Chandigarh, June 3
With the BJP experiment of projecting Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate having succeeded at the Centre, the party is set to replicate the model when Haryana goes to the polls in October this year.

Buoyed by the party's success in the parliamentary elections, the Haryana BJP, which has always fought elections in alliance with a regional party, sees this election as the only opportunity to "stand on its own feet" in the state. So, party leaders are keen that the BJP enters the election fray with a face.

Sources in the BJP said the few names doing the rounds in party circles are those of all-India working committee member Manohar Lal Khattar, national spokesperson Capt Abhimanyu, Ministers of State Rao Inderjit and Krishan Pal Gurjar, besides Kisan Morcha president OP Dhankar and leader of the BJP legislature party Anil Vij and state unit president Ram Bilas Sharma.

Sources said that the BJP could spring a surprise by bringing in Union Minister Sushma Swaraj to give impetus to the party campaign though she is unlikely to leave her present assignment.

Since the BJP seems to be working on the non-Jat agenda in Haryana, Punjabi leader Khattar is among the top contenders along with Rao Inderjit.

Besides his USP as an RSS man, Khattar who was also in charge of the BJP campaign committee in Haryana is learnt to have come close to Modi when the latter was in charge of Haryana

Khattar's proximity to Modi can be gauged from the fact that he managed the latter's s election in Varanasi in the recent parliamentary poll.

The tallest Ahir leader and son of a former Chief Minister, Rao Inderjit is also in the race. Sources said that his ultimate target is to occupy the CM's chair and it was widely believed that the BJP, looking for an identity in Haryana, had taken him for that very reason. The name of former Haryana party chief Gurjar, too, a leader from the backward Gujjar community, has been doing the rounds.

However, party sources say their chances of return to Haryana politics are less as the two have been taken as ministers, . Among the non-Jats, party president Sharma could be considered while Vij, the party's most vocal leader in the Vidhan sabha, also figures on the list.

The possible Jat contenders are Capt Abhimanyu, seen as the BJP's face in Haryana till the party began a makeover, switching consciously to a non-Jat identity.

BJP leaders maintain that the party will project its CM candidate in the Assembly elections.

Chandigarh, June 3
The Haryana Government has issued the transfer and posting orders of 21 HCS officers with immediate effect.

KK Kalson has been posted as Additional Director (Administration), Information, Public Relations and Cultural Affairs, Haryana; Rajiv Mehta as SDO (Civil)-cum-Additional Collector, Shahbad; JK Abhir as SDO (Civil)-cum-Additional Collector, Tohana; Shakti Singh as SDO (Civil), Sirsa and Estate Officer, HUDA, Sirsa; Satbir Singh Jangu as SDO (Civil), Narwana; Bir Singh Kaliramana as General Manager, Haryana Roadways, Faridabad.

Satbir Singh Lohchab has been given the additional charge of Managing Director, Cooperative Sugar Mills, Gohana. Sushil Kumar-I, Secretary, Haryana Agro Industries Corporation, Panchkula, has been posted as Secretary, Haryana Police Recruitment Board, Panchkula and Amardeep Jain as Joint Commissioner, MC, Rohtak. Ashok Kumar Bansal is SDO (Civil)-cum-Additional Collector, Hisar. Ashima Sangwan has been posted as Additional Director (Administration), PGIMS, Rohtak. Satyender Duhan has been given the additional charge of Chief Executive Officer, Shree Mata Sheetla Devi Shrine Board, Gurgaon. Manita Malik is Joint Director (Administration), Secondary Education, Haryana and Deputy Secretary, School Education Department.

Manjeet Singh has been posted as Secretary, RTA, Mewat at Nuh and Palwal. Baljit Singh has been posted as SDO (Civil)-cum-Additional Collector, Fatehabad. Dalbir Singh goes as SDO (Civil), Rohtak. Shalini Chetal is SDO (Civil), Siwani, and Tarun Kumar Pawaria as SDO (Civil)-II, Gurgaon, Rajesh Kumar as SDO (Civil), Guhla. Pradhuman Singh has been posted as General Manager, Haryana Roadways, Yamunanagar. — TNS

Hisar, June 3
The Haryana Food and Supplies Department has detected that nearly 36,000 wheat bags worth Rs 3.5 crore has gone missing from three warehouses in Hansi town of the district.

