Kharia (Sirsa), September 29
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today virtually stormed his political bête noire and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) supremo Om Prakash Chautala’s citadel when he addressed a well attended rally at Kharia village under the Rania Assembly segment of the district.

For years, the area has remained with Chautalas, as before delimitation of the assembly constituencies, Kharia was part of the Rori assembly segment represented by Chautala and his son Abhay Singh and now, Rania is represented in the Assembly by Krishan Kamboj of the INLD.

Elated at the turnout, Hooda announced that former minister Ranjit Singh, who organised the rally, would be the Congress candidate from Rania in the 2014 Assembly elections.

“The rally shows that not only Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar will win his seat again, the Congress will win all nine seats coming under this parliamentary seat in the Assembly elections,” said Hooda.

The Chief Minister accepted most of the demands placed before him by Ranjit Singh. The demands included Rs 10 crore for development works in Rania Assembly constituency, Rs 2 crore for the development of Kharian village, Rs 25 lakh for gaushala, upgradation of schools, construction of a sub-yard in the Kharian grain market and purchase centre at Keharwala.

The CM also announced to construct a HUDA sector in Rania and said new transformers would be set up so as to provide power to ‘dhanis’ at par with other villages.

Lashing out at the Chautalas for accusing him of ignoring Sirsa, Hooda said the former chief minister had spent Rs 749.27 crore on Sirsa during his term from 1999 to 2005, while he had already given Rs 3,896.13 crore for development projects in this district.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary and state in charge Shakeel Ahmed virtually snubbed Hooda’s detractors within the party.

“Those who accuse Hooda government of lopsided development are spreading canards. I have myself seen that the most backward areas like Mewat, where the Congress has only one MLA has witnessed an unprecedented development under the present government,” he said.

Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president Phool Chand Mullana also referred to party dissidents when he said “God save us from friends, as we know how to deal with the enemies.”

Earlier, Hooda laid the foundation stones of various development projects costing Rs 90 crore in Rania Assembly constituency. These included Rattakhera Kharif channel costing Rs 71.79 crore at Kharian village, industrial training centre costing Rs 7.32 crore at Rania, Astroturf hockey ground costing Rs 5 crore at Jiwan Nagar village, sports stadium costing Rs 1.64 crore at Rania and of primary health centre costing Rs 3.39 crore at Dhottar village. 

Karnal, September 29
Now “Vicky Donors”, (elite proven bulls) will be available for improving the breed of indigenous buffaloes through artificial insemination.

In a painstaking effort to enable farmers produce genetically improved offsprings and overcome the shortage of quality bulls, the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) has compiled a sire directory of "elite bulls" (Vicky donors).

The “directory”, containing full data about “elite bulls” will facilitate genetic improvement of livestock through artificial insemination on mass scale and boost the yield of milk.

The compilation of “sire directory” is a revolutionary step towards making semen of an elite bull available to farmers after accessing all information about the progeny of the bull, its age, milk yield and other vital statistics.

The bulls have been assigned numbers and the data bank provides details of bulls, including date of birth, maternal and parental history of two generations, mother’s best and average yield.

The directory, containing vital information about 126 bulls, including bulls of two indigenous breeds “Sahiwal and Murrah”, popular in states and two cross-breeds “Karanfreeze and Karanswiss” along with Tharparker, is expected to be released within a month.

The sire directory will assist farmers in selecting the “right” bull for getting semen to get the maximum milk yield by going through the history of the bull from whom semen has been extracted.

At present four lakhs doses of semen’s of elite bulls are available with the NDRI and one dose of semen will cost only Rs 20 to the farmers and the idea behind this innovative move is to create genetically improved offsprings, Director NDRI, A K Srivastav said.

At present there are 127 million breedable female cattle and buffalo in the country out of which 77 millions are in milk and as such 144 million (77x2) doses of quality semens are need to keep them in milk as two doses are required for one animal. The availability of semen in the country is 62-65 million doses which implies that 70 million doses are required (if 20 million doses are natural) for which current shortage of 4000-5000 quality bulls in the country has to be overcome. 

