Yamunanagar, June 16
Several low-lying villages in the district were flooded after the Yamuna river received heavy rainfall in its catchment areas, putting the authorities on high alert.

Heavy rainfall in the catchment areas led to the sudden swelling of the river which reportedly carried 4.5 lakh cusec of water at around 4.30 pm today. It was fast nearing the danger mark. The Metrological Department recorded 60 mm rainfall in the district in the last 24 hours.

The authorities immediately sounded an alert in the district and rushed rescue teams to affected villages along the river. The irrigation authorities opened all the gates at the Hathnikund Barrage releasing the additional water into the Yamuna to prevent any damage to the structure.

The river water entered agricultural fields in a number of villages in the Bilaspur segment of the district. In two villages, the authorities even initiated a rescue operation to pull out nine residents of Bankat and Mankul villages, who got stuck on the other side of the river.

There were also reports of a breach in a small dam near the origin of the Saraswati river, which led to flooding of a number of nearby villages. Several areas in the city, including Azad Nagar, Pampura, Gandhi Nagar, Mahavir Colony, Prem Nagar and Professor Colony were also inundated with water.

Officials said the catchment areas in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand received heavy rainfall over the past 48 hours and this had created a flood-like situation in the district.

Deputy Commissioner K M Pandurang said the authorities in Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat districts in the state and Delhi had been informed about the heavy flow of water in the river which would be reaching the national capital in the next 72 hours.

Chandigarh: Haryana Additional Chief Secretary and Financial Commissioner, Revenue and Disaster Management, Krishna Mohan said the state government had taken all possible steps to rescue all 52 residents of Lapra village in Yamunanagar district who were stranded on an island in the Yamuna river since morning. At present, 3.4 lakh cusecs of water is flowing over the Hathni Kund Barrage.

He said there had been no loss of life and property. These 52 persons include 15 children.

Mohan said while a company of the National Disaster Management Authority comprising 50 personnel was already on way to Lapra village from Gaziabad, adequate number of helicopters at the Air Force stations at Bathinda and Sarsawa were ready to take off any moment. “They are equipped with night vision facility and other equipment,” he said.

Chandigarh, June 16
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s cousin and detractor Chaudhary Birender Singh is likely to be inducted into the Union Cabinet . Highly placed sources said the Rajya Sabha MP had received a message from the party high command to be present in Delhi tomorrow.

Earlier in the day, Chaudhary Birender Singh was removed as AICC general secretary. A Jat leader from Haryana had lost the last general election to INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala from the Uchana Kalan assembly constituency.

Chaudhary Birender Singh was a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and party general secretary, besides being the party in charge of two Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Haryana in March, 2010.

His elevation to the Union Cabinet is likely to be viewed in political circles as an attempt by the Centre to appease the dissident camp within the state Congress ahead of the next general election in the state next year. Earlier this month, Chaudhary Birender Singh at a held jointly with Union Minister Kumari Selja had criticised the Chief Minister for ignoring the interests of Dalits in the state. The issue was taken up by Hooda with the party high command.

Birender Singh’s induction is also said to be a reward for leading the Congress to victory both in Himachal and Uttarakhand.

It is pertinent to mention that Chaudhary Birender Singh had during a house warming ceremony in Delhi recently invited top Congress leaders and some members of the opposition to a dinner. The presence of HJC President and MP Kuldip Bishnoi and his MLA wife, Renuka Bishnoi, had triggered speculations about the possibility of the HJC-BJP alliance coming under strain.

A source confirmed that the former Haryana Finance Minister had received an invite to join the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Cabinet. At the same time, the move has cast a question mark on the future of Hooda’s main detractor, Union Minister for Poverty Alleviation Selja, as the party may not want to have more than one minister from Haryana. Hooda has complained against Birender Singh, Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh and Selja for openly criticising Hooda and his government.

