Hisar, February 20
Normal banking operations were hit, the Haryana Roadways buses services were affected and functioning of the government offices was affected on the first day of the nation-wide strike called by the 11 major trade unions today.

The news of a driver’s death in Ambala worked like fuel to fire.

Suresh Kumar, convener of the Trade Unions Campaign Committee, Surinder Mann, president of the Sarva Karamchari Sangh, RC Jagga, president of the CITU, ML Sahgal, leader of the Trade Union Council and Trilok Bansal, a leader of the Insurance Workers Union claimed that the strike was complete.

Sirsa: The banking services remained completely paralysed in Sirsa due to the strike today.

Lekh Raj, general manager of the Haryana Roadways, claimed that barring a few long-route buses, bus services remained normal.

Power and water supplies remained as usual.

The activists of the trade unions and workers of the Left parties blocked traffic on the Lal Batti Chowk for some time in the day.

Fatehabad: Nearly 24 buses of the Haryana Roadways left for their destinations in the morning amidst heavy presence of police. SP Vikas Dhankhar, DSPs Shamsher Singh Dahiya and Naripjit Singh and the SDM Baljit Singh were present at the bus stand in the morning to ensure smooth run of buses in the morning.

However, the bus services remained paralysed after that as several drivers and conductors remained on strike.

Work remained paralysed in nationalised banks as well as insurance companies.

Begh Raj, president of the Sarva Karamchari Sangh, Hari Chand and Rakesh Gandhi of the Haryana Karamchari Mahasangh and Om Prakash Lot of the Nagarpalika Karamchari Sangh claimed that strike was successful.

SONEPAT: Banking services remained disrupted here, hitting business transactions estimated around Rs 150 crore.

Bus services from the Gohana sub-depot of the Haryana Roadways were affected badly while the services from the Sonepat depot remained normal. Private vehicles, including autorickshaws and taxis, plied normally.

The activists of different trade unions sat in dharnas in front of their offices and took out protest marches, shouting slogans against the government.

The state vice-president of the All-India Kisan Sabha, Shradha Nand Solanki, claimed that the bandh was successful as they had made the people aware about the anti-people policies of the Congress-led UPA government.

The administration had taken precautionary measures to maintain law and order and there was no report of any untoward incident.

ROHTAK: The bandh call evoked a mixed response on the first day of the strike in the district today. While the services of a majority of state government departments and public sector banks were affected, work in educational institutions and commercial establishments remained largely unaffected.

Commuters in the district were at the receiving end due to the disruption in the services of Haryana Roadways as a majority of the buses failed to ply due to the strike.

Private transporters and vehicles charged more than the usual fare from the stranded passengers at the bus stand. "I had to pay double the fare to come here from Sonepat today," claimed Surender, a local resident.

FARIDABAD: The bandh was successful in Faridabad as the functioning of a number of government departments, including health institutions, was crippled.

The work in banks virtually came to a standstill.

Employees held gate meetings and staged dharnas outside their workplaces. Workers of a number of private firms also took part in the agitation.

More than 1,000 employees blocked the national highway-2 for about half an hour. They lifted the blockade on persuasion by the authorities. Earlier, they took out a procession in the city.

KAITHAL: At least 14 persons, including two policemen, were injured in a scuffle between the police and striking government employees of the Health Department.The police allegedly used force and lathis to control a mob of employees when it tried to enter the premises of the new bus stand and the latter pelted stones at police force.

Deputy Commissioner Chander Shekhar and SP Kuldeep Singh Yadav reached the spot and took control of the situation.

Employees claimed that call to strike received an overwhelming response here.

Bus services were paralysed and the functioning of most government departments and banks was hit as many employees stayed away from duty in response to the bandh call. 

Chandigarh, February 20
Guzzlers will have to shell out more for every bottle of strong beer and Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) in Haryana from April 1 with the state Cabinet giving its nod to the new excise policy here today.

While the price of strong beer will go up by nearly Rs 5, the cost of a bottle of IMFL will increase by about Rs 20. However, the price of light beer will remain unchanged. Further, making country liquor 'healthier' , the new policy, formulated for the first time for two years at a stretch, stipulates that only country-liquor based on extra neutral alcohol (ENA) will be allowed to be sold in Haryana.