This came to light when a team from the department’s Chandigarh office inspected a private warehouse, hired by the department, following media reports of rot setting in in nearly 60,000 wheat bags.

During the inspection, the team stumbled upon the fraud of missing bags. The team found that the stock was less that shown in the record.

Besides 36,000 wheat bags (each weighing 50 kg), wooden crates, tarpaulin and other articles worth lakhs of rupees have been missing. The total loss has been pegged at Rs 5 crore.

Sources in the department said that following the inspection, a preliminary report was sent to the head office. Subsequently, Hisar Divisional Food and Supplies Commissioner Ghanshyam Singh lodged in this regard and named three officials posted in Hansi.

The police had, on May 30, booked Food and Supply Inspectors Mahender Singh, Vipin Kumar and Jaswant Singh under Section 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

The sources said a team led by deputy director NK Mittal had submitted an inquiry report to the higher officials and a follow-up action was likely soon. The accused inspectors could face suspension, they said.

The area of inquiry could be widened and more officials could face the heat, sources said, adding that there was a provision of recovery from officials found guilty of fraud.

Karnal, June 3
Assandh subdivision of the district is under the Health Department’s scanner as the cases of hepatitis-C are on the rise from this area.

In all, 21 Hepatitis-C patients have been referred to the PGI, Rohtak, for further treatment in the last six months by the department. These are those patients, who came into the notice of the department, but many cases still go unnoticed.

Sources in the Health Department say out of these 21 cases, nine are from Assandh city, five from Jalmana, three from Mardankehra and one-one each from Thari, Thal, Bandrala and Bassi villages.

Sources in the Health Department said 77 units of blood, which have traces of Hepatitis-C, were disposed of last year. Most of the blood units were from Assandh.

A study conducted by department revealed that many people were drug addicts in this area and they used a single needle for injecting drugs. Sharing of needle is a cause for the spread of this disease.

“To aware people of drugs and quacks, we have organised many camps. Councillors are appointed to make people aware about the disease,” said Dr Vandana Bhatia, Civil Surgeon.

Grim situation In all, 21 Hepatitis-C patients have been referred to the PGIMS, Rohtak, in the past six months Of these, nine patients ate from Assandh city, five from Jalmana, three from Mardankehra and one each from Thari, Thal, Bandrala and Bassi villages

Karnal, June 3
The police on Monday arrested the three remaining accused in the Ketan Sardana kidnapping case. They were produced in a local court and sent to four days in police remand.

Kul Bhushan, in-charge of CIA-1, said Himanshu and Vijay of Panipat and Jhony of Karnal were arrested from the toll plaza of Smanabahu village yesterday. They were returning from Chandigarh by bus. Pankaj, the operation kingpin, was arrested earlier.

During questioning, the accused said they had planned to kidnap two famous local jewellers before Ketan, but could not do so. The son of a shoe trader, Ketan was kidnapped for ransom from outside his Model Town home on May 9 and rescued on May 23. They did a recce of both the jewellers and another person who came to deposit money at the Punjab National Bank’s Model Town branch, said Kul Bhushan.

The CIA in-charge said all four accused, including Pankaj, had been in Karnal for a month before kidnapping Ketan. After considerable recces, they zeroed in on Mahesh Sardana and decided to kidnap his son Ketan. They had earlier tried to kidnap Mahesh, but could not succeed.

Kul Bhushan said Pankaj, Himanshu and Vijay had committed a dacoity in Zirakpur in 2013 by holding an elderly woman hostage. Jhony had snatched around 250 grams of gold from a Karnal businessman last year with his friends Surinder and Laxman.

The accused kept Ketan at a flat in Karnal’s Palm Residency and tortured him. They sold Ketan’s ring and destroyed his cell phone, Kul Bhushan said. The police recovered CCTV footage from Palm Residency.

