Chandigarh, May 28
The Haryana Government has decided to create a sub-tehsil in the village of Lakhan Majra in Rohtak district. A decision to this effect was taken by the Haryana Cabinet that met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda here today.

It was also decided to create a sub-tehsil at Gauriwala village in Sirsa. The sub-tehsil would comprise 20 villages and two Kanungo circles namely Bijuwali and Gauriwala.

A decision to upgrade Bapouli sub-teshil to tehsil in Panipat district was also taken. The upgraded sub-tehsil is a part of Samalkha sub-division. The total area of Bapouli tehsil would be 22,575 hectares, while its population would be 1,28,594.

The sub-tehsil comprises 49 villages, one Kanungo circle, Bapouli, and 14 Patwar circles. The tehsil would have one police station, one sub-treasury and one Block Development and Panchayat Office. The tehsil would be 18 km from the district headquarter, Panipat.

The government has decided to upgrade Kalanwali sub-tehsil to sub-division in district Sirsa. The tehsil at present has three sub-divisions namely Sirsa, Dabwali and Ellanabad, four tehsils namely Sirsa, Rania, Ellanabad and Dabwali and two sub-tehsils namely Kalanwali and Nathusari Chopta in Sirsa district. The sub-division would include only one sub-tehsil Kalanwali.

The Revenue Department's proposal to include Akheri Madanpur and Goria village in Matanhail tehsil of Jhajjar district also got a nod. Earlier, these villages were part of sub-tehsil Sahlawas in the same district.

The decision has been taken for public convenience, given the longer distance of these villages from sub-tehsil Sahlawas as compared to Matanhail tehsil.

The Council of Ministers authorised the Chief Minister to consider the upgrade of Kalayat tehsil to sub-division in Kaithal district.

Sirsa, May 28
State Congress chief Ashok Tanwar has dissolved the Pradesh executive committee, all district and block Congress committees, cells and departments of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee.

Tanwar said he would restructure the state executive committee, district and block committees and also cells and departments of the organisation after the completion of district-level workers' meetings across Haryana starting on June 5.

Accompanied by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, AICC general secretary in charge for Haryana Shakeel Ahmed, co-in charge Asha Kumari, Ashok Tanwar will address workers' meetings in all districts of Haryana from June 5 to June 28.

A major shakeup was expected in the organisational structure of the state Congress soon after Ashok Tanwar was appointed its chief in February .

However, since the parliamentary elections were round the corner, the newly appointed state chief deferred it till the poll results.

After the recent parliamentary elections where the Congress suffered a severe drubbing, complaints of anti-party activities have been received against several party functionaries from almost all parts of Haryana.

Tanwar is likely to remove such party functionaries from their posts when he reconstitutes the organisation.

Even in Tanwar's own Sirsa parliamentary constituency, where he lost to INLD candidate Charanjit Singh Rori, he has received complaints of anti-party activities against several Congressmen.

Chandigarh, May 28
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said here today that the coming Assembly elections would be held on time and the Congress would contest these collectively and unitedly to become victorious for the third time.

Addressing mediapersons after a Cabinet Meeting here, Hooda said there was a Congress wave in the state. The Congress would contest the elections on the issue of development as every section of society was satisfied with the functioning of the government. He said the Congress would contest the elections with the spirit of "Kar Liya Faisala Karke Vichar, Congress Sarkar Teesri Bar".

Hooda said he would hold meetings with the party workers at the district level from June 5 to chalk out a strategy for the forthcoming elections. Apart from this, he would also hold meetings with the district authorities to review the development works in the region.

When asked to comment on the statement made by some senior Congress leaders holding him responsible for the drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections in the state, Hooda refused to react, saying that they were the same persons, who had either lost the election or had run away.

Hooda congratulated both leaders from Haryana who had been included in the Union Cabinet and hoped that they would work for betterment of the state.

Gurgaon, May 28
The police today made the first arrest in the infamous fake voter registration case. Anita Sharma, a booth-level officer (BLO), was arrested and produced in a local court that sent her to judicial custody.

