Karnal, January 3
Alarm bells are ringing for the farmers of north India. The first case of yellow rust in wheat crop has been found in Yamunanagar.

Scientists of the Directorate of Wheat Research (DWR), Karnal, had visited Yamunanagar and taken samples to examine whether it was an old race present in the area or a fresh one coming from Himachal Pardesh. A group of scientists, led by Dr Indu Sharma, Director of DWR, will visit the fields on January 4 now.

Dr Sharma said yellow rust, in variety WH 711, had been observed in Yamunanagar district on January 1. She added that although the yellow rust was in about two acres in patches, it would increase in the nights, so the farmers should be alert. Wheat rust is the most dangerous wheat disease. Stripe rust or yellow rust appears in the Northern Hill Zone and North Western Plain Zone. It appears in the form of yellow stripes on leaves, said Dr Indu.

The states worst-affected by yellow rust were Punjab, Haryana, Jammu, western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, she added.

New Delhi, January 3
The Supreme Court today refused to grant any relief to the Manesar Industries Welfare Association on the cost of the land acquired from farmers and made it clear that its members should surrender the plots if they felt the rate was quite high.

A Bench comprising Justices TS Thakur and Vikramajit Sen directed the industrialists, who had approached the SC through the association, to clear the third instalment amounting to Rs 300 crore on time and then pursue their case pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the cost of the plots.

“If it is too expensive, please give up the land and go for some cheaper land,” the Bench remarked.

The apex court also made it clear that the industrial units which had benefited from the land acquisition should bear the additional burden arising from a hike in the compensation amount to be paid to the landowners as the result of the HC order.

Counsel for the association, representing about 500 industrial units, however, contended that the state government was trying to pass on the entire burden on them despite the fact that the land was being utilised for other purposes as well, including residential colonies.

Unconvinced, the Bench said the prime land must have appreciated 5-10 times since the allotment. If the government was in fact overcharging the association members, the HC would order refund of the excess amount paid by them, it said.

When the association contended that the hearing of its case was getting delayed in the HC for some reason or the other, the Bench advised its counsel to plead with the HC for an early date. “It is the farmers who have lost their land and they must get their due. First deposit the instalment and then fight the case in the High Court,” it said.

The industrialists are questioning the methodology adopted for calculating the cost of the plots allotted to them consequent to the higher price paid to the landowners by the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructural Development Corporation.

Yamunanagar, January 3
Two officials were injured in a clash between shopkeepers and a team of the Municipal Corporation (MC) over the demolition of unauthorised establishments on Khajuri road here today.

The agitating shopkeepers pelted stones on the MC team and the police and also blocked the road. The police resorted to lathi charge to disburse the agitators. Several vehicles were also damaged in the stone pelting.

A team of Yamunanagar-Jagadhri Municipal Corporation was in the area to raze the illegal establishments on Khajuri road. When the team started demolishing a showroom, shopkeepers assembled there and opposed the move.

As the MC team continued its action, the shopkeepers got furious and blocked the road with the help of stones. The police and the MC officials tried to persuade them but in vain.

Te police then lathi-charged them. In retaliation, the shopkeepers started pelting stones on the police force and the MC team.

In the clash, Suresh Pal Yadav, executive officer of the Municipal Corporation and another employee, Surinder Kumar, received injures. They were admitted to the Civil Hospital, Yamunanagar.

Yadav said they had to demolish five illegal establishments on the Khajuri road. The move of demolishing the unauthorised structures would continue in the future too.

“I and one of my employees received injures in the clash. We will lodge a complaint in the police in this regard,” said Yadav.

On the other hand, shopkeeper Ashok Kumar Gupta, whose showroom was razed, said his shop was 28-years-old and was demolished illegally.

Sibas Kaviraj, superintendent of police, Yamunanagar, said four persons had been booked in the case. He denied any lathi charge on the agitators.

Chandigarh, January 3
Special treatment to jail inmates in Haryana will be a thing of the past with the state government pruning the list of jail inmates enjoying 'B' class facilities. Now, persons accused of theft and cheating, adulteration of food and drugs, house trespass and corruption, besides a host of other categories, will not be entitled to better facilities.

