Yamunanagar, June 29
The Bilaspur police arrested seven out of the 11 persons accused of setting a girl on fire in Milak Khas village on Saturday night. They were today produced before the Duty Magistrate, Bilaspur, who sent the two prime accused to a two-day police remand and the others to a 14-day judicial custody.

An 18-year old girl was allegedly set on fire by a group of youths after her family objected to one of them playing loud music in the village on Friday night.

The girl suffered more than 80 per cent burns and has been undergoing treatment at the PGI, Chandigarh. The 11 youths were booked under Sections 148 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 323 (causing hurt), 452 (trespassing), 307 (attempt to murder) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.

The arrested accused are Amardeep, Gulaba, Jasvinder and Monu (from Milak Khas village), Sachin, Gaurav and Praveen (from Bilaspur town). Amardeep and Gulaba are the main accused.

Rinku, Daini, Rodda and Babbal are still at large. A search is on to nab them.

A magistrate had recorded the statement of the victim at the PGI on Friday night. 

Karnal, June 29
Kamlesh Panchal, chairperson of the Haryana State Commission for Women, paid a surprise visit to Nari Niketan on Friday night to look into the death of an inmate there who died two days ago.

She reviewed the facilities provided to the inmates at the niketan and also showed concern over cleanliness on the premises.

The women’s commission chairperson questioned inmates, who lived with Sushila (deceased) and also inquired about her health reports.

Going through her health reports, she said she was suffering from epilepsy, which resulted in her death. She was under treatment at the PGI and Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College Hospital.

She said postmortem had been conducted by a board of doctors and viscera had been sent for the chemical examination to know the actual cause of death.

Replying to a question about the capacity of Nari Niketan, where over 70 inmates live while the capacity is of only 25, the women commission’s chairperson said, “The new building is being constructed to increase the capacity.”

When mediapersons drew her attention to the non-availability of CCTV cameras, she said, “I have ordered to make sure that the CCTV cameras are in working condition.”

Case file

* Twenty-year-old Sushila, an inmate of Nari Niketan, died on June 26 under mysterious circumstances on the premises

* She was sent here after the order of the Jind magistrate on June 13, 2011

New Delhi, June 29
The Shiromani Akali Dal's (SAD) decision to field candidates in the forthcoming Haryana Assembly elections in alliance with the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) appears to have not gone down well with the BJP. The "pressurising" tactics by Akali leaders to "corner" its senior ally into accepting the INLD as an ally in Haryana has been viewed with "seriousness" by the BJP leadership.

State BJP president Ram Bilas Sharma told The Tribune that the party high command had taken a "serious note" of these "mischievous" ( in fact hanky-panky is the phrase he used when asked to react on Shiromani Akali Dal leader Prem Singh Chandumajra's statement on the issue) activities.

"The Lok Sabha results prove that people of Haryana want the BJP to form the next government. The Akali Dal has family ties with the INLD. So, they (Akali leaders) can carry on with the INLD like they did in the last Assembly elections and also in the Lok Sabha polls when despite a long-standing alliance with the BJP senior Akali leaders campaigned against our candidates in Haryana. The BJP high command has taken a serious note of it," Sharma said.

Notably, senior Akali Dal leader Prem Singh Chandumajra was quoted as saying that the Akali Dal and the INLD will fight the Haryana polls "jointly". "No doubt SAD is one of the allies of the NDA, but in Haryana we have an alliance with the INLD," he said, adding that even in the recently-held Lok Sabha elections, the Akali Dal offered support and campaigned for the INLD candidates in Haryana.

Sonepat, June 29
A police team from Dehradun, led by ASP Mamta Vohra, today raided the house of former BJP leader Pradeep Sangwan to arrest him in a case of alleged rape of a girl of Dehradun.

However, when they did not find Sangwan in his house, they confiscated some household articles. The police action was opposed by Sangwan’s mother and wife but to no avail. Both left the house in protest saying that they were going to lodge a complaint in the police.

The ASP told mediapersons that as the Supreme Court had vacated the stay over Sangwan’s arrest, the team had come to Sonepat to arrest him. “Sangwan was not present in his house, but he will be arrested soon,” she added.