Ambala, June 3
Despite long and unscheduled power cuts being faced across the state, Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) today defended its decision to shut down 10 out of 12 thermal units owned by the state. It claimed that these units were lying idle because there was reduced demand for power in the state and various other cheaper sources of power were available for the discoms to buy power from.

In a statement, an HPGCL spokesman said the units had been shut down due to reduced demand, which was assessed by the distribution companies (discoms) and the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC).

The spokesman, however, clarified that all thermal units of HPGCL, except Unit 2 of Hisar, were fit to generate power at their full capacity, but these had been backed down by HPGCL in the interest of grid safety.

He said during 2013-14, HPGCL units could not generate power to the tune of 84,468 lakh units due to unprecedented backing down, which means in 2013-14 HPGCL could not generate about 232 lakh units of electricity daily on an average.

He said till a few days ago the state thermal units were only generating 856 MW despite the fact that the HPGCL units were capable of generating more than 2100 MW a day.

It was learnt that only Unit 2 of Hisar was under forced outage since October 2013 due to vibration problem in turbine bearings. The fault had been rectified and the unit was expected to start generating power in June this year.

Meanwhile, 10 state-owned thermal units today were not in operation, including eight at the Panipat Thermal Power Plant and one each at Yamunanagar and Khedar thermal power plants. The total power generated from own sources was 1544 MW, while the total power available was 5444 MW, though demand was for around 5668 MW at the time of filing of this report.

Mangali (Hisar), June 3
Agriculture and subsidiary occupations may be the mainstay of livelihood across the state, but not in Hisar’s Mangali village. Tiny wooden beads, around 2mm in diametre, have put the village on the global map and transformed its economy and the lives of its 10,000-strong population.

Visit any of the 2,500-odd homes here and you are likely to find a small electronic wood-cutter, a drilling machine and a pile of wood. Artisans have monopolised this business in the region and the village is the largest producer of beads that are much in demand in the country and in the USA, China, middle and South East Asia and European countries.

“Of the 2,500-odd families, over 1,500 are directly involved in making beads, while the remaining are indirectly employed in the trade. They string the beads, polish them or are involved in their sale,” said informed Chanderbhan Thakran, a former sarpanch of the village.

The beads are made of red wood, ber wood, sheesham and even sandalwood. Earlier, people would make prayer beads that were mainly in demand at religious places such as Mathura, Varanasi, Jaipur besides Delhi, but the bead industry is now a multi-crore business. Beads of various sizes and wood are in demand as a decorative accessory.

Local resident Ramesh Kumar said his family of four was full-time into bead-making and earned between Rs 20,000 and Rs 25,000 a month. His children Deepak, a student of Class VI, and Seema, a Plus I student, also help him. “I own a wood-cutting machine and bead frame. I also accept cut pieces of wood for others. Once the beads are cut, I outsource the work of stringing to women who specialise in it,” he said.

Another villager said a school boy earned around Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 a month. Women, too, do their bit. They string the beads and polish them.

Jhajjar, June 3
A student of Industrial Training Institute (ITI) at Gudha village in this district today lost consciousness in the class after being allegedly beaten up by a group instructor (GI) for not wearing uniform.

The student, Rahul, of Bhindavaas village was taken to the General Hospital here and was later referred to the PGIMS in Rohtak following his critical condition. As per information, Rahul lost consciousness after being hit on his private parts.

Several students blocked the Jhajjar-Rohtak road outside the institute to protest the incident. They accused the GI of harassing students.

Jhajjar tehsildar Pramod Chahal, along with the police, reached the spot and persuaded students to clear the road and promised action against the GI. — TNS

New Delhi, June 3
The Delhi High Court today granted bail to former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala for three weeks to enable him to perform the rituals of his younger brother, Pratap Singh Chautla, who died on Sunday.

Chautala is serving a 10-year jail term for his role in the teachers’ recruitment scam in 1999-2000 when he was the Haryana CM.

