Chandigarh, July 11
With the power department effecting another power tariff hike the fifth in 14 months, electricity consumers across the state will have to shell out more from July 1.

All power consumers, except the agriculture sector, will have to pay 34 paise per unit more for the electricity.

In a bid to escape the backlash from the electorate in the pre-election year, the Hooda government fought shy of making a formal announcement. Instead, the Chief General Manager (Commercial) of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam quietly passed instructions to the field officers to recover fuel surcharge assessment (FSA) for the consumers from retrospective effect (July 1).

The latest power tariff hike comes in the wake of the recovery of the FSA on costly short-term purchases by the power distribution companies — Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) — in the first quarter (April-July) of the current financial year. The FSA, which would mop up Rs 180 crore for the fund-starved power distribution companies, would be recovered from July to September, officials claimed.

The tariff hike of 34 paise will be applicable to all consumers such as domestic, non-domestic and industrial.

Since April 1 last year, this is the fifth power hike, three on account of the FSA and two regular, by the Hooda government that is already under attack from the Opposition for backdoor taxes despite presenting a tax-free 2013-14 Budget in Vidhan Sabha. The government effected 13 per cent (70 paise per unit) average hike in power tariff with effect from April 1.

Earlier, the UHBVN and DHBVN effected a power tariff hike ranging from 17 paise to 45 paise per unit from September 1 last year to recover Rs 350 crore spent on the purchase of power at a high cost by way of the FSA.

Chandigarh, July 11
Lieut-Gen Philip Campose, who took over as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, this month, paid a courtesy call on Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda here today.

The newly appointed Army Commander discussed issues of mutual interest pertaining to Haryana during his visit.

He highlighted the need for enhancing resettlement opportunities for retiring Army personnel and issues regarding training of youths for induction as officers in the defence forces.

The Chief Minister appreciated the good rapport and understanding between the Army and the civil administration.

He recognised the effort put in by the Army towards disaster management and assured to provide all assistance for their welfare.

Hooda lauded the efforts of the Army towards disaster management and assured all assistance to Army personnel.

Chandigarh, July 11
In a setback of sorts for Punjab and Haryana High Court's former Judge Nirmal Yadav, the High Court today set a 10-day deadline for the CBI special court at Chandigarh to decide the issue of framing charges against her in the cash-for- judge scam.

The directions by Justice Paramjeet Singh came while disposing of a communication received from special CBI Judge Vimal Kumar. In his letter to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the special CBI judge had sought 15 days to decide the issue of framing charges against Justice Yadav. Justice Paramjeet Singh granted only 10 days for the purpose. The case will now come up on July 15 before the special CBI court at Chandigarh for arguments on framing charges.

The development is significant as the CBI had filed the final report on the charge sheet against Justice Yadav in March, 2011, but the issue of framing charges remained pending. The deadline comes just about a week after the Supreme Court dismissed her plea for review of sanction granted for her criminal prosecution in 2008. The apex court said there should not be any hurdle for the trial court to go ahead with the issue of framing charges against Yadav and other accused in the case.

The apex court had on September 10 last year refused to quash criminal proceedings against Yadav. She was asked to raise objections before the trial court.

Her name had surfaced in the rip-off after a bag Rs 15 lakh was erroneously delivered at the residence of another HC Judge with a similar name, Justice Nirmaljit Kaur. The Judge had, subsequently, called the police. The probe was later handed over to the CBI. A three-judge committee too was constituted to look into the allegations. On the basis of evidence and material before it, the committee drew an inference that the money delivered at the residence of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur was meant for Justice Yadav.

Hisar, July 11
The Dalits of Bhagana village, who have been sitting on a dharna outside the Deputy Commissioner's office in Hisar for the past over a year, are not ready to relent even as another section of the Dalits have patched up with residents of the upper caste following the demolition of a wall.