She claimed that the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Dehradun, had ordered confiscation of Sangwan’s household articles after Sangwan had evaded arrest after the registration of a case against him on April 18.

The Sonepat police stated no complaint had been received from Sangwan’s mother and wife. — OC

Kirdhan (Fatehabad), June 29
Indian National Lok Dal’s head of campaign for the Sirsa Lok Sabha seat Karan Singh Chautala, who is on a tour to address public meetings, lashed out at Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Congress President Ashok Tanwar in his brief but witty speeches delivered in chaste Bagri dialect in the villages.

He was accompanied by newly elected MP from Sirsa Charanjit Singh Rori, the party’s in charge for Fatehabad and Sirsa assembly segments, former minister Subhash Goyal and a large number of supporters.

Bachelor in Business Administration from London, Karan, elder son of Ellenabad MLA Abhay Singh Chautala said, “Now, both Hooda and Tanwar are telling people that they are preparing a team of 2 lakh committed workers and they will be made partners in governance. Doesn’t it mean that they did not feel this necessary when the prestige of their leader Rahul Gandhi was at stake?”

He said infighting in the Congress during its workers’ meetings had reached at such a stage that the organisers had started tying chairs with chains so that those were not used to throw at each other by workers.

Karan does not forget to generate sympathy for his jailed grandfather and former CM Om Prakash Chautala, saying that he had been sent by “Dadaji” to express his gratitude for the people who voted for the party.

Fresh from its victory in Sirsa and Hisar parliamentary seats, the INLD is already in the poll mode for the Assembly elections due in October.

“We have already covered nearly 40 villages of Fatehabad and the village tour in this constituency will continue till tomorrow,” said Balwan Singh Daulatpuria, a strong aspirant of the INLD ticket from Fatehabad.

The party has dispatched its top leaders to all 90 Assembly segments of Haryana after making its MLA, former ministers and former MLAs as in charges for different Assembly segments with the task of thanking voters for the support given by them in the parliamentary elections and also to seek votes for the coming Assembly polls.

Bhiwani, June 29
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has announced to establish an industrial estate over the land owned by the Cement Corporation of India (CCI) in Dadri town of the district today.

Addressing a public function in the town, the Chief Minister stated that the state government had entered into an agreement with the Centre for acquisition of this land lying unutilised for many years for setting up an industrial zone. “The state government would get its possession by February, 2015”, he said adding that the project would open up large employment avenues in the region.

Responding to the demand for upgrading Dadri as a district, the chief minister promised to fulfil the demand if the party won the Dadri and Badra seats, adding that a geographical survey was under way to assess the feasibility of updrading Dadri as a district.

The chief minister said that the farmers whose landhad been attached by cooperative banks due to non-payment of loans but still had the possession could take back their land by clearing the dues. He also announced to extend the power bill waiver scheme for farmers up to December 31.

The Chief Minister said only Rs 84 crore had been spent on developmental works in the Dadri Assembly area during the tenure of the INLD-BJP Government whereas the present government has

so far spent Rs 1,063 crore. Similarly, only Rs 750 crore was spent on developmental works in Bhiwani district during the tenure of INLD-BJP Government whereas the present government had so far spent Rs 5,435 crore.

Hooda assured the people that he would bring waters from Bhakra for farmers of this area through the BML Hansi-Butana canal.

Some people have tried to halt the progress by dragging the matter to court but he hoped that the Supreme Court would pass a judgment in favour of Haryana. The capacity of the Western Yamuna Canal has been doubled to 3,000 cusecs from 1,500 cusecs so that there was no shortage of water for irrigation in the area.

Chandigarh June 29
To put a check on atrocities on the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes of the state, the government yesterday directed District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police to inspect the spot immediately in the event of any such incident.

Besides, they would also make arrangements for providing immediate relief and send a detailed report to the state government in this regard. The directions were issued during a review meeting held under the chairmanship of Sarban Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Public Health Engineering Department, who is also the nodal officer designated for ensuring compliance with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

It was decided that the police patrolling should be increased in the atrocities-affected areas and the force should also be present near girls’ schools and colleges to avoid any untoward incident.

