Fatehabad, August 9
Changing tack from his earlier style of attacking Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Rajya Sabha MP Birender Singh, it seems, has softened his stance against his political bête noire.

The senior Jat leader, who addressed his supporters at Bhuna town in the district today to mobilise support for his August 20 Jind rally, was noticed avoiding any direct reference to Hooda or the Haryana government headed by him.

Till recently, Birender Singh had been directly accusing the Hooda government of regional bias in the matter of development.

Reports said the Hooda camp had complained to the high command that Birender’s utterances had given a fillip to indiscipline in the party. Addressing his supporters, Birender did refer to the issue of regional disparity, but avoided targeting Hooda directly.

Urging party workers to strengthen the Congress, the MP said, “If the party emerges stronger and comes to power after the poll, the issue of regional bias in development will automatically disappear.”

Interestingly, Birender did not mention in his speech that Sonia Gandhi would be addressing the rally, though the UPA chairperson’s photographs were displayed on a hoarding at the meeting venue.

Later, Birender maintained that Sonia Gandhi had accepted his invite for the rally.

“I am organising this “Sadbhawna Rally” to mark the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and I went to Soniaji with a request to address this rally. She immediately accepted my invite,” he said.

Former MP Sushil Indora’s presence in the meeting was surprising, as he is considered close to Hooda.

New Delhi, August 9
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today remained non-committal on his as well as Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s presence at the Jind rally called by his bete noire Birender Singh on August 20, the day the state will see the launch of the national food security scheme.

“I am not aware of the Congress President’s programme. There is no official confirmation yet whether she is coming,” Hooda told The Tribune today.

Hooda said he had not planned a state launch and every minister would be asked to launch the scheme at the district level on the said day. “We will have a simultaneous launch in all districts. Every minister is in charge of his home district for the launch.”

Hooda did not comment on where he would be on the given day, with the Jind rally continuing to be a bone of contention between him and Birender Singh, a CWC member, who could well steal the CM’ thunder if he manages to get Sonia to Jind on August 20, former PM Rajiv Gandhi’s birthday.

Top Congress sources told The Tribune that Sonia had at least four major engagements in the Capital that day, including the launch of the national food security scheme by Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit and the Rajiv Gandhi Award function.

“But one thing is clear. Even if she does not go to Jind on August 20 due to prior engagements, she will go to Jind either sooner than that or later,” an AICC functionary from Haryana said.

Meanwhile, Haryana Government has done its homework so far as the rollout of the food Bill goes. Hooda said the state would cover 55 pc people with the subsidised food scheme.

It is clear that if Sonia comes for the Jind rally, the food scheme launch in Haryana would happen in her presence. Birender Singh has said publicly that Sonia had accepted his invitation to come.

Chandigarh,August 9
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has espoused the cause of Sikhs facing eviction from the Kutch region of Gujarat.

Close on the heels of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal announcing full-fledged support to Sikhs facing displacement from Gujarat, Hooda said today that no injustice would be allowed to be done to them. “We have taken steps to ensure that the interests of Sikh farmers in Gujarat are protected and justice is done to them”, Hooda asserted.

Hooda’s concern for the Sikhs farmers, who trace their roots to Punjab and Haryana, is understandable against the backdrop of the parliamentary and state assembly elections next year. The Sikhs form a sizable and influential minority in Haryana.

A blame game is already on between the Congress and the SAD for the plight of Sikh farmers. While Hooda blamed the discrimination done to the farmers by the BJP Government led by Narendra Modi, Badal had squarely blamed the Congress for the plight of the Sikhs.

Hooda’s viewpoint is that after the 1965 war, the then Congress-led Gujarat Government had given barren government land at a token rate to Sikh families in the vicinity of Pakistan border in Kutch district at the initiative of late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi .After having nurtured the land for decades, they were told by the Modi Government in 2010 that they had no right on their land. After the high court upheld the farmers’ rights on their land, the Modi regime approached the Supreme Court.

However, Badal claimed that it was the Congress government in Gujarat which had issued a circular in 1973 that if any farmer from outside Gujarat purchased agricultural land in the state, he would be declared a non-agriculturist. Badal said the decision to freeze agricultural land of Punjab and Haryana farmers was based on that circular. Instead of making any effort to save farmers,the Congress leadership was now shedding crocodile tears, Badal said.

Even PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa, who met the Prime Minister on the issue recently along with Rohtak MP Deepinder Hooda, had trained his guns on the SAD-BJP alliance, advising it to withdraw its SLP from the Supreme Court and ensure justice to the farmers.

