Chandigarh, April 11
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today restrained the Haryana School Teachers Selection Board from declaring the result of selections carried out for filling posts of teacher.

The development is significant as the order is expected to bring to a halt the process of selecting around 20,000 teachers. As many as 10,000 are postgraduate teachers while the rest belong to other categories for which the selection process was on.

Issuing the orders, the Bench headed by Justice Hemant Gupta referred to the state government decision to take the selection of PGTs out of the purview of the Haryana Public Service Commission.

The Bench orally observed: “Prima facie, the state has violated the constitutional provisions through which the state public service commissions were set up to make recruitment to such posts”.

The matter was brought to the court notice through a petition for directions to entrust government jobs and services in Haryana to the HPSC as per the constitutional madate so as to bring transparency and uphold the democratic rights of meritorious candidates.

The petitioner, Vijay Kumar Bansal of Pinjore, submitted that slowly and steadily the successive governments in the state have rendered the HPSC absolutely defunct; and only about 10 per cent of the total recruitments in the state were left to it.

He added the process of carrying out appointments in Haryana has reached “the lowest ebb in the state, owing to various acts of omission and commission”. It has also been alleged that multiple commissions constituted by the Hooda government have led to large-scale corruption and favoritism in the selection process for various government jobs.

Jhajjar, April 11
The mortal remains of Lieutenant Colonel Mahipal Singh Pilania were consigned to flames at his native village Surheti Pilania in Mahendergarh district today with full military and civil honours.

The 51-year-old officer was posted at the Mechanized Infantry at Babeena. He was among those five of the Indian Army personnel who were killed on Tuesday when their 32-member convoy was ambushed by armed men in Gurmuck in the volatile state of Jonglei in South Sudan.

Mahipal is survived by father Ranbir Singh, mother Janka Devi, wife Sudha, daughter Jagriti and two sons — Mahender and Subhash.

Mahender Singh, elder son of the martyr, lit the pyre while a contingent of the Indian Army and the Haryana Police reversed arms and fired a volley of shots in the air in a ceremonial farewell to the departed Army man.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) Rao Daan Singh and Narnaul SDM Satish Yadav laid wreaths on him.

Besides, Prof Ram Bilas Sharma, state chief of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and INLD leader Ramesh Paldi were among those prominent leaders who were present at the funeral.

“We are proud of his sacrifice in the line of duty,” said Ranbir Singh, father of the martyr.

Rs 25 lakh aid for next of kin

Chandigarh: Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has announced economic assistance of Rs 25 lakh to the bereaved family.

Sirsa, April 11
As many as 15 schoolchildren and driver of a school van were injured when the van hit a tree near Dhani Majra village in Sirsa. The driver and three children sustained serious injuries and were shifted to a private hospital in Sirsa. The rest of the children were sent home after providing them first-aid in a private hospital at Ding.

The van of Guru Teg Bahadur School at Ding Road was going to Patli Dabur from Dhani Majra in the morning today. When the van was on a slope near a canal, the driver lost his control of the wheel in an effort to avert an accident and the van hit a tree.

Parents alleged that the bus was being driven by its conductor. However, Charanjit Singh, coordinator of the school, denied these allegations. He maintained that all the children were safe.

Sirsa, April 11
A woman was raped at Desumalkana village in Sirsa last night while a minor girl was violated at Nanuana village under Rania police station in this district.

A 25-year-old woman from Desumalkana alleged in her complaint to the police that a villager Roshan Lal entered her house when she was alone and allegedly raped her.

Raj Shri Singh, SSP, said a case had been registered against the accused.

In the other case, the police today arrested Hardeep, a resident of Nanuana village, for raping a minor girl.

Gurgaon, April 11
Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) today sealed four city petrol stations, including one operated by former MP and BJP national secretary Sudha Yadav.

Yadav's SS Filing Pump in Sector 12-A belongs to Hindustan Petroleum (HP) and owes HUDA Rs 1 crore.

A special team of HUDA reached Yadav's pump in the evening and started sealing the premises.

Getting a whiff of it, Yadav immediately reached the spot and raised a hue and cry and tried to arrange for a protest against the officials. Failing to do so, she asked for some more time to clear the dues, but the officials refused to extend the deadline and sealed the pump.

