Kurukshetra July 4
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Avtar Singh Makkar today lashed out at Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for interfering in the religious matters of Sikhs.

“Hooda is trying to save his sinking ship by wooing the Sikh community,” he said while addressing a gathering here.

Makkar came down heavily at the Congress: “The Congress has always divided the Sikhs on the issue of religion. It has always shown its anti-Sikh face whether at the time of Operation Bluestar or any other struggle in which Sikhs sacrificed their lives,” the SGPC chief said, adding that the Sikh community would not tolerate the injustice and fight till the end. “The Haryana Congress government will pay a huge price for it.”

In a veiled attack the two factions of the HSGPC (ad hoc) led by Jagdish Singh Jhinda and Didar Singh Nalvi, he said: “Some people have become puppets of the Congress. They must apologise to Akal Takth for their actions.”

He further said that, “The July 6 function is actually a Congress rally and not a Sikh Sammelan.”

Rajya Sabha member Balwinder Singh Bhunder said: “The SGPC came into existence after sacrifices made by the Sikhs during the British rule. I don’t know why the Congress is interfering in affairs of the Sikhs again and again.”

While Makkar and Bhunder left after addressing the gathering, SGPC supporters led by senior vice-president Raghujit Singh Virk took out a protest march and raised slogans against the state government, Jhinda and Nalvi.

The protesters submitted a memorandum, addressed to the Governor and the Union Home Minister, to Kurukshetra Deputy Commissioner Nikhil Gajraj, demanding to scuttle the move of setting up the HSGPC.

“The state government is trying to weaken the SGPC. And this will not be tolerated at any cost,” Virk said.

Chandigarh, July 4
The BJP today opposed the move of the Hooda government to form the Haryana Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (HSGPC), terming it an “interference in the religious affairs of the Sikhs”.

“It is a political stunt by the Hooda government ahead of the Assembly elections and a blatant attempt to divide the Sikhs of Punjab and Haryana,” Ram Bilas Sharma, state BJP president said here.

Leader of the BJP Legislative Party in Vidhan Sabha Anil Vij termed the move “illegal” as the Vidhan Sabha was not competent to amend the Gurdwara Act passed by Parliament.

Sharma said the chief ministers and minister of six BJP-ruled states, and Union ministers would campaign in Haryana ahead of the Assembly elections.

Meanwhile, several leaders from other political parties joined the BJP. These included Bharat Singh Chhokar, former MLA and HJC leader; Neelam Bhagwaria, daughter of former minister Shakuntla Bhagwaria; Randhir Saini, brother of INLD’s Lok Sabha candidate from Kurukshetra Balbir Saini; Sudhir Godara, grandson of former Haryana minister Mani Ram Godara; and Rajeev Sharma, former IAS officer.

New Delhi, July 4
The Supreme Court today directed the Haryana government to immediately crack down on all illegal mining activities allegedly going on in the Aravalli Hills region despite the ban imposed by the court.

A Bench comprising Justices FMI Kalifulla and AK Sikri also asked the state government to file an action taken report (ATR) within two weeks.

The Bench passed the order on a fresh petition filed by the Bandhua Mukti Morcha, an NGO, contending that large-scale illegal mining was on the region, affecting the sensitive ecological balance and causing huge revenue losses to the government.

The SC issued notice to the state on the petition despite the fact that neither the NGO’s representative nor its advocate was present in the court when the case came up for hearing.

However, senior advocate ADN Rao, a member of the SC-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC), was present in the court to appear in some other case. The Bench told Rao to have an inspection conducted by the CEC and submit a status report. To enable this, the court made the CEC as a respondent in the case.

The judges noted that the petitioner had submitted several photographs in support of its contention. The NGO had also produced several SC orders on the imposition of the ban.

“You inspect and give a report and also ensure that no illegal mining takes place. Otherwise, we will initiate contempt proceedings. The allegations are grave and photographs are attached,” the Bench told Rao.

If the mining was legal, at least the state would be getting royalty which was being denied by the unscrupulous persons involved in the illegal activities, the Bench remarked.

The SC said the CEC and the state government should also ensure the closure of all quarrying and crushing related to illegal mining.

The SC said the petition would be placed before its Forest Bench for the next hearing as the matter involved environmental issues. Justice Sikri is a part of the Forest Bench.

New Delhi, July 4
Majority of Congress leaders from Haryana cited projection of a united face as the topmost solution to party’s woes in the poll-bound state, when they met the AK Antony group today to discuss causes behind the recent rout in the Lok Sabha elections.