The meeting also reviewed whether the victims of atrocities or their dependents were being provided immediate facilities like ration, clothing, financial assistance, travelling allowance, etc.... Member Secretary Amneet P Kumar apprised Sarban Singh of all the cases of atrocities in which the victims had been given immediate financial assistance.

Director General of Police (Crime) SS Deswal, Special Secretary (Home) Ramesh Krishnan and Director (Prosecution) SS Sihag were among those present at the meeting.

Chandigarh, June 29
The Haryana Health Department will begin the interview process for recruitment to 504 posts of medical officers in the HCMS-II cadre on a regular basis from July 1.

The interviews would be conducted in the office of the Director General (Health Services), Panchkula. Dr Narender Arora, Director General (Health Services), said details of the interview schedule had been uploaded on the official website www.haryanahealth.nic.in.

The state government had invited applications for these posts on June 16, 2014. These had been re-advertised after merging 100 posts in the reserved category into general category.

Kurukshetra, June 29
Members of the Haryana Karamchari Mahasangh staged a demonstration near Haryana Finance and Irrigation Minister Harmohinder Singh Chattha’s residence to press for their demands here today.

Alleging indifferent attitude, the members gathered near the new bus stand here before taking out a procession. When they reached the Chattha’s residence, the deployed police force managed to stop them at a fair distance.

Mahasangh’s representative Raj Singh Dahiya said, “We had a meeting with the state government on February 26 with our 20 demands, but no step has been taken so far to implement those demands. We fail to understand why the state government is reluctant to implement our demands.”

The protesters submitted their memorandum along with the demand letter to the Haryana FM for Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The demands include elimination of all terms and conditions from the regularisation policy, regular jobs for contractual employees, end of the contract system and privatisation and cancellation of 3,519 route permits to private bus operators.

Chattha, after receiving the demand letter, said “Their demands would be placed before the Chief Minister for consideration. He (CM) has taken care of all departments and every possible step will be taken for these people as well, as per law.”

“The minister has given assurance that he will place our demands before the Chief Minister. If the Haryana government fails to redress our demands, the mahasangh will start a massive statewide agitation,” said Dahiya.

Kaithal: Hundreds of state government employees under the banner of the Haryana Karamchari Mahasangh led by district unit president Sat Pal Ravish organised a procession in support of their demands here on Sunday. They made an attempt to gherao the Kaithal residence of PWD and Industries Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala here which was foiled by the local administration as the heavy police force deployed on the Kurukshetra road stopped the procession at a distance from the minister’s residence. Later, the employees handed over a memorandum to Surjewala.

Kosli (Rewari), June 29
Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) supremo Gopal Kanda today announced the first ticket of his party for the coming Assembly elections. He named Vijay Yadav as the party candidate from the Kosli Assembly constituency in Rewari.

Addressing a meeting here, Kanda said south Haryana would get development projects on priority after the HLP comes to power in the state.

Accusing Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda of neglecting south Haryana, Kanda said his party would ensure equitable development of the entire state, but south Haryana would draw his attention ahead of the other areas due to its backwardness.

“Governments after governments have cheated people of south Haryana in the name of development. Those who claim Haryana as number one state in the country should come to Kosli to see the real picture,” Kanda said.

He said Haryana was not number one in development but it was surely number one in corruption, unemployment and crimes.

The HLP leader alleged that the electricity being produced at Jhajjar was being supplied to Delhi.

Describing Vijay Yadav as an ideal candidate, Kanda said his election to the Assembly would set in the process of development activities in Kosli.

Kanda announced to open gymnasiums for youth in 10 villages, stitching training centres in 10n other villages and computer centres in 10 yet other villages of Kosli from his own funds.

Jai Singh Bishnoi, vice-president of the party, Ashok Buwaniwala, former MLA, Jai Singh Balmiki, Umesh Sharma and several others leaders were present on the occasion.