New Delhi, August 9
The CBI yesterday filed a chargesheet against two Haryana MLAs, Om Prakash Jain and Zile Ram Sharma, and a former aide Rajinder Sharma for alleged abetment to suicide of a former village sarpanch Karam Singh of Karnal district in June, 2011.

The CBI filed charges against Panipat MLA Jain, the then Minister of Transport, Tourism, Civil Aviation & Hospitality ; Sharma, who was his private personal assistant, and Zile Ram Sharma, Assand legislator, who was Chief Parliamentary Secretary, in the court of Special Judicial Magistrate, CBI, Panchkula (Haryana), in the case relating to unnatural death of Karam Singh, a former sarpanch of Kambopura village , Karnal district, in June. 2011.

The CBI said it registered the case on September 25 last year on the orders of the Punjab & Haryana High Court passed in a writ petition filed by the deceased's son. The August 30 court order directed the CBI to take up investigation in the case relating to the alleged murder of Karam Singh.

The CBI said the allegations were that accused MLA of Assand had taken Rs.4.95 lakh from Karam Singh for the recruitment of a candidate, a resident of Chhot village ( Kaithal) as a constable. Another accused MLA of Panipat had allegedly taken Rs.4.5 lakh for the recruitment of a candidate, a resident of Madlauda village (Panipat) as a clerk in the HSSC, Haryana, and Rs 3 lakh as advance for the recruitment of the deceased's son as a conductor in Haryana Roadways from Karam Singh through his private PA.

When the government jobs in respect of the said candidates could not be materialised, Karam Singh requested both MLAs to return the money, but the accused persons refused to do so. Karam Singh made efforts to get back the money but the accused persons threatened him.

On June 7, 2011, Karam Singh was found in a serious condition near Christian cemetery in Karnal. He was admitted to the Trauma Centre, Government Hospital, Karnal, where the doctors declared him dead the same day.

Rohtak, August 9
Hundreds of activists of the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP, were rounded up by the police after they attempted to lay seize (gherao) of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's residence here this noon.

The seize was announced by the BJYM on the issue of alleged discrimination in development and allegations regarding nepotism, favoritism and corruption in the matter of appointments in the state. While this was the first such demonstration of its kind this year, the district police claimed that it "foiled" the attempt to create disturbance and gherao the Chief Minister's residence here today.

The local administration and police officials left no stone unturned to prevent the protesters from reaching the local D-Park on Delhi Road, where the residence of the Chief Minister is located, by erecting barricades at all crucial points since morning and it continued till late evening.

An estimated 1,000 policemen were posted at these barricades and a cordon of policemen was created around the place and the police, including police personnel in civil clothes, ensured that no worker or supporter of the BJYM reached near the Chief Minister's residence, claimed sources in the Police Department.

The BJYM workers and leaders, who assembled at the HUDA complex near Bhiwani stand to hold a public meeting prior to taking out a procession before assembling near the Chief Minister's residence, however, were stopped by the police near the mini-secretariat and it arrested those who tried to proceed further to prevent any violation of the law and order situation in the city, said a spokesperson of the Police Department.

The spokesperson said heavy police force was deployed at various points as the protest could have turned violent. However, a spokesperson of the district unit of the BJP and the BJYM claimed that the protest and the assembly were peaceful, yet the police did not allow them to hold a demonstration near the Chief Minister's residence. Charging the district authorities and the police of "trampling" on the constitutional right of the citizens to hold a protest, he said it bespoke of the high-handedness of both the police and those in power as they were not ready to accept any criticism of their deeds, adding that the people would teach the present government a lesson in the next Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Today’s protest coincided with the Bharat Chhoro Movement of 1942 and it was part of the drive launched by the party named as' Gaddi Chhoro' against the present state government.

New Delhi, August 9
Close on the heels of revelations that Sikh farmers in BJP-led Gujarat had been unfairly ousted from their land after the expiry of lease periods, stories of similar injustice meted out to Sikh farmers are emanating from Congress-led Haryana.

Former MP and Chairman, National Commission for Minorities, Tarlochan Singh in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the plight of a large number of Sikh farmers in Haryana was much more serious and painful and the government needed to address the issue by asking Haryana to take a lenient view of their cases.