Infighting was something most leaders cited as a major state-level factor that harmed the party on the eve of Lok Sabha polls and was a potential threat again on the eve of Assembly elections.

Congress general secretary in charge of Haryana Shakeel Ahmed, state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar, Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Congress Working Committee member from Haryana and Hooda’s arch rival Birender Singh among others met the four-member Antony group one-on-one for around three hours today to give their feedback on losses.

Haryana CM is learnt to have pinned the blame of rout on the pan India Narendra Modi wave. Later Hooda told The Tribune, “There was a uniform pattern across the country and that pattern was visible in Haryana as much as anywhere else. No single leader can be blamed for what happened. The future of Congress is strong and we must all fight together.”

Hooda, whom his rival and Rajya Sabha MP Kumari Selja earlier questioned for why his son Deepender was the only Congress candidate to win from Haryana, today cleared the air around the issue saying Rohtak was a Hooda family stronghold and Deepender’s victory was part of a continuing tradition.

“My father, myself and Deepender have contested 10 Lok Sabha elections from Rohtak and won nine. The only time I lost was in 1999 when due to the Kargil war impact, the Congress failed to win a single seat in several northern states. Deepender’s win from Rohtak was natural,” Hooda said.

While Selja didn’t attend the meeting being out of India, Birender took the familiar anti-Hooda line before Antony blaming the CM for the loss and seeking new leadership as a solution. “Leadership in Haryana must change if we have to do well in elections,” Birender said. Interestingly, there was a time today when Hooda and Birender (while waiting to meet AK Antony) were alone in a room for quite a while, it is learnt.

Central Congress leadership on its part has conveyed to Antony that infighting was the biggest impediment in Congress’ poll prospects in the state and it must stop. Capt Ajay Yadav, Haryana minister also called for a united face. Among anti Hooda speakers besides Birender was Avtar Bhadana who lost from Faridabad. He submitted a representation to the Antony group alleging that Hooda was patronizing mining mafia in Faridabad.

Shakeel Ahmed meanwhile is learnt to have mentioned the pro BJP wave across India as a major national factor behind Haryana losses and infighting as a major local factor for loss. He also cited weaknesses in Congress’ campaign and candidate selection processes as reasons for party’s poor showing.

The following met the group – Congress secretary in charge of Haryana Asha Kumari; state leaders Kiran Choudhry and Aftab Ahmed; defeated candidates Jagbir Malik from, Rao Dharampal and Naveen Jindal and Deepender, the sole winner from the state.

Rewari, July 4
Union Minister for Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh has blamed the previous central government for pushing farmers on the path of devastation by not framing any policy for the development of the agriculture sector.

He was talking to the media after inaugurating a statue of Motibhai Chaudhary, founder chairman of Dudhsagar Dairy at Dharuhera in this district yesterday.

“The UPA Government and the Hooda government in Haryana are responsible for the plight of farmers who are struggling to eke out a living,” Singh said, adding that both governments did not take a single step to bail farmers out of the crisis. He said farmers in the state were neither getting good minimum support price (MSP) for their crops nor subsidy on fertilisers and seeds. “Natural calamities add to their woes.”

Singh said in the past decade, several land scams came to light in the state. “The Hooda government has swindled farmers by acquiring their land in the name of development,” the minister said.

“The Centre is mindful of farmers’ concerns. The NDA Government will realise the dream of making farmers and the poor prosperous,” he said.

Chandigarh, July 4
With chances of rapprochement remote, the BJP and the HJC are set to part ways ahead of the Assembly elections in Haryana.

The simmering rift between the two alliance partners came to the fore again today with the BJP poaching on former Haryana MLA and senior HJC member Bharat Singh Chokkar, a development which portends ill for the continuation of the alliance in the Assembly elections.

Though state BJP president Ram Bilas Sharma claimed that the Central Parliamentary Board would take the final call on the alliance in ‘a few days’, Anil Vij, Leader of the BJP Legislature Party in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, was more vocal on the issue.

“There seems a remote possibility of the continuation of the alliance and an announcement by the party high command was expected soon to put an end to speculation (of continuation of alliance),” Vij asserted. The trigger for the souring of ties was provided by the dismal performance of the HJC in the recent Lok Sabha elections with even its president, Kuldeep Bishnoi, failing to retain his Hisar seat. On the other hand, the BJP won seven of the 10 seats in Haryana, leading to a chorus for revisiting the alliance.