Satish Kumar, a Dalit leader, maintained that they had not got any message from the village panchayat or the district administration for discussions on their pending demands. "There are many other demands, including getting the panchayat land freed from the encroachments by Jats, registeration of case under the SC/ST Act against those who gave a boycott call of the SCs and to return a fee of Rs 1,000, which was charged by the panchayat from SC families in the name of allotting plots and adequate compensation to all affected families, who faced hardship after leaving the village to live with their relative for about a year," he said.

Kumar added that though they welcomed the decision to demolish the wall, but other demands were also important and they would not return to the village until all demands were accepted.

Village sarpanch Rakesh Panghal said the issue stood resolved now and all communities were living in a peaceful and cordial atmosphere in the village. "If a handful of persons want to vitiate the atmosphere out of their vested interests, the villagers are not ready to listen to them. We have around 800 SC families living in the village who have harmonious and cordial relations across the communities."

Fatehabad, July 11
Awareness rallies and lectures were organised by the Health Department across the state to mark World Population Day here today.

Fatehabad Civil Surgeon Dr Suraj Bhan Kamboj and Medical Superintendent of General Hospital Dr Mukta Kumar flagged off a rally of nursing students. The rally passed through main markets of Fatehabad town and returned to the hospital after spreading message of benefits of smaller families. Later, an exhibition was also organised at the hospital.

Speaking at a seminar on the occasion, Dr Kamboj said the government paid Rs 600 to the women from BPL families and Rs 250 to those from the general category for every sterilisation operation. Similarly, the government paid Rs 1,100 to men opting for sterilisation surgery.

Deputy Civil Surgeon Dr HL Gupta, Dr OP Dahmiwal, Dr Renu, Dr Rama Bansal, Dr Kuleep Gauri and other doctors were present on the occasion.

Karnal: With Karnal district registering 2.3 per cent population growth during the past two years from 15,06,323 in June 2011 to 15, 57,089 in June 2013, the Health Department has changed its slogan from "Hum Do Hamare Do" to "Hum Do Hamara Ek".

The increase of 50,766 in population in the past two years was alarming and an aggressive approach with series of measures was needed to keep the population under check and in case the population growth continues at present rate, India would be a more populous country as compared to China by 2030, Dr Vandana Bhatia, Karnal Civil Surgeon, said. China has controlled the population with one child norm and India can too as parents can take best care of health, education and other needs of a single child, she added.

Sirsa: Deputy Civil Surgeon Dr Raj Kumar inaugurated a seminar to mark World Population Day here on Thursday. He said a Population Stabilisation Fortnight was being observed from July 11 to July 24.

“During this period, all ANMs and ASHA workers will spread awareness on the increasing population and the importance of smaller families. Sterilisation surgery camps will be organised daily at general hospitals in Sirsa and Dabwali during this period,” he said.

Dr Rohtash Verma, Deputy Civil Surgeon, NRHM, said the percentage of institutional deliveries had risen to 70 per cent in the state and a considerable decline in infant mortality rate had been witnessed.

Gurgaon, July 11
In view of the proposed meeting of sacked Maruti workers at Manesar on July 18, the Gurgaon District Magistrate PC Meena has prohibited the taking out of any procession or holding of dharna on/along the national highway 8 and in the IMT Manesar area without permission.

The ban orders specifically maintain that “there is apprehension of a possible tussle between agitating Maruti workers and villagers as the panchayats of Kasan, Dhana, Bas Padamka and Bas Kusla villages have also given their representation to the Deputy Commissioner that they are against any agitation.”

Earlier, sarpanches of villages in the Manesar belt had opposed the proposed meeting of sacked Maruti workers scheduled at Manesar on July 18. The meeting has been called by sacked Maruti workers and their supporters to mark the first anniversary of arson and violence at the Manesar plant of Maruti on July 18, 2012.

Sarpanches of the Manesar belt have opposed the meeting, apprehending that the proposed meeting may disrupt the peace and order in the area.

