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Nine months on, govt yet to notify SC panel
JE involved in mother’s murder
Land value hike windfall for many in Gurgaon
Shamlat plunder |
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Mullana, Selja in war of words over Gohana
rally
Chopper was used to keep an eye on traffic at rally
Farmers hold back basmati as prices fall
Mars Orbiter Mission
Relief to insurance firm as compensation cut
Promote inter-disciplinary studies in science: Governor
Governor Jagannath Pahadia inaugurates the Mount Abu Boys’ Hostel on the MDU campus in Rohtak on Wednesday. Photo: Manoj Dhaka
16 inter-caste couples given Rs 8 lakh aid
10% seats for poor a must, HC tells private schools
Man accused of killing daughter, held
Now, delivery of citizen services in electronic mode
Stones pelted at police team
3 women held
Kidnapped girl’s body found
Ex-cop on parole shoots wife, self in Panipat village
Two youths rob woman
Man held on duping charge
Ex-minister Jain rushed to PGI
Opium seized
Two killed in road accident
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Nine months on, govt yet to notify SC panel
Chandigarh,
November 20 Alarmed at the spurt in atrocities on the SCs, the Haryana Cabinet had decided to set up the commission on February 20 . Later, a high-powered subcommittee headed by Finance Minister HS Chattha was formed to finalise the notification for the constitution of the commission. The committee submitted its report in May recommending, among other things, a chairperson and three members, including a woman. Besides, the commission was to have statutory powers, including that of a civil court. Last year, a parliamentary committee on the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, which visited Haryana against the backdrop of a series of rape cases against Dalit women, had recommended the setting up of the commission with adequate representation to women for the redress of grievances. In its report, the committee noted
that the "dignity and morale of the SCs in the state are completely eroded due to the high-handedness of the dominant caste." Besides Opposition and Dalit rights activists, Hooda's detractors within the Congress, including Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Kumari Selja, have been raising the issues of atrocities on Dalits in Haryana. Meanwhile, official sources claimed that the final blueprint of the notification was ready and it would be issued soon. Dalits living on the edge
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JE involved in mother’s murder
Sirsa/Fatehabad, November 20 He admitted during police interrogation that he, along with his friend Sanjay Bhadu, killed his mother Kamla because she was coming in the way of his plan to go to Canada and she did not give him any money from the agricultural income from the 26 acres owned by the family. Sirsa Senior Superintendent of Police Saurabh Singh said Sunil told the police that his maternal uncle Jagdish Kasania, living in Kharia village, had become suspicious of his conduct from the day of his mother’s death. Sunil and Sanjay killed Kashmir to clear his maternal uncle’s doubts and also because Kashmir had become privy to information about the crime. Sunil told the police that he was addicted to opium and other intoxicants and his salary was not sufficient to meet his requirements. He said his mother Kamla got enough agricultural income from the 26 acres which she had given on lease. He said he planned to move to Canada, but his mother opposed it. “On November 10, Sanjay and I went to our house. He killed my mother by hitting her with a pistol and came out through the front door. I came out from the back after bolting the doors from inside. We took some gold ornaments so that we could show it as a case of murder for robbery,” Sunil told the police. After the crime, Sunil went to his house with his wife, who was in Sirsa with some relatives, and pretended that his mother had died due to a fall from a stool while working in the kitchen during his absence. He took her body to the General Hospital, but took it back home after telling doctors that it was an accidental death. His maternal uncle was not convinced and he insisted on a post-mortem examination. Sunil and his wife were taken to athe Fatehabad City police station for questioning, but the police took an undertaking from Sunil that his mother had died accidentally and let the couple go after completing formalities under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code. On November 18, Sunil took his friend Kashmir to Sirsa, where he and Sanjay administered him intoxicating tablets in whisky and then killed him by pumping three bullets into him. Sunil kept the gold ornaments taken from his house in the car and told Kasania that he had “avenged” his mother’s “murder”. The Fatehabad police would revisit the case of Kamla Machra’s “murder” after Sunil’s admission. “We will verify the contents of Sunil’s confessional statement if we receive it from the Sirsa police and take appropriate action based on it,” said Shiv Charan Attri, Fatehabad Superintendent of Police. He said the police would tally the statement with the cause of death cited in Kamla’s post-mortem report. He maintained that there was no lapse on the part of the police in closing Kamla Machra’s death case as a case of accidental death as Sunil had given a statement to this effect. A police party from Sirsa today recovered the digital video recorder installed at Sunil’s neighbour Ashok Mittal’s residence. A property dealer, Mittal had informed the police that Sunil’s kin took the digital video recorder thrice on the plea that they wanted to see whether anyone entered the house on November 10, but returned it after deleting contents. “It will not make any difference as we can retrieve deleted contents,” Saurabh Singh said.
