Chandigarh, July 1
In a development that would encourage horse trading in the run-up to the election of Mayors, Senior Deputy Mayors and Deputy Mayor of the seven Municipal Corporations, the Hooda Government has tweaked the Haryana Municipal Corporation Elections Rules, 1994.

The amendments to these rules notified on June 29 are seen as a desperate attempt by the Congress Government to install Mayors, Senior Deputy Mayors and Deputy Mayors of its choice by the government.

Under the new rules, the election to the posts of Mayor will be held within one month from the date of notification of the names of elected councillors.The oath of allegiance to the councillors is also to be administered the same day.

However, what has earned the ire of the Opposition is that 60 days had been given from the notification of the names of candidates for the election to the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

While the notification gives no plausible reason for the staggering of the elections, sources informed The Tribune that this was a clever strategy by the ruling Congress Government to first install Mayors of its choice and then Senior Deputy Mayors and Deputy Mayors.

As many as 103 of the 144 Independents winning the MC poll owed allegiance to the ruling Congress. However, they belonged to different factions of the Congress. The rules had been changed at the eleventh hour to accommodate candidates of different factions as mayors, Senior Deputy Mayors and Deputy Mayors, sources asserted.

Hisar, July 1
With the stage set for the election of Hisar mayor on Tuesday, the tug-of-war between two factions of the Congress to grab the post has reached a crescendo.

Sources said a direct fight between women councillors Shakuntala Rajliwal and Rekha Saini was on the cards.

Though both are Congress supporters, they belong to different factions of the party in Hisar. While Rajliwal has the backing of local Congress MLA Savitri Jindal, Saini is the daughter-in-law of local party leader and former minister Hari Singh Saini. The Hisar municipal corporation (MC) mayor's post is reserved for a woman.

The Congress-backed Independents won 13 seats in the Hisar MC poll. The INLD bagged four seats while BJP drew a blank. Two supporters of the HJC, which had not contested on symbol, too, emerged victorious.

The INLD, however, is pinning hopes on the Congress factionalism and claims that it will play a decisive role in the installation of the mayor. INLD spokesperson Satish Beniwal stated that their councillor Rekha Aeron is in the race for the post.

Meanwhile, Congress aspirants are lobbying hard at the higher party level though they refuse to stake claim openly. When contacted, Hari Singh Saini stated that they had left it to the Chief Minister to take a decision in this regard.

The elections for the posts of mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor was scheduled to be held today but it was postponed for a day. According to a fresh amendment in the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, the election for the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor would be held within two months of notification of the MC poll results.

Karnal, July 1
The election of the first Mayor of Karnal will be held tomorrow. Councillors will be administered the oath tomorrow and later they will elect the Mayor.

There are 20 councillors, including seven women. The support of a minimum of 11 councillors is required for winning the mayoral poll.

As a majority of municipal corporation members are backed by various factions of the Congress, the Mayor is likely to be from the Congress. The contest is between Kailash Goel and Joginder Chauhan. HJC-backed Renu Bala from ward 12 is also a strong contender for the top post.

New Delhi, July 1
The Delhi High Court today sought the CBI response to former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala’s plea for extending the period of his interim bail granted for medical reasons.

Justice Siddharth Mridul directed the CBI to respond to the notice before the expiry of the bail on July 4. The HC had granted interim bail on May 21 to enable Chautala have a pacemaker implanted on his heart.

Chautala has been sentenced to a 10-year jail term for committing irregularities through cheating and forgery in the appointment of 3,032 JBT teachers in 1999-2000 when he was the Chief Minister.

In his plea, Chautala contended that the doctors who conducted the surgery on June 3 had advised him to undergo regular checkups for three months. He said he continued to be in a fragile state of health, besides being severely handicapped by various disabilities.

“It is prayed that the interim bail granted to the appellant (Chautala) be suitably extended and he may be permitted to reside with his family at his native village Chautala in Sirsa district of Haryana after discharge from the hospital,” he said.

A CBI court here sentenced him and his son, Ajay, to 10-year imprisonment in the case on January 22 following which they were lodged in Tihar jail.

Chautala has challenged the verdict in the HC, contending that the false and fictitious case had political overtones and his continued incarceration would be against the interest of justice.

In all, the CBI court had convicted and sentenced 55 accused in the case. Among the main accused sentenced to 10 years are Vidya Dhar, the then OSD to Chautala, and Sher Singh Badshami, the then political adviser to the CM and a sitting MLA at present.