Announcing the policy here, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that the number of vends and the quota of liquor would remain unchanged.

"The total number vends is unchanged at 3,500 (2,265 country liquor and 1,235 IMFL vends) . The quota of country liquor remains unchanged at 900 lakh proof litres and of IMFL at 500 lakh proof litres," Hooda said.

The new policy lays down that no vends would be opened in panchayats which have passed resolutions against the same.

However, the open quota of country liquor a licensee can lift from distilleries is up from 65 per cent to 75 per cent. The hike in price of IMFL is due to the "marginally increased and rationalised" minimum retail sale price (increase 5 per cent to 10 per cent). The excise duty on beer containing alcoholic contents above 5.5 per cent (in the case of strong beer) has been increased by Rs 8 to make it Rs 28 per bulk litre.

Excise and Taxation Minister Kiran Choudhry explained that licences would be granted for two years to the highest bidders from April 1 "The allotment for the year 2014-15 will also be with the condition that the licence fee for 2014-15 will be 5 per cent more than the licence fee of the first year," she said.

Stating that only triple-distilled ENA-based country liquor would be sold in Haryana, Choudhry said vends would be clubbed into groups comprising a maximum number of three vends of either country Liquor or IMFL. "The allotment of groups will be done by inviting sealed tenders for each group individually and separately. Further, 10 per cent groups will be reserved for Scheduled Castes and five per cent for BC(A)," Choudhry said.

Altering the provision for giving the wholesale licence to the top eight revenue-generating retailers of the district to check the element of cartelisation that was creeping in, the new policy lays down that the license for country liquor would now be granted to any licensee operating at least nine vends of retail outlets of country liquor in the district.

Similarly, the wholesaler licence for IMFL would be granted to any licensee operating at least six vends of retail outlets of IMFL in the district, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary Rajan Gupta explained.

Aimed at yielding a revenue of more than Rs 3500 crore and over Rs 3700 crore respectively in 2013-14 and 2014-15, Choudhry said the department had generated Rs 2840.30 crore against a target of Rs 2600 crore for 2011-2012. The government had fixed the target of Rs. 3,000 crore for the current year (Rs. 2578.18 crore collected up to January, 2013), Choudhry stated. 

Gurgaon, February 20
The Ashok Vihar apartment in North West Dehi stands today as a memoir of a sad tale of broken dreams which succumbed to the might of a few.

The Sharma family had not yet recovered from the shock of having lost Geetika when her mother Anuradha hung herself to death in the same room, bringing the place into focus of media, politicians, protesters and nosy neighbours for yet another unfortunate reason.

"My mother said that it was communication gap that took away Geetu from us. She made all efforts to make us interact more as a family, urging me to share my feelings rather than bottling them up, but unfortunately she took such a big step without saying a word," says 22-year-old Ankit Sharma whose mother has urged him to be strong in her two-page suicide note.

Six months after her daughter Geetika committed suicide owing to alleged mental and physical harassment by former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda and former MDLR employee Aruna Chadha, Anuradha Sharma died holding the same people responsible for her step.

February 15 began as just another day for Ankit when his mother went to office and promised to meet him in the evening around 4. He waited for her till about 5 pm, but she never came. Before he could call up to enquire, an aunt informed him about his mother's death.

While the place and manner of both Geetika and Anuradha's deaths and the accused are the same, Ankit says his mother's death was different from his sister's.

"She died in a war of justice as we battled the unchecked power of Kanda. My mother was a strong person and determined to get justice for Geetu, but things were worse than we expected. People questioned Geetu's character, lawyers were not ready to support us and even today, many relatives don't wish to be seen with us because they fear him. The first blow came to us when we saw him in court smiling at us without a hint of remorse. My mother had prepared notes on the case, highlighting parts of the charge sheet, but that shameless smile hit her confidence. Constant threat and fear shadowed our lives. My mother, in one of her last conversations with granny, said she was scared for me and probably that made her do this," says Ankit.

The boy moves around asking people to leave his father alone as he is shy and currently in a state of shock.