Tarlochan Singh mentioned that 35,000 families of Sikh farmers had been evacuated by Haryana from land they had tilled for years. This despite the fact that the PM had, during his 2009 election tour to Pehowa in Haryana where some such Sikh families were living, promised that they would never be ousted from the land they had cultivated.

“Despite your promise, 35,000 Sikh families in Kurukshetra and Kaithal districts, who were occupying and tilling this land for 55 years, have been ousted forcibly. As you are aware, on the advice of the Government of India, Sikh farmers were given barren land on lease for making it fertile in UP, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Haryana and Gujarat. After the expiry of the lease in Haryana, the Sikh farmers were told to quit,” Tarlochan Singh informed the PM today.

The said families later fought in the courts and the Supreme Court later ruled that though they could not continue to occupy land once the lease had expired, the Haryana Government shall make provisions to allow them to cultivate the land.

“Only last month in a village called Krah Sahib, Sikhs were ousted from their land in Haryana with the help of the police. Some who are still occupying the land are being harassed and their power connections have been severed,” Tarlochan said in his letter, demanding justice for the landless Sikh farmers from Haryana as well as in Gujarat.

He said while the government had a policy of giving an alternative residential site to dislocated slum dwellers, it had no such policy for farmers.

Chandigarh, August 9
The state government has again come to the rescue of the recession-hit realty sector by making the 'Affordable Housing Policy.

Under the new policy announced on August 6 for mass availability of dwelling units at affordable rates through private builders, the maximum allotment rates for Gurgaon, Faridabad and the Pinjore-Kalka urban estate(Panchkula) have been kept at Rs 4,000 per square feet. The rate for other high and medium- potential towns would be Rs 3,600 per square feet as against Rs 3,000 in the low-potential towns.

It would a virtual bonanza for the builders with several other incentives, including exemption from licence fees, infrastructure development charges, FAR of 225 instead of current 175 , a higher ground coverage of 50 per cent against 35 per cent.

"The new rates and incentives would go a long way in reviving the sluggish realty market," said Sameer Goyal, Director of a Gurgaon-based realty firm.

Meanwhile, Haryana BJP president Ram Bilas Sharma alleged that the Hooda Government had been taking such decisions at the behest of big builders and big corporates, who owned thousands of acres of land across Haryana ,especially in the National Capital Region(NCR).

The Hooda Government had recently rolled out a new policy framework allowing developers to use land locked up in SEZ projects for setting up 'Industrial Colony' or 'Cyber City' as a one-time measure to attract investments--a decision which was seen as benefiting big builders with large land banks in the NCR.

Not only that, the builders were recently given substantial relaxation in the payment of external development charges.

Sirsa, August 9
Peeved at the refusal to enter into wedlock with him by the girl he loved, a youth committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree near Nejia village in Sirsa today.

Passersby found the body of the youth hanging from a tree besides a canal near Nejia village and informed the police.

The deceased has been identified as Rameshawar from Abhana village of Madhya Pradesh and from the past some time he along with other members of his family were living in Dera Sacha Sauda’s colony in Sirsa.

The police has recovered a suicide note from his pocket.

In the suicide note, Rameshwar has mentioned that the girl he wanted to marry has refused to enter into wedlock with him.

The note said that he was ending his life due to this reason. The police has handed over the body to the victim’s kin after its postmortem.

Gurgaon, August 9
To register their protest against the local administration's move to reclaim HUDA land being used to offer prayers, members of a minority community today offered prayers at an alternative site here wearing black bands .

The devotees going to the disputed site in the Palam Vihar area were asked by the government functionaries deployed there to offer prayers at Tau Devi Lal Park as Section 144, CrPC, had been imposed in the area.

Later, addressing a press conference, former MLA Zakir Hussain said he, along with sitting Nuh MLA Aftab, had met the Chief Minister, who had assured them of favourable action.

The community leaders have submitted a memorandum addressed to the President of India through the Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner. They have decided to wait for the government's response for a week and then chalk out the further course of action.

Chandigarh, August 9
In a significant judgement that may transform the way cases are decided by the governments at their own level, a three-Judge Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has said though sentiments and sympathy may not be the deciding factor in judicial pronouncement, but authorities concerned can take a considerate view.

The ruling came in the case of a woman who was denied family pension as her daughter died just three months before the regularisation of her services as a teacher. Unable to give much relief on the judicial side, the Full Bench observed: “We would like to state that though for a judicial pronouncement sentiments and sympathy alone cannot be a ground, such aspects can always be considered by the respondent-authorities.”