Rohtak, July 1
Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) has hike the examination fee for various undergraduate and postgraduate courses from the coming session. The decision to increase the fee came at the meeting of the executive council (EC) of the university.

Though the hike is nominal, ranging from 5 to 10 per cent for a majority of the courses, the authorities have proposed to hike the examination and the re-evaluation fee up to 66 per cent for some of the courses. According to the proposal adopted by the EC, the charges that are annual for all the courses will be Rs 400 per examination for various undergraduate and postgraduate courses in arts, sciences and commerce from the new academic session, beginning July. Earlier, it was Rs 380 . However, for courses like MCA, IT and engineering and technology, the exam fee has been revised to Rs 1,000 from Rs 900. The fee for PhD has been revised from Rs 3,500 to Rs 5,000. Similarly, the exam fee for the courses like M.Tech, M.Pharma and M.Phil will be Rs 2,500 instead of Rs 1,500. For the LLM course, it will be Rs 1,000 instead of Rs 300. The students taking compartment and improvement exams will have to shell out Rs 1,000 in place of Rs 800 for each paper.

The remuneration for the guest faculty has also been revised. A lecturer who was paid Rs 300 per lecture will now be given Rs 450 up to a maximum remuneration of Rs 25,000 per month. It was Rs 18,000 earlier. For the post of associate professor, it will be Rs 600 per lecture or a maximum of Rs 36,000 per month instead of Rs 400 per lecture. Senior guest teachers will now be eligible for the remuneration of Rs 750 per lecture.

The academic workload remuneration of the university faculty has also been revised to Rs 5,500 from Rs 3,500 earlier.

Gurgaon, July 1
In what may come as an assurance to thousands of BPO employees working late, the Gurgaon police has mandated the provision of a registered armed guard with them when they are picked or dropped.

The police has told corporate companies, especially BPOs, to maintain a database of all employees, including security personnel, cab drivers and contractual staff.

Issuing the directives, police Commissioner Alok Mittal told them to plan employee departure schedules in such a way that no woman employee travelled alone and a registered security guard was deployed in each cab carrying women staff.

"Companies should ensure that cabs used for women employees during night hours pick and drop employees at their houses. It should wait at the point where a woman employee has been dropped till she confirms through a telephone call that she has reached her residence or place of stay," read the order.

The police issued directions to companies to hire security guards and contractual workers from licensed agencies.

"Most of the time we see that it is lack of responsibility on the part of the employer which poses a threat. We have made one thing clear. If you wish to have women working late, their security is your responsibility," said Mittal.

Gurgaon, July 1
Representatives of the district administration have reached out to families of persons missing in Uttarakhand and assured them of all help from the administration and the state government in tracing their kin.

Deputy Commissioner PC Meena directed officials and field functionaries concerned to meet families of persons missing after the flash floods and landslides in Uttarakhand.

The officials concerned were directed to collect photographs and other details of persons missing and submit those with the Deputy Commissioner's office.

Gurgaon-North SDM Satender Duhan and Pataudi SDM Manoj Khatri met the families of the missing, collected photographs and particulars of persons missing and assured their families of all help.

Gurgaon, July 1
The government authorities have saved a girlchild who had been swept away in the Uttarakhand flash-floods recently. There is, however, no information about her parents.

The district administration has appealed to local residents that if the girl belonged to any of them, they could bring her back home by contacting the Dehradun District Magistrate.

The girl is undergoing treatment at Doon Hospital in Dehradun.

Jind, July 1
While the Jind police has started investigations into the case of registration of an FIR against seven persons in connection with the alleged scam related to vehicle registration on the basis of forged documents, the office of the Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM) has decided to install CCTV cameras in the office and tighten work rules.

About 300 applications for registration of new vehicles and transfer of old vehicles are handled by the office each month. "The police will zero in on offenders and make arrest after detailed investigations," said Balwan Singh, district police chief.

He said the case was being handled by the City SHO and officials concerned were expected to submit a report soon. A police team would visit the places mentioned in the complaint submitted by the SDM, he added.

SDM Amrita Singh said the unearthing of the racket had put on high alert officials and other employees of the Registration and Licensing Authority (RLA) and the office would adopt strict measures to check unfair practices in issuance of registration certificates.

She said the steps included installing CCTV cameras within a week and making it a must for the applicant to submit an original copy of identity proof at the time of submitting documents. The staff had been directed to follow the required procedure and warned that they would face the music in case of violation, she added.