"My mother always said that it was Geetu who was her son but when she went away, I had to take up the role and be brave. I always had my mother with me, but today our strongest support system is gone, leaving us wailing. Currently, all that occupies me is helping my father out of this and forget the small yet cherished dreams that we once shared," he concludes.

Faridabad, February 20
The new Commissioner of the local Municipal Corporation, Abhey Singh Yadav, today asked the councillors to expedite development works in their wards.

In his first interaction with the councillors, Yadav said he had given directions to the heads of the departments to finalise the municipal body’s budgetary proposal for the next financial year by Monday and table the same at the next general house meeting.

The interface between the Commissioner and the councillors was organised by Faridabad Mayor Ashok Arora.

Although the meeting was termed a routine affair, many saw Yadav’s stress on fast-pacing development works in the context of the wide-ranging resentment against the Mayor on issues of development and his style of functioning.

In the last two consecutive general house meetings, majority of councillors had walked out in protest against the Mayor. They accused him of discrimination against their wards regarding development works.

Hisar, February 20
Mystery shrouds the death of a 14-year-old Dalit girl from Sarsana village of Hisar. Her body was recovered from the tank of the village waterworks in the early hours today.

While the victim’s family has alleged that a youth Vijender, murdered her after raping her, the police has completed legal formalities under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code and started investigations.

The police said the accused is a minor and had escaped after the incident. Hisar Superintendent of Police B. Satheesh Balan said the police would register an FIR in the case after receiving the postmortem report.

A teacher had reportedly noticed the victim carrying a mobile phone in her school bag last evening. The teacher informed the school principal and confiscated the mobile.

The school authorities also informed the girl’s family about the mobile.

The girl went missing after 8 pm last evening and efforts by the family to search her did not yield any results.

The girl’s body was found in the waterworks tank in the morning. The victim’s father was away on work.

Her uncle alleged that Vijender, alias Dholu, had been following the victim for a long time and he had given her the mobile phone that was recovered from her bag yesterday.

He alleged the accused and his accomplices had first raped the girl and then thrown her in the tank.

Fatehabad, February 20
The police has booked the teacher of a private school at Gorakhpur in Fatehabad for outraging the modesty of a girl.

The victim’s father alleged in his complaint that the accused teacher, Naresh, a resident of Dahman village, assaulted his 14-year-old mentally challenged daughter sexually during the school recess on Tuesday.

He alleged that when he confronted Naresh about the incident, he threatened to commit suicide if any complaint was lodged against him.

The DSP (Headquarters) Shamsher Singh Dahiya said a case was registered against the accused, who is yet to be arrested. 

Karnal, February 20
Additional Session Judge, Karnal, DK Mittal, completed the trial of a case in four days and convicted a 21-year-old youth for eve-teasing and sexual harassment. The accused was sentenced to six months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2,000.

The accused, Rajinder, was arrested on February 16, on the complaint of the family members of a 12-year-old girl, a class eighth student of Government School, Indri and produced in the court.

The accused used to wait for the girl at the school, follow her and pass remarks. Fed up by his overtures, the girl told her parents and a complaint was lodged.

The police arrested the youth and produced him in the court on February 16.

Rohtak, February 20
A 19-year-old youth was shot dead at Sampla town, 20 km from here, today morning. The accused, who came in a private vehicle, managed to flee after committing the crime.

The incident is suspected to be a case of honour killing, as the victim had been involved in a case of elopement with a local girl two years ago. The police have lodged a case of murder against six persons, including the father of the girl. No arrest has been made so far.

According to the police, the incident took place around 11 am when the victim, Rohit, a resident of Garhi Sampla village, was standing near a bank. Five youths came in a vehicle and opened fire, killing Rohit on the spot.

The victim helped his cousin at the latter’s shop, located in the new Anaj Mandi at Sampla town, said the kin. They lodged a complaint suspecting it to be an incident of revenge or honour killing involving the family of the girl.

Chandigarh, February 20
THe Hooda Government today decided to set up Haryana Commission for Scheduled Castes to provide an exclusive grievance redressal system for the Dalit community.

The decision to set up the Dalit panel was taken at a meeting of the Haryana Cabinet today.