Hisar, September 29
The local residents staged a demonstration here, demanding the arrest of accused in the 5-year-old Subham murder case and served a three-day ultimatum on the police.

The body of the child was found lying in a pond in the town about a month ago and the post-mortem examination revealed that he had been strangulated to death. The police registered a murder case against unknown persons but has failed to make any breakthrough so far.

Family members of the deceased along with various local organisations under the banner of the Jan Sangharsh Samiti staged a demonstration at the Parijat chowk and served the ultimatum

on the police to nab the killers.

Grandfather of the child Ram Singh said despite several representations to senior police officials, the police had not given any satisfactory reply regarding investigation in the case. Taxi Stand Association president Ashok Kumar said they would hold a meeting soon to launch an agitation against the police to press for their demand for early arrest of the accused.

Bhiwani, September 29
The high-voltage overhead electricity cables in many residential localities have been posing a threat to residents who have been demanding to removal of the line for the last many years.

The residents complain that the wires have become very old and had resulted in accidents in which some persons had suffered grievous injuries in the past.

The affected colonies include DC Colony, Braham Colony, Chiranjiv Colony, Dabar Colony, Vidya Nagar and Shastri Nagar where the wires of the 33 kv power lines precariously dangle over the rooftops of the houses.

According to a resident of DC Colony, they had met the Deputy Commissioner several times and the complaint was also taken up at the District Public Relations and Grievances Committee meeting twice. But despite instructions to remove the power lines, the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) authorities had failed to shift the wires.

Surender Singh, a resident, said the power line had proved to be a death trap for the residents. The electricity wires had snapped several times, causing electrocution to many persons, leaving them injured and maimed.

“The power lines that were laid around four decades ago supply electricity to Tosham from Bhiwani. Later on, the town expanded and residential localities came up along this power line route.

The Superintendent Engineer (SE), Operations, DHBVN, Bhiwani said they had written to the planning department at the nigam’s headquarters in Hisar for approval to shift the power lines. “We are awaiting the approval from the office and will remove the line within a week of getting clearance in this regard”, he said.

He, however, added that no accident had been reported due to the power lines since February this year.

Karnal, September 29
More than 8,500 persons, including Bollywood music director Anu Malik, politicians, bureaucrats, doctors and youth, participated in a 5-km-long race, ‘Bhaag Dil Se Bhaag’ to create awareness about heart diseases on the World Heart Day here today.

The race also highlighted the importance of saving the girl child and the message was spread with display of posters, slogans and banners.

The initiative was taken by the Karnal Chapter of the Indian medical association (IMA) to educate people about the stark facts of heart-related diseases that account for 25-30 per cent deaths.

Music director Anu Malik, who was the chief guest on the occasion, enthraled the audience with melodious songs and music after the race.

Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Sharma said the race would send a positive message of healthy heart and mind to society.

Priya won the race in the female category in the 14 -30 age group, while Rakesh won the race in the male category. In the 30-50 age group, Reena won in the female section while Sanjay won in the male category.

Dr Renu Aggarwal and Rampal won in the female and male category in 50-60 age group, while Shashi and Rajan were winners in the female and male section in the above 60 age group. Haryana Institute of Fine Arts was adjured as the best group.

Gurgaon, September 29
District Magistrate Shekhar Vidyarthi has directed the managers/owners of toll plazas and toll-tax barriers to install good-quality CCTV cameras in their areas of operation within 10 days.

As per the orders issued here yesterday, these CCTV cameras should have data-storage capacity of at least one month.

The District Magistrate said there were seven points for collection of toll tax on national highways, inter-state highways and other roads passing through the district.

"It has been brought to the notice of the district administration that these toll-tax collection points have not been equipped with CCTV cameras despite these being absolutely necessary," Vidyarthi observed.

He has pointed out that in various cases of crime, it had been found that criminals easily flee to the neighbouring districts or states after committing crime.

"During investigations, they can’t be identified despite hard efforts in the absence of any videographed clues. Hence, it is of utmost importance that CCTV cameras should be installed at all the toll barriers," he asserted.