Karnal, July 1
The HJC-BJP alliance today kick-started its campaign for the General Election by launching its 'Gaon-gaon chalo, ghar-ghar chalo' (visit every village, visit every house) campaign. The campaign will continue till July 31.

Launching the campaign with a blistering attack on the Congress and the INLD, Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi said workers would reach out to the people, especially in rural areas, to know their problems and grievances, which would be redressed on a priority if the alliance was elected to power.

"People will not be required to come to the government. We will reach out to them," he said. Bishnoi alleged that the UPA government was trying to shield Naveen Jindal in the Coalgate scam.

Bishnoi added that INLD leaders Om Prakash Chautala and Ajay Chautala were in jail in connection with the recruitment scam while Abhey Chautala had been booked in a disproportionate assets case.

Alleging that the parties were equally corrupt and there was no difference between them, Bishnoi said a similar recruitment scam had taken place under the Hooda government in 2009 and demanded a CBI probe into it.

Talking to mediapersons later, Bishnoi said people had rejected the INLD and no leader of the party was elected to the Lok Sabha after former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal. He claimed that the fate of the INLD would be worse in the future.

Claiming that people would not support parties like the Congress and the INLD, he said the HJC-BJP alliance, which was strong like a rock, was the only alternative. Karnal BJP president Ashok Sukheja, former Union minister ID Swami and other BJP and HJC leaders were present.

Faridabad, July 1
The BJP launched its month-long door-to-door campaign in Faridabad on Monday and vowed to put up better electoral performance in the district in the future.

Former MP Ramchander Bainda, former MLAs Chander Bhatia and Anand Sharma and a large number of party activists hit the streets on the first day of the campaign.

Faridabad BJP president Ajay Gaur said 'mandal' units would organise party cadres visits to te houses during the campaign. The party has 19 'mandal' units in Faridabad.

BJP workers distributed handbills and pamphlets. The propaganda material, highlighted the 'misrule' of the UPA and the Haryana Government.

The BJP targeted scams and inflation during the UPA regime. It alleged that the UPA had failed to ensure the security of the country.

The propaganda material praised the achievements during the six-year rule of the NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The BJP alleged that the Congress had no moral right to be in power in Haryana for having failed to fulfil its poll promises. It alleged that the law and order situation had deteriorated during Congress rule.

HJC leaders took part in the campaign as well. In a related development, the BJP organised a public meeting at Machgaar village in the Prithla Assembly constituency of the district last evening.

Kaithal, July 1
Notwithstanding the constitution of a committee to look into the property tax issue and keeping in abeyance the order on payment of tax, local residents are up in arms against the proposed hike which has been levied with retrospective effect.

Property owners complain that the proposed hike is so high that they feel that they have become tenants of their own property. The municipal council has issued notices for 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14.

They demand that tax for the first two years should be charged on the basis of the previous policy as the new policy is in effect vide a notification dated January 28 this year.

Almost all owners had paid tax for 2011-12 while many had paid tax for 2012-13 on the basis of of the previous policy, but the municipal authorities later refused to accept the payment, saying the new assessment was in progress and payment would be accepted after the completion of assessment.

Taxpayers are against property tax assessment on the basis of collector rate. They point out that it should be the basis of immovable property registration and not property tax assessment, which should be levied on the basis of rental value.

They claim that floor-wise calculation is irrational and illogical as the rental value of other floors cannot be the same as that of the ground floor. Residents demand that fire tax should be levied on the plot area and not on 10 per cent of the property tax assessed.

Some property owners have got notices wherein to pay between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 compared to between Rs 800 and Rs 1,000 earlier. In the case of commercial property, those paying between Rs 12,000 and Rs 13,000 earlier will now have to pay between Rs 1,30,000 and Rs 1,35,000 as tax.

Anand Khurania, president of the Kaithal unit of the Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has pointed out the anomalies in a letter to the municipal authorities with copies to the Chief Minister and Industries Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala.

Some Congress supporters have said on the condition of anonymity that if the new policy is not changed, the party will lose a substantial part of its vote bank. The incentive of a 20 per cent rebate for paying tax within the financial year has been withdrawn and those delaying payment will have to pay 18 per cent interest.

Property owners rue that the field staff of the company hired for tax assessment had never contacted them to get information about ownership, size and usage of property.

The have sought a logical reexamination of the matter so that they are not fleeced.

Chandigarh, July 1
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has urged the Centre to either increase the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy, maize, bajra and cotton or announce a bonus.