Anita and Sports Minister Sukhbir Kataria, among others, were booked under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC.

In all, seven cases have been registered against Kataria and several others, including an ACP, for allegedly making fake voter cards that helped the minister win in the 2009 Assembly elections.

The complainant, OP Kataria, said BLO’s arrest was nothing more than symbolism and accused the police and state government of shielding Kataria.

“The government has used all resources to ensure that the key accused are not arrested. Kataria is still roaming free while he was the one who engineered the fraud,” he alleged.

“In spite of four cases registered against ACP Kadiyan, he has not been suspended,” Kataria claimed.

The RTI activist said 12 cases of bogus votes were pending in courts and the minister was accused of being the mastermind.

Kataria, as an Independent candidate, won the Gurgaon seat in the last Assembly elections with a margin of 2,138 votes. He supported the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government and was made the Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs.

Ambala, May 28
The state government has decided to replace the first four 110-MW units at the Panipat Thermal Power Plant with a single 660-MW super critical thermal unit.

The decision was taken due to a higher cost of generation at these units, which were commissioned in between 1979 and 1987.

Sources in the Haryana Power Generation Corporation said earlier, it had been decided that two units of 250 and 300 MW capacity each would be set up at Panipat in place of the existing four units. However, one of the technical directors mooted to add an efficient unit with an aim to enhance generation and reduce coal consumption. Following this, the government shelved the earlier plan and decided to commission the 660-MW unit.

The new unit is proposed to come up on the same premises by way of phasing out the existing ones in next four to five years (2018-19). The coal requirement for the new unit has been assessed at 2.85 million tonnes per annum with a 85 per cent plant load factor. The balance requirement will be met by importing coal and purchasing it through e-procurement.

The sources said the plan to renovate unit 3 and 4 had been cancelled following the decision. The scrapping of unit 1 and 2 is likely to take more time due to financial liabilities as these have already been renovated, they said. The process to scrap these units is expected to begin next year.

The government has already taken up the issue of transferring the existing coal linkage of the four units to the proposed unit with the Coal Ministry.

The sources said last year, the Haryana discoms asked the power corporation to scrap the four units as these became financially unviable. Now, the cost of generation at these units is over Rs 5 per unit, even as the present variable cost varies between Rs 3.94 to Rs 4.44 per unit.

These four units have not been operating since September, 2013.

Fatehabad, May 28
The State Vigilance Bureau (SVB) has booked a Drug Control Officer (DCO) under the Prevention of Corruption Act and arrested his peon and a chemist with Rs 20,000, allegedly meant to be a bribe for the officer.

A Vigilance team led by inspector Bhupender Sharma swooped down on Suresh Chaudhary’s peon Mahinder Kumar and medical store owner Ramesh Kumar after they accepted phenolphthalein-laced currency notes handed over to them by Devki Nandan, a medical store owner from Mohammedpur Rohi village.

Sharma said Chaudhary had carried out an inspection at Nandan’s shop on May 20 and taken away some incriminating medicines and documents. Chaudhary’s peon Mahinder then approached Nandan and allegedly told him the officer would give a suitable inspection report for Rs 50,000.

Negotiations followed and Mahender struck the deal for Rs 20,000 and called Devki Nandan to the DCO’s office at 9.30 am on Tuesday. In the meantime, the shop owner instead lodged a complaint with the VB. Sleuths laid a trap to arrest Chaudhary red-handed with the bribe money and obtained permission from the Deputy Commissioner.

Mahender contacted Devki Nandan and told him Chaudhary was waiting for him. Devki Nandan, however, told him he would come to his office in the evening. When he arrived at the DCO’s office in the General Hospital, he was told to go to Mahender and hand over the bribe amount.

Mahender called Devki Nandan to a chemist shop outside the General Hospital, took the phenolphthalein-laced currency notes from him and handed these over to medical shop owner, Ramesh. Vigilance sleuths swooped down on them and arrested them red-handed.