Chandigarh, June 16
The Haryana government’s pro-landowner land policy may, after all, make industry shy away from Haryana, one of the most expensive investment destinations in the country.

Though the Haryana Industries Department denied any adverse impact on expansion and the coming of new projects, insiders point out that investment has slowed down since the government hiked the minimum floor rates for the second time in 2010.

Industry observers point out that the opening of small and medium industry could be the first casualty of the high land rates.

The state’s “loss” could well have come as a gain for other northern states with industry, big and small, exploring and opting for states where land is less expensive.

Industry observers maintain that the hiked land rates, revised twice under the Congress rule in the state since 2005, are proving to be a deterrent to private investors.

Against a compensation of Rs 8.60 lakh per acre in Bahadurgarh in 2004-05, the Congress government announced a compensation of Rs 24 lakh per acre in 2007-08 under its Rehabilitation and Resettlement policy, first unveiled in December, 2007, but implemented retrospectively from March, 2005.

Similarly, the rates went up from Rs 8.38 lakh in 2004-05 when land was acquired for Barhi (Phase II) to Rs 49.07 lakh for Barhi (Phase III) in 2009-10. Also, while the acquisition rates varied between Rs 4 and Rs 6 lakh per acre for various phases of the IMT, Manesar, between 1998-2004, the rates trebled between 2005-08, fetching nearly 18 lakh per acre, making land expensive enough to turn away industry.

Haryana, sources in the industry said, might not fit most budgets anymore especially with Gujarat giving incentives to “lure” industry and Rajasthan, too, keen on making gains. Explains Raman Saluja, chairman of the CII’s committee on MSMEs: “From the farmers’ point of view, it is definitely a good policy but high land prices do put off industry. Even in government-developed industrial estates in Haryana, the land prices are nearly three times the prices in Andhra Pradesh or Gujarat or Kerala.”

He maintains that while the service industry may continue to grow in Haryana, the locational advantage for the manufacturing units may not last long since freight is very high in a state that is landlocked and “exorbitant” in terms of land price.

Dilip Sharma,Regional Director, PHDCCI, seconds this opinion and says that the global market may not be in recession but it is not upbeat either. “Coupled with high land rates, this definitely works against attracting new industry,” he maintained.

Haryana Industries Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala, however, maintains that “the farmers’ land cannot be replaced or traded and the social impact of acquiring land is much more than what can be visualised. So, we are giving the farmers the best near-market rate since land is very fertile which has led to a hike in land prices. Ours is the best policy keeping in view the balance between optimistic agricultural production and growth of industry which is inclusive and all encompassing. This will not deter industry from coming in.” 

Rohtak, June 16
The state government has released Rs 5 lakh to next of kin of undertrial Somvir, who had died in custody on July 26, 2011. This has been informed to the national human rights cell of the Haryana BJP, which took up the matter with the NHRC after a report about Somvir’s death in custody was published in these columns.

RP Malhotra, convener of the Haryana BJP human rights cell, said the matter was probed by the NHRC which directed the state government to pay compensation to the victim’s family.

Somvir was found dead under suspicious circumstances in barrack No 3 of the local jail complex on July 26, 2011. He was a resident of Mokhra village in the district. The jail officials had described electrocution as the cause of Somvir’s death as he allegedly came into contact with a pedestal fan with a damaged electric cable . But the jail authorities’ version was refuted by the victim’s kin, who suspected that he could have been a victim of police torture. 

Jhajjar, June 16
The Additional Session Judge has sentenced three policemen , including a sub-inspector (SI), to seven years' imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each on them after holding them guilty in the Dhakla encounter case. The culprits will have to undergo extra imprisonment for one year if they fail to deposit the fine.

The police had booked these policemen--SI Satbir Singh, head constable Ashok Kumar and constable Ashok, on the basis of the findings of investigation carried out by the then Jhajjar SDM Satyender Duhan into the encounter.

The SDM had found procedural lapses on part of the police that failed to perform its duty with responsibility while nabbing an alleged criminal in Dhakla village.