In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Chief Minister urged him to increase the MSP of paddy by at least Rs 200 per quintal, maize by Rs 150 and that of Bajra and cotton by Rs 100, so that the farmers get remunerative prices for their produce.

While drawing the attention of the Prime Minister towards the meagre increase made in the MSP of paddy by the Centre, Hooda said: “The Government of India has enhanced the MSP of paddy by Rs 60 per quintal over the last year's MSP and fixed it at Rs 1,310 per quintal for common paddy and made an increase of 65 per quintal for grade A at Rs 1,345 per quintal for the Kharif marketing season 2013-14. The MSP announced is not adequate to cover even the cost of cultivation of paddy.”

Hooda said the cost of cultivation of paddy in the state was Rs 1,757 per quintal and the state had recommended to the Centre to fix Rs 1,850, Rs 1,925 and Rs 2,000 per quintal for common, fine and super fine categories.

He further said bajra was an important crop grown in the state both as grain and fodder. The MSP announced by the Centre at Rs 1,250 per quintal would not even cover the cost of cultivation. The cost of cultivation of bajra in the state was Rs 1,315 per quintal, he said.

Hooda also said though maize was an important cereal and fodder crop, yet its area and production had steadily decreased due to poor MSP. “The Centre is giving emphasis on crop diversification in the original Green Revolution states. The MSP which has been announced by the Centre for maize at Rs 1,310 per quintal will not encourage the farmers to diversify from the paddy and sugarcane crops to maize crop. The cost of cultivation of maize in our state is Rs 1,654 per quintal and the state government had recommended Rs 1,800 per quintal as MSP for maize,” he said.

“Likewise, its MSP of cotton, which is grown in about six lakh hectares, should be fixed at Rs 4,200 per quintal, whereas the Centre has announced only Rs 3700 per quintal for the medium staple cotton. The cost of cultivation of cotton itself comes to Rs 3,783 per quintal,” added Hooda.

Bhiwani, July 1
The Centre today approved the inclusion of Bhiwani and Mahendragarh districts in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Member of Parliament Shruti Choudhry, who took up the issue with Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath, said this while addressing mediapersons here today. She was accompanied by her mother and Haryana Minister for Public Health Engineering, Excise and Taxation Kiran Choudhry.

She said the decision had been taken during a meeting of the National Capital Region Planning Board in Delhi today. Both the districts are part of Shruti’s Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Parliamentary seat.

“This will open floodgates of development to Bhiwani and Mahendragarh. A sum of Rs 2 lakh crore is to be invested in the NCR till 2021 on various development projects.

The two districts will witness unprecedented economic growth, infrastructural development besides development in the field of road and railway transport, education, health, industrial development, electricity, irrigation, drinking water, sewerage etc,” Shruti claimed.

Sirsa, July 1
Ellenabad MLA Abhey Singh Chautala today alleged that sending his father Om Prakash Chautala and his brother Ajay Singh to jail is part of a big conspiracy by the Congress.

He said people of Haryana had seen through the Congress plan and they were waiting to avenge it in the coming elections.

Addressing his first political meeting in his own assembly constituency Ellenabad after his father and brother’s conviction in the JBT recruitment case, Abhey Singh announced that former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala would contest this seat once again in the 2014 assembly elections.

Chautala had won the Ellenabad and Uchana seats in the assembly elections held in October, 2009. He, however, vacated this seat to retain Uchana.

Later, Abhey Singh was elected legislator from Ellenabad in a byelection held in January, 2010, Villagers turned out in large numbers in the meeting held at Mallekan village .

“The Congress is in the habit of misusing the CBI against its detractors. It used the central agency against Mamta Banerjee, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mayawati, Jaganmohan Reddy, Prakash Singh Badal and a number of other prominent anti-Congress leaders,” Abhey Singh alleged.

Contrary to the rumours that the INLD and the BJP might enter into an alliance, Abhey Singh said people of the country were waiting for the constitution of a third front. He said no political party was wiling to join the NDA due to internal strife within the BJP.

He urged his party workers to strive for making the party strong.

State INLD president Ashok Arora, Kalayat MLA Ram Pal Majra, among others, addressed the rally. 

Ambala, July 1
The district police has arrested a mathematics teacher with a local school on the charge of attempting to rape a class XII student.

The police registered a case against Sanjeev of the local SD Senior Secondary School after a girl’s parents filed a complaint with the police.

In their complaint, they stated that their daughter had been depressed for the last few days and when they asked her the reason, she told them that Sanjeev had tried to outrage her modesty.