Besides, the persons convicted for robbery, kidnapping, offences against the state, rape and molestation, Prevention of Corruption Act, dowry death, forcing a woman to commit suicide, convicts under the Official Secrets Act, 1923, murder, house breaking where death or grievous hurt is caused(Sections 406 and 459 of the IPC), and immoral trafficking in minors and offences under the NDPS Act will not be provided 'B' class facilities, says a recent order issued by the Additional Chief Secretary, Jails Department, to the DGP .

Sources said under Clause 2 of Para 576-A of the Punjab Jail Manual, which is also applicable to Haryana, it had now been decided to grant 'B' class facilities only on the basis of social or political status of the convict. The earlier practice of special facilities on the basis of income or land revenue being paid by the inmate or convict under this class has been done away with, the order said.

The inmates or convicts lodged in jails are entitled to better facilities, including separately cooked food or home-cooked food, more newspapers and magazines, more visitors, previlege of wearing private dress other than ordinary prisoners, exemption from hard jobs and bedding under the 'B' class category.

Under the new rules, the inmates entitled to the 'B' class facilities would have to be graduates or honours in Hindi (Prabhakar) of Punjabi (Giani) from a recognised university, current and former Municipal Commissioners,JCOs of the defence forces, gazetted officers irrespective of their being graduates, sitting and former MPs and MLAs and income tax payees.

However, the state government will have the powers to relax these conditions for better classification in favour of any person having political or social status, the order added.

Sirsa, January 3
A local court today ordered the registration of criminal cases against seven persons, including a patwari, for fraudulently taking a widow’s land.

Pronouncing order on a criminal complaint filed by widow Khajani Devi, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Pawan Kumar today ordered that the accused - Bhim Sen Modi, patwari of Nejadela Kalan village, and lamberdars Tejinder Singh, Hoshiar Singh, Mahinder Singh, Iqbal Singh, Gurraj Singh and Sham Lal - be booked under Sections 166, 167, 196, 199, 218, 219, 466 and 120-B of the IPC for forgery, creating false evidences, criminal conspiracy and other crimes.

Khajani Devi, a Dalit widow, had alleged in a complaint filed in the court that her husband Ami Lal had applied for allotment of land at Nejadela Kalan in 1976 and he was allotted 35 kanal and 9 marla land in the village.

Lal died on November 20, 2010, but before his death he deposited all dues regarding the land with the government.

However, the accused produced an impersonator as her late husband Ami Lal in front of the revenue officers and got her land’s possession fraudulently.

Later, during a probe, it was found that the patwari had connived with the other accused to deprive the widow of her land and the revenue officer, who signed the documents, was also cheated.

The court found the accused prima facie guilty of the offence and ordered the police to register a criminal case against them.

Sirsa, January 3
Two days after the launch of the Mukyamantri Muft Ilaaj Yojana, patients in Sirsa General Hospital alleged that they were being forced to purchase medicines from outside.

Several patients alleged that they waited in the queue for long only to hear that the medicine they were prescribed was not available.

Satnam Singh, who had come to the hospital with his ailing brother, alleged that he was asked to purchase medicines from outside.

He alleged that even his requests to the authorities concerned did not yield any result, as he was told that the medicine was not available with the hospital. He said eventually he had to purchase medicines for his brother from a chemist shop. The government had launched the scheme from January 1 under which patients were to get all types of treatment, including the surgical packages, free.

Civil surgeon Surender Nain, however, said he had not received any complaint where patients had been denied medicines.

Yamunanagar, January 3
The auction of mining minerals failed to bring a cheer on the faces of thousands of people who were expecting to get jobs, directly or indirectly, in the industry, as about half of the total 126 stone crushers here would remain non-functional.

The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) had sealed 96 stone crushers about 20 months ago. In its closure notices, the Board had said the stone crushers were granted the consent to establish under misconception of the facts, as narrated by the Revenue authorities in their reports showing non-existence of certain villages. But the villages were existing, as per the recent reports of the authorities concerned.

Later, the HSPCB granted permission to run 36 stone crushers from the sealed 96 crushers. However, the owners of the remaining crushers were still waiting to get permission to run these.

Sources said when all the 126 crushers were functional, there was supply of about 10 lakh feet of stone, dust and crushed bajri from here to various parts of the region.

“About 10,000 people were associated with the mining industry in the district when all the crushers were functional. There are over 1,500 tractor-trailors, which supplied raw material to the stone crushers. These provided livelihood to more than 3,000 families,” said Joginder Singh, who owns tractors and supplies raw material to crushers.

