivity among pregnant women was just 0.14 per cent in 2011 -- a substantial reduction from 0.30 per cent in 2006. Among the general clients, the positivity had come down from 6.47 per cent to 1.9 per cent from 2006 to 2011, he said

The officials disclosed that seven new targeted intervention projects, including two for truckers and five for migrants, and three new OPIOID substitution therapy centres at Panipat, Faridabad and Jhajjar would be made functional in 2012-13. This would go a long way in reducing the prevalence of HIV among injectable drug users (IUDs).

Dr Garg said currently the state was covered by 59 NGOs in high-risk groups like female sex workers, injectable drug users, migrants and men having sex with men. Besides, the state had already opened three OPIOID substitution therapy centres for IUDs at Panchkula, Sonepat and Ambala and three more such centres were planned at Panipat, Bahadurgarh and Faridabad, he stated.

Four more integrated counselling and testing centres (ICTCs) at Khanpur Kalan (Sonepat), Nalhar (Mewat), Gurgaon and Panchkula, and five more link anti-retroviral therapy (ART) centres at Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Panipat, Yamunanagar and Gurgaon were on the anvil in 2012-13, the officials added.

Gurgaon, November 25
In order to control new constructions within the 900-metre radius of the local ammunition depot, the district administration has appealed to the residents to inform officials whenever any new unauthorised construction is seen coming up.

The information can be given on police control room No 0124-100 or on Deputy Commissioner’s office No 0124-2303333 or on toll-free No 1800-1801-817 of Municipal Corporation Gurgaon (MCG).

The administration has also announced a reward of Rs 500 for information about new construction in the restricted area. Two quick action teams (QATs) have also been constituted which will rush immediately to the construction site on getting information and take action against the defaulter, besides demolishing the structure.

One team will look after the area falling under the police stations of Sector 18 and Palam Vihar while the other QAT will be for area falling under the police stations of Sector 5 and Civil Lines. Two JCBs will be kept stationed in both these police station areas for taking up demolition.

Deputy Commissioner PC Meena called a meeting of officers to review the maintenance of status quo in this restricted area as per orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He said the administration would observe ‘zero tolerance’ on the issue of constructions in the prohibited zone.

He directed the officers to follow the High Court orders in letter and in spirit. He gave clear instructions to the police officers to register FIR against the defaulters whenever any case of illegal construction is reported to them and the accused should be immediately arrested. If the accused happens to be a government servant, he will be chargesheeted as well. Meena has asked the police authorities to take up night patrolling in the restricted area to curb new constructions during the night.

Meena said the entire restricted zone had been divided into six sectors where MCG Executive Engineers will ensure implementation of the High Court orders. These six sectors will be further supervised by the four MCG Joint Commissioners. Besides, the three SDMs have been assigned two sectors each and these officers have been asked to conduct inspections regularly. They will submit weekly reports to the Deputy Commissioner. Additional Deputy Commissioner KM Pandurang has been appointed overall in charge for ensuring implementation of the High Court orders. Meena asked him to keep inspecting the area at least once a fortnight and take action against those found negligent in performing their duty.

The MCG inspection teams have also been restructured and the District Town Planner (Enforcement), MCG subdivisional engineers and junior engineers have been asked to be more vigilant. The Deputy Commissioner along with the officers MCG took round of the restricted zone.

Meena observed that the Air Force authorities should depute a nodal officer who could be contacted by district administration officials during their visit to the restricted zone.

Gurgaon, November 25
Just a day after the state government announced the trial run of waterworks at Chandu Budhera, Pankaj Kumra, Chief Engineer, Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), sent a note to the Gurgaon authorities pulling them up for rushing ahead with the trial run of the plant without completing the civil work.

In a letter to Superintending Engineer, HUDA Circle 1, Gurgaon, Kumra has asserted that the Rs 132-crore waterworks plant has been made partially functional by ‘makeshift’ arrangements, but the executing agency has not completed the work.

“The division number 3, Gurgaon, has failed to get LT/HT connections so far. The 1,000-mm pipeline is not functional because the agency has failed to arrange the requisites. The time limit of the project is already over and no action has been taken so far. You are directed to investigate the issue, inspect record, fix responsibility and take penal action against the agency and even explore the possibilities of debarring it,” read the letter.

It may be noted that a similar letter was sent on November 15 highlighting how a unit of 22 MGD was started without civil work being completed and leaking pipes.

Despite this, the authorities remained indifferent and even went ahead issuing press notes about the trial run of the waterworks which was claimed to be an answer to future water supply needs of Gurgaon.

