Chandigarh, January 8
Against the backdrop of the new Land Acquisition Act coming into operation from January 1, the Legal Department, through a circular to the Chief Secretary and other heads of departments, asked them to put land acquisition proceedings on hold and issue notifications only “after preparing the same in accordance with the new Act.”

The land acquisition notifications issued after January 1 would not have any “ legal sanctity” as the new law came into being on that date, sources told The Tribune.

Meanwhile, terming the new Act as “pro-farmers as it promises a slew of incentives to them, including handsome compensation for the acquired land,” sources said the Hooda Government would implement the new law in letter and in spirit.

Haryana has a history of violent clashes over land acquisition. With the land acquisition policy of the Hooda Government coming under the scanner of the Opposition and other stakeholders, the state government was keen to keep all stakeholders in good humour, a senior official said.

Currently, Haryana follows two policies regarding the acquisition of land — Relief and Rehabilitation Policy and the Land Pooling Scheme. The Relief and Rehabilitation Policy ensures a minimum floor rate, solatium, no-litigation incentive and annunity for 33 years, besides residential plots to certain categorites of farmers whose land is acquired.

Under the land pooling scheme introduced last year, an option is given to the farmers to get 'developed land' in return for their land. The schemes paves the way for a landowner to get a 1,000 square yard residential plot and one commercial plot of 100 sq yards for each acre of land acquired for development of residential sectors by HUDA.

In the case of the Industries Department, where infrastructure is developed by the HSIIDC, the landowner would have the option to get developed land measuring 1200 sq yards for each acre of land. 

Fatehabad, January 8
Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda today hit out at opposition parties, including AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan, terming them as anti-development.

Hooda junior, who was in Fatehabad to mobilise Congress workers for the January 13 "Parmanu bijli rally" to be addressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Gorakhpur on the launching of the nuclear power project, alleged that opposition leaders Om Prakash Chautala, Kuldeep Bishnoi as well as Kejriwal and Bhushan had opposed the project and tried their best to mislead farmers.

He said when Chautala was in power, Haryana's total annual budget was Rs 2,200 crore whereas the Rs 23,502-crore GHAVP was 10 times of that in Fatehabad district alone.

He said just one power project was set up at Panipat in 60 years since Independence but Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had started five electricity generation units at Jharli and Khanpur in Jhajjar, Khedar in Hisar, Yamunanagar and now at Gorakhpur in Fatehabad.

Chandigarh, January 8
The state government has issued the transfer and posting orders of 17 IPS and 9 HPS officers.

KK Sindhu, ADGP (Vigilance), Gurgaon, has been posted as ADGP (Modernisation).

While Alok Kumar Roy, IGP (Crime), has been posted as IGP (CID), Rajbir Deswal, Commissioner of Police (CP), Ambala-Panchkula, has been posted IGP (Telecom).

Ajay Singhal, IGP (CID), has been posted as CP, Ambala-Panchkula, while Subhash Yadav, IGP (Telecom), goes as IG, Police Training Centre (PTC), Sunaria.

While Maheshwar Dayal, Joint CP (Heaquarters), Gurgaon, has been posted as SP, State Vigilance Bureau (SVB), Gurgaon, Bharti Arora, Joint CP (Traffic), Gurgaon, has been posted as Joint CP (Headquarters), Gurgaon.

Yoginder Nehra, SP, SVB, Gurgaon, has been posted as Commandant, 4th IRB, Manesar.

B. Satheesh Balan, SP, Hisar, has been posted as SP, Panipat.

Similarly, Parul Kush Jain, SP, Panipat, has been posted as SP, Bhiwani. While Mitesh Jain, SP, Bhiwani, has been posted as SP, Hisar, with additional charge as Commandant, 3rd Battalion, HAP, Hisar, Hamid Akhtar, DCP (Rural), Ambala, has been posted as AIG(Provisioning).

Rahul Sharma, DCP (South), Gurgaon, has been posted as DCP, Ambala (Urban), with additional charge as Commandant 1st Battalion HAP.

Vikas Dhankhar, SP, Jhajjar, has been posted as DCP (West), Gurgaon, Krishan Murari, Commandant, 2nd Battalion, HAP, Madhuban, has been given additional charge as Commandant, 5th Battalion, HAP.