Reports stated the ‘controversial’ encounter took place on October 12, 2008, when the police had gone to Dhakla village to raid a house after a tip-off that a wanted criminal was hiding there . As the Jhajjar police raided the house of former sarpanch Sombir, there was an exchange of fire between the alleged criminals and the police .

While Sombir’s brother, Jasbir, sustained bullet injuries and died on the spot, a head constable and a constable also suffered bullet injuries in the “encounter”. Later, Sombir met the then Jhajjar Superintendent of Police (SP) along with other villagers and alleged that the police picked up Jasbir from their house and shot him dead in a street.

The then SDM Satyender Duhan disclosed in his investigation report that "the police should have given a warning to the opposite party before opening fire but it failed to do so. This irresponsible act of the police led to the incident leaving a youth, Jasbir Singh, dead," said the report.

The report also suggested had the police handled the situation tactfully, the “encounter” could have been averted.

Hisar, June 16
The police today arrested the owner of a local dance academy for allegedly raping a married woman after drugging her, preparing a video of the crime and blackmailing her for more than a year.

The accused also demanded a ransom of Rs 3 lakh from the woman in lieu of her obscene video and also threatened her of dire consequences if she did not pay the money. he victim alleged that Rohit, a resident of Jawahar Nagar area of Hisar, did not stop there and tried to rape her 4-year-old daughter.

It was at this stage that the victim decided to approach the police and, in her complaint, alleged that Rohit’s mother also assisted him in the crime.

The police booked Rohit and his mother Baljit Kaur on the charges of rape, extortion, assault, criminal intimidation and common intention. The police said Rohit was arrested, while his mother is absconding.

The 25-year-old victim said she had a beauty parlour in Hisar, but her husband lived in Punjab where he is employed.

She alleged that Rohit started visiting her house and one day raped her after drugging her.

The woman alleged that Rohit prepared an obscene video of the crime and continued raping her for one-and-a-half-years.

Bhiwani, June 16
After laying the foundation stone of a sewer line to be constructed at a cost of Rs 27.5 lakh at Kirti Nagar here today, Public Health Engineering Minister Kiran Choudhry said residents of the town would not face water or sewer problems for the next 40 years once the work was completed.

The state government had decided to spend a sum of Rs 471 crore in the town to end drinking water and sewer woes of the residents.

She said a sum of Rs 239 crore had already been spent and the remaining works were likely to be completed before December 2014.

In 2008, the town had witnessed one of the worst floods due to choking of the sewerage system.

After assuming office as the Public Health Engineering Minister, Kiran Choudhry got prepared a comprehensive project to rid residents of this problem forever.

The Minister also inaugurated a blood donation camp organised by Sant Nirankari Foundation Trust, where over 100 people donated blood.

Later, speaking to The Tribune on phone, Kiran said the Public Health and Engineering Department had augmented the supply of drinking water in 6,658 villages and 36 cities of the state from March 2005 to March 2013.

Also, the sewerage system had been improved in 36 towns at a cost of Rs. 689 crore from March 2005 to March 2013. She said 2,775-km long sewerage lines had been laid at a cost of Rs 689 crore during the same period.

The Minister added that supply of drinking water had also been augmented in 895 villages up to March 2013.

Dabwali (Sirsa), June 16
The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) today launched its “Janjagaran Abhiyan” - a drive to highlight shortfalls of Bhupinder Singh Hooda Government in Haryana and the UPA Government at the Centre through public rallies in all 90 Assembly segments of Haryana- from its home turf Dabwali in Sirsa.

Amidst heavy downpour, Ellenabad MLA Abhay Singh Chautala, with his party’s state president Ashok Arora, addressed a public meeting at the grain market in Dabwali, an Assembly constituency represented by his elder brother Ajay Singh Chautala, who is presently serving imprisonment in the JBT teachers’ recruitment case.