A differently abled girl, Deepika, got a new lease of life after coming to the rally. Kanda announced to bear her medical expenses and also provide her artificial limbs.

Karnal, June 29
To avoid flooded irrigation, the Agriculture Department of Karnal has set a target of 4,000-acre for demonstration plots of direct sowing of rice (DSR) in the district.

Pawan Sharma, Deputy Director Agriculture (DDA), said they had achieved the target of around 3,000-acre and remaining would be achieved within specific time. “Normal paddy requires more water and needs stagnant water, but the DSR technique requires very less water.

In DSR, rice is sown directly through seeds, like it is done for wheat or any other crop rather than the traditional style of preparing the nursery first and then transplanting the paddy,” he said.

Highlighting the scheme, Sharma said, “The Agriculture Department is giving inputs worth Rs 3,000 per acre for demonstration plots. This includes seeds and pesticides.” He claimed the department had set a target of 1,65,000-hectares in Karnal under paddy cultivation this season.

“To divert farmers from paddy, the department is encouraging them to cultivate maize with inputs of worth Rs 1,800,” he added.

Easy on water

* Normal paddy requires more water and stagnant water, unlike the direct sowing technique

* In this technique, rice is sown directly through seeds, just like it is done for wheat or any other crop

* In the traditional method, saplings are first grown in the nursery and then transplanted.

Sonepat, June 29
This year, June has left farmers and the Agriculture Department in the district worried as the average rainfall during the month has been recorded at 1 mm and it is the lowest as compared to the rainfall of the same month in the past five years.

The department had set the target of paddy plantation on 86,000 hectares and sowing of other kharif crops on 10,000 hectares.

Agriculture scientists say though farmers have taken up the sowing of other crops like bajra, jowar, mustard and pulses, the prevailing dry spell has delayed the paddy plantation. “Paddy growers have the option of late varieties which require less water,” said Agriculture Development Officer Devender Kuhar.

Farmers Raj Singh of Nandnaur and Balwan Chikara of Juan village said though the farmers had started paddy plantation in some low-lying areas, it was proving very costly because diesel pumping sets were being used to meet the increased demand of irrigation of the planted fields.

Fatehabad, June 29
A one-and-a-half-year-old girl was found abandoned at the Fatehabad bus stand on Friday night. The driver of the last bus that arrived Fatehabad noticed the child sitting alone on the bus stand and informed the police.

The police tried to inquire about the girl from those at the bus stand and then shifted her to the Fatehabad General Hospital, as she was ill.

Inquiries from the nearby police stations revealed that no missing report had been registered anywhere. “She is suffering from sub-acute intestinal obstruction. We have put her on medication and intravenous drips,” said Dr Manav Sethi. — TNS

Sonepat, June 29
Following reports of alleged irregularities in registration of land in tehsil offices at Gannaur and Rai, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Samir Pal Srow has withdrawn the registration powers of Naib Tehsildar, Rai, MS Bindra and Naib Tehsildar, Gannaur, Jaiveer.

The action was taken by the DC on receiving the inquiry reports of tehsildar, Sonepat and tehsildar, Gannaur about the complaints of illegal and irregular registration of lands in these two tehsil offices.

The land registration power of the Naib Tehsildar, Gannaur, had been given to Naib Tehsildar, Sonepat, Ravinder Malik and of Naib Tehsildar, Rai, to tehsildar, Sonepat, for the time being. The CM’s flying squad also conducted inquiry in Rai sub-tehsil office two days ago into the complaints of irregularities in land registration cases. —OC

Chandigarh, June 29
The Haryana Technical Education Department has provided a relaxation of up to 10 per cent in cut-off percentage for wards of Kashmiri migrants seeking admission to technical courses. It has waived their domicile requirements as well.

A spokesman said the department had made the provision of reservation of seats in each branch in all technical courses of universities or institutes except BArch for wards of Kashmiri migrants. The State Technical Education Society under the department had extended the last date for inviting applications from wards of Kashmiri migrants for admission to BE, BTech, MBA and MCA courses up to June 30.

