Faridabad :
Consumers in the Faridabad circle owe Rs 635-crore power dues to the Daskshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN). This is reportedly 16.72 per cent more than that of last year.

Sources in the DHBVN say the dues have reached an all-time high, though a drive was launched to realise the dues and check power theft.

The dues stood at Rs 489 crore in March last year. In a period up to September this year, the dues rose sharply to Rs 635 crore, including Rs 269 crore, towards disconnected consumers.
As a consumer, the local Municipal Corporation owes Rs 82 crore to the DHBVN in September.

In February, the MC had cleared a Rs190-crore bill taking the benefit of the interest waiver scheme, with Rs42 crore still unpaid.

In September, the bill amount swelled to Rs82 crore as the MC failed to clear the bills on time.

Ashutosh Rajan, Joint Commissioner, MC (Old Faridabad), said all power connections that were lying unused were being disconnected to reduce the bill burden.

Social activist Varun Sheokand said line losses, poor recovery and use of substandard material were the root of the problem. “Cables worth Rs 42 crore had failed tests recently,” he claimed.

PK Chauhan, Superintending Engineer, DHBVN, admitted that consumers owed Rs 635 crore. He, however, hung up soon,saying that he will revert. But he failed to take calls later.

‘Deducted’ premium, but did not deposit it with insurance firm

Hisar :
Farmers of six villages in the district locked the local branch of the Bank of Baroda in Bhatol Jatan village on Monday in protest against the deduction of premium under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) without extending the benefit of insurance to their crops.

About 100 farmers of Bhatol Jatan, Bhatol Rangdan, Kharkhara, Jeetpura, Bhadala, Kharbala and Seesar villages complained the bank had deducted the premium during the 2017 kharif season from their accounts.

They were, however, informed later that they were not covered under the crop insurance scheme as the premium was not deposited with the insurance firm.

The farmers alleged the bank did not deposit the premium amount with the insurance firm. When their crops were damaged and they approached the insurance firm for compensation under the PMFBY, their claims were denied.

Farmers locked the main gate of the bank, demanding resolution of their problem.

They said they would not let the bank function if their problem was not resolved within three days.

Later, Additional General Manager Sarvjeet Singh, senior manager Subhash Dhaka and agricultural officer Subhash Bansal reached the village and held talks with the farmers.

The bank officials gave a written assurance to the farmers that they would ensure that the insurance firm compensated them. “If the insurance firm denies the compensation claim, the bank will disburse the compensation to affected farmers,” the written statement by branch manager Ravinder Pal reads.

The farmers agreed to call off the protest, giving three months to the bank to settle their compensation claims. They threatened to resume the agitation of the claims were not settled in three months.

Karnal :
National president of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) women’s cell and Member of Parliament Sushmita Dev on Monday launched a scathing attack on the Union Government for not bringing women reservation Bill in Parliament despite having full majority.

She said Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi assuring him passage of the Bill that provided for 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state Assemblies, but the Union Government had failed to bring in the Bill.

She was in the city to lead the Congress party’s “Mahila Adhikar Yatra”, which started from Panchkula on Sunday and would end in Gurugram on October 5.

While addressing the gathering at a programme organised by AICC member Suresh Gupta Matlauda and Congress leader Munish Kamra at ITI Chowk, Dev accused the BJP government in the state led by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for rising crime against women. She alleged that Haryana had become the rape capital as the government had failed to check crime and also protect women and their dignity.

She was interacting with mediapersons at the residence of Lalit Butana, former member of the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC).

Dev, accompanied by women state president Sumitra Chauhan and others, said on the concluding of this yatra in Gurugram on October 5, they would take out a torch procession.

The Mahila Adhikar Yatra led by Sushmita Dev reached at Nali Khurd village where Nisha Devi, district women president (rural), welcomed them and organised a “khat chaupal”.

Hisar :
A local court on Friday awarded five-year imprisonment to four persons for indulging in violence during the Jat agitation for reservation at Sainipura village in the district.

The court of Additional District Judge RK Jain had held Daljeet, Raju, Suraj and Vinod, all residents of Sisay village in the district, guilty in the case on September 25. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 60,000 on each of them.

The convicts were part of a mob that resorted to violence in Sainipura village on February 21, 2016. The mob attacked and torched several houses in the village and also clashed with the police during a day-long violence. Heavy police force led by the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police was also present on the site. The Army from the Hisar Cantonment was sent to the strife-torn area, about 18 km from Hisar, to control the situation.

The police registered a case under Sections 147,148, 149 (rioting), 341 (wrongful restraint), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353, 186, 188, 435 and 436 of the IPC and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act against several persons, including the accused, on the complaint of Police Inspector Vidhyanand on February 21, 2016.

Advocate MS Nain, who represented the convicts, said that they would challenge the conviction in the High Court.

This is the second case of sentence to those involved in violence during the Jat agitation in February 2016.

On June 14, 2017, Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate Saurabh Gupta had held 10 persons of Saral village in Tosham subdivision of Bhiwani district guilty in a criminal case filed against them at the Tosham police station. The court awarded three years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10 on each of them. The Tosham police had booked Mahender, Sandeep, Om Prakash, Dharamvir, Thambu, Barat Singh, Vinod, Roshan, Raghubir, Dharambir under Sections 147, 149, 289, 341 and 427 of the IPC and Section 3 (mischief causing damage to public property) of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

Convicts were part of mob 

• The convicts were part of a mob that resorted to violence in Sainipura village on February 21, 2016. 
• The mob attacked and torched several houses in the village and also clashed with the police during a day-long violence.

Karnal :
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar visited 13 ‘tirths’ in the district that are associated with the Mahabharata and fall in the district under the 48-‘kos’ circle of the holy city of Kurukshetra.

He announced an amount of Rs 19 crore for their rejuvenation and maintenance.

He also announced a bus service twice a day — morning and evening — for these ‘tirths’ to promote tourism.

Khattar had earlier announced a bus service for the ‘tirths’ that fall in Kurukshetra and Kaithal districts and are being maintained by Kurukshetra Vikas Board.

The CM, in his speech, admitted to the dilapidated state of some ‘tirths’, but said that the government would revive those, so that the new generation could be made aware of their importance.

“We will develop all the ‘tirths’ in the district. I visited 13 ‘tirths’ today and announced Rs 19 crore for their development. The remaining 22 ‘tirths’ will also be developed,” he said.

The CM announced the installation of display boards at all ‘tirths’ to showcase their historical significance. The CM offered puja at Parashar ‘tirth’ in Behlolpur village, Sitamai ‘tirth’ in Sitamai village, Vyas Sthali in Bastli village, Rishi ‘tirth’ in Gunyana village, Misark ‘tirth’ in Nissing, Guvandhra ‘tirth’ in Gonder village, Daksheshvar ‘tirth’ in Dachar, Jandangni ‘tirth’ in Jalmana village, Dhankshetra ‘tirth’ in Assandh, Dashashvamegh ‘tirth’ in Salwan, Koti ‘tirth’ in Kudlan village and Panchdev ‘tirth’ in Padha village.

He said that with the efforts of the BJP government, Gita Mahotsav in Kurukshetra had got international identity in 2016 as delegates from 20 countries participated in it.

Khattar accepted the demands raised by the residents. He announced a stadium in Bastali village named after Maharishi Vyas and to include Salwan village in Ballah tehsil. The CM also assessed the loss to crops at Dachar village due to rain.