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Land value hike windfall for many in Gurgaon
Gurgaon, November 20 The sleepy and dusty villages which were earlier part of the hinterland and rank rural belt have now become a part of the
booming Gurgaon urban estate, courtesy the entry of private colonisers and urbanisation pushed in by the state. The cataclysmic effect of this all is an exponential appreciation in the value of land. Although Gurgaon’s urbanisation started late in mid-eighties, it picked momentum in the nineties. Thereafter, the pace has been breathtaking, especially after
the Congress came to power in 2005. Jagdish Singh of Ghata village, who is a beneficiary of the boom in land value, said traditionally, Gurgaon was not strong in agriculture as the area was sandy. Coupled with lack of industrialisation, the populace was generally not well off financially till the late eighties. However, with urbanisation, the government started acquiring agricultural land. The huge financial compensation to the farmers and landowners sent excitement among the people. With the passage of time, the compensation money increased due to period revision in circle rates. It was a blessing from the sky to the farmers and landlords when private colonisers commenced business here. They latter include the DLF, Unitech, Ansals, Ram Prastha, Vatika, BPTP, Shobha Builders and MGF EMAAR, to name a few. While in the mid-nineties compensation to the farmers was in the range of Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh per acre, the amount increased gradually. However, the private builders now purchase land at whopping market rates. They range from about Rs 4 crore to Rs 13 crore per acre. For example, a private firm has recently purchased land at Rs 13 crore per acre in Behrampur village. Ram Dhan of Kakrola-Bhagrola village, who had windfall by the sale of his agricultural land said realtors and middlemen and brokers working as agents of private builders made a fast buck on account of hefty commission running into crores. With business in real estate becoming a money-spinning vocation, every second man in villages, albeit lacking formal education and vocational degrees, took to it. Thousands of realtor offices mushroomed in Gurgaon. With land value hitting the roof and accommodation becoming dearer, landowners in villages make money by letting out their premises to those in the low income group, including labourers, at high rates. Although Silokhra, Sukhrali, Ghata, Jharsa villages stand out, the examples are aplenty. The other side of the story is disturbing. With fast and ready money in hand, men, especially the youth, appear to have taken to bad ways. They are convinced that formal education beyond the basic level for a decent livelihood is unnecessary. Lack of formal education among the younger generation has made them brash and headstrong. More often than not, youths in villages live
life in the fast lane on account of windfall to the family. No wonder, a large number of glitzy liquor vends and restaurants have sprung up. However, with agricultural land gobbled up in the process of urbanisation, they have no other avocation left. They are ciphers in the job market. Hence, the shortage of lucre after having burnt holes in their pockets drives them to all kinds of crime. Although there are umpteen villages where agriculture land has vanished, Jharsa, Gawal
Pahdi, Ullawaas, Ramgarh Dhani, Badshahpur, Tikri, Fazilpur, Shikohpur, Nawada, Naharpur can be cited as examples. Other social evils the money contributed to is the deepening of the dowry system and ostentation on social occasions. Also, the land mafia has become active. It indulges in poaching of land and illegally set up colonies. |
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Officials lax on acting in land grab cases in Panipat, Karnal
Bhanu P Lohumi Tribune News Service
Karnal/Panipat, November 20 In a large number of villages, sarpanch and panches have grabbed the land for cultivation and other commercial activities but no action has been taken, as there are no complainants to expose these blatant acts in gross violation of laws. “The ‘shamlat’ land exists only in revenue records and not clearly identified or demarcated. The violators get the benefits of ambiguity, as panchayat functionaries and revenue officials look the other way,” said Raghubir, a villager. Even after the Supreme Court ruling of 2011 that the ‘shamlat’ land cannot not be used for commercial purposes or given to any individual and all such diversions of the land are illegal, there has been no efforts on the part of the government to conduct a detailed survey of the ‘shamlat’ land and the illegal possessions. Ajay Kumar, sarpanch, Manana village in Samalkha area of Panipat, was in the dock for allegedly not depositing a sum of Rs 8,00,138 received from the auction of the ‘shamlat’ land in the account of the gram panchayat, which tantamount to embezzlement of public money. About 25 acres of panchayat land, including the village pond and ‘phirni’ (ring road), were encroached upon by over two dozen persons at Chakda village, 30 km from Karnal, but the authorities have totally ignored the illegal possession. Village lambardar Jaspal Singh Mann, who is fighting a lone battle to get the land freed from illegal possession since 2006, said as per the information provided by the office of the District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO), former sarpanch Hazur Singh had himself admitted that the village ‘phirni’, pond and some panchayat land had been encroached by some villagers but avoided taking any step against the defaulters. A month ago, an attempt to raise structures over a piece of ‘shamlat’ land measuring 2,721 kanals at Uchana village, 8 km from here, was foiled by Municipal Corporation and revenue officials. “We are aware of encroachments on the ‘shamlat’ land, village paths and ponds but we are helpless as raising voice against the powerful village heads will make our lives miserable,” said a Dalit farmer from Assandh. Former Director, Haryana Institute of Rural Development, Nilokheri, Surat Singh blamed the village leadership for encroachments on the ‘shamlat’ land.