With the BJP leading in 52 Assembly segments in the Lok Sabha elections, a section of the party was of the opinion that it was the best time for the party to come out of the shadow of other parties and contest the elections alone to cash in on the ‘Modi wave’ which would last at least till the Assembly elections.

In the event of the continuation of the alliance, this section had demanded a lion’s share of the Assembly seats for the BJP. In the earlier arrangement, the BJP and the HJC were to contest 45 seats each with Bishnoi becoming the Chief Minister for the first two-and-a-half years in the event of the alliance coming into power.

Not to be left behind, the HJC has virtually sounded the poll bugle with its senior leaders even going to the extent of saying that they would left with no alternative than to field candidates on all 90 seats if the BJP breaks the alliance with the party.

BJP-HJC alliance facing rough weather BJP’s impressive, HJC’s dismal show in LS polls trigger for the souring of ties BJP central leadership to take final call on alliance in ‘a few days’ An influential BJP section bats for fighting poll to cash in on ‘Modi wave’ BJP, HJC leadership publicly acknowledge that all is not well with alliance

Sirsa, July 4
A fake ID of Haryana minister Kiran Choudhry has been created on social-networking site Facebook. In the ID, Choudhry has been shown as former Excise and Taxation Minister, Haryana, and her surname has been written as Choudhary instead of Choudhry.

On being contacted, Choudhry confirmed that she had never created any ID on Facebook.

“Neither I nor anyone from my family has created my ID on FB. I have not even authorised anyone to create my ID. I consider it a waste of time as one has to sit for hours chatting with people. I rather like to utilise that time by concentrating on my work,” Kiran said. She said she might take legal action against the person who had created the fake ID.

Having joined Facebook on June 30, the minister’s fake ID has 34 friends, many of them veteran journalists and small-time politicians. Several friends have even posted their thanks to the “minister” for having accepted their friend request. Till Thursday, the ID carried her picture taken from some function, but on the same night, it was replaced by the picture of Congress party’s election symbol hand. The fake ID has liked 42 pages.

Rohtak, July 4
Prof SS Sangwan, Vice-Chancellor of Rohtak-based Pt Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences (UHS), submitted his resignation to the Governor and the Health Secretary today.

Addressing a news conference here today, Dr Sangwan said he had relinquished charge due to personal reasons and requested the authorities concerned to relieve him at the earliest or as soon as a new incumbent took over the UHS reins.

Dr Sangwan’s term as Vice-Chancellor was going to end in December. Though he parried direct questions on his plan to contest the forthcoming Assembly elections, he conceded that he would remain committed to social service.

An MS and DNB in orthopaedics, Dr Sangwan has also served as the Dean, Director and Medical Superintendent at the local PGIMS and is regarded as a renowned orthopedic surgeon of the region.

Professor Sangwan, who has also headed the orthopaedic surgery department of the PGIMS for several years, has developed several innovative surgical techniques, besides designing new tools and modifying the existing ones.

The acclaimed orthopaedician has also carried out several limb-salvage surgeries on patients of bone tumour, using advanced techniques like rotation-plasty and mega-prosthesis. By using these methods, the height of a patient is preserved and mobility maintained even after the amputation of lower limbs.

Dr Sangwan has received several national and international honours and awards for his innovative efforts. These include the prestigious Dr B.C.Roy National Award, SIROT/SILOT World Congress Award, the Commonwealth Fellowship, UK, and Dr C.L. Sahni Award by the IMA College of General Practitioners. He has more than 200 research publications and 105 scientific presentations to his credit.

Eye on elections Prof SS Sangwan said he relinquished the charge due to personal reasons and requested the authorities concerned to relieve him at the earliest or as soon as a new incumbent took over the reins His term as the V-C was going to end in December Though he parried direct questions on his plan to contest the forthcoming Assembly elections, he conceded that he would remain committed to social service

New Delhi, July 4
The Supreme Court has asked the Haryana government to file a fresh status report on the rehabilitation of victims of the anti-Dalit violence in Mirchpur village in Hisar district on April 21, 2010.

A Bench comprising Justices SJ Mukhopadhaya and Ranjan Gogoi posted the PIL on the issue for final hearing on August 26.

Appearing for the PIL petitioner, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves pleaded for an early decision on the victims’ plea as more than 150 affected families have been living outside their village for more than four years since the violence.