Justice Kailash Gambhir asked Chautala to furnish a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh along with two sureties, also for Rs 5 lakh each. The INLD leader had attended the cremation yesterday at his native village in Sirsa district after being taken there by authorities of Tihar Jail here.

The HC acknowledged that the presence of the eldest member of the family at post-cremation rituals was a social necessity. While Chautala had sought bail for six weeks, the CBI had pleaded for restricting it to 12 days.

A CBI trial court had convicted Chautala for committing irregularities through cheating and forgery in the appointment of 3,032 junior basic trained (JBT) teachers. The trial also sentenced his son, Ajay, to 10-year imprisonment on January 22, 2013, following which both of them were lodged in Tihar jail.

Chautala had challenged his conviction in the HC, contending that the false and fictitious case had political overtones and that the trial court had failed to appreciate the fact that the entire council of ministers had taken the decision on the recruitment of teachers.

In all, the CBI court had convicted and sentenced 55 accused in the case. Among the main accused sentenced to 10 years are Vidya Dhar, the then Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Chautala, and Sher Singh Badshami, the then political adviser to the CM and a sitting MLA at present.

What the court said OP Chautala (pic) is serving a 10-year jail term for his role in the teachers’ recruitment scam in 1999-2000 when he was the Haryana CM He had sought bail to perform the rituals of his younger brother, Pratap Singh Chautla, who died on Sunday The court acknowledged that the presence of the eldest member of the family at post-cremation rituals was a social necessity

Jind, June 3
Haryana State Legal Services Authority (HSLSA) Building Construction Committee chairman and Punjab and Haryana High Court’s Justice SK Mittal today detected some shortcomings in the under-construction building of the Alternative Disputes Resolution (ADR) Centre at the Jind court.

Usually, senior PWD (B and R) officers can be seen giving long presentations to heads of various departments, but Justice Mittal surprised all present by detecting shortcomings and immediately suggesting steps to rectify them.

Expecting a short and formal inspection, senior PWD officers armed with plans and maps started showing Justice Mittal around the building. Within minutes, he began pointing out shortcomings in construction. These included a difference of one-and-a-half inch in the ceiling of a room at the centre and a wrongly-installed window frame in the front office. He suggested changes in the ceiling of a room and sought clarifications from the PWD Superintendent Engineer (SE), who was visibly taken aback by the turn of events.

“Justice Mittal detected some shortcoming and has directed the PWD authorities to rectify the same at the earliest. We have been constructing such ADR centers in all districts,” Deepak Gupta, state member secretary, HSLSA, said during inspection.

When contacted, SE PWD (B & R) SK Goyal said Justice Mittal had not detected shortcomings in construction. When specifically asked about shortcomings in rooms, he said he was busy.

Construction on the Rs 1.10 crore ADR Centre began last April. Though the date of completion was set as April 4 this year, construction is only likely to end by September.

Rohtak, June 3
The Law Department of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) here continues to allow non-attending students to take exams in violation of the rules laid down by the Bar Council of India (BCI).

The Tribune had reported the matter in May, 2011. Taking suo motu cognizance of the news report, the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued notice to the MDU administration in this regard.

In an undertaking then submitted to the High Court, the university authorities had not only tendered an apology in this regard, but also promised to follow the attendance norms in letter and spirit.

However, a reality check revealed that the norms were still not being followed. Two professors at the MDU Law Department told this correspondent that students with zero or negligible attendance had again been allowed to take the exams.

The professors said they that informed the Head of the Law Department about several students having nil attendance in their respective subjects and semesters, but to no avail.

One of the professors even wrote to the Vice-Chancellor that the names of students with zero or negligible attendance, who were not eligible to take exams as per BCI/MDU rules, had not been struck off the rolls despite his oral directions.

On the other hand, Prof Promila Chugh, Head of the Law Department, maintained that the students with a low attendance record had been given a chance to improve their attendance and only those students who had attended the requisite number of classes had been allowed to take exams. 

Barara (Ambala), June 3
The Limca Book of World Records has acknowledged that the 200-foot effigy of Ravana erected at Barara in the district last Dussehra is the tallest effigy of the demon king in the world.