In fact, a three-member committee comprising three ministers Finance Minister HS Chattha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Randeep Surjewala and Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal was constituted to chalk out modalities for the setting up of the commission.

The demand for the SC Commission had been gaining ground for the past several years as atrocities on the Dalit community had brought outrage and shame for the state at the national level. In fact, a Parliamentary Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes had recommended the setting up of the commission as an institutional mechanism for redressal of grievances.

In its report, the committee noted that “dignity and morale of SCs in the state are completely eroded due to high-handedness of the dominant caste.” “The frequency at which atrocities are perpetrated against the SCs by the dominant caste shook the conscience of the entire nation and general perception is that Haryana is deeply-entrenched in caste system and bourgeois laws of the Khap panchayats.” “The commission was an attempt to prevent atrocities on Dalits and raise their morale,” an official spokesman claimed.

Comprising a chairperson and not more than three non-official members the commission would also have a woman member.The chairperson and every member shall hold office for a term not exceeding three years.

The constitution of the commission is seen an attempt by the government to blunt the criticism from different quarters about Hooda government’s poor record in investigating crime against the community ahead of the 2014 parliamentary and assembly elections, sources said.

“The commission is being set up to investigate, examine and monitor all matters relating to the safeguards provided for SCs under the Constitution or under any other law for the time being in force or under any order of the government,” official sources asserted. 

Sirsa, February 20
A newborn girl was allegedly suffocated to death by her grandmother at Thehar Mohalla of Sirsa town on Tuesday. The infant was barely five hours old when her grandmother, who was upset at the birth of a female baby, allegedly strangled the little one with her hands.

The police has booked the grandmother, Jasbir Kaur, for murder on the complaint of the infant's mother Ramandeep Kaur.

In her complaint, Ramandeep Kaur, wife of Suraj, a resident of Thehar Mohalla in Sirsa alleged that she delivered a female baby on Tuesday afternoon.

The baby was the first issue of the couple and Ramandeep was happy with the birth of the girl.

She alleged that her mother-in-law Jasbir Kaur, who was unhappy at the birth of a girl child, took the girl in to her lap and strangulated her to death with her hands.

The infant was merely five hours old at that time.

A police spokesperson said a case of murder had been registered against Jasbir Kaur.

The spokesperson said that the police was investigating the matter. 

Panchkula, February 20
Dr Giyasudin, one of the accused in the infamous Gurgaon kidney scandal, alleged that he was beaten up mercilessly by jail inmates inside the Central jail.

The accused moved an application in the CBI court through legal aid counsel Manbir Singh Rathi. Giyasudin is presently lodged at the Central jail, Ambala.

In his application, he said on the night of February 18, a few jail inmates Vicky, Tarsem, Tony, Anil, Shanky, Harjit and two more picked up a fight with him and beat him up.

He said he suffered serious injuries on his stomach and back and no proper medical examination or treatment was provided and he was still in pain.

Giyasudin also said he vomited blood yesterday due to which his health deteriorated. The main accused in the scandal, Amit Kumar, was arrested in Nepal on February 7, 2008 and had denied any hand in the criminal activity. 

Chandigarh, February 20
Haryana Power Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav said a new scheme would be launched to provide power connections on priority to those who had been given 100 sq yard plots under the Mahatma Gandhi Gramin Basti Yojna.

Capt Yadav issued directions to the officers concerned to get a survey conducted to provide power connections to such plot holders. In those areas where more than 15 plots have either been allotted or developed and if it is possible to give electricity connections on the pattern of dhanis, these might be provided under the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidhyutikaran Yojana.

Taking a serious note of the complaints regarding electricity bills, he said the nigam should make such an arrangement that the consumers could view their electricity bills online.

He directed that complaints concerning electricity bills should be accepted at the call centres set up to redress the grievances.

He also stressed the need to simplify the procedure of online payment of electricity bills. He said the consumers should be given the facility to pay their bills online even after due date and if any surcharge was payable that could also be recovered.

He said the consumers should also be given the option to pay their bill arrears in installments.

This facility should be given to the consumers who pay 50 per cent or more amount of their bills in the first instalment and the rest could be recovered with interest in the second installment.