Vinod Kaushik, DCP, Ambala (Urban), has been posted as DCP(Traffic), Gurgaon, while Surender Pal Singh, DCP(West), Gurgaon, has been shifted as DCP(South), Gurgaon.

Among the HPS officers, Kirat Pal Singh has been posted as SP(SVB), Ashok Kumar as Additional SP , National Highway Traffic, Karnal; and Badan Singh as Additional SP, Panipat. Samay Ram has been posted as Additional SP(Home Guards), Sajjan Kumar as SP(CID), Vikram Kapoor as SP(CID), Phool Kumar as DCP/NIT, Faridabad; and Balbir Singh as SP, Jhajjar. 

Jind, January 8
The protest by local residents against alleged police inefficiency resulted in a lathi charge here today. Ten protesters received injuries and three were admitted to the local Civil Hospital.

The residents handed over the alleged cow smugglers to the Civil Lines police post.

After the police failed to take action, residents blocked the road and the police resorted to a lathi charge instead of taking action. A senior police official in mufti pointed a pistol at the protesters while other policemen in mufti held guns in their hands. The police attacked members of the electronic media when they were shooting the action.

The problem started when some residents of Sector 8 caught two persons from near a dairy after suspecting them to be involved in cow smuggling.

The residents took them to the Civil Lines police post, but did not get a proper reply or assurance. They went to meet senior police officials, but failed to meet them. They decided to block the Jind-Gohana road around 5 pm.

“A peaceful protest is our right and we were doing that when the Civil Lines police did not take action. Instead of listening to our grievances, the police attacked us with sticks,” alleged Santosh Kumar. “The police did not take action against the two cow smugglers and tried to protect them. We will launch a state-level agitation against the police,” said Yoginder Arya, state president of the Gau Raksha Dal.

DSP Dharmvir refuted the allegation of a lathi charge, but confirmed that the police removed protesters from the main road.

Rohtak, January 8
Afflicted with severe arthritis at a tender age, he remained confined to a wheelchair for several years. Doctors feared that his condition might worsen, but the fighter in him refused to give in.

He took refuge in Ayurveda and eventually managed to stand on his feet after years of patience and perseverance. He not only overcame the crippling disorder, but also went on to become a shining wrestler.

He got a chance to appear in a television reality show. That triggered a chain reaction and Sangram Singh of Madina village in Rohtak district became a noted face on television.

His friendship with model-actress Payal Rohtagi added to his glamour quotient and so did his brand ambassadorship of PETA and international human rights organisations.

Lately, the Haryanavi youth shot to fame yet again as he reached the final round of popular TV reality show Big Boss.

“I was a bit conscious in the starting phase of the show as the Big Boss house had several famous faces. But after a few days, I pulled up my socks and stood up. I just played myself and stood by the values imbibed during my upbringing,” Sangram told The Tribune.

“During the show, somebody educated at a reputed institute of international repute asked me about my studies…I laughed and replied that I had studied at a local institution where the tuition fee was Re 1,” Sangram recalled.

On being asked whether he was disappointed at losing in the final stage, the wrestler replied in the negative, asserting that all four final contenders were treated as winners.

Sangram, who comes from a humble farming family, attributes his success to his fellow villagers who helped him during his struggling phase.

In a noble gesture aimed at paying back to society, Sangram has pledged to donate his vital organs and also inspired thousands others to do so. He wants to set up a wrestling league and support the budding wrestlers from the underprivileged stratum.

Rohtak, January 8
Hundreds of auto-rickshaw operators today staged a demonstration and blocked NH-10 to protest against the change in their route by the local police administration.

The protesters assembled at the ITI grounds, from where they proceeded towards the local residence of the Chief Minister on their rickshaws.

However, they were stopped by the police personnel deployed near the Ashoka Complex. Tension prevailed here for a couple of hours as the protesters blocked the road.

Following the intervention of police officers present on the spot, some representatives of the Haryana Pradesh Auto-rickshaw Kalyan Sangh went to meet the local superintendent of police (SP).

However, the talks failed as the SP offered the auto rickshaw operators to ply their vehicles on one way of the stretch of the road blocked for them, while the operators demanded that both ways be opened.

After that, the representatives of the Sangh returned to the protest site and resumed the demonstration.

As the chaos persisted and tension mounted, the police officials present there arrested the protesters and took them to a police station.

A few days ago, the local police authorities had arbitrarily stopped the plying of auto rickshaws between the medical turn and Sonepat stand.