Chautala clan’s ancestral village Chautala and farmhouse Tejakhera also fall under the Assembly constituency.

“Leaders Om Prakash Chautala and Ajay Singh Chautala have been sent to the jail under a conspiracy by the Congress government, who framed them in false cases,” Abhay Singh alleged in his speech.

He alleged that ever since Hooda had taken over the reins of power in Haryana, he had been making efforts to weaken people from Sirsa district.

Pointing to the heavy showers lashing the area, Chautala said it was people’s good fortune that rain gods had been happy on them otherwise, the present government neither had water nor electricity for the people of the district.

He said the people of Haryana were fed up with the present governments at the Centre and in Haryana and were waiting for opportunities to dislodge them as soon as possible.

The “Janjagran Abhiyan”, launched by the INLD, will last for over two months, during which the party will hold two to three rallies in different districts of the state in a day.

The party organised rallies at Dabwali (Sirsa), Ratia (Fatehabad) and Hisar today, while its leaders will address rallies at Bawani Khera (Bhiwani), Mahindergarh and Rewari tomorrow.

Ever since the Chautala father-son duo had been sentenced in the JBT teachers’ case, the party has not allowed its workers to relent and its leaders have kept them on their toes to ensure that there is no demoralisation among its ranks due to the sentence.

Rohtak, June 16
The Haryana unit of the BJP has announced to launch a statewide ‘Jail Bharo’ (court arrest) agitation from June 25 in protest against the corruption. The agitation would be a part of the nationwide campaign on the issue and would coincide with the day on which National Emergency was imposed in 1975.

A spokesperson for the party said the decision to this effect was taken in a meeting of the state executive of the BJP held here yesterday, which was chaired by Ram Bilas Sharma, the BJP state head. He said the party leaders and workers would court arrest from June 25. It was aimed at highlighting the issue of corruption in public places in the state and in the country, he added.

The meeting was also attended by the BJP in-charge of the state affairs Jagdish Mukhi. Ram Bilas said all the district presidents, members of the state executive and all the MLAs were present at the meeting. While condemning the police lathi charge on the BJP leaders and workers at Hisar, the party lambasted the state government for its alleged failures on various fronts and the overall ‘anti - people’ policies. The party leaders said the ‘Jail Bharo’ agitation would be carried out simultaneously at all the district headquarters. Demanding arrest of the Congress MP Naveen Jindal in connection with the Coalgate scam, the party said it would continue to raise its voice against the corrupt leaders. Regarding the BJP-HJC alliance Jagdish Mukhi said it was rock solid, though he claimed that there could be certain compulsions on such issue. The party also announced to start a mass-contact programme in the rural areas between July 1 and 31.

Hisar, June 16
Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (CCSHAU) yesterday declared the result of the state-level entrance test conducted for admission to undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) degree programmes for the academic session 2013-14 on June 8.

Registrar, Dr SS Dahiya, said the result had been displayed on the university website www.hau.ernet.in and http://ams.mycollegeform.com/ccshau/admission. The university had conducted the entrance test for admission to 100 seats in BSc (Hons) Agriculture four-year and 14 seats in MSc Food Science and Technology, MSc Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and MSc Bio-informatics degree programmes.

A total of 11,060 and 114 candidates had appeared in the entrance examination for UG and PG courses respectively. Dahiya said 3,521 candidates had qualified the test for UG programmes, whereas 25 had qualified for PG programmes.

In the BSc (Hons) Agriculture four-year programme, Shweta of Bhiwani had topped the list of successful candidates by securing 77 marks, whereas Anil Kumar (Meham) and Sumit (Hisar) with 74.5 marks each got second rank and Naveen Beniwal (Hisar) and Aman Sachdeva (Hisar) with 73.5 marks each got the third rank.

Similary, in MSc programmes, Manisha Sharma (Jind) got first rank by securing 65 marks in the test, while Kanika Rani (Bhiwani) and Sonali Sangwan (Hisar) with 62 and 60 marks secured second and third rank respectively.