Meanwhile, Haryana CITU unit general secretary Satbir Singh stated that a meeting of sacked Maruti workers and other trade unions and labour organisations had been convened for July 12 to chalk out a strategy in the wake of the recent developments.

Chandigarh, July 11
The Haryana Government has approved a pilot project under which four cities —Sirsa, Ambala, Rohtak and Yamunanagar — would be developed as slum-free under the Rajiv Awas Yojana.

An official spokesperson said the under the scheme, 3,862 multi-storeyed houses would be constructed in Sirsa, Ambala and Rohtak. The number of houses to be constructed at Yamunanagar had not been finalised yet.

The total cost of this project would be Rs 311.09 crore out of which Rs 95 crore would be spent for the construction of 2,144 dwelling units in Sirsa, Rs 95.89 crore on 1,518 dwelling units in Rohtak, Rs 59.83 crore on 200 dwelling units in Ambala and Rs 60.37 crore on dwelling units in Yamunanagar.

He said the maximum number of houses would be constructed in Sirsa in the first phase of the scheme. These houses would be built by the Haryana Housing Board. The scheme would be funded by the centre, the state government and the municipalities concerned for developing the infrastructural facilities. The beneficiaries would be required to contribute 30 per cent of the cost of the dwelling units which would further be subsidised for a vulnerable woman-headed household and the households with one member suffering from physical or mental disability.

Panipat, July 11
Acting on the directions of the Deputy Commissioner, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Panipat, RS Verma, yesterday held a meeting with residents of Khukhrana village and urged them to cooperate with the government in their relocation to Saudapur village. They persuaded the villagers to shift to the new place, saying it would be an ‘adarsh’ (ideal) village with all basic facilities and healthy environment.

The ADC told the villagers that the proposed site for the relocation in Saudapur village had been planned with adequate infrastructure requirements of people for the next 50 years and the blueprint of the plan would be pasted in the village, along with the names of the beneficiaries.This would enable the villagers to file their objections and give suggestions, he said.

He assured the villagers that the development plan of the village would be based on the needs of the people and objections and suggestions would be entertained till July 21 and further action would be taken accordingly.

The villagers demanded five ‘chopals’, community centre, cremation house, Rajiv Gandhi Seva Sadan, two ponds, temple, primary health centre, veterinary hospital, school and direct road connectivity with Assandh.

The administration assured the villagers that facilities like school, park, hospital, wide roads, adequate water supply and clean environment would be provided at the new location and the survey team would take care of every aspect.

The move has come 20 months after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed acquisition of 55 acre in Saudapur for relocation of Khukhrana villagers, affected by pollution caused by the Panipat thermal power plant. The residents of Khukhrana village, located in the vicinity of the thermal plant, have been suffering due to air, water and land pollution caused from the plant.

Jhajjar, July 11
Badlu Ram, a member of the Azad Hind Fauj, died after a prolonged illness at his house in Khachrauli village here last night. He was 97.His cremation was performed with full state honours at the village.

Top officials of the district administration, local politicians and social reformers attended the funeral.

Earlier, Jhajjar SDM Pradeep Dagar and DSP Sukhbir Phoghat along with other officials placed a wreath on the body on behalf of the district administration.

Sirsa, July 11
For a large number of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) supporters in former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala’s home district, the Supreme Court judgement on disqualification of convicted lawmakers has come as a jolt, though they are little relieved that the verdict will not have any immediate adverse impact on their leaders serving imprisonment in the JBT teachers case.

As soon as television channels started flashing the news of the Supreme Court verdict on Wednesday, mobile phones of core supporters of the INLD in Sirsa started ringing.

Several hardcore Chautala supporters were seen anxiously sending SMSes and chat messages on social networking sites to mediapersons and those from the legal background, trying to decipher the implication of the verdict.

The moment they came to know that the verdict would not affect those MPs and MLAs who have already filed appeals against their conviction, they felt relieved.