He said besides the permanent employees on crushers, there were thousands others who rendered their services to the mining industry. Only a few, however, would be able to get work this time.

The Stone Crusher Association said all crushers had been installed after getting consent to establishment (NOC to install a crusher) and to operate (NOC to operate a crusher after its installation) from the departments concerned. Now, it was unjustified to say that the Board had granted the consent under misconception of facts.

“The pollution board had sealed our crushers on the grounds that we got the consent to establish by violating the parameters. However, it had been granted to us after proper verification,” said Sanjeev Chaudhry, president, Stone Crusher Association.

He demanded that the sealed crushers be given permission to run by the state government on the grounds on which the other sealed crushers were allowed to run.

On the other hand, PK Sharma, regional officer, HSPCB, Yamunanagar, said “Action was taken only against those crushers that violated the norms laid by the government. No biased attitude was adopted against any of the crushers.”

Jind, January 3
While big power defaulters in Haryana have been enjoying power by hoodwinking norms, the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam(DHBVN) has disconnected the supply to the house of senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Birender singh.

“We have disconnected the power supply to house No.1160 in the local Urban estate here due to the non-payment of a bill amounting to Rs 50,000. The house belongs to Congress leader Birender Singh but he has given it on rent. The tenants have refused to pay the bill,” said KC Dhanda, SDO, DHBVN.

Though Power Department officers have accused the tenants of misbehaving with them and non-payment of the bill, political pundits see it as an attempt to further insult the Congress leader, who does not enjoy good relations with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Jhajjar, January 3
Though former Union Minister and rebel Congress MP from Gurgaon Rao Inderjit Singh is yet to announce his next political move, his outfit, Haryana Insaaf Manch, has begun preparation to put up a big political show in the district to project him as the strongest leader of south Haryana.

The manch had recently taken 45 acres in Kheri village, located on the Jhajjar-Dadri road here, on contract from the farmers, to organise a state-wide rally ahead of Lok Sabha polls. Moreover, talks with other farmers of the village are also going on to get 40 acres more for the diplomatic event. Ram Avtar Yadav, district president of the manch, said a total of 85 acres would be taken to hold the rally of Rao Inderjeet, who would soon decide the date of the rally, to be organised in February.

Faridabad, January 3
Residents of several areas of this industrial city are being forced to drink brackish water, being supplied to them by the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF).

The ambitious Rs 493 crore Ranney well water scheme, which was launched way back in 2009, seems to be running behind schedule and is unlikely to provide any relief before the next parliamentary elections. The scheduled date of completion of the project is June 30.

“We are being subjected to grave inconvenience as the drinking water being supplied through tubewells is totally unfit for drinking due to hard and brackish nature of water,� claimed Sanjay Gaur, a resident of G Block of Sector 10 here.

He said despite payment of water bills, the civic body had failed to make any alternative arrangements to ensure supply of potable water that was fit for consumption.

Asking how the civic body could make the residents pay for unfit drinking water, he said the authorities concerned had failed to redress the grievance despite the matter raised at various platforms during the past several months.

This he said had forced several families to resort to packaged water supply, besides paying the water bill every month as the water supplied by the local tubewell was brackish (saline in taste) and was not even fit for washing hands or utensils.

Echoing similar sentiments, Sandeep, a resident of Sector 7, claimed that all households in his locality were getting brackish water for the past one year.

“This has led to an increase in the monthly bill of water as a majority of the residents had either installed ROs or had switched over to packaged (bottled) supply from private suppliers.

“The TDS level of water is between 3,000 and 5,000 at a majority of tubewells located in Sectors 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 against the permissible limit of 300 to 350, which has rendered the water supply unfit not only for drinking but also for other purposes,� claimed an official of a RO marketing company here.

While all samples of drinking water collected by the health department failed in the test in November last year, the officials concerned admit that the supply from a large number of tubewells was brackish and heavy in nature.

When contacted, Ramesh Bansal, Executive Engineer (water supply) of the MCF, claimed that the work on the Ranney well project was on a war footing and was likely to be over by the deadline.

Maintaining that while 60 per cent of the work was over in the matter of construction and laying the pipelines, he said Ranney wells were being constructed in six villages to ensure potable water supply to the city. He said the work on laying 180-km of pipeline was over and the work on the construction of 63 water tanks was in progress.