They stated that their daughter took tuitions from Sanjeev at his residence in the Bangali Mohalla area of Ambala Cantonment.

They alleged that he tried to rape her on June 17 during tuition hours after telling other students to leave. The teacher was arrested and a case registered against him.

The parents reported the matter to the school management, which stated that action against the teacher would be taken if the allegations were found to be true in police investigations.

Kaithal, July 1
A mentally challenged woman was allegedly raped at Deeg village in the district yesterday. The accused was arrested last night and produced in a local court today, which sent him in judicial custody.

A police spokesman said here today that a Deeg daily wage worker went to work yesterday morning. When he returned in the evening, his wife was upset and weeping bitterly.

She told her husband that Satish of the same village came to their house, forcibly took her to a room and raped her. Her husband informed the police, following which a case was registered and the accused arrested. — OC

Gurgaon, July 1
A fortnight after a five-year-old girl was raped, the Gurgaon administration has announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for her treatment. The victim is struggling for life at Artemis Hospital here.

In a press note issued today, the administration said it was ready to shell out more money, if required, for her treatment.

The Tribune had through these columns highlighted how neither the city administration nor any state minister cared to meet the family of the girl who was abducted, raped and disembowelled here. The girl was admitted to the Safdurjung hospital and her father, a roadside barber, had appealed to the government for help.

The girl has been in a critical condition for the past 15 days and the police has made no headway in arresting the accused.

Rewari, July 1
Meena Devi (26) committed suicide by hanging herself in Arjun Nagar here on Saturday night.

On a complaint filed by the victim's father, Phool Singh, a resident of Bawal town in the district, the police has registered a case of dowry death against her husband Sunil Kumar, father-in-law Chandgi Ram, mother-in-law Anoop Devi and brother-in-law Rajesh Kumar (husband’s elder brother), all residents of Arjun Nagar.

Phool Singh alleged that his daughter, who got married to Sunil in 2006, was persistently ill-treated for dowry, forcing her to take the extreme step.

Meena is survived by a son and a daughter. 

Kaithal, July 1
The police today seized a consignment of English wine worth lakhs of rupees from a truck intercepted during a naka on the Kaithal-Ambala bypass here today.

The truck was impounded and the stock was taken into possession by the police.

The police said Subhash Chand, sub inspector in charge, CIA, Kaithal, intercepted a Tata truck coming from the Ambala side and found that it was carrying 720 boxes of whisky.

The driver, identified as Anil of Dhangar village of Fathebad district, said he had brought the whisky boxes from Ambala and was carrying them to Bhiwani as per the directions of one Pardeep of Ambala.

Hisar, July 1
Goods worth lakhs were burnt in a fire in the first floor of Mehta Exclusives at Rajguru Market in Hisar.

Before the fire tenders arrived, the fire spread to a neighbouring store, where shoes were stored. It took nearly one hour for four fire tenders to control the fire. A short-circuit has been cited as the reason for the fire. 

Fatehabad, July 1
The police has booked an SDO of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam after a grocery shop owner committed suicide at Lang Mohalla here.

The 45-year-old suicide victim, Madan Lal, who used to receive a bill for around Rs 600 every month, got a bill for Rs 45,000 this time.

The victim allegedly went to the SDO with his complaint, but the official allegedly demanded Rs 20,000 as bribe for setting right his power bill. His repeated requests allegedly failed to move the official.

A distressed Madan Lal wrote a suicide note, holding SDO Kitab Singh responsible, and committed suicide by hanging himself. The police registered a case of abatement to suicide against the SDO.

Sirsa, July 1
In its second offensive against the sale of intoxicant drugs, a high-level team from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), led by its Joint Commissioner-cum-State Drug Controller GL Singal, has booked a quack at Singhpura village of Sirsa, who allegedly sold intoxicant drugs to youths.

Singal, who along with two senior drug control officials from Hisar and Rohtak and four drug control officials from different districts of the state, conducted the raids, said the teams had seized several empty bottles of codeine syrup and empty strips of alprazolam and chlordiazepoxide tablets from the quack’s shop.

A case would be filed in the court against him, Singal said. He said the quack managed to flee the scene.

Singal said a number of students from a Punjab college, about 5 km from Singhpura, used to come to the quack for drugs. The FDA teams have sealed a chemist shop at Baragura village in Sirsa. Singal said he could not produce any record of the sale and purchase of intoxicating drugs found in his shop