These orders have come into force with immediate effect and action will be initiated under section 188 of IPC against those responsible in case of negligence/non-compliance/violation.

Fatehabad, September 29
With owners of nearly 28 acres of land refusing to vacate their land acquired for the upcoming nuclear power project at Gorakhpur in the district, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) has sought the police help to evict the farmers.

The NPCIL has approached Superintendent of Police Shiv Charan Attri for eviction of eight farmers, who have neither accepted the compensation awarded in lieu of acquisition of their land nor are they willing to leave their land where they have been living in ‘dhanis’ and tilling their land.

“Our work on topographical survey of the land acquired for the Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojna (GHAVP) is facing interruptions due to the delay in NPCIL getting possession of this piece of land. Since, the High Court has already dismissed a petition of the farmers against acquisition, we have requested the authorities to get the land vacated by using force,” said Hoshiar Singh, Manager (HR), NPCIL.

The police, on the other hand, is not in a mood to use force and is preferring the policy of wait and watch.

“We will provide force to the NPCIL, if its officials need it, for the land in question. As such, I do not see any opposition from the farmers and even if there is any, it will wean down gradually,” he added. The government had acquired over 1,313 acres of land for setting up of the GHAVP near Gorakhpur village in Fatehabad.

Sirsa, September 29
Despite being the number one state on several parameters, Haryana lags behind several other states when it comes to the infant mortality rate (IMR) and the maternal mortality rate (MMR).

Out of every 1,000 children born in Haryana, 42 die within a year of their birth while 162 out of 1 lakh mothers die during childbirth.

Under a special exercise Regular Appraisal of Programme Implementation in District (RAPID), started by the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), a 70-member team of experts has completed its supervision of various government hospitals and health centres in Fatehabad.

“While our teams checked the quality of services being provided in the government hospitals, our main focus is on cases of MMR and IMR and to suggest means to minimise these deaths,” said Rakesh Gupta, Mission Director of the NRHM, while addressing mediapersons after a meeting of doctors.

Deputy Commissioner Saket Kumar, Civil Surgeon Suraj Bhan Kamboj and Medical Superintendent of General Hospital, Fatehabad, Mukta Kumar was among those present in the meeting.

“Fatehabad is the 15th district of Haryana covered under the exercise and one of the better districts,” said Gupta. He added that Panchkula, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Kaithal, Kurukshetra and Rohtak were among the best districts while Mewat, Palwal and Panipat were among some of the worst districts in this regard.

He said during their week-long exercise, the teams from the NRHM checked a district hospital, a sub-divisional hospital, four community health centres, 14 primary health centres, 49 sub-centres and three urban reproductive and child health care centres in Fatehabad.

“We have found several gaps in various government hospitals in Fatehabad and there is a huge scope of improvement in health services in the district,” Gupta added. He said it was a “supportive supervision”, where the emphasis was more on providing support and guidance rather than finding faults.

Gupta said the teams conducting supervision consisted experts from the NRHM, PGIMS Rohtak and PGI Chandigarh.

He added that the programme was one of the best in the country and had technical support from international bodies like United States Agency for International Development (USAID) programmes.

Hisar, September 29
The women organisations will seek a ban on khap panchayats and a law to curb honour killings in a two-day state convention being held by the All-India Democratic Women Association (AIDWA) here on October 1 and 2.

Seven women including two rape victims will be honoured at the function who had shown remarkable courage to fight against the might of society.

Savita, state secretary of the association, said they would demand for a ban on khap panchayats who had been coming up with all types of bizarre reasons and also imposing restrictions on girls for wearing jeans or using mobiles.

She said the khap panchayats had also blamed the rape victims that they were themselves responsible for the sexual violence against them.

Shakuntala Jakhar, state president, said the convention would be attended by Jharna Das, Member of Parliament (MP)from Tripura, Subhashini Ali, former MP and Sudha Sundar Raman, AIDWA general secretary.