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Mullana, Selja in war of words over Gohana
rally
Chandigarh, November 20 Close on the heels of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s bete noire and Union Minister Kumari Selja reportedly dubbing the November 10 Gohana rally as a “sarkari show” and not a Congress rally, Hooda’s Man Friday and HPCC chief Phool Chand Mullana today joined the issue with the minister. Taking strong exception to the Union Minister’s statement, Mullana alleged that by making this statement, she had ‘insulted’ the party workers. “The Gohana rally was organised by the HPCC in which all district and block presidents, MLAs and ministers mobilised the people,” he claimed. Taking potshots at the Union Minister, also a prominent Dalit leader vying for political space with Mullana in the state politics, he asserted that the success of the rally had unnerved not only the opposition but certain Congress leaders also. Selja, along with several of Hooda’s detractors within the party like Rajya Sabha members Birender Singh and Ishwar Singh and Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh, had stayed away from the rally as they were not ‘invited’ by the party. In fact, eyebrows were raised at the projection of a larger-than-life image of Hooda and his MP son Deepinder Hooda at the rally at the expense of other central and state leaders. The huge expenditure and large-scale misuse of the state machinery also came in for severe criticism, particularly at the hands of the Opposition parties. Other Selja and Hooda detractors within the party had been alleging discrimination regarding development and jobs with certain Haryana districts for a long time. |
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Chopper was used to keep an eye on traffic at rally
Chandigarh, November 20 “The geographical location of Gohana is such that there are roads leading to the district from eight directions. To maintain smooth flow of traffic and have arrangements to deal with road accidents or a stampede, a chopper seemed the best bet. The presence of so many VIPs on one stage for the rally and a massive gathering has huge security implications and we didn’t want to leave anything to chance,” an officer said. Hired for Rs 5.5 lakh for the few hours that the rally went on, the chopper, carrying Shatrujit Kapur, Inspector-General of Police, Hisar Range, was used to keep an eye on the crowd and traffic movement on the roads. “The IG was in charge of all traffic arrangements and regularly in touch with the ground staff. While police personnel posted at the venue and along the roads leading to the rally kept traffic going, the IG monitored it at the macro level, resulting in an accident-free and incident-free day,” the sources said. Maintaining that such an exercise was routine abroad where gatherings are massive, the sources said the department intended to resort to technology in a big way in the coming times and not limit it to rallies. “The department also intends to purchase a gadget called ‘Eye in the sky’ which goes up in the air and transmits images to cover an area of about 5 kms. With law and order at various melas held in Kurukshetra an annual feature, we need technology to keep a close watch wherever people are coming together in large numbers. We have taken a few demonstrations of the gadget and will soon have it,” the officer said. |
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Farmers hold back basmati as prices fall
Sirsa, November 20 Similarly, the prices of Muchhal paddy remained Rs 100 to 150 less than those of PB 1121 variety. As the arrivals of paddy came down considerably in grain markets due to farmers’ lack of interest to sell their produce on lower rates, the prices started showing upward trends from this morning. PB 1121 variety of paddy was sold for Rs 4,100 in the morning and went up to Rs 4,150 by the evening while Muchhal variety too touched Rs 4,000 per quintal by evening. “It is all the game of demand and supply. The moment arrivals become heavier than the demand in the grain markets of Haryana and Punjab, prices start showing a downward trend and the same start rising when the arrivals are weak,” said Gurdial Mehta, a trader in Sirsa grain market. Even farmers have started understanding the rules of the market. “I will better wait for a few days rather than selling my produce on lower rates. I have stored my paddy and will sell when I get a good price,” said Diwan Chand, a farmer in the Sirsa grain market. Many farmers feel that despite these minor ups and downs, they were getting much better price than what they had expected. “When we sowed paddy this time, all we had expected was a price between Rs 1,800 and 2,000 per quintal. Farmers had never dreamt that the prices will be doubled,” said Gurjeet Singh Maan, a progressive farmer from Kirpal Patti village in Sirsa. “However, when we are getting better remunerative prices, it is always a wise decision to wait if there is a hope to get better prices,” he added. |
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Ambala enterprise installs cell calibration machine at Sriharikota
Manish Sirhindi Tribune News Service
Ambala, November 20 Vaiseshika Electron Devices provided its engineering and technical expertise to support an important laboratory metrology evaluation of the motor and engine capability of the spaceship carrying the orbiter into the outer space and with the successful launch of the spaceship, it established itself as a prominent member among the team of scientists working on the mission. Dr Anil Jain, president of Vaiseshika, said the 450-tonne load cell calibration machine and system was used for the calibration of load cells at the static test-bed facility of the space centre. He said every motor and engine on the spaceship was evaluated for the estimation of the thrust generated by the motor and engine at the static test-bed facility through a series of load cells. The design of the engine of the spaceship was then optimised and approved for its thrust capacity with the help of load cells. The calibration facility installed by Vaiseshika at the space centre is the only such facility in the entire Asia and is versatile and useful in checking and calibrating load cells. Earlier, Vaiseshika had installed and commissioned a similar facility at the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory at Nasik for AGNI-III Missile.