In contrast, supporters of Sirsa MLA and former minister Gopal Kanda are keeping their fingers crossed, as his political fate will depend entirely on court’s verdict in the criminal trial he is facing in the Geetika Sharma suicide case.

While the INLD supporters are taking jibes at Kanda during internal conversation in view of sword court’s verdict hanging on him, the former minister’s supporters take a dig on Chautala in view of a case of disproportionate assets pending against the former Chief Minister and his two sons — Ajay Singh and Abhey Singh.

“Even in the present case, their fate depends on the outcome of the appeal in the Delhi high court,” Kanda supporters said.

Faridabad, July 11
A local court has sent Puneet, who was arrested for allegedly running a pre-activated SIM card racket, in police remand.

The crime branch of the police laid a trap and arrested the accused from his shop, Ganesh Communications.

Kuldip Singh, an official of the crime branch, said he was arrested from his shop located in the NIT-4 area. A decoy customer was sent to his shop to purchase a pre-activated SIM card. He said 175 pre-activated SIM cards of Vodafone company were seized from the shop. A majority of the SIM cards were activated on fake identity proofs. He said they would also verify the persons who had purchased the pre-activated cards.— TNS

Chandigarh, July 11
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said here that the benefits already extended to people listed under ineligible BPL families would not be recovered except the plots.

Hooda said this at a press conference here. He said he had received some complaints that ineligible families were taking benefits under BPL schemes and programmes. The number of such families was more than one lakh. It had been ordered to review the entire process. The review would be conducted at the level of the Deputy Commissioner concerned, he added. However, if any plot had been allotted to ineligible BPL families, the same would be recovered, the CM said.— TNS

Karnal, July 11
In order to effectively deal with increasing crime against women, a batch of 55 women police personnel drawn from all districts of Haryana is getting specialised training in self-defence techniques.

These master trainers would in turn train school and college girls in their respective districts. Besides delivering lessons in self-defence, the women personnel would also make girls aware of their legal rights, said Haryana Director General of Police (DGP) SN Vashisht. He was here to attend a meeting of police officials. In addition to this, three women companies, undergoing training on the pattern of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) at the Haryana Police Academy, would soon become a part of the Haryana police force to take care of women, especially during protests.

For effective patrolling at work places of women, institutions and other locations, the number of women PCR would be doubled from 30 and about 3,000 personnel are undergoing training at different police academies and would join the Haryana Police within next 45 days, said the DGP. Observing that there is some decline in rate of heinous crimes in the state, Vashist said it had been possible due to prompt action taken by the police.

Referring to staff crunch, he said the recently constituted Police Recruitment Board would soon recruit 11,000 policemen to overcome the shortage. Vasisth said a meeting of police officials of Haryana and UP would be held in a month to prepare joint strategy to curb interstate smuggling and other unlawful activities. 

Sirsa, July 11
Thieves broke into three places in Sirsa yesterday and decamped with cash and valuables.

The miscreants entered a house in the Chattargarh Patti area of Sirsa and took away Rs 5,000 and keys of a car. As they were trying to start the car, the house owner woke up and raised an alarm, forcing the thieves to run away leaving behind their scooty.

Thieves entered a house on the first floor of an eatery near Laal Batti Chowk of Sirsa and took away Rs 28,000 and three mobile phones.

In another incident, thieves took away Rs 50,000 from a temple near Balmiki Chowk.

Gurgaon, July 11
The police today arrested a 45-year-old woman and her “live-in” partner for allegedly thrashing her father and mother in a house at DLF-II.

The victim, Kulbeer Singh (64), is son of a former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He approached the police against his daughter, Guneet Kaur, and her partner, Harpreet Singh, alleging that his daughter lived with them in the same house. “She resides on the ground floor while other family members live on the first floor. She came home with Harpreet Singh and started abusing and thrashing us. Hearing our cries our maid intervened, but she was also thrashed by the duo,” alleged the complainant. The couple reportedly raised the alarm. The police reached the spot and srrested the two.