Meanwhile, the agency, Pratibha SMS JV, has held HUDA responsible for the delay in completion of civil work at the plant.

In reply to the show-cause notice, the company said it was the non-fulfillment of contractual obligations like timely release of bills, unable to provide HT power connections and arrange for removal of religious structure on the site were responsible for the delay. The agency also claimed that it had sought extension of time.

Sirsa, November 25
With their lives paralysed due to the imposition of curfew in the town, residents feel that violence between the Dera Sacha Sauda and some organisations opposed to them could have been averted with a little more efforts.

Some prominent residents, who in the past, have been associated with a peace committee set up to coordinate between the dera and the organisations, also feel that the issue could have been dealt with in a better way.

Residents feel that the authorities first allowed the situation to worsen and now hapless people were being made to suffer without their fault. “We are hostages in our own homes without any fault of ours,” wrote Ankur on his Facebook account.

“Our relatives living outside are also worried and they are calling us time and again to know our welfare,” he added.

“It is a matter of surprise that rioters continued torching vehicles when more than 100 policemen were standing at that place. Even Sant Gurmeet Singh Tirlokewala, an SGPC member and a respected figure in the area, was beaten up mercilessly in the presence of the police,” alleged Jagdish Chopra, president, Nagrik Parishad, Sirsa.

A member of the peace committee said once Naam Charcha by the dera followers was over peacefully in police protection in the morning yesterday, the police should not have allowed them to assemble close to a place where those opposed to dera were holding a meeting in the afternoon.

Fatehabad, November 24
Additional district and sessions judge LN Jindal has awarded life imprisonment to a person for murdering the husband of a woman with whom he had an affair at Bangaon village in Fatehabad.

The court has acquitted the victim’s wife, who was also an accused in the case, for want of evidence against her.

Rajbir Singh, who has been convicted for the murder, allegedly had illicit relations with Sumitra, wife of the victim, Rajinder, at Bangaon village.

Rajinder’s father Balbir Singh had lodged a complaint with the police on February 24, 2011, that Rajbir and Sumitra had killed his son.

Rajinder had gone missing from his house on February 13 and his body was recovered from a canal in Rajasthan on February 24.

During interrogation, Rajibir had informed the police that he took Rajinder to a canal near the village on some pretext and hit him on his head with the handle of a fodder-cutting machine.

The impact of the injury was so strong that Rajinder died on the spot.

He later threw Rajinder’s body in the canal.

The body was found stuck at the Bhagwan head of the canal in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan.

In the course of trial, the prosecution failed to prove charges against Sumitra, while the guilt of Rajbir Singh was proved beyond reasonable doubts.

Sonepat, November 25
A 13-year-old girl of BST Colony, Gannaur, was allegedly gangraped by four persons, including Teku of Gandhi Nagar in Gannaur and his brother-in-law, Anil of Matan village in Jhajjar district, on the night of November 23.

On the complaint of the victim’s mother, a case of gang rape has been registered against the accused in Gannaur police station.

However, no one has been arrested so far in the case. In her complaint, she stated that on November 23 late night when her daughter went out of the house to answer nature’s call, she was allegedly raped by four persons. After hearing her daughter’s cries, she came out of the house and saw the alleged accused running away.

Balbir Singh, DSP, said the police had registered a case of gang rape against the accused.

The police had also recorded the victim’s statement and got her medically examined in the Civil Hospital, Gannaur.

The victim’s maternal uncle of Matan village is an accused in the case.

Sonepat, November 25
The national president of the All-India Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti, Yash Pal Malik, has said that the samiti will launch a nationwide agitation in February in support of the demand for reservation to Jats at the national level.

Talking to mediapersons at Gohana, Malik said if the Haryana Government did not give reservation to Jats by February 16, the samiti would support the agitation of the khaps on the issue. Commenting on a news item appeared in The Tribune about reservation for Jats and four other castes in Haryana, he said the Haryana State Backward Classes Commission should submit its report at the earliest so that the state could accept its recommendations and send its proposal for reservation to the Central Government.

Malik pointed out that Haryana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir were the only states where Jats had not been given the OBC status.

Chandigarh, November 25
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda exhorted office-bearers of the Haryana Pradesh Youth Congress (HPYC) to work unitedly for strengthening the Congress in the state.