Gurgaon, September 29
As many as 671 cases were settled by a Lok Adalat, organised under the chairmanship of Gurgaon District and Sessions Judge-cum-District Legal Services Authority Chairman Shekher Dhawan, at the local judicial complex yesterday.

As many as 27 cases of accident claims, 89 cases pertaining to the Hindu Marriage Act, 226 criminal cases, 32 cheque-bouncing cases, 53 civil cases, 242 summary cases and three execution petitions were settled.

A sum of Rs 30,35,700 was awarded as compensation to the victims of road accidents. Compounding fees of Rs 5,06,650 was also realised in criminal cases.

7 cases settled

Kurukshetra: As many as seven cases were settled in a Special Family Dispute Women Lok Adalat organised by the District Legal Service Authority here yesterday.

The Lok Adalat was presided over by District and Sessions Judge-cum-Chairman, District Legal Service Authority, Lalit Batra.

Batra said three cases of civil, one case of execution, one case of Section 125 of the CrPC, one case of summery and one case under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act were settled on the spot.

District Legal Service Authority Secretary-cum-Chief Judicial Magistrate Sumit Garg said besides organising Lok Adalats on the premises of the local Judicial Complex, the Lok Adalats were organised in the rural areas too. Legal literacy camps were also being organised to render free legal aid and to make people aware of the government welfare schemes, he added.

Sonepat, September 29
Additional District and Sessions Judge Sukaram Pal had sentenced Rajesh of Devi Pura in Gohana to death for the murder of Ramesh and his daughter Sonia on September 5, 2010.

Ramesh's son Pawan lodged a complaint on September 6, stating that because of old enmity, Rajesh carrying a sharp weapon entered their house on the night of September 5 and attacked his father.

On hearing the cries of his father, his brother Sonu and sister Sonia were awakened and tried to intervene. But Rajesh attacked them 
also and escaped from the spot. After receiving information, the police also reached the spot.

The victims were taken to the Civil Hospital, Gohana, where the doctors declared Sonia as brought dead and referred the injured Ramesh and Sonu to the PGIMS Rohtak. However, Ramesh succumbed to injuries in the PGIMS.

Two get life term

Chhabi Ram of Chimni village in Hardoi district of UP was sentenced to life imprisonment by Additional District and Sessions Judge Pramod Goyal for kidnapping and murdering a 5-year-old boy on May 23, 2011.

Asha Rani, staying in a colony near Liwaspur village in the district, lodged a complaint, stating that she was married with Ram Deen and gave birth to a son.

However, her husband had gone missing and she married with Sudhir of Farukhabad and started living in a colony near Liwaspur. Chhabi Ram, a distant relative of Sudhir, also started living with them.

On May 23, Chhabi Ram went to bring her son from the school, but both did not return. However, her son's body was recovered from a deserted place near Bahalgarh by the police.

On her complaint, a case of kidnapping and murder was registered against the accused and he was arrested by the police from Uttar Pradesh.

In another case of murder, Additional District and Sessions Judge Pramod Goyal sentenced Praveen of Halalpur village to life imprisonment for murdering Rajinder of the village on July 22, 2010,.

On a complaint of Rajinder's father Ram Narain, a case of murder was registered against Praveen and Mehtab of the village on July 23, 2010. The court awarded life imprisonment to Praveen, however, Mehtab was acquitted by the court.

Jhajjar, September 29
Two armed persons fired at a youth and snatched his bag outside Jain Dharamshala last evening. The youth, Lallan, was admitted to the PGIMS, Rohtak, where his condition was stated to be critical.

The incident took place at 9 pm when Lallan, who was working as a helper at a shop at Chaupta Bazar, was going to the owner’s home to deliver the bag. As he reached near dharamshaala, two armed youths fired at him from a close range and fled the spot after snatching the bag containing some papers, said the police. Lallan was taken to the Civil Hospital where doctors referred him to the PGIMS.

“The assailants knew that I sent cash to my home two or three times daily. They snatched the bag to loot the money,” said Prakashvir Garg, owner of the shop.— OC