Gurgaon, December 17
Having reportedly failed to satisfactorily implement 30 of the 36 ways suggested to control traffic snarls, the DGSCL has been given 15 days to pull its act together.

In the first review meeting held after the presentation of the 36-point anti-snarl plan by the police in the high court, traffic police officials have found the expressway operation lacking on a majority of grounds. It has asked it to work things out within 15 days.

Sources reveal while the operator has worked on issues like smart card and de-congestion of the Rajiv Chowk, it had failed in all other points.

“The court had asked us to hold coordination meetings to see that the 36 suggestions which had been recorded in the last hearing were being implemented. We reviewed their work today and, unfortunately, a lot of work needs to be done. In fact, barring two or three points which caught the media’s attention, the company has not done much. We have given it 15 days following which a review meeting would be held,” revealed an official.

In compliance of the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court (HC) to check the traffic snarls near the toll plaza on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway near Gurgaon, a detailed report was submitted before the HC earlier this month. A division bench of the HC headed by Justice S K Mittal fixed the case for January 17 for hearing and directed the parties to inform the court on how many of these steps had been implemented by them to control the traffic problem.

The court had in November expressed dissatisfaction over the existing measures to check the traffic snarls near the toll plaza of the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway and had directed the authorities to together work out some strategy. Following this, a 36-point anti-snarl plan was worked out. 

Chandigarh, December 17
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the state would get 1,500 to 2,000 MW power from Bhutan in the next four to five years from a new joint venture project to be set up by the state there. Also, hydel power would be economical as compared to the thermal power.

Addressing a press conference here today, the Chief Minister described his recent two-day Bhutan visit as “very fruitful” and claimed that with the joint venture on power with an independent nation, Haryana had become the first state to have traversed beyond national frontiers. Power from Bhutan would come into the North-Eastern Grid before being routed through the Northern Grid to Haryana.

Hooda said Bhutan had agreed “in principle” to partner Haryana in harnessing its hydropower potential while the state would be engaging with Bhutan in agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and livestock, industrial development, urban planning and infrastructure development sectors.

The Chief Minister said: “The Bhutan tie-up where Haryana would invest nearly Rs 7 crore would provide 1,500 to 2,000 MW of additional power.”

Hooda said wide-ranging discussions were held on determining the specific areas of economic cooperation for mutual benefit between the two countries.

As a mark of beginning of this mutual cooperation, the Chief Minister announced reservation of five seats for Bhutanese nationals sponsored by the Royal Government of Bhutan for a period of five years in BSc (Agriculture) in the Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar, and two in BVSc course in the Animal Sciences University, Hisar. The Chief Minister also announced that the state government would also bear the tuition fee expenses of these students. The Chief Minister said he extended invitations to the King of Bhutan, among others, to visit Haryana which was accepted.

Gurgaon, December 17
To restrain people living in the restricted zone of the ammunition depot from carrying out any construction activity, the hi-tech Gurgaon administration will turn to beating of drums to spread the message.

The administration, which holds unawareness as the key reason for the failure to implement the court’s directives, will use the traditional publicity measure in the restricted area of 900 metres from the ammunition depot of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and 100 metres of Arjun Garh.

Ddeputy commissioner P C Meena had issued orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure banning construction. The orders were reissued after the December 12 order of Punjab and Haryana High Court which took note of construction activity going on blatantly in the restricted area and the failure of the administration to combat it.

“We had got it published in all papers but a majority of culprits pleaded ignorance. We thus decided to use drums, which is the most successful and best way to let one and all know that any fresh construction is punishable,” revealed a senior official.

Fatehabad, December 17
One person was killed and three others were injured after a family feud between two brothers over property turned bloody at Rattakhera village in Fatehabad today.

Ram Kumar, who is also injured in the incident, has two sons Ramesh and Kuldeep. Ramesh (30) is a constable in the Haryana Police, posted at Rori in Sirsa, while Kuldeep (26) lives in the Dhani constructed on their agricultural land.

The two brothers had a dispute over their parental property. Ramesh had come to the Dhani along with 10 supporters today to settle the dispute with his brother.

After an exchange of heated arguments, Kuldeep alleged opened fire on the opposite party.

Sandeep, Amandeep and Balwinder from Rori, who had come in support of Ramesh, received bullet injures and Ram Kumar was also hurt in the attack.

Sandeep succumbed to his injuries when the injured persons were being taken to Fatehabad for treatment.

The police and a forensic team went to the spot to collect evidence. 

Faridabad, December 17
Presidents of 15 mandal units of the Faridabad BJP have been unanimously elected following week-long parleys within the organisation on account of a large number of aspirants.