Hooda was addressing a largely attended ‘Dayitva Grahan Samaroh’ organised by the Haryana Youth Congress (HPYC) at Panchkula, near here, today. HPCC president Phool Chand Mullana and Jitender Bhegal, in charge of the Haryana Youth Congress, administered the oath to the newly elected president of HPYC Amit Sihag and its other office-bearers. Office-bearers of all 90 assemblies of the state were present on this occasion.

Hooda urged them to infuse the spirit of patriotism in the coming generation. He said they should always ready to make sacrifices for the unity and integrity of the country.

Hooda asked them to ensure that the message of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and general secretary Rahul Gandhi should reach every household.

Saying that the state government was laying special emphasis on the overall development of youth, Hooda said 2012 was being observed as the year of youth.

Rohtak, November 25
Both patients and the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) are suffering on account of alleged irregularities in the functioning of the Department of Radio Diagnosis while carrying out CT scan and MRI tests.

In has come to light that a drug used prior to the CT scan and MRI tests was purchased at higher rates.

“The drug identified as Contrast Medium was purchased at a rate ranging between Rs 1,047 and 1,320 for a unit of 100 ml while this is available at a rate of Rs 825 per bottle, which can be brought down to Rs 700 per unit if bought in wholesale,” said a source in the department.

It is revealed that the name of the Contrast Medium mentioned in the tender floated by the department last year mentioned the biological names of certain brands which were priced higher in the market and the names of some of the brands identified as Iohexel, which was priced lower in the market was not mentioned or recommended when patients were asked to buy it from the market at the time of the tests.

With at least 25 to 30 scans done on any given day, around 6,000 bottles get consumed in the department in a year on such tests, and the difference in the cost could be pegged around Rs 36 lakh per year, said the source.

Director, PGIMS, Dr CS Dhull said no such complaint had surfaced so far, but the authorities would not hesitate to conduct a probe if any irregularity was brought to his notice. “We are clear about the quality and service and take proper action to plug any loophole,” he said.

Chandigarh, November 25
The State Vigilance Bureau has recommended departmental action against 14 gazetted officers and nine non-gazetted officers.

A spokesman of the bureau said here that the bureau had also recommended registeration of a criminal case against two gazetted officers, four non-gazetted officers and six others.

He said eight officers and officials were also caught accepting illegal gratification recently ranging from Rs 1000 to Rs 20,000. Criminal cases have been registered against them under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

These officers included Raj Kumar, SDO, Power Utilities, Badli(Jhajjar), Ranbir Singh, junior engineer, Power Utilities, Kundli (Sonepat), Bijender, Assistant Accountant, Civil Hospital, Rohtak; Ishwer Singh, ASI, Police Post, Kala Amb (Ambala) and Rakesh Saini, junior engineer, Power Utilities, Faridabad.

Chandigarh, November 25
The secretaries of various Road Transport Authorities (RTAs) have been asked to launch a campaign to challan transport vehicles found without speed governors or having speed governors that have been tampered with.

This directive came at a seminar organised by the Haryana Transport Department regarding implementation of the speed governors programme here today.

Amit Jha, Transport Commissioner, Haryana, said the fixing of speed governors in all transport vehicles was mandatory in Haryana. There were reports that vehicle operators were resorting to tampering with speed governors after their installation. — TNS

Faridabad, November 25
The police today booked a factory owner after an under construction industrial unit collapsed in Sarurpur area here in which two persons were killed.

The case was registered against Rajesh Gupta at the Mujesar police station here for ignoring safety measures at the construction site, SHO Gajendra Singh said, adding that Gupta was yet to be arrested. Two persons were killed and four others injured when a portion of the building collapsed yesterday.

The deceased have been identified as Ghanshyam (52), contractor of the project, and labourer Sipahi (25). — PTI

Chandigarh, November 25
The Haryana Health Department has decided to develop new imaging diagnostic facilities in identified state-run hospitals through the public-private partnership (PPP) mode to provide high-quality advanced diagnostic services to people at affordable prices.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Ram Kishan Fouji said MRI and CT-scan facilities would be provided at Faridabad, Hisar, Kaithal, Sonepat and Narnaul General Hospitals in the initial phase . While MRI facility would be provided at General Hospital, Panchkula, the facility of CT scan would be available at the General Hospital, Gurgaon.

He said the selected private partner would set up advanced diagnostic imaging facilities in all identified hospitals.

The provider would deliver affordable services at pre-determined rates.

Keeping in view the high cost of investment in procuring these high-end equipment, it was decided to provide radiological services through the PPP mode.

The rates of services have been kept in tandem with the rates being charged at the PGI, Chandigarh, and Government Hospital, Sector 6, Panchkula.