Gonsalves sought permission to file a report on the plight of the victims and as the Bench granted the plea, Additional Advocate-General Manjit Singh Dalal said the petitioner should give an advance copy to the state so that the government would be ready with its response at the next hearing.

At this, the Bench said: “In fact, you should file a status report. Since it is public interest, you are supposed to look into the matter.”

Incidentally, the state has already filed three status reports. The government said it had provided a compensation of about Rs 25 lakh to the family, which had lost a 70-year-old man (Tara Chand) and his 18-year-old disabled daughter in the arson, and regular government jobs to all his three sons.

Further, the state government had given work under the employment guarantee scheme to the150 families and free foodgrains to them as directed by the SC. Their damaged houses had been repaired and adequate security was in place in the village to prevent recurrence of any violence.

The state has, however, rejected the victims’ plea for their rehabilitation outside the village.

“As a matter of principle, we are opposed to re-locating them outside Mirchpur as this would amount to dividing society on caste lines,” it had contended.

In October 2011, a Delhi court convicted 15 persons for attacking the Dalits and sentenced three of them to life term and five to imprisonment for varying periods, the maximum being five years. The convicts have challenged the verdict in the Delhi High Court.

Hisar, July 4
National Commission for Scheduled Caste (NCSC) member, Ishwar Singh, will visit Bhagana village on Saturday, after the state government failed to give the names of three senior officers to set up a special investigation team (SIT) for fresh probe into the alleged abduction of four Dalits girls, two of whom were raped.

Singh said the pending issues related to Dalits in Bhagana and other villages of Hisar were not only adding to the agonies of the victims, but was also bringing a bad name to the state.

“It’s shocking that the Dalits have been agitating for two years. It is difficult to leave one’s house even for two days, but they are out for two years. They have their issues and problems which need to be heard and sorted out. I met them recently to know the root cause of their agitation and also questioned whether any political elements are egging them on to embarrass the government,” Ishwar said, adding that the Dalits asked for a fresh probe into the recent incidents.

“I decided to reinvestigate the entire incidents which had led to a confrontation between the communities and had asked the state government to provide names of three senior government officers. I have sent a reminder to the Haryana Chief Secretary about the SIT, but am yet to get any response,” he said.

Ambala, July 4
The district child protection officer and city magistrate raided a bakery at Ambala City today and rescued 15 migrant child labourers who were illegally engaged there.

According to information, Deputy Commissioner Saket Kumar had got a tip off that around a dozen child labourers were working at Mohan Bakery located close to the railway road in Ambala City.

He directed District Child Protection Officer Megha Singla to raid the bakery. A team of child protection officer led by City Magistrate Minakshi Dahia conducted the raid.

Singla said the bakery owner locked the child labourers in two separate rooms when the team reached so that they could not be traced. During the search, nearly 15 children were found. They were engaged for making bakery items.

The rescued children, mostly belonging to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, were taken to CTM office, where their statements were recorded.

The DC said efforts were on to contact their family. He said employing children below 14 years of age was an offence and the guilty would be penalised. 

Chandigarh, June 4
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today made it clear that it was in favour of appointing an arbitrator in Gurgaon ad-revenue controversy case.

Reserving orders in the case, Justice Rajive Bhalla also asked Gurgaon Municipal Commissioner Dr Parveen Kumar and Advert Communication Pvt Limited to come out with a list of arbitrators for putting the dispute to an end through an arbitrator.

Justice Bhalla was of the opinion that the search of parties could narrow down to a retired HC judge settled in Delhi, so as to save the parties from the trouble of traveling away from Gurgaon for arbitration.

Justice Bhalla also made it clear that he was in favour of the parties coming out with names and arbitrator mutually agreed upon by both parties would be acceptable to the court.

For the purpose, Justice Bhalla fixed Monday as the next date of hearing in the matter. Among others, former chief justices Justice Arun B Saharaya and Justice Mukul Mudgal are settled in Delhi.

The order by Justice Bhalla came on a petition filed by Advert Communication Pvt Limited and another petitioner after hearing at length Gurgaon Municipal Commissioner Parveen Kumar.

The controversy hovers around payment for the installation of advertisements on unipoles.

The petitioners had challenged the issuance of a notice of demand calling upon them to discharge their contractual liability regarding 72 unipoles admittedly allotted to them by way of separate contracts.

Kumar had asserted that the advertisements were installed on unipoles in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contracts. Hence, the petitioners were required to discharge their liability.

The counsel for petitioners, on the other hand, submitted that 63 unipoles were not installed on the same date, but from time-to-time depending upon the availability of the site and the demarcation thereof.