The rickshaw operators maintained that they were categorically told to adopt an alternative route, which was not financially viable for them. The move was aimed to keep the auto rickshaws away from the local residence of the Chief Minister, which falls on the stretch of the old route.

The stalemate and the strike of the operators continued till the time of filing of this report, putting the commuters to much inconvenience on the second consecutive day, despite the Rohtak depot of Haryana Roadways pressing more local buses into service.

Karnal, January 8
Leaders of the INLD and the BJP-HJC combine today came out in support of missing naib tehsildar Anand Rawal's family. They met the SP and the tehsildar along with Anand's family and demanded that the naib tehsildar, missing since January 3, should be traced.

They gave a memorandum for the Chief Minister to the SP. Charan Singh Rawal, the missing official's father, said his son was missing since January 3, but had not been traced.

He alleged that the police lodged a case at the Gharonda police station on December 25 under pressure from a Congress leader. He claimed that it was a false case and his son was implicated by a resident of Kohand village.

Gharonda MLA Narinder Sangwan alleged that there was no law and order in the state. Shashank Anand, SP, claimed that there was no pressure on the police and a fair inquiry had been conducted into the case against the naib tehsildar.

Chandigarh, January 8
Haryana is responding to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), with people, mainly the youth and the middle class, making a beeline to get enrolled as members of the AAP, which has announced that its next 'big fight' will take place here.

The party has started appointing coordinators and representatives across the state, but is yet to hold any major show of strength. Activities of the AAP are confined to small 'nukkad' meetings and one-on-one interactions among a cross-section of society, but the enthusiasm has become a cause of concern for older parties.

Being a caste-based society, divided between Jats and non-Jats, currently rife with allegations of corruption and nepotism, the AAP has provided a much-needed forum to the common man. This has resulted in a large number of people joining AAP across the state. Over the last few days, almost every district has reported enrolment in thousands.

There is an uneven response to the AAP in different districts, but by and large, the AAP buzz is dominating public conversations and political discussions. Senior AAP leader Yogendra Yadav, who is a Haryanvi, has inaugurated party offices in Islampur and Sohna in Gurgaon districts.

Enthusiastic party workers have put up their stalls at different parts of Karnal. They claim that around 10,000 persons have joined the AAP in the last few days.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's hometown Rohtak has responded to the new party. The newly opened office of the AAP is seen grappling with people, many of them serving and retired faculty members of educational institutions and the intelligentsia, wishing to get enrolled as members of the AAP.

"We are gearing up and focusing on the success of the fortnight-long membership drive due to begin on January 10," said Abhash Chandilla, Faridabad district convener. The AAP aims to enrol 50,000 members by January 26. Two senior functionaries of the BSP and the BJP have joined the AAP cadre unconditionally.

Rajesh Chaudhary has been appointed as the coordinator for Sonepat parliamentary constituency. He says party units have already been constituted in Baroda, Gohana, Rai and Sonepat Assembly constituencies.

The AAP is getting a good response in Jind district. It has enrolled 7,200 members, says AAP coordinator Raj Kumar. Before the Delhi poll results, Jind had only 800 members.

In Kurukshetra, the Bhartiya Kisan Union has extended its support to the AAP. The AAP will get a further boost when Yogendra Yadav holds a public meeting her on January 15.

"Besides organising street-corner meetings at various places in Jhajjar, we are using social networking sites to encourage the common man to join the AAP in wiping out corruption from the government set-up. SMSes are being sent to the people for the cause," says Dr Ravinder Rajyan, district secretary of the AAP.

Laxman Vinayak, Yamunanagar district secretary, says the AAP will start conventions in all six blocks falling in the district soon and they will be completed by February 10.

Anandbir Singh Gillankhera, Sirsa parliamentary constituency president of the Youth Congress, whose father Prahlad Singh Gillankhera is a Chief Parliamentary Secretary, has said the AAP upsurge is a revolution against the system, indicating that many people are waiting to cross to the AAP.

"Our party cannot find a more fertile ground than a district where a sitting minister was jailed for moral turpitude and the Leader of Opposition and his MLA son, belonging to the district, are in jail for corruption charges," said Prahlad Singh Bharukhera, state executive member of the AAP, who belongs to Chautala, the native village of former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala.

The phenomenon is more visible in urban areas. It is yet to be seen how much of a dent the AAP will make in rural Haryana, that votes on factors other than the populist sentiment.