According to the Faridabad president of the BJP, Ajay Gaur, the following have been elected mandal presidents: DS Rai-Jawahar Colony, Wazir Singh Daggar-Sikhi, Rakesh Singh-Ajronda, Vijay Yadav- Faridabad (City), Bishambar Bhatia-NH (neighbourhood), Afzal Ansari- Bhadkhal, Rattan Pal-Mewla Maharajpur, Vijay Pal- Sehatpur (Tilpat), Manoj Vashisth-Khedi Kalan, Rajbeer Kapasu (Adarsh Nagar), Chandrashekhar Garg- Ballabgarh, Satish Arora-Mujesar, Manoj Bhati-Chaisa, Pritam Singh-Fatehpur Biloch and Pratap Rawat- Sikri.

The presidents of the remaining four mandals would be elected shortly, Gaur added. He said the election for the district president would be completed by this week-end.

Faridabad, December 17
The Municipal Corporation carried out a major anti-encroachment operation in the NIT areas amid tight security for the second successive day today.

The operation, however, had to be stopped temporarily, on account of protest from the public which was led by Kavita Azad, a councillor from Ward No. 11. Protesters alleged of “partisan approach” on the part of the corporation.

The demolition team of the corporation led by Anita Yadav, Joint Commissioner, NIT Zone, swooped on the market along a kilometre long road that divides NIT-2 and 3 at 10am, and subsequently in the market of NIT-2.

Axe fell on more than 100 shops and dwelling units during the four-hour operation.

Nearly 200 police personnel, led by ACP, NIT, Ramesh Pal, accompanied the demolition team.

Officials of the MC said the drive would continue. They said sufficient time had been given to shopkeepers clear the encroachments on their own

Hisar, December 17
The police has registered a case after a trader received a ransom call at Hansi in the district yesterday.

An unknown person called on the mobile phone of Harish Rakheja, owner of Vishal Furniture House at Market Committee Gate of the town last evening and asked him to keep ready Rs 10 lakh as ransom money. The caller threatened him that he would be shot dead in case he did not pay the amount.

When Harish wanted to know the identity of the caller, the miscreant allegedly started using abusive language and asked him to arrange the money within two days rather than inquiring about him.

The caller disconnected the phone after that. Harish brought the matter to the notice of the police. Rakheja said after the call, he received an SMS from the same mobile number and the sender again asked him to arrange “dus peti” (Rs 10 lakh) or get ready for liquidation. The City SHO said a case had been registered and efforts were on to identify and arrest the culprit. — TNS

Chandigarh, December 17
When it comes to fixing the sugarcane prices, the ‘pro-farmer’ Hooda Government seems to have given a raw deal to sugarcane growers.

Even as neighbouring states such as Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are offering much higher prices for sugarcane, the farmers in Haryana seem to have been left to fend for themselves.

While the maximum price for sugarcane in Uttarakhand is Rs 295 per quintal, Haryana has fixed a price of Rs 250 per quintal. In UP the price is much higher at Rs 290 per quintal.

“The farmers would not take this injustice lying down. A ‘kisan mahapanchayat’ will be held at Radaur in Yamunanagar district on December 20 to announce an agitational programme,” Gurnam Singh, president of the Haryana unit of the BKU, told The Tribune here today.

It may be recalled that Haryana offers prices of Rs 250, 240 and Rs 235 per quintal for different varieties of sugarcane.This was in sharp contrast to UP where the farmers are paid Rs 275, Rs 280 and Rs 290 per quintal for different varieties. The rates in Uttarakhand are Rs 285 and Rs 295 per quintal.

Gurnam Singh claimed that even according to estimates of the State Agriculture Department, the farmer had to spend Rs 236 for producing one quintal of sugarcane. If the recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee and the working group of Chief Ministers, of which Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was the chairman, were taken into consideration the farmer had to be paid 50 per cent more than the input costs. By this logic, the farmer should have been paid Rs 354 per quintal, the BKU chief asserted.

Sugarcane prices

* Uttarakhand Rs 295 per quintal

* Uttar Pradesh Rs 290 per quintal

* Haryana Rs 250 per quintal

Jind, December 17
With confusion and lack of a clear report regarding the result of the talks between the leaders of the Sarva Khap Jat Mahapanchayat leaders and the Chief Minister at Chandigarh today, the movement of the jatha of the activists owing allegiance to the khap panchayat continued for the second day today. The around 600-strong jatha reached Jind this evening. The jatha will halt at Julana town tonight as per the scheduled programme.

“We are yet to receive any information from our leaders regarding the talks held with the state government. The march is on and we will stay at Julana this night,” claimed a member of the jatha, who is among those who started the march from Narwana on Sunday morning.