During interrogation, both Mahender and Ramesh confessed to have accepted the bribe money on behalf of Chaudhary, who is on the run.

Rakesh Gupta, Commissioner in the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), said strict disciplinary action will be taken against Chaudhary.

Chaudhary, who is politically well-connected, was earlier booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act at Gurgaon on June 7, 2011. However, the case was later closed.

Murky deals The Drug Control Officer had carried out an inspection at a chemist shop on May 20 and taken away some incriminating medicines and documents His peon then approached the shop owner and allegedly told him the officer was ready to give a suitable inspection report for Rs 50,000 Negotiations followed and a deal was struck for Rs 20,000, but the shop owner complained to the Vigilance Bureau

Ambala, May 28
President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Avtar Singh Makkar today condemned the incident in which some miscreants broke open into a gurdwara a few days ago and walked away with the Guru Granth Sahib and holy gutkas. Later the Granth Sahib was found dumped in bushes near the gurdwara.

The incident occurred on May 17 at the Shalimar Colony Gurdwara and had caused widespread resentment among members of the Sikh community of the city.

Makkar, who advised the local Sikhs to refrain from giving it a communal colour, stated that the community members should get it resolved by taking help from the local administration.

He said he had already spoken to the district police chief who told him that one of the alleged miscreants had been arrested while the police teams were on the lookout of the other accused, for which the help of the Patiala police had also been sought.

Faridabad, May 28
Faridabad MP Krishan Pal Gurjar has created history with his elevation as a minister in the Union Cabinet. Apart from being the first representative from this parliamentary constituency to become a Union Minister, he is also among the select few first-time MPs chosen for a ministerial berth at the Centre.

The Faridabad Lok Sabha seat came into being in 1977 and Dharamvir Vashishta of the Janata Party was its first MP. While the Congress won this seat six times, the BJP thrice and twice candidates from other parties wrested the seat. None of the 11 MPs from here could get a berth in the Union Cabinet.

“Though both Avtar Singh Bhadana (Congress) and Ram Chander Bainda (BJP) retained the seat thrice, neither got a chance to become a Union minister,” said BJP district president Ajay Gaur.

Gurjar, 57, started his political career in the early nineties. He was first elected as member of the local civic body in 1994. The same year, he was elected MLA on the BJP ticket for the first time and went on to become the Transport Minister.

Gurjar got his second tenure as MLA in 2000. He was elected legislator for third time in 2009 from the Tigaon Assembly segment. He became a member of the BJP National Executive and was state party chief from 2009 to 2013.

Considered close to the top leadership, Gurjar outwitted Ram Chander Bainda to get the party ticket for the 2014 Lok Sabha election. He defeated his nearest rival and outgoing MP Avtar Singh Bhadana (Congress) by a record over 4.66 lakh votes.

Faridabad’s pride Krishan Pal Gurjar (pic) is the first representative from Faridabad parliamentary constituency to become a Union Minister He is also among the select few first-time MPs to land a ministerial berth at the Centre The 57-year-old started his political career in the early nineties and was first elected as member of the local civic body in 1994

Ambala, May 28
A member of National Commission for Safai Karamcharis had to remove the red light atop his vehicle when mediapersons raised the issue that he was not a competent authority to use it, as per the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court.

Gopal Krishan Sahotra, had come to Ambala City to hear the grievances of safai karamcharis at the Panchayat Bhavan today. The Deputy Commissioner, the Deputy Commissioner of Police and the SDM also accompanied him. Later during his press meet, some mediapersons questioned his putting a red light on his car.

Sahrotra said he was recently appointed as member of the Commission and was not aware of it. He said the Karnal administration had provided the red light car to him for touring nearby districts to hear the problems of safai karmcharis. It was the duty of the administration to look into the legality before offering him the car, he said. — OC

Rewari, May 28
Putting all speculations about an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the coming Assembly poll to rest, Ellenabad MLA and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Chautala said his party would not enter into a coalition with the BJP in any situation.