"It is for the fourth consecutive year that Ravana's effigy, which entails six months of labour by a Muslim family of six from Agra (Uttar Pradesh), has made it to the Limca Book of World Records," Tejinder Singh Chauhan, president of the Barara Ramleela Club, said. The Muslim families spend half of the year in Barara, wielding and joining the poles to give shape to the massive effigies of Ravana, Meghnad and Kumbhkaran.

The organisers of Dussehra festival have now set sights on the Guinness Book of World Records.

Chauhan said the committee bore an expenditure of more than Rs 1 crore on the effigies and a six-day musical programme leading up to the festival.

Tanveer Jafari, who oversees the making of effigies every year, said: "For the past several years, the club has been raising the height of Ravana's effigy." In 2011, the effigy stood at 185 feet and was raised to 195 feet the next year.

"Last year, more than 100 quintals of paper, 40 quintals of iron pipes and 10 quintals of clothes were used to make the Ravana's effigy that weighed more than 5 tonnes (5,000 kg). The sword itself was around 50 feet long," Jafari said.

What goes into its making Over 100 quintals of paper, 40 quintals of iron pipes and 10 quintals of clothes are used to make the effigy It weighs 5 tonnes; the sword itself is 50-feet long The Barara Ramleela Club spent Rs 1 cr on the effigies A Muslim family of six from Agra (Uttar Pradesh) spends half of the year in Barara to make the massive effigies of Ravana, Meghnad and Kumbhkaran

Faridabad, June 3
With no respite in sight, the fund-starved Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) catering to the civic needs of over 16 lakh people is looking for alternative sources to complete pending projects.

In today’s meeting, when a budget of Rs 1,375 crore could not be passed, majority of the elected members favoured exploration of other sources to fund projects left midway including a Rs 493 crore water supply scheme as the city is facing acute shortage of potable drinking water.

Non-availability of funds has resulted in non completion or delay of various projects including the ambitious Ranneywell water scheme which is lying incomplete, claimed an MC Councillor. He said while the MCF in today’s meeting was scheduled to approve the annual budget, the resentment and differences among the elected members over various issues, resulted in pandemonium and the meeting ended without any resolution on the means to fund incomplete projects.

According to a woman councillor requesting anonymity, “Various schemes got delayed or left incomplete as the councillors are hardly taken in confidence regarding development work in their own wards and this led to resentment among the public.”

The Ranneywell water scheme project, which was to provide drinking water to thousands of residents by this summer, is still hanging fire due to paucity of funds. The project funded by the MCF, state government and the Union government failed to get over Rs 103 crore at the last stage of completion and this led to the option of getting alternative funds to finish this scheme, claimed an official, who admitted that the civic body was dependent on outside sources for around one fourth of the total budget as sources of internal income were far from adequate.

Several councillors have demanded seeking a loan from a central government agency for financing the project.

Meanwhile, some councillors complained of bypassing the members in matters of development by the officials. They have demanded more power and funds in their respective wards. This tussle has also prevented the approval of the annual budget of around Rs 1,375 crore. The date of the next meeting is yet to be finalised, said an official.

Cause for concern
Various schemes are delayed or left incomplete as the councillors are hardly taken in confidence regarding development work in their own wards and this leads to resentment among the public.
A Woman Councillor

Jhajjar, June 3
Newly selected postgraduate teachers (PGTs) of government schools whose PG degrees from four deemed universities were under the scanner of the Education Department have a reason to cheer.

As the Education Department has finally given the green signal to these degrees, the PGTs would not soon be able to get their joining letters. The department has taken this step after getting legal opinion.

Haryana Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal said: “Legal advice has been taken about the validity of degrees issued by the deemed universities. The joining letters will soon be issued to newly selected PGTs.”

The Education Department had not issued these PGTs their joining letters, stating that the affiliation of Rajasthan Vidyapeeth University, Udaipur; IASE University, Sardarshahr, Rajasthan; Vinayaka Mission University, Tamil Nadu; and Bangalore University, from where they had secured their master's degrees were being examined.