He said any decision regarding any change in the programme would be taken after the leaders reached here and discuss the results of the talks held with the CM.

Spokesperson of the mahapanchayat Sube Singh Samain said he was not in a position to speak anything about the outcome of the meeting as their president, Nafe Singh Nain, was the only authorized person to do so.

The president of the All-India Jat Mahasabha and leader of the quota agitation, O.P. Maan, claimed that the meeting held with the CM was fruitful as the latter had accepted the demand of providing 10 per cent reservation and taking up the matter of quota in the union government services. He said the khaps had agreed to withdraw the agitation and the jathas had been asked to dismantle and discontinue the march.

Sonepat, December 17
Senior Congress leader and member of the legislative assembly (MLA) Sampat Singh has justified the state government’s decision to grant additional 10 per cent special reservation to five castes, including Jats, as OBC in government services, saying that this provision of reservation would be beneficial to these castes.

Talking to mediapersons at the residence of district general secretary of the Congress Harinder Singh Saini here last evening, Singh appealed to the people demanding reservation to keep dialogue open to pursue their demand on the pattern of Rajasthan Jats. — OC

Rewari, December 17
The police has registered a case of attempt to murder against alleged cow smugglers after they threw stones at officials the CIA on the Jatusana road in the early hours today.

Sources said when the officials of the CIA of the police intercepted a truck laden with smuggled cows at a barricade on the Jatusana road, the cow smugglers demolished the barricade and sped away.

However, when they were given a chase, they pelted stones at the CIA officials which forced Sub-Inspector Rahul to open fire in the air.

Simultaneously, Rahul informed the Jatusana police whose hot pursuit forced the cow smugglers to escape under the cover of darkness after abandoning the truck in the fields of Mohdinpur village, near Jatusana.

Later, the police impounded the truck and liberated all 16 cows which were brought from Jhunjhunoo district in Rajasthan and were to be taken to Uttar Pradesh.

Hisar, December 17
Journalists have sought the arrest of those responsible for last night’s attack on a local journalist, Rakesh Kranti. Five masked persons allegedly attacked Kranti, who works for a national vernacular daily, when he was returning home a little before midnight yesterday.

He received multiple injuries on his hands and legs and has been admitted to a local hospital.

A deputation of local journalists met superintendent of police B Satish Balan and demanded arrest of the culprits.

The journalists alleged that the attack was a planned act.

Meanwhile, Haryana Janhit Congress supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi, deputy commissioner Amit Agarwal and subdivisional magistrate Garima Mittal went to the hospital to inquire about the health of Rakesh Kranti.

Rohtak, December 17
On a call given by the All India State Government Employees’ Federation, nearly 20,000 employees of the Haryana Government would be taking part in a march to Parliament in New Delhi on December 20, said a spokesperson of the Sarva Karamchari Sangh (SKS), Haryana.

He said the march would be held against the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill and other demands, including the policy of outsourcing of various government departments and filling of vacant posts in the state government departments.

The participation from Haryana would be coordinated and monitored by the SKS, he said.

He said the employees of the state government were unanimous over the stir as both the Union and the state governments had failed to take cognisance of the issues of grievances of the government employees. He said the decision of taking out a march to Parliament was taken after all efforts to persuade the government failed to get any positive response. The other demands of the employees include the regularisation of thousands of employees working on ad hoc or part time basis, giving up the policy of outsourcing of various works and employment, connecting the 50 per cent DA with the pay band, hiking the minimum wage to Rs 15,000 per month, setting up of the Seventh Pay Commission and strict implementation of the labour laws in the country.

Fatehabad, December 17
Deputy Commissioner ML Kaushik today ordered an impartial inquiry into the registration of a case of attempt to murder against Zila Parishad vice-chairman Deepak Bhirdana.

Kaushik said a fair inquiry would bring out the truth whether Bhirdana was involved in the case or he was being falsely implicated as some alleged.

Deepak Bhirdana is a Congress leader from the Ratia assembly constituency known for his proximity to Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar.

Meanwhile, relatives and friends of property dealer Gulshan Jagga, who was injured in the attack, met Kaushik today and demanded Bhirdana’s arrest in the case.

The police had booked Deepak Bhirdana, his younger brother Gaurav and some others for an attack on Jagga on December 6.

While Gaurav and some others surrendered before the police, Deepak Bhirdana is at large.

Local residents led by municipal councillor and district president of the Panchnad Samiti Darshan Nagpal had held a demonstration and alleged that due to the personal grudge of a senior officer, the police had falsely implicated Bhirdana.

The residents allege that Bhirdana was nowhere near the scene of the crime and even his name did not figure initially in the attack.

Vikas Dhankhar, SP, said Bhirdana was asked to join investigation but he had been evading it.