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Relief to insurance firm as compensation cut
Chandigarh, November 20 The Director-General had filed a complaint against the insurance company, alleging repudiation of claim on a damaged official vehicle. Modifying the orders passed by the district forum, the commission directed the company to pay Rs 15,000 instead
of Rs 25,000 as compensation for mental agony and harassment. The regional manager and Manimajra divisional manager of the company have also been directed to to pay Rs 2,88,000 to the complainant, along with interest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum. The Director-General along with other two officers Dr NL Gupta and CP Malhotra, was on an official duty in one of the vehicles when they reached near Bastara Chowk between Madhuban and Gharunda, GT Road, Karnal. Their vehicle hit a stationary tractor-trailer while saving a cow. The complainant immediately informed the company about the accident and submitted all the documents besides completing all formalities. The company, however, repudiated the claim. The opposite party had pleaded that the complainant had concealed material facts. It was stated that neither the complainant had clarified the discrepancies raised by them nor
supplied the relevant documents. After hearing the counsel for the parties, the commission modified the district forum’s order. |
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Promote inter-disciplinary studies in science: Governor
Rohtak, November 20 This was stated by Haryana Governor and MDU Chancellor Jagannath Pahadia while addressing the valedictory session of the 54th annual conference of the Association of Microbiologists of India (AMI) and international symposium on "Frontier Discoveries and Innovations in Microbiology and its Inter-disciplinary Relevance" on the MDU campus here today. Pahadia observed that microbiology played an important role in health, medicine, food-processing, agriculture, forestry, and environment management etc. He emphasised the significance of inter-disciplinary scientific studies to create a better future for humankind. Earlier, MDU Vice-Chancellor HS Chahal asserted that the university was committed to promoting cutting-edge research in advanced sciences like microbiology. AMI felicitated several scientists for their research papers and scientific posters on the occasion. Nearly 2,000 delegates from the country and abroad participated. Microbiology Dept ties up with Japan, Spain institutes
The Department of Microbiology at MDU will join hands with two leading international institutions in the realm of higher studies and advanced research. MDU Vice-Chancellor HS Chahal exchanged documents pertaining to an MoU with Prof Kawarabayasi Yutaka of Kyushu University, Japan, and Prof Julio Polaina from the Institute of Agro-Chemistry and Food Technology, Valencia, Spain. |
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16 inter-caste couples given Rs 8 lakh aid
Sirsa, November 20 “We give Rs 20,000 in cash to each couples while the rest Rs 30,000 is deposited in their fix deposit account for a period of six years,” said Deputy Sirsa Commissioner J Ganesan. Under this scheme, either bride or the groom has to be from the Scheduled Castes category. Among the beneficiaries of the scheme this year are Surabhi Bhatia, Nirmal Kumar, Pramod Bishnoi, Jasbir Singh, Rajan Arora, Vishva Bandhu, Suresh Kumar, Naresh, Lavkesh, Richhpal Singh, Jitender Sharma, Pradeep, Prahlad, Naresh, Naveen Arora, and Bajinder. “The objective of this scheme is to bring equality in the society and also to end untouchability,” Ganesan said.