The counsel further submitted that while issuing the demand notice, the corporation has not considered sites removed were never relocated or re-allotted. If relocated or re-allotted, the dates were not correctly considered.

The High Court, on a previous date of hearing, had directed the companies to pay initial ad money of Rs 7 crore to the Gurgaon Municipal Corporation. The agencies were also directed to come out with enforceable guarantees or collateral security for the remaining amount of approximately Rs 16 crore.

Appearing before Justice Bhalla, Kumar asserted their initial claim was of Rs 39 crore, but had reduced the amount to Rs 23 crore. Seeking court intervention, Kumar argued that one of the companies had exchanged hands at least thrice and under the circumstances it would be extremely tough for the MC to get back the ad money.

Chandigarh: Just two months after the Haryana Government communicated its decision against showing the door to 350 constables recruited in the Government Railway Police (GRP), the Punjab and Haryana High Court today asked the state to issue notice to the serving candidates asking them to show cause why their service be not terminated. The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Ajay Tewari also fixed August 18 as the next date of hearing and directed that the notice be served 15 days prior to it. The recruitment of constables in GRP and Haryana Armed Police was carried out in 2003-04 during former Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala's regime. Taking a serious view of the state's stand, the High Court, on the previous date of hearing, had made it clear that it was going ahead with the case and had called for the list of the selected candidates, along with complete particulars, for enabling the issuance of notices. The state had earlier submitted an affidavit stating: "The state government has decided that it will not be appropriate to dispense with the services." Giving reasons, Additional Chief Secretary PK Gupta asserted the original record was unavailable. In its absence, it could not be specifically ascertained who all were selected on merit. Gupta added that the selected candidates had put in more than 10 years of service, had gathered experience and there was nothing adverse against them. Besides, the state had incurred heavy expenses on their training. Referring to the CBI report in the matter, he said the deputy superintendent-cum-selection board members did not discharge their duties towards ensuring fair selection and instead fabricated the record to accommodate candidates. He said a perusal of the CBI report and the record supplied made it clear that the original record was destroyed as soon as the High Court ordered CBI investigation. Taking a note of the assertions, the bench observed: "The matter is serious in nature in view of the completely tainted process of selection and the refusal of the state government to scrap that process allegedly on the ground that it is not possible to distinguish between the candidates who come through a tainted process and who are selected on merits."— TNS

Fatehabad, July 4
Anganwadi workers and helpers today held a demonstration and submitted a memorandum addressed to the Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi through the authorities, demanding regularisation of their services and better service conditions.

Led by Maya Punia, district president of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union and Ramesh Jandli, district secretary of the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), assembled at the local Patwar Bhawan and marched towards the Mini-Secretariat where they submitted their memorandum to ADC Ashok Kumar Garg.

Addressing the agitating workers, Maya Punia said over 27 lakh Anganwadi workers and helpers were providing their services at nearly 14 lakh Anganwadi centres and mini-centres.

She said that since 1975, when the centres were first opened, Anganwadi workers and helpers had been playing an important role providing nutritious diet to children.

She said that despite this all, the government was yet to recognise Anganwadi workers and helpers as their full time employees and were denied even the minimum wages being given to government employees in schools.

Anganwadi leaders Dayawanti, Gurwant Kaur, Vijay Laxmi and Krishna said the workers and helpers should be recognised as class 3 and 4 respectively. Anganwadi workers have also demanded promotion to the posts of supervisors, 10% increment in their salary every year, and an end to corruption in the Integrated Child Development Scheme.

Kaithal, July 4
A team of Vigilance Bureau caught the SDO and JE of the Irrigation Department red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 here today.

Inspector Tejinder of SVB, Kaithal, told mediapersons that Surinder, a contractor of Kolekhan village, undertook the construction work of water channels in CADA. He was to take a payment of Rs 1 lakh from the department.

He said he pursued SDO Baljeet Singh and JE Balwant Singh to clear his bills, for which they demanded Rs 5,000 from him.

The aggrieved contractor reported the matter to the Deputy Commissioner, following which he referred the matter to the State Vigilance Bureau.

The VB staff along with Duty Magistrate Ram Chander and naib tehsildar laid a trap. The contractor offered Rs 5,000 to the SDO, who reportedly asked him to handover the cash to the JE. The vigilance team caught both the SDO and JE and arrested them under the Prevention of Corruption Act. — TNS

Chandigarh, July 4
Health Minister Rao Narender Singh said 14 sentinel surveillance hospitals had been set up in the state for treatment of dengue, chikungunya and japanese encephalitis patients and separate wards were being kept for dengue patients in district hospitals.