Attacking the BJP while addressing a gathering at the felicitation function of Dushyant Chautala at Punjabi Dharamshala here last evening, Abhay said “We shall not form any alliance with the BJP even if it tries to do so as the party is habitual of stabbing its alliance partners in the back.”

Lambasting the state government for its alleged failure to live up to the people’s expectations, he said the popularity graph of Congress was going down due to its anti-people policies.

“Consequently, around 27 per cent vote of the Congress got reduced to 12 per cent in the Lok Sabha poll and I am sure that the party will have to struggle to get even 2 per cent votes in the Assembly poll as the people are waiting to root it out from power,” said Abhay.

Accusing BJP MP Rao Inderjeet of misleading the public for winning the elections, Abhay said Inderjeet first formed Insaaf Manch to get political mileage, then joined BJP and thereafter sought people’s support by misguiding them that he would be the Chief Minister of Haryana.

“Rao Inderjeet has no interest in public welfare. He played the communal card and misguided the people to defeat the INLD candidate from Gurgaon,” Abhay added.

Karnal, May 28
An unidentified Innova driver kidnapped and raped an eight-year-old at gunpoint in Furlak village of this district yesterday afternoon. The girl’s condition is very critical and she is fighting for her life at the Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College Hospital.

“My sister was returning home from school with her friends when she was stopped by an unidentified Innova driver on the pretext of asking the name of the village. He dragged her into the vehicle, blind-folded her, took her to an isolated spot on the Furlak-Refinery road and raped her at gunpoint,” said her brother

Superintendent of Police Abhishek Garg has announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for information about the vehicle and its driver.

“After raping her, the accused left the victim near Dharamgarh Chungi and fled. My sister was in great pain, but somehow managed to reach us,” the victim’s brother said.

Family members rushed the girl to the Community Health Centre at Gharaunda. Doctors said her condition was very critical because of internal bleeding and referred her to the Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College Hospital late last night.

The victim’s brother alleged she was not given proper treatment and was forced to share a bed with two pregnant women in the hospital’s general ward.

“My sister cried in pain all night. We asked the authorities to give her a separate bed, but they did not,” the victim’s brother said.

On Wednesday, members of the Fight for Justice Club of India reached the hospital and approached authorities for proper treatment. Advocates Harish Arya, Rohit Bhargava and other club members have offered legal aid to the family.

“The police have registered a case under Section 376 and 365 of the IPC and efforts are on made to arrest the accused. Special teams are out to nab the accused. A reward of Rs 50,000 has also been announced by the SP,” said DSP City Raj Kumar.

Victim fights for life The eight-year-old was returning home from school with her friends when she was stopped by an unidentified Innova driver on the pretext of asking the name of the village He dragged her into the vehicle, blind-folded her, took her to an isolated spot on the Furlak-Refinery road and raped her at gunpoint Doctors said her condition was very critical and have referred her to the Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College Hospital

Jind, May 28
Family members of the Dhanauri sexual assault victim who committed suicide on May 9 after a year-long battle for justice have approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court alleging threats from the accused policemen and others.

The court has directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted under the supervision of Narwana DSP Puran Chand to probe the case to submit its detailed reply on August 4.

The 35-year-old had ended her life by consuming poison. In her suicide note, she blamed 12 persons, including five inspectors (two of whom have now retired) and a head constable for her suicide. The police had registered an abetment to suicide case against all 12 persons.

The victim’s brother Shamsher, while speaking over the phone from Chandigarh, said the family was being threatened to withdraw the case. “The day after my sister’s suicide on May 9, some cops took us to the police station and procured our thumb impressions on blank papers. We continue to get threats from the cops and accused to withdraw the case. We have no hope of justice from the Jind police and only the court can help us,” he said.

Jind SP Balwan Singh Rana had formed a SIT under Narwana DSP Puran Chand to probe the case. Other members of the team include two inspectors, two ASIs and a woman inspector.

DSP Puran Chand trashed the family’s allegations. “There is no threat to the family of the deceased woman. We want their cooperation in investigations, but they are not cooperating for some reasons,” he said.