In her petition against the state government for release of the pension, Sita Devi had asserted that her daughter Inder Kaur, working as a JBT teacher in Government Primary School in Sultanpur in Kurukshetra district, passed away in an accident on July 7, 2003. But family pension was denied as her daughter’s service was not substantive and permanent.

The matter was placed before the Full Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Augustine George Masih.

The Bench ruled: “It certainly cannot be said that the petitioner as a legal heir of her deceased daughter would be entitled to family pension, since the services of the petitioner were never regularised.”

Dismissing the petition, the Bench asserted: “She was just a little less than three months short of being regularised and there was nothing to show that she would have been otherwise disentitled. Under this factual situation, it will be for the respondents to see if they are willing to consider the case of the petitioner for some kind of pension or assistance which may ameliorate the suffering of the petitioner.”

Chandigarh, August 9
Camel owners have got their due. The New Delhi-based NGO, run by animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi, has made full payment for 68 camels. The animals were recovered by the NGO, Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre, as these required “medical attention”.

As the case came up for resumed hearing, counsel for the NGO said about Rs 15 lakh had been reimbursed to the owners. The NGO also submitted its audited balance sheet as per the court directions issued on July 4. The Bench also made clear its disapproval over Haryana police’s failure to arrest the sub-inspector, who had handed over the camels to the NGO. The Bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul observed that the court would be constrained to call Haryana DGP if the cop was not arrested within a week.

A total of 68 camels were seized by the centre from their owners. Out of them, 10 have allegedly died. The HC had ordered the registration of an FIR against the centre. The HC had initially directed the centre to release the camels. But, its counsel argued that the camels required medical attention. — TNS

Sonepat, August 9
Despite opposition from 'illegal' owners, a number of unauthorised constructions, including 19 shops, five boundary walls, three houses, one property dealer's office and one under-construction showroom of marble stones, were demolished on the local Rathdhana road by a team of the Town and Country Planning Department last evening.

The team, which started demolition around 5 pm, was led by the District Town Planner (DTP), Dilgag Singh, and the tehsildar, Ram Mehar, was as the duty magistrate. In view of the opposition of the owners of the roperties, sufficient numbers of police personnel were provided to the team.

Talking to mediapersons, the DTP said the demolitions were carried out under the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court as the constructions were in violation of the Punjab Scheduled Roads Act,1963.

Under the Act, no construction is allowed within the controlled area of 30 metre on both sides of the road and the high court had issued directions of permanent nature against such constructions within the controlled area, he explained.

Rewari, August 9
A high-level team comprising District Health Officer Lal Singh and District Drug Controller Aman Deep Chauhan, accompanied by DSP Virender Singh, today conducted raids at various paces in the district and apprehended seven unqualified medical practitioners, including a woman.

They have been identified as Har Narain of the neighbouring Gokalgarh village, Praveen Kumar and Kamlesh Devi of the suburban Ramsinghpura colony, Shish Ram, Dinesh Kumar, Arvind Kumar and Rajender Singh, all residents of various city colonies. A case of cheating by impersonation and under the Ayurvedic Act has been registered against them.

At a press conference here today, they said that there were public complaints against quacks giving allopathic medicines illicitly to patients and thereby endangering their lives. They said while a huge quantity of allopathic medicines had been recovered from their dispensaries, all of them owned no registration whatsoever. They also said that while their campaign against quacks would continue, over 400 such unqualified medical practitioners were illicitly doing medical practice throughout the district.

Sonepat, August 9
A 30-year-old man was found murdered in his house at Nandnaur village under Murthal police station this morning.

Injury marks were found on the neck and chest of Rajesh, the father of three children.

On the complaint of his cousin, Sanjay, a case of murder has been registered at the Murthal police station against unidentified persons.

After postmortem examination at the civil hospital here, his body was handed over to the family members.

Sources said the victim was last seen consuming alcohol with other youths late last evening. Pieces of broken liquor bottles were also found in the room from where his body was found.

After preliminary investigations, the police had reportedly picked up some youths for interrogation in the case. However, the police said no one had been arrested so far.

Kaithal, August 9
One person was killed and three others had a miraculous escape when a truck loaded with apples fell on a mini-truck near Hansi Butana Canal Bridge, on the Kaithal-Ambala road yesterday.

The incident took place in the morning when the truck, while trying to over take the mini-truck, fell over it.

Residents of nearby villages and farmers rushed to the spot and rescued the mini-truck driver.