Karnal, January 3
Irate villagers, sarpanch and panch associations of different blocks of the district and political leaders today protested against the police administration and burnt effigies of the government to protest against registration of a case against Rajinder Kumar, a sarpanch of Chora village. On the appeal of the protesters, the markets also remained closed.

Rajinder was booked on the charges of abetment of suicide after Shivam, a native of Chora village, committed suicide on December 17.

Sarpanch association of Gharonda block said it would sit on a dharna outside the government offices from Saturday, demanding withdrawal of case against the sarpanch and transfer of the Karnal SP.

A delegation of the sarpanch association sat on a hunger strike outside BDPO’s office today also and held a protest march. After moving through prominent roads of the city, the protesters reached the Railway Road chowk and burnt effigies of the state government.

Narinder Sangwan, MLA, Gharonda, said the sarpanch was falsely implicated and should be released.

Parveen Kumar, member of the sarpanch association, Gharonda, said the sarpanch associations of Karnal, Indri, Assandh and Nilokehri had come forward to support them. They had already boycotted the government work and were not distributing pension.

Meanwhile, the district administration has deployed police force to maintain law and order.

Jind, January 3
After ignoring heritage site Rani Talab, located in the heart of Jind city, for long, the Hooda government and the Jind administration have finally woken up to its plight.

The site may regain its lost glory soon if all goes as per plans as the government has released Rs 6.05 crore for the beautification of this ancient site.

The released amount has been given to the executive engineer (EE) of the PWD (B&R) department, who has been made the nodal officer to execute all renovation works, currently undergoing at the site.

As per the beautification plan, prepared by a special committee under the supervision of Jind Deputy Commissioner Rajiv Rattan, the site will have a wide pavement constructed with red and dholpur stones, musical fountains and special 3-D lighting arrangements to welcome visitors.

After analysing all aspects, the committee had pegged the total expenditure at around Rs 6.05 crore.

“The local bodies department of Haryana has released the whole amount of Rs 6.05 crore, but we need more money as I wanted to first ensure the drainage of water from this site. If we invest all money and do not make any drainage arrangement for water, it will be useless,” the DC told The Tribune.

Some locals disclosed that since the Rani of Maharaja Ranbir Singh used to take bath in this pond every night after reaching here through a tunnel, it is called Rani Talab.

Many may disapprove this mythology, but the existence of some parts of tunnel gives credence to the tunnel theory. It has rekindled the hopes of locals, whose religious sentiments have been hurt with the neglect of this religious site.

“Locals converge here on auspicious days. The temple, located inside the site, has idols of gods and goddesses. However, its neglect has hurt the religious sentiments of all locals,” alleged Ram Krishan, a local.

In 2005 too, the government had taken initiatives to revive this site and started boating also. Some local leaders had formed a committee after voluntary collections from locals, but as locals did not turn up in a required number, the contractor, who was given the boating contract, could not meet his expenses and left his contract midway.

“Work is going on. We hope to complete it in a few months,” said Jaspal.

Gurgaon, January 3
Reeling under recession, the industry here has expressed concern about Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s recent announcement to hike the minimum rate of wages.

Industry associations have urged Hooda to reconsider his announcement made at rally in November as its implementation would have an adverse impact on industrialisation.

They have written letters to Hooda suggesting an incremental increase in the wages.

President of the Gurgaon Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Vikas Jain in a letter to Hooda said the latter’s announcement to increase wages of an unskilled worker from Rs 5,341 to Rs 8,100 would translate into increase by more than 55 per cent in the final analysis, taking the social security components like PF, ESI, etc, into account.

It would be the biggest ever one-time increase in the minimum wages, and the highest in the country, Jain added.

The NCR Chamber of Commerce and Industry has taken a similar stand. Its president HP Yadav said a delegation of industrialists would meet Hooda soon on the issue.

The industry in Haryana was already hard-pressed on account of high cost of land and electricity. The proposed rise in the minimum wages would be detrimental to the industrialisation in the state. The investors would prefer states like Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, he added.

President of the Gurgaon Industry Association VP Bajaj said the government should meet a broad spectrum from the industry to get inputs regarding the issue.

The preponderant view in the industry is that the small, SSI and garment units, which provide a large number of employments, would suffer the most, if the government implemented Hooda’s announcement.

Gurgaon, January 3
The Gurgaon police have busted an interstate gang of thieves involved in stealing and smuggling electronic goods with the arrest of eight members.

The gang operative in Haryana, Punjab and Delhi was involved in several robberies, but they have confessed to have committed 400 robberies of electronic equipment in the three states.