“We got just two days to present our side in court. We have submitted our reply yesterday, but many things need a thorough investigation. We sought more time and the court directed us to file a detailed reply on August 4,” the DSP added.

Investigators found clues that create suspicion about the involvement of others in the woman’s death, sources said. The victim’s body was lying outside the house, while she had vomited inside -- a distance of 42 feet.

The police team that reached the spot found an empty bottle of celphos, an empty glass used to consume celphos and sharp-edged iron equipment lying on a paper outside the house.

Hoping for justice
The day after my sister’s suicide on May 9, some cops took us to the police station and procured our thumb impressions on blank papers. We continue to get threats from the cops and accused to withdraw the case. We have no hope of justice from the Jind police and only the court can help us
Shamsher, victim’s brother

Kosli (Rewari), May 28
Launching his three-day 'padyatra' from this town today, Om Prakash Dhankhar, national president of the BJP Kisan Morcha, said Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led state government had ruined the farmers by not extending any sort of assistance to them during the last nine years. The farmers were reeling under debt hence the Hooda government should announce Rs 300 as bonus per quintal on wheat.

While addressing a gathering of farmers in Kosli, he said "The government's anti-farmer policies have rendered farmers landless by acquiring their fertile land at a nominal price."

"When the governments of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are extending the farmers Rs 150 as bonus on wheat crop then why is the Haryana Government not doing so for the welfare of farmers," said Dhankhar.

Kurukshetra, May 28
Hundreds of outsourced employees of Kurukshetra University today went on an indefinite strike demanding salaries on DC rate.

The protesters gathered at the university and took out a march to the mini-secretariat, where they demanded salaries on DC rate for all outsourced employees. They also raised slogans against contractual system.

Subhash Jhangra, president, Kurukshetra University Daily Wages Employees’ Association, said, “There are about 1,600 outsourced employees but the administration does not follow the outsourcing policy. We have asked the Vice Chancellor several times to revise our salaries on par with the DC rate, but to no avail.”

He said they met DC Nikhil Gajraj in this regard and on his call, a delegation met the VC, but nothing could be decided. Jhangra said the government should take steps to end the ‘thekedari pratha’ or they would launch a stir in the coming days. Besides the employees, a group of ATM security guards also submitted a memorandum to the DC, demanding salaries on DC rate.

Karnal, May 28
The members of the Zila Parishad unanimously passed a resolution yesterday to cancel the lease of Karnal Club, one of the oldest and most famous buildings in Karnal built by the British.

The resolution came after the recommendation of an inquiry conducted by the then Deputy CEO of the Zila Parishad over the alleged violation of lease.

There was a general body meeting of the parishad at Panchayat Bhawan yesterday, which was chaired by Harinder Sangwan, Chairman, Zila Parishad.

Parishad members raised the issue of Karnal Club and alleged that the inquiry conducted by the then Deputy CEO of the parishad, Rupinder Malik, recommended the cancellation of the lease with the club for the violation of the terms and conditions.

He said a show cause notice would be served on the club.

The lease of the club building was renewed in 2008 for 20 years with effect from 2004. The Deputy Commissioner is the ex-officio chairman, while the SDM is the secretary of the club, said sources.

RTI activist Rajesh Sharma, an advocate, filed a complaint in this regard.

Ashok Mittal, Deputy Chairman, Zila Parishad, said when he was the acting chairman of the parishad, he had ordered an inquiry. The Deputy CEO of the parishad conducted the inquiry and recommended cancellation of the lease.

Jhajjar, May 28
Two youths drowned in two separate incidents in the district during the last 24 hours.

The first incident took place in Silana village when a 30-year-old youth, Sanjeet Ram of Khagdiya (Bihar), went to a canal passing through the village to take bath but drowned. His friends started looking for him when he did not return even after several hours. Later, they spotted his body floating in the canal.

In another incident, Munna, who was under the influence of liquor, jumped into a pond and drowned in Nilothi village. — TNS