The other three petrol stations sealed are of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) in Sectors 9-A, 18 and 37-II.

The HPCL’s petrol station at Sector 18 owes the highest amount of Rs 2.45 crore. The owner of the Sector 9-A petrol pump owes Rs 1.13 crore, while the filling station at Sector 37-II has not paid Rs 2.35 crore.

The pumps were sealed for reported non-payment of rent for the past many years and HUDA had sent several notices to the owners to clear the dues. Failing to get any answer or payment, it went ahead with the sealing. According to the documents, the petrol pump owners are defaulters for non-payment of monthly rent for the past five years and ignoring repeated reminders by the authorities. They had violated the lease agreement of land allotment which mandates monthly payment of rent.

The sealing operation was carried out in the presence of duty magistrate Dharamveer Singh and a police force. Administrator Praveen Kumar said it was the execution of a long-pending plan.

"The CAG report highlighted this lapse and we could not sit quiet. These lapses cost us and the residents dear," said Kumar.

Chandigarh April 11
As many as 84 schemes were approved at the 44th meeting of Haryana State Flood Control Board held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda here today.

A sum of Rs 73 crore will be spent on these schemes, which aimed at strengthening the flood control system in the state in view of the ensuing rainy season.

Hooda directed the deputy commissioners to take timely approval of flood-related schemes.

He said the work on these schemes should also be started at the earliest. The meeting of board should be held in the first week of January. Prior to this, the entire process of various schemes should be completed at the deputy commissioner’s level and at the administrative level so that the work on various projects could be completed by June 30 before the commencement of the monsoon season.

The CM directed the officers concerned to involve IIT Roorkee or some other consultant for a survey of Rithal-Mundhal, Beri-Dujana, Lakhanmajra-Meham drains for a solution to the problem of scuffing.

Hooda also directed the Engineering in Chief of the Irrigation Department to install pump at districts where it is required.

Chandigarh, April 11
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today announced a hike in monthly honorarium from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500 of village chowkidars.

Hooda made this announcement at a function of the village chowkidars here today.

The Chief Minister also announced increase in their uniform allowance from Rs 1,500 per annum to Rs 2,000 per annum and lathi and battery allowance from Rs 500 to Rs 750 per year. In addition, all chowkidars would be included under the Aam Aadmi Bima Yojna of the state government.

He said the government would also make a provision according to which the chowkidars would get honorarium directly from the office concerned of the SDM. However, they would have to submit a certificate from the sarpanch concerned there on the monthly basis.

Chandigarh, April 11
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today asked the departments concerned to adopt zero tolerance in the cases of atrocities committed against Scheduled Castes (SCs). He also directed them to take all necessary steps to prevent and curb atrocities on SCs.

Hooda was presiding over a meeting of the state-level Vigilance and Monitoring Committee here today. Hooda reviewed the implementation of the provisions of the SCs and STs Act in the state and asked the officers to ensure that the Act was enforced. — TNS

Hisar, April 11
Haryana and Gujarat may be engaged in a one-upmanship game over claims of better development, but single-phase transformers developed by a team of engineers of Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Limited (UGVCL), a government firm, are lighting the houses of farmers living in Hisar villages.

Initially, as a pilot project, the power distribution companies (DISCOMS) in the state have started electricity supply to 55 dhanis (hamlets) falling under Mangali substation of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam. If found suitable, the single-phase transformers developed by the Gujarat power utilities can start providing electricity to over 54,000 dhanis in the state.

The transformers named Pilot Advanced Transformers have been innovated by UGVCL Deputy Engineer RB Patel and his team in Gujarat. The transformer costs Rs 4 lakh a unit, which is considered quite economical as one transformer is needed for every feeder that supplies power to several dhanis.

Devender Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of DISCOMS in Haryana, showed the Gujarat transformers set up in 33-KV power substation at Mangali village to Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda during his visit to the village last evening.

Deepender Singh appreciated the innovation of Gujarat engineers, who were present there, and lauded the efforts of DISCOMS in the state in lessening power woes of farmers. People living in dhanis, who get their power supply from agriculture feeder, can enjoy electricity merely up to 8 hours in a day as the three-phase power supplies these feeders up to this duration only.

There are about 2,800 agricultural feeders in the state. Nearly 43,000 domestic consumers are connected to agriculture feeders and 11,700 persons are waiting for new domestic connections from these feeders or nearby domestic feeders in the fields.