Chandigarh, June 16
The Haryana Government will soon launch a school nurture policy of the School Education Department for creating a pool of partners committed to strengthen the education sector.

The scheme will be launched by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. A decision to this effect was taken during a meeting held under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister.

It was observed that the policy would facilitate individuals, especially the alumni, organisations and institutions, to contribute to strengthen government schools, enhancing community participation, and minimise urban and rural disparities.

It was stated that the maximum publicity of the policy would be carried out through the social media to reach out to a large number of donors who wanted to connect with community schooling and a donor could choose the school and the kind of donation.

The Chief Minister wanted to know the reason for having such a policy. Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal said many persons and organisations contacted the department and showed interest in donations.

She said after the implementation of the scheme, one could donate any item required at a particular school or adopt a school for all-round development.

Sirsa, June 16
The UGC has finally constituted a committee to probe alleged irregularities by CMJ University, Shillong.

Earlier, after a report in The Tribune, Chaudhary Devi Lal University had directed the colleges affiliated to it to probe the degrees of teachers who had got employment on the basis of degrees issued by CMJ University.

Meghalaya Governor RS Mooshahary's office had lodged a complaint with the state crime investigation department charging CMJ University with selling fake PhD degrees.

The Tribune had published a report about teachers in Sirsa and other districts of Haryana obtaining jobs or managing promotions on the basis of fake degrees issued by CMJ University and some other universities.

Following this report, SK Gahlawat, Dean of Colleges, had initiated an inquiry on Vice-Chancellor ML Ranga's directions

Gahlawat had also suspected three other universities-- Vinayaka Mission University, Salem (Tamil Nadu), Global Open University, Nagaland, and EIILM University, Sikkim-- in this connection. 

Nuh (Mewat), June 16
Shaheed Hasan Khan Mewati Government Medical College and Hospital located at Nalhar village of Nuh district has got the requisite approval from the Medical Council of India (MCI) to begin MBBS course from the forthcoming academic session.

Prof Sansar C Sharma, director-principal of the medical college, said an MCI team recently inspected the college and granted its approval to it. The MBBS classes would begin from the coming August, he added.

Dr Sharma further said a dental college and a nursing college would also be set up and modalities in this regard were being worked out.

“Given the high incidence of cases of anaemia, malnutrition and TB as well as high infant mortality rate owing to the socio-economic factors, a well-equipped medical facility was needed in the area,” he maintained.

The college, located on about 72 acres of land in the foothills of the Aravallis, has incurred an expenditure of nearly Rs 425 crore on its infrastructure so far. A plan is afoot to acquire 35 acres of land for the expansion of the college.

OPDs as well as admission wards for different medical specialties are already operational at the college; with nearly 1,000 patients visiting the college per day. Around 450 beds have been provided for the admitted patients. The medical college has around 150 doctors, 200 nurses and 100 paramedical staff.

While a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) has been set up for the children suffering from critical ailments, an advanced blood bank, six new operation theatres and diagnostic facilities like CT Scan and MRI are on the anvil. A 33-kv dedicated power substation is also on the cards.

The college authorities, doctors and other staff members are encountering teething troubles and facing multifarious difficulties in managing the day-to-day affairs.

Apart from this, attracting qualified medical professionals and retaining them is also a big challenge in view of the rustic character of the place and lack of potable water, quality educational facilities, urbane amenities and recreational avenues.

“Challenges are many, but we have decided to take the bull by its horns and make the best use of the available resources and manpower in the larger public interest,” said Dr Sharma, who is also an eminent orthopaedic surgeon of the region.

Chandigarh, June 16
Micro-irrigation systems are becoming popular in Haryana as the state government gives up to 85 per cent assistance to the farmers on drip irrigation. About 31,784 hectares of area has so far been brought under drip irrigation till the financial year 2012-13.