Rao Narender Singh gave this information at a meeting organised under the chairmanship of Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan in New Delhi to review the status of dengue and malaria in NCR states, including Delhi, UP, Haryana and Rajasthan.

He apprised the Union Minister that platelets separation machines had been made available in the PGIMS, Rohtak and the General Hospitals in Karnal, Faridabad and Yamunanagar.

Rao Narender Singh said that platelets were provided to dengue patients in government hospitals as per norms of the state government. Apart from this, Private Blood Banks have been directed to provide platelets to dengue pati-ents at prescribed rates.

He said that a provision of reimbursement has been made for dengue patients belonging to BPL category admitted to government hospitals to purchase platelets from private blood banks. Rao Narender Singh said a decline of 46 per cent had been noticed in cases of malaria in the state during 2013 as compared to 2012. He said 1,770 cases of dengue were found during 2013 as against 768 in 2012. Only three cases of dengue were registered till June this year.

Yamunanagar, July 4
In a case where 17-year-old Tanuja was set on fire, the Bilaspur police have produced three accused: Rinku, Danny and Rodda in court on Thursday.

The court remanded them to judicial custody. Tanuja was allegedly set on fire after her family objected to one of the accused playing loud music outside their house in Milak Khas village, last Friday.

The girl suffered more than 80% burns and is undergoing treatment at the PGI, Chandigarh. The main accused, Amardeep, accepted during police interrogation that he resorted to this extreme step after the girl rejected his love proposal.

Now, all 11 accused involved in the case including Amardeep, Gulaba, Jasvinder, Monu, Sachin alias Kalu, Gaurav, Praveen alias Bunty, Babbal, Rinku, Danny and Rodda, are lodged in the district jail at Jagadhri.

The police also recovered the mobile phone of the main accused, Amardeep, a motorcycle, a can used to carry kerosene and sticks for the crime. SHO, Bilaspur, Subhash Chander said all 11 accused had been arrested and now they were behind bars at the district Jail. — OC

Sirsa, July 4
The Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) will announce its first list of candidates for the coming Assembly elections this week and launch its campaign soon after by organising a state-level rally.

“Some like-minded parties that want to dislodge the Congress from power are in touch with me. But in view of the overwhelming response to the HLP, I may not go for an alliance with any political party,” HLP president Gopal Kanda said here today.

He said in two months of the party coming into being (it was formed on May 2), its membership had touched the 8-lakh mark. “Youth is joining my party in large numbers and I am confident that they will steer the HLP party to power in the Assembly elections,” he said. Kanda said if the HLP attained power, it would end corruption, improve law and order situation and provide jobs to the unemployed. — TNS

Faridabad, July 4
The Faridabad Industries Association (FIA) on Tuesday slammed the levying of fuel surcharge (FSA) by the Power Department as illegal and said withholding its revision had not brought relief to the industry.

In a statement here on Wednesday, an association spokesperson said as per multi-year tariff regulations, fuel surcharge is to be recovered for the previous quarter only in the following quarter and power utilities cannot recover dues thereafter pertaining to the previous quarter.

The association has filed a writ petition in the high court against the illegal recovery of fuel surcharge by the power utilities.

Accusing power utilities of gross violation of regulations, he said power utilities were levying fuel surcharge at the rate of 35 paisa, which was initially recoverable till February 28, 2013, vide circular dated November 29, 2012, till now.

He said in addition to fuel surcharge at the rate of 34 paisa that was levied vide DHBVN sales instruction dated October 11, 2013, was to be recovered only upto December, 31 2013, but the utility continues to recover this amount to date without any order.

The latest circular dated June 26, 2014, after a gap of nearly six months said fuel surcharge of 34 paisa will continue to be charged till further orders, a violation of multi-year tariff regulations, he said.

Hisar, July 4
Rape accused food and supplies inspector, who is also facing charges in the Rs 3.5 crore missing wheat scam in Hansi town of the district, today escaped from PGIMS, Rohtak, where he was admitted in police custody following some ailments.

According to the information, the Hansi police had arrested Mahender Singh on June 13 after a woman accused him of raping her on the pretext of allocating her a ration depot and blackmailing her.

He was taken to the PGIMS, Rohtak, on July 1 and was admitted to ward number 25. — TNS