At present, the consumers in electrified dhanis in the state are required to pay half of the estimated expenditure incurred on construction of needed additional distribution system for connecting to nearby domestic feeder. With the setting up of the specially designed transformers at all agriculture feeders this expenditure could be avoided, claimed Devender Singh.

The CMD said in this new system of power supply to dhanis, a transformer was set up at the starting point of the feeder that allows only one phase power supply. During the schedule of power supply for agriculture purpose, three-phase electricity could be supplied in the feeder through existing system with which the agricultural tubewells could be operated. Whereas, for rest of the day, farmers can get single-phase supply by operating the transformer of the new technology, without the fear of the farmers overdrawing power for tubewells, which do not run on single phase.

By setting up these transformers, consumers connected to agricultural feeders can use three phase supply for eight hours (the present schedule for agriculture sector) and single-phase power supply for rest of the time.

Sonepat, April 11
Addressing farmers at Guru Teg Bahadur Memorial, near Rai, today, social activist Anna Hazare said farmers had been kept at the receiving end by successive governments.

As result of this discrimination and neglect, hundreds of farmers were committing suicide in the country, he added.

“Hardly any legislation has been passed in favour of the farmers and their socio-economic condition continues to deteriorate day by day,” he said. He alleged that the farmers were being exploited and had no say in the land acquisition process. He the farmers must be taken into confidence and their suggestions entertained before initiating the acquisition process. The farmers should play an important role in the eradication of corruption from the system, he said.

Addressing a public meeting here at Idgah Colony grounds late last night, Anna said, “For bringing a change, we have to join hands to get rid of the corruption from the system.”

He said the campaign had been launched to make people aware about the need for bringing a strong Lok Pal Bill to curb corruption.

Former army chief, Gen V.K.Singh (retd), said in the present system, the people were at the mercy of politicians who were being accused of dividing society in the name of religion, region, language, caste and creed.

Mirchpur (Hisar), April 11
After witnessing one of the worst caste violence incidents three years back, villagers of Mirchpur, one of the biggest villages of Hisar, are now witness to a myriad of development activities.

Rohtak Member of Parliament Deepender Singh Hooda was here in the village to announce some new projects and speed up the execution of some works already sanctioned for the village.

Hooda junior announced that a community health centre (CHC), a 32-KV substation and a stadium would be constructed in the village soon.

He also announced that the village panchayat would get a grant of Rs 51 lakh for development activities.

The village has already received Rs 2.69 crore in the past three years for brick-lining streets and, now, all its streets are concrete or made of bricks.

Thanks to the attention drawn by the ignominious incident in which a 17-year-old Dalit girl and her father were burnt alive and 18 houses of Dalits gutted in a caste violence on April 21, 2010, Mirchpur has witnessed a plethora of development activities in the past three years.

The incidents had shaken the people and disturbed the social fabric of the village in 2010.

Now, after the court convicting 15 persons and acquitting 82 others, the villagers have once again started coming together for progress.

The villagers had exhibited a great sense of maturity to leaving the past as a bad dream, though the incident had left scars in their minds. Paramilitary forces are still stationed in the village school to meet any eventuality, though there is complete normalcy in the village now.

When Deepender Singh Hooda addressed a meeting in the village government school today, almost all speakers referred to the shameful incident of April 2010, though indirectly, and said the episode had eclipsed the image of their village, once considered an example of brotherhood.

Earlier, addressing mediapersons at Faridpur village, where he inaugurated a medical camp in memory of former minister Chhattarpal Singh’s late sister Sudha Rani, fondly addressed as Baby Chaudhary in the village, Deepender said various road projects has been approved for Haryana.

Hooda junior said he had met Union Minister for Road Transport CP Joshi yesterday for laying the foundation stones of these projects.

Hooda said Central government has approved the reconstruction of the Jagadhari-Saharanpur road costing Rs 27.50 crore. He said that Rohtak-Hisar highways would be four-laned and the Delhi-Agra parts of NH-2 would six-laned. Some parts of NH-2 fall in Haryana.

He said Joshi would lay the foundation stone of both these projects in May.