—With inputs from district correspondents

Chandigarh, January 8
The decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, quashing the selection of 3,206 junior basic training (JBT) teachers who were fraudulently appointed during the Om Prakash Chautala regime in 2000, has sent the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government in a tizzy in the run-up to parliamentary and Assembly elections.

With the HC directing the government to prepare a fresh merit list of the candidates who had appeared in the selection process at that time, it has been caught on the wrong foot.

"Sacking them and appointing fresh teachers in their place will pose technical problems, besides costing the government dear in the elections in the backdrop of strong anti-incumbency and the rising influence of the AAP," a senior functionary said here today.

Though Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal said she was yet to go through the judgement, sources said the government was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea on the issue.

Taking a decision on the future of thousands of teachers would be a Herculean task as government employees, including teachers, were already miffed with the government and had rejected the Rs 2,000 interim relief announced by the Chief Minister at the November 10 Gohana rally.

Haryana Vidyalaya Adhyapak Sangh general secretary CN Bharti termed the decision as unfortunate, claiming that a majority of the teachers were recruited on merit.

Chandigarh, January 8
The Ambala Labour Court has ordered the reinstatement of 21 workers “thrown out of service” by Ballarpur Industries Limited (BILT), India’s largest manufacturer of writing and printing paper. Their reinstatement has been ordered with continuity in service and full back wages.

Compensatory costs of Rs 11000, “by way of damages for mental and physical ordeal”, has also been ordered to be paid in each case. The lawyer’s fee has also been assessed at Rs 11,000 in each case.

In their petition before Dr Neelima Shangla, District and Sessions Judge-cum-Presiding Officer, Gian Chand Saini and other workman had contended that they were granted “forcible voluntary retirement” under the threat of being transferred to Barabanki in UP. The office in Barabanki was just a room where stationary was stacked; and could not accommodate more than two persons, counsel for the petitioners said .

Taking up the matter, Judge Shangla asserted the mala fide intention of the respondent was proved from the fact that the respondent company in a sub clause stated: “The acceptance or rejection of the application, as well as voluntary retirement under the scheme, shall not be questioned by the applicants, their assignees, their heirs, their nominees or their representatives as the case may be in any proceedings under the industrial law or any other law”.

Judge Shangla said: “It is crystal clear that the respondent company worked just like a dictator, which cannot be accepted in a democratic state. Under a clause, the respondent company has also annulled all the rights of the petitioners to approach any court, which proves the fact that the respondent company has brought out the scheme with mala fide intention just to harass the interest of the employees…..”

The Judge added no law permits any person or institution to bar any person from approaching the court. “The workmen were forced to sign the BILT voluntary retirement scheme under threat/pressure of illegal and mala fides transfer from Yamunanagar to Barabanki, which is held to be unfair labour practice”. 

Chandigarh, January 8
The Centre Government has raised the income limit of the socially advanced sections (creamy layer) among the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) for admission to central educational institutions from Rs 4.5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh per annum.

A spokesman for the government today said the Chief Secretary has directed all the heads of department, divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners, chairman of all boards and corporations and registrars of the state universities to ensure strict compliance of these instructions. — TNS

Kaithal, January 8
The body of a four-year-old girl was today found floating in a pond at Sega village of the district. The girl had been missing since January 2.

Family members of the victim suspected that the girl might have been murdered first and then her body was thrown into the pond.

A few days ago, divers under police supervision searched the pond to find the girl. Meanwhile, the body was taken to the civil hospital for post-mortem examination. The victim’s father said his daughter had gone to purchase something from a shop in the neighbourhood on the fateful day. 

Rewari, January 8
The police arrested Hawa Singh of Khedi village, 14 km from Kosli, from Rohtak on Tuesday evening. The police recovered the 15-year-old Dalit girl who had allegedly been kidnapped from Khedi village on the night of December 14.

She was kept at a colony in Rohtak, where she was allegedly raped by the accused for days. Hawa Singh was produced in court, which remanded him in 14-day judicial custody.

Yamunanagar, January 8
The police have arrested a man on the charge of raping his stepdaughter, who is a minor, a number of times. He was today produced in a local court, which remanded him in judicial custody.

One more person might be booked in this connection as the victim had reported that she was raped by another person as well. She had said she did not know him, but could recognise him if presented before her.