Jhajjar, June 3
Rising incidents of looting and chain-snatching in express trains on the Delhi-Jammu route have caused panic among commuters.

A group of miscreants looted two gold chains and a mangalsutra from an employee of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) travelling on the Himgiri Express in the early hours of Monday.

B. Ravi Kumar, posted at Ranga Reddy centre (Andhra Pradesh) as a radio operator, his wife Jyoti and other relatives were on their way to Jammu from Ramgudam (Andhra Pradesh). As the train halted at Aasaudha station in Bahadurgarh, a group of youths looted two gold chains and a mangalsutra from Ravi.

The police reached the spot and launched a search operation, but the miscreants slipped away after pelting stones on the team.

This is the second such incident to have taken place in the train in the past week at the same place and at the same time. Last Wednesday night, miscreants snatched a gold chain from a woman commuter after pulling the chain near Aasaudha station. The police have failed to nab the looters in both cases.

After the first incident, the Railway Police had stepped up security arrangements on express trains and at stations at night and also launched a special campaign to nab the miscreants. The police were carrying out patrolling on the track when the second incident took place.

“Commuters are afraid after these two incidents and many of them are now hesitating in wearing gold ornaments. The Railway Police must take steps to ensure the safety and security of the commuters,” said Rajender Singh, a daily commuter.

Two incidents in a week Last Wednesday, miscreants snatched a gold chain from a woman commuter on the Himgiri Express Miscreants looted two gold chains and a mangalsutra from a CRPF employee travelling on the Himgiri Express early on Monday, again near Aasaudha station The Railway Police had stepped up security arrangements after the first incident and were patrolling the tracks when the second attack took place

Panipat, June 3
With a few months left for the Assembly polls, the State General Secretary of INLD Ex-Servicemen Cell, Subedar Pratap Singh, started a hunger strike in support of his demand to provide basic amenities at unapproved colonies located in the outskirts of Panipat city.

Pratap started the hunger strike at the Mini-Secretariat on Friday. Five members from the outer colonies accompanied him for the chain hunger strike. Several councillors also supported the demand of providing basic facilities at these colonies. The Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government had regularised 875 unauthorised colonies in the state right before the recent Lok Sabha election, but none of the 67 illegal colonies falling under Panipat rural Assembly segment were regularised.

Interestingly, only 20 illegal colonies of Panipat district falling under the two Assembly segments of Panipat City and Samalkha were among the list of 875 unauthorised colonies that were regularised. Of the 20 illegal colonies, four colonies fall under Panipat city Assembly segment, represented by Congress MLA Balbir Pal Shah, whereas the remaining 16 fall in Samalkha Assembly segment represented by HJC MLA Dharam Singh Chhokhar, who supports the Hooda government.

None of the 67 illegal colonies represented by Independent MLA Om Prakash Jain and Israna INLD MLA, Krishan Lal Panwar, also stands ignored. — TNS

Palwal, June 3
The police have arrested three persons, including a woman, for misusing helpline numbers 100 and 1091 for vulgar and indecent talk and attempt to “molest” a woman cop on duty.

The police had arrested the trio for hurling abuses and using indecent language with the woman cop handling the helpline numbers. The accused were identified as Mahender Singh, Rekha and Gaurav.

The accused hailed from Ballabgarh, Mathura and Palwal. They had been arrested after being booked under relevant sections of the IPC, said an official. — TNS

Kurukshetra, June 3
A convict escaped from police custody from outside the district jail here today.

Devender alias Neelu of Kaami village in Sonepat district was serving seven years’ imprisonment in a robbery case. He was being brought back to Kurukshetra jail after a court hearing in Kalanaur in another case when he threw chilli powder into the eyes of the policemen and escaped. He is accused of four murders and booked in 21 other cases.

DSP Satish Gautam said a search was on to nab Devender. Eyewitness said four policemen were with Devender — one of them was carrying files while the remaining three were handling him. The policemen chased Devender, but could not catch him, they said. — TNS