The last date for admission to BE or BTech lateral entry courses for Kashmiri migrants had been extended up to July 31. — TNS

Kurukshetra, June 29
Kurukshetra University today conducted the UGC NET exam at 40 centres in the city. As many as 9,693 students appeared for the test. Besides 12 observers appointed by the UGC, the university had engaged four senior deans and professors as observers.

The university had also appointed 630 invigilators and 250 supporting staff for the test.

Jind, June 29
Congress stalwart and Rajya Sabha MP Chaudhary Birender Singh today accused Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda of discriminating with many areas of the state. In a major embarrassment to the Haryana Congress, Chaudhary alleged high-level corruption in almost all the recruitments, from the posts of peon to senior officer.

“I have figures and other details to prove that more than seven districts of the state have not received proper attention of the state government and have faced regional discrimination from Hooda, who is only interested in the development of a few districts due to his narrow outlook,” alleged Birender Singh. He was addressing his supporters in an “Equal development rally” at the Narwana cotton market today.

He alleged that Hooda was working as the Chief Minister of only Rohtak and not the whole of the Haryana. He dared Hooda for an open debate and questioned why all major projects had gone only to Rohtak constituency.

The arrangements and banners of the rally hinted towards a strong resentment against the Congress among Birender and his supporters as banners had photos of only Birender from the Congress and party flags too also missing. Moreover, in most of the banners, Birender Singh was addressed as “Rajya Sabha MP” without the name of the party.

Some local Congress leaders said Birender was assessing the mood of his supporters and that before making any decision, he was likely to address more such rallies in the coming days.

“If I get your support in the coming elections, I will set everything right and secure justice for all. I will end the prevailing “corruption rule” immediately after coming to power,” said the MP. He did not elaborate on his future plans but hinted that he would take an appropriate decision at an appropriate time in the coming days.

“Haryana’s Sikhs have a right to have a separate Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, but our Chief Minister has been delaying it without giving any reasons. He promised it many years back but there is no progress over the issue,” he said. 

Rewari, June 29
Around 100 activists of the Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM) were taken into police custody when they were proceeding to gherao the residence of state Power Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav at Model Town in Rewari today.

The activists, who were demanding the resignation of Capt Yadav for his alleged failure in ensuring adequate power and water supply and in improving the condition of roads in the city, were freed after some hours.

Earlier, the activists led by Satyadev Yadav assembled at Brass Market this morning and took out a protest march. The protesters raised slogans against Capt Yadav and the state government.

Though the protesters wanted to gherao Capt Yadav’s house, the police force deputed near his residence foiled their plan. They were taken into custody when they tried to clash with the policemen.

Earlier, Satyadev while addressing the protesters said Capt Ajay Yadav had made no effort to develop the city despite being in power for the past nine years.

“We had served an ultimatum to Capt Yadav for improving roads and the supply of power and water in the city by submitting a memorandum to the district authorities on June 10. However, he did not pay any heed to it, forcing us to hold a demonstration,” he said.

Karnal, June 29
The Aggarwal Vaish Samaj today urged the Central government to provide reservation to all on the basis of economic conditions.

Addressing the Aggarwal Vaish Mahasammelan here today, CONFED Chairman and Haryana Pradesh Vyapar Mandal president Bajrang Das Garg said members of the community would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in this regard.

Expressing his concern over reservation, Garg said; “Due to reservation, sometimes deserving candidates do not get proper opportunities.”

Garg said to attract industries to Haryana, concessions should be provided to them on the pattern Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

He said, “There are nearly 15 per cent tax and other duties on the industry in Haryana. Due to this, industrialists are forced to leave the state and this should be waived off.” He said traders would meet Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in this regard.

On giving loan to industrialists at the rate 4 per cent, he said the Central government should formulate better policies for the benefit of the traders.

He said the community was the backbone of the industry and traders belonging to community contribute around 70 per cent of the total 
taxes, excise duties and market fees.

Karnal Senior Deputy Mayor Krishan Garg urged the community members to be part of an international convention to held on July 13 at Talkatora Stadium in Delhi.

Yamunanagar, June 29
Thousands of technical diploma seats are set to stay vacant this year with the state Technical Education Department making the diploma entrance test (DET) compulsory for admission to diploma courses in polytechnics.