A spokesman of Haryana Horticulture Department said here today during this Five Year Plan (2012-13 to 2016-17), the department planned to cover 90,000 hectares of additional area under micro irrigation for horticultural crops. For the current financial year, a financial outlay of Rs 90 crore had been approved under National Mission on Micro Irrigation. Higher allocation shall be given to this sector in the remaining years of the Five Year Plan, he added.

He said with a view to conserve water, enhance production and productivity through precise irrigation technologies, micro-irrigation systems like drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation systems were being promoted in the state on a large scale.

It had been observed that by using this system, 40 to 50 per cent water was saved along with an increase in productivity from 10 to 50 per cent in various crops.

He said the National Mission on Micro Irrigation was started in 2006-07 and the state government was giving financial assistance to the farmers of the state on drip irrigation system. He pointed out that Haryana received rainfall during monsoon and its distribution was erratic and uneven which resulted in acute water shortage.

He said to meet requirement of water, farm ponds were constructed at farmers’ fields to store water and farmers were able to irrigate the plants with the stored water during the period of scarcity of water.

He said for construction of farm water ponds, the department was providing 100 per cent assistance to the farmers. All these water ponds were being built by farmers themselves.

Jhajjar, June 16
A middle-aged man was allegedly gunned down by car-borne assailants outside Khanpur Khurd village in the district today.

The deceased has been identified as Jai Singh of Tandaheri village. Singh’s son Praveen Chaudhary was also gunned down in Bahadurgarh town some months ago.

The incident took place in the morning when Jai Singh was taking a walk on an outer road of the village. Four armed youths came in a car and reportedly fired at Jai Singh from a close range.

Jai Singh was rushed to a nearby hospital from where he was referred to the PGIMS at Rohtak. He reportedly died on the way to the PGIMS.

The police registered a case and started investigation into the matter. Singh had shifted to Khanpur Khurd village from Tandaheri after the murder of his son, the police said.

Kurukshetra, June 16
Two persons were killed in two road accidents last evening.

The police said Hanny of Narela, near Delhi, was killed on the spot when a car hit his motorcycle near Dhantori village, 20 km from here .

Virender of Chhapper village (Karnal) was killed on the spot when a four-wheeler hit him near Indri Chowk, Ladwa, 25 km from here. Vehicle driver Rajiv Kumar has been arrested. The police has registered two cases in this connection.

Ambala, June 16
The Ambala Central Jail authorities have recovered six mobile phones from inmates in a surprise checking in various wards of the jail yesterday.

A case in this regard was registered at the Baldevnagar police station on the complaint of the deputy superintendent of police (DSP) jail.

According to information, DSP jail Rajinder Singh, on a tip-off, raided at several wards in the jail and recovered six mobile phones from different barracks. Jail officials are investigating the matter.

It is to be mentioned that during the past three years, around 36 mobile phones have been recovered from the jail campus. Last year, four wardens of the jail were arrested on the charges of supplying a mobile phone to an inmate of the jail.

The Ambala jail authorities have been trying to install a jammer in the jail to stop the blatant use of cell phones by the inmates, but the matter could not be executed. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has already directed the state government to install jammers in various jail of the state. The Ambala central jail is the most sensitive jail of the state where a number of gangsters and hardcore criminals are lodged. A few years back, inmates also attempted to escape by digging a tunnel on the jail premises.

Sonepat, June 16
If voted to power in the next Lok Sabha elections, the NDA government would give agriculture loan at 1 per cent rate of interest, said BJP’s national president Rajnath Singh while addressing a rally at Gohana yesterday on the 65th birth anniversary of Kishan Singh Sangwan, a former BJP MP.

He said the BJP-ruled states in the country were providing agriculture loan at 2 per cent rate of interest.

He chided the UPA government for pursuing pro-rich and anti-farmer policies and said the UPA government did not implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission which was constituted when he was the Union Agriculture Minister.