The eight arrested members told the police that they used to visit the showrooms posing as customers and take an estimate of the available goods and their value. They would then break into these shops at night and steal the goods.

The gang would operate in an organised manner through their well established network and ensure that mobiles were smuggled into Nepal to avoid their tracking by the police.

The money was transferred from Nepal to the gang leader, who would then transfer it into the accounts of all members. These members would withdraw the money within a day and deposited it in other accounts.

The gang was difficult to track as they would rent out taxis for all their operations.

“The gang leader is a school dropout. The eight arrested are wanted for hundreds of heists across the three states. We are interrogating them and look forth to cracking numerous cases,”€� the police said.

Jind, January 3
Three days after a couple disappeared from Retola village, their bodies were found in a locked room near their village today.

Though it appears to be a case of a love affair, the police have refused to confirm it. However, they have confirmed that both had left their village together.

Sources said 40-year-old Sushil and 41-year-old Rambhateri were neighbours and had disappeared from their village on December 31, 2013.

Relatives and family members had informed the police on January 1 when they failed to locate both. The Pillukhera police today received the information about the bodies.

When a police party led by ASI Sonu reached the site, some villagers identified the bodies and informed their families.

“Both had left their homes on December 31, but we do not know the reason behind their leaving the village together as we neither heard about their love affair nor saw both together earlier,”€� said Rambhagat, brother of Sushil.

Relatives said they tried Sushil’s mobile number till last night, but he did not take any call.

Villagers suspect that both might have been forcibly given poison by some other person and later their bodies were locked in a room.

“We have started the investigations. We are not sure whether both took poison together or were given separately,”� said investigating officer Sonu.

The bodies of both of them were handed over to their relatives after postmortem.

Ambala, January 3
A middle-aged person was found dead near the waiting room at Ambala City railway station this morning. The deceased has not been identified so far. The railway police said the person might have died of severe cold.

In another incident, the body of a woman was found in a pond in Ambala City. The body was sent for post-mortem. The deceased had not been identified. — OC

Ambala, January 3
The police have arrested Rozee in the abduction case of four-year-old Deepanshu of Ambala City, who was allegedly abducted yesterday, but was later recovered by the police.

An elated Deepti after reunion with her son Dipanshu in Ambala. A Tribune Photograph

The mobile phone of Rozee, maternal aunt of the child, led to the recovery of Deepanshu.

The police produced her in a local court today, which remanded her to judicial custody.

The child’s mother, Deepti, had alleged that Rozee had abducted her son last evening. Earlier, Rozee had denied the allegations, saying that she was at a nursing home in Ambala City at that time and she had nothing to do with Deepanshu’s abduction.

However, when the police checked the location of the mobile phone of Rozee, it was found that she was present close to the Ambala Cantt railway station at that time.

When the police interrogated her, she revealed the truth.

She told the police that she did not have a male child, while her sister-in-law Deepti had a son. She confessed that she wanted to eliminate Deepti’s son out of jealousy.

She added that yesterday evening she took Deepanshu in an auto-rickshaw to the Ambala Cantt railway station and forcibly boarded him in a Delhi-bound train. She said she was not aware of the consequences of her revengeful attitude.

Meanwhile, in charge of the Baldevnagar police post Karn Singh Rana, who brought back Deepanshu from Panipat last late night, said the passengers had handed over Depanshu to the Panipat railway police when they found him abandoned in a compartment. The railway police had sent him to an orphanage there. As the Ambala police had informed all railway police stations about the incident, the Panipat railway police informed them about the recovery of Deepanshu last late evening.

Rewari, January 3
Hundreds of Safai Karamcharis of the Rewari Municipal Council held a demonstration at the residence of Power Minister Ajay Singh Yadav here today in protest against the reported dismissal of 100 contractual safai karamcharis.

Addressing the protesters, Krishan Kumar Bidlan, president of the state unit of All-India Safai Mazdoor Orgainsation, expressed resentment over the dismissal of 100 contractual safai karamcharis by the contractor yesterday. He announced that if the sacked Safai Karamcharis were not reinstated, they would be compelled to intensify their agitation .

As Capt Yadav was out of station , his private secretary Mahabir Singh Yadav facilitated Krishan Kumar Bidlan to have a telephonic talk with the minister who told Bidlan that he would get the matter resolved after discussions with the DC.