The department has made DET compulsory for admission for 75 per cent seats of private polytechnics for the academic season 2014-15. This year, the managements of the polytechnics can fill up to only 25 per cent seats of management quota without DET.

However, students had been getting admission in polytechnics without DET even against 75 per cent seats in the past.

Sources said there were about 60,000 seats available in 204 polytechnics in the state. However, only 37,000 students have appeared for DET held in June 22 this year. Over 15 per cent students, who appeared for the DET, didn’t take admission due to a number of reasons every year, they said.

The managements of most polytechnics run from pillar to post to fill up the seats of their institutions every year. Besides Haryana, they have to find students from Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal and Nepal, the sources added.

The DET was not compulsory for admission last year. Managements had been able to fill up only 42,000 seats against the total 60,000 seats.

“With the compulsion of DET for admission, it is difficult for private polytechnics to survive. Therefore, the government should withdraw the condition of DET for admission,” said Nirmaljit Singh, principal of a private polytechnic.

Sources said members of managements of several polytechnics had met senior officials of the department demanding withdrawal of the condition of DET for admission, but they had got no respite yet.

“The DET for admission is to be decided by the government. We can’t say anything regarding the matter,” said KK Dhiman, joint director, technical Education Department, Haryana.

Sirsa, June 29
The police have arrested eight persons, including three women, for allegedly blackmailing men by threatening to register rape cases against them. A police team led by Dabwali SHO Suresh Pal arrested the accused today.

Surender Kumar, a shopkeeper from Ganga village, informed the police that a gang was blackmailing him.

He alleged that the gang members had already extorted Rs 11,000 from him by threatening to make his CD with a woman public and were demanding Rs 90,000 more.

Pal said the gang had admitted to have extracted Rs 80,000 from a man in Kalanwali, Rs 1 lakh from Desujodha, Rs 1 lakh from Sangaria and many more.

The accused have been identified as Kesham, Kalu Ram, Mander Singh, Joginder, Billu, Harvinder Kaur, Chinderpal and Amarjit Kaur.

The SHO said as per the modus operandi, the women members used to entice a man and then made physical relations with him. During this, they used to film the act. Later, the gang used to blackmail the man by threatening to make his CD public or with the threat of lodging an FIR of rape against him. — TNS

Sirsa, June 29
A 19-year-old Dalit girl was gang-raped by two persons at Chadiwala village of Sirsa. The police have arrested Shankar Sharma and Prithvi, both residents of Chadiwala village, in this case.

In her complaint to the police, the victim, a class XII student of the village school, alleged that the two accused came to her house on June 12 and told her that her mother was seriously ill and was calling her to the hospital.

She alleged that the two took her to a secluded place on their motorcycle.

She said she sensed danger and tried to run away. However, the two youths caught her and committed the crime.

When she tried to raise the alarm, they gagged her and threatened her of dire consequences.

She somehow reached home and narrated the incident to her family.

The police registered an FIR and took the girl for a medical examination.

Minors allege rape

Panipat: Two minors have allegedly been raped in Panipat district. One of them was allegedly raped by her brother and uncle in Jorasi Khas village. An 11-year-old girl reported that her 18-year-old brother raped her on June 13 and threatened her to kill her if she spoke to anyone about the incident.

The girl alleged that her 20-year-old uncle had raped her two years ago when she was a student of class IV. In another incident, a 15-year-old Nepalese girl alleged that Sujit of Khadi Ashram raped her on June 25. — TNS

Advocate booked on rape charge

Yamunanagar: The police have registered a case against an advocate for allegedly raping a woman in his Jagadhri court complex chamber. In her complaint to the police, the victim alleged that advocate Sumer Chand called her and her husband to his chamber to discuss a case on Sunday. She said when they went to the chamber, the advocate sent her husband out on the pretext of getting photocopies done of some documents. She alleged that the accused bolted the door of the chamber from inside and raped her. Jagadhri SHO Suresh Pal said a rape case had been registered against the advocate. — OC