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10% seats for poor a must, HC tells private schools
Chandigarh, November 20 The Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih also directed the state government to form a policy for fixing an outlay to facilitate the education of students belonging to poor families. As the case came up for resumed hearing, counsel for private schools informed the Division Bench that private institutes were already keeping 25 per cent seats reserved as per the RTE Act, 2009. Questioning the Haryana government’s policy, the private schools contended there was no provision for reimbursements. Counsel for private schools added the government should reimburse costs incurred on reserving 10 per cent seats. Responding to the appeal, the Division Bench suggested the filing of a fresh writ in the matter. During the hearing, Surina Rajan, Principal Secretary, Education, Haryana, also appeared before the Division Bench to explain the provisions under the RTE Act. |
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Man accused of killing daughter, held
Karnal, November 20 The accused, Prem Kumar, confessed to the crime and said he had a quarrel with his wife in an inebriated state and strangulated his daughter in a fit of rage. When he came to his senses, he was unnerved by seeing his daughter's body and threw her into the canal. "I also jumped into the canal, swam to another bank and left the country, but today I regret what had happened," said Kumar. He said he killed his daughter as he was suspicious about his wife's character and often taunted her that the girl was not his daughter. The police had almost closed the case as "untraced", but suddenly Prem Kumar, a resident of Nepal, returned and was arrested. Sub-inspector Dharamvir said it was a nine-year-old case and the accused, who was absconding after committing the crime, had been arrested. |
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Now, delivery of citizen services in electronic mode
Chandigarh, November 20 While stating this here today, an official spokesperson said a CSC would be established for a cluster of five villages. Initially, 54 CSCs will be set up in the district. These CSCs would serve as the main channels for the delivery of services to citizens from various departments and agencies of the government. The CSCs would be located at the village level and be operated by a private individual -village level entrepreneur. He said the CSC could be opened at any government building having electrical power and internet
availability. He said initially, birth and death registration certificates, income certificate, house tax, marriage certificate, payment of electricity bills and other such services were likely to be started at these
CSCs. Power utilities have also come forward to get their metering, billing and collection services supported by the
CSCs. For the services provided at the CSCs to the citizens, a nominal service charge is also being approved. |
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Stones pelted at police team
Mewat, November 20 Assistant sub-inspector Tara Chand, heading the police team, was injured. His condition was stable. A police vehicle was damaged by the villagers. Undeterred by the violence, the police team did not give up. Finding
themselves cornered, the criminals fled, abandoning the vehicle carrying
13 cows. Mewat’s police chief A Dhawan said the official was injured as he accidentally pressed the trigger of his service revolver
while trying to deter the mob from indulging in violence. The pellet hit him on the toes and pierced his body, Dhawan added. He further said one cow was found dead in the vehicle. The police challenged the criminals at a check-post, but the latter did not stop the vehicle and sped away, forcing the police to pursue them. The incident pointed to the cow-smuggling mafia being hand-in-glove with residents of the area. An FIR was registered, but no arrest was made. |
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3 women held
Kurukshetra: Three women have been arrested for allegedly duping a person of Rs 3 lakh by blackmailing, beating and criminally intimidating him.
The arrested women have been identified as Asha Rani alias Simmi of Bahri Mohalla, Asha Rani of the railway road and Rajni Bala of Chakravarti Mohalla in Kurukshetra.
The trio was produced in the court here today and was remanded in three-day police custody. In a complaint lodged with the police here yesterday, Narang Singh of Bakhali had alleged that Reena, Asha and two other women, along with an unidentified person, fraudulently took the complainant to a room at the railway road saying father of one of them was seriously ill and they needed help. When they reached their, there was no patient in the room. When the complainant asked where the patient was, the women said he had had been referred to PGI, Chandigarh. Narang was then offered a cup of tea after consuming which he became unconscious. The accused clicked his photographs in objectionable posses and blackmailed him. |
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Kidnapped girl’s body found
Rewari, November 20 Her post-mortem examination was conducted today at the
PGIMS, Rohtak. On a complaint lodged by the victim’s father, the Kanina police had arrested Ravi
Goswami. He was produced on November 13 in a Mahendragarh court, which remanded him in judicial custody. As Ravi revealed during interrogation on November 12 that the girl had been sexually assaulted as well, Section 376 of rape was also added to the FIR. The victim’s father alleged that his daughter had been killed and then thrown into the pond by her
kidnapper(s). A senior police official said they were awaiting the autopsy report. |
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Post Gohana rally, factionalism in the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee
(HPCC) has raised its ugly head again with two prominent Dalit leaders- Union Minister Kumari Selja and HPCC president Phool Chand
Mullana- engaging in a war of words, a development which bodes ill for the party in the run-up to the parliamentary and state Assembly elections.
Rohtak, November 20