He said Rs 950 crore would be spent on the Rohtak-Hisar project under which two ROBs, five grade separators, an FOB, three underpasses and service road would be constructed. Bypasses would be constructed at Kharkada, Madina, Meham and Hansi on the Rohtak-Hisar National Highway. Similarly, Rs 2,000 crore would be spent on the Delhi-Agra project under which about Rs 800 crore would be spent on the parts falling in Haryana. 

Chandigarh, April 11
A sum of Rs 100 crore will be spent for constructing night shelters in Haryana for workers engaged in building and other construction activities. Besiders, labour sheds with civic amenities for construction workers would be provided at labour chowks in towns.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said here today that the night shelters would be constructed by Building and Other Construction Workers' Board in collaboration with the Urban Local Bodies Department at all district headquarters on the land to be provided by the local authority concerned . A provision of Rs 100 crore had been made in the Budget for the financial year 2013-14.

He said the board had approved a proposal of the Health Department for providing medical facilities to the construction workers at construction sites as well as in their residential colonies with an outlay of Rs 44.5 crore. He said under this scheme medical mobile vans equipped with all facilities and ambulances for emergency cases would be provided. 

Kaithal , April 11
S.P. Singh Oberoi, a Dubai-based Indian industrialist who was instrumental in saving 17 Indians from the death row in that country was honoured by the Haryana Union of Jouranalists (HUJ) here today for his noble humanitarian act.

He lauded the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and staff of the Indian consulate in Dubai for cooperation in the release of the jailed youths. They not only arranged lawyers but also provided all facilities to the family members of youths to go to Dubai and meet their them in jail there.

He said that he had pursued cases for the release of 84 persons of different countries and, till now, he had saved 54 from

jail in Dubai and 51 of them had reached home .He was also pursuing cases for the release of some Ethopian nationals in jails there.

Oberoi also highlighted some other social activities undertaken by a trust, Sarbat Da Bhala, set up recently.

He said the next job on his agenda was to set up creches in big jails of Punjab and Haryana for children whose mothers were in jail.

Chandigarh, April 11
The Zila Parishad (ZP), Kurukshetra, has bagged the Best Zila Parishad Award consecutively for the second time for 2011-12 under the Panchayat Empowerment and Accountability Incentive Scheme of the Central Government.

An official spokesman said the award would be given by the PM at the Vighan Bhavan, New Delhi, on April 24.— TNS

Rohtak, April 11
The arrest of the two main accused allegedly involved in the gunning down of two Dalit youths recently at Madina village of the district on Wednesday has come as a solace to the district authorities which were facing criticism over the delay in the case.

Victims' relatives and villagers had gheraoed the Chief Minister's residence and started a dharna here in protest against the inaction. While one of the main accused had been arrested earlier, the remaining two main accused were held on Wednesday.

"The arrest of all the three main accused has not only saved the police and district administration from embarrassment, it has also led to the end of the dharna that had been going on for the past several days," said an official on the condition of anonymity. 

Chandigarh, April 11
The Haryana School Education Board, Bhiwani, will conduct the Haryana Teachers Eligibility Test on June 1 and 2.

For the smooth conduct of the examination, the board has invited applications from full-time Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) or equal rank education constables or constables (technical) for deputation at the examination centres to be made various cities in Haryana and Chandigarh.

Stating this today, a spokesperson of the Haryana School Education Board said the Army officers deputed at the examination centres, along with chief superintendents, would help prevent possible cases of impersonation, external interferences and other malpractices.

Chandigarh, April 11
The government has approved the draft of the Haryana Motor Vehicles Taxation Act.

This was decided at a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda here .

It was observed that the number of vehicles had seen tremendous growth over the years and the collection of tax on a quarterly basis had been becoming increasingly difficult. Besides, the system of tax collection on a quarterly basis also leaves a scope of evasion of tax as it was almost impossible for the registering Authorities to keep a track of so many vehicles and to chase the owners of such vehicles for paying the tax if they default.

As per the proposed Act, the tax would be leviable for any period that is quarterly, yearly or a one-time basis. In the present Act, tax on transport vehicles could be levied only on a quarterly basis. 

Hisar, April 11
Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (CCSHAU), Hisar, has introduced online applications for admission to its under-graduate and post-graduate programmes from this year.

Dr SS Dahiya, Registrar of the university, said the application process for admissions to the 2013-14 academic year will begin on April 20.