District child protection officer Richa Budhiraja said they received a complaint on January 2 that a nine-year-old girl was being exploited by her stepfather.

She said a team had met the girl and her five-year-old brother. She said they were shocked when the victim narrated her ordeal.

Budhiraja said the victim’s mother had wed the second time, given birth to a son and died when he was one year old. She said the victim’s stepfather left both children in the custody of a woman known to him.

He raped the girl many times, said Budhiraja. She added that the girl had reported that she was raped by an unidentified person.

She said the girl had been working as domestic help at a private school. She said they would write to the labour officer to take action against the school authorities and the woman who forced her into child labour.

“We got a medical examination conducted and the report confirmed rape,” said Budhiraja. She added that the victim and her brother were in the care of the Child Welfare Committee, which sent them to the Child Care Institute, Chhachhrauli.

Tarsem, who is investigating the case, said the statement of the victim was recorded. Action would be taken against him or her as per the law if she named any other person, he added.

Kaithal, January 8
The local police have registered cases against 130 members of the Brahmin community who had blocked traffic on NH 65 on Monday, demanding action against the police personnel who had raided some houses in Baba Ladana village in the wee hours on Monday.

On the other hand, some members of the community assembled in Brahmin Dharamshala here today and expressed their resentment over the registration of cases against members of their community. They have demanded immediate withdrawal of cases registered against their colleagues and have constituted an 11-member committee to take further action in the matter and keep a watch over the situation and its further developments. Due to the prevailing dispute among the Brahmins and Prajapats of Baba Ladana village, the Brahmins had resorted to road blockade in the Pehowa chowk area here and subsequently proceeded to the NH and blocked traffic.

ASI Ramesh Chand, in his complaint, had alleged that Karam Chand of Khurana and Subhash Chand of Sirsa, along with over hundred others, had blocked the road and disrupted traffic.

Meanwhile, both the communities have expressed their own apprehensions and the local police have been caught in a peculiar situation. If they act against one group, they are blamed of a partisan role and vice versa. 

Jhajjar, January 8
Former chairman of a Cooperative Bank and INLD leader Devender Chhikkara today suffered bullet injuries in his leg when two motorcycle-borne assailants opened fire at him from close range near the Government Polytechnic Institute here.

The assailants escaped from the spot on the motorbike after committing the crime.

Chhikkara has been admitted to a private hospital while the police have started the investigations after registering a case against unidentified youths.

The assault was carried out when Chhikkara was standing at a shop outside the institute.

Jhajjar, January 8
A constable with the Haryana Police allegedly gunned down his uncle and aunt at Kharhar village under Bahadurgarh Sadar police station last night. The victims have been identified as Ram Chander (55) and his wife Kanti Devi (53).

On a complaint lodged by Ram Chander’s nephew Jai Prakash, the police have registered a case under various sections of the IPC against Daljeet Singh, a constable with the Panipat police.

Jai Prakash spotted the bodies lying in a pool of blood in a room when he went to their house in the morning. He immediately informed other members of the family who rushed to the spot and called the police.

Jai Prakash told the police that Daljeet might have committed the crime as he had threatened Ram Chander’s kin with dire consequences yesterday. Moreover, Daljeet, who was armed with a pistol, was seen roaming near the house last night, he added.

“Daljeet was annoyed with Ram Chander’s son Basant (19) who had molested his four-year-old daughter a week ago. Though the issue was resolved within the family, but Daljeet was infuriated over the incident. Sensing the gravity of the situation, Ram Chander had sent Basant to a relative’s place,” said Jai Prakash.

After the post-mortem examination in Bahadurgarh, the police handed over the bodies to their family members.

Karnal, January 8
Four youths, including two brothers, were killed and two seriously injured when their car collided with a truck near Janeshro (Indri) last night.

Manfool Singh, investigating officer, said six youths were travelling in a car from Indri to Karnal. When they reached near Janeshro, their car collided with a truck parked wrongly on the Karnal-Indri road. People rushed them to hospital but four of them died while the other two were referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. The deceased were identified as Deepak (25) and Amit (21), both brothers, Sunil (23) of Hisar, Dixant (18) of Zirakpur.

Deepak, a resident of Paitwar (Hisar) and Randeep of Matlauda (Hisar) were seriously injured. A case has been registered against the truck driver. The truck has been impounded. — TNS