Yamunanagar :
Residents of several villages in Yamunanagar district on Tuesday protested in the mini-secretariat against illegal mining and overloaded vehicles.

They handed over a memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to Deputy Commissioner Girish Arora. They demanded action against those involved in illegal mining and overloading.

Residents of Gumthala Rao, Sandhala, Sandhali, Lal Chhappar, Chauganwa, Hanshu Majra, Kandroli and Khukhani villages said they were living in flood-affected areas.

They claimed that the mining mafia had been carrying out mining up to 50 feet close to banks of the Yamuna on Haryana side.

They stated that deep digging had been causing land erosion on a large scale, damaging standing crops and posing a flood threat.

“Illegal mining has ruined farmers as it has caused erosion on hundreds of acres in several villages of the area,” said Shiv Kumar of Sandhala village.

Varyam Singh of Rao village, who is president of the Haryana Anti-Corruption Society, said besides illegal mining, overloaded vehicles troubled residents.

“Overloaded vehicles carrying mining material have damaged roads in the area. These are causing accidents and claiming lives,” he said.

Yamunanagar :
The police have booked three youths, including a minor, in connection with the rape of a Class X student of Farakpur locality.

The mother of the victim, in her complaint to the police, said that when she got up at 4 a.m., one of her daughters was not in her room. They searched for her in the house and other places, but could not trace her.

She said they got information that their daughter was in a nearby village.

She further said that their daughter told them that a boy (who is minor) phoned her at 3 a.m. on Monday and called her to come outside the house. When she went outside the house, the minor boy lured her on some pretext and made her sit in a car which was being driven by Sonu of Kail village.

The victim said that the third accused, Sandeep of Kail village, was following them on motorcycle.

She said that they took her to an unknown place and one of the boys (who is minor) raped her repeatedly.

Later, Sonu and the minor boy made her sit on the motorcycle. But on the way, when the minor boy called up some other boys, she got scared and jumped off the motorcycle and ran away in sugarcane fields.

The victim said that she was rescued by a farmer who was working in his fields. The farmer took her at his house and informed her parents.

The police have registered a case under Section 366-A (kidnapping) and 4 of the POCSO Act.

Chandigarh :
Is Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal eyeing the Chief Minister’s post in Haryana after the 2019 Assembly poll in the state?

From the way AAP has planned to launch the second phase of its “Haryana Jodo Campaign” — by installing flex hoardings with the message “Main aur mera parivaar, AAP ke saath” on 2 lakh households in the state — from September 5 and also going by the interest shown by Kejriwal in Haryana affairs in the past, political observers believe that Kejriwal has some bigger plans in mind than merely preparing the party for the parliamentary poll.

 After his meeting with AAP’s incharge for Haryana affairs Gopal Rai, co-incharge Ajesh Yadav, state convener of the party Naveen Jaihind and party functionaries from across the state on Sunday, Kejriwal has decided to launch the second phase of the party’s “Haryana Jodo Campaign” in a big way.

Sources said that Kejriwal told AAP workers from the state that the party would contest all 10 Lok Sabha and 90 Vidhan Sabha seats and would not enter into an alliance with any political party.

After this meeting, Kejriwal also addressed a rally at Pehowa in Kurukshetra on Sunday evening.

In the first phase of the campaign in July-August, AAP claims to have appointed conveners in all 9,500 polling booths in the state.

Kejriwal hails from Siwani town of Haryana and his early education is also from the state.

When he was to choose three names for nominations to the Rajya Sabha from AAP from Delhi, Kejriwal selected two out of three from Haryana lineage.

Besides his trusted lieutenant Sanjay Singh, Kejriwal picked Sushil Gupta, an educationist, and ND Gupta, a chartered accountant, from Haryana, giving rise to speculation about his future plans with regard to the state.

Ahead of 2017 Assembly poll in Punjab, Kejriwal had landed into a controversy by saying that Punjab had no waters to share with Haryana.

His statement had invited the wrath of the people in Haryana.

However, the Delhi CM took a U-turn when addressing the “Bhaichara Kawar Yatra” at Rohtak last month. He said justice should be done to both Haryana and Punjab in the matter of SYL waters.

When contacted, Jaihind said that at present, the issue of CM was not on the mind of AAP senior leaders.

Asked who is going to foot the bill of 2 lakh hoardings, Jaihind said that these are small 2 ft by 3 ft flex boards costing barely Rs15 each and the funds would be collected through contribution.

Rohtak :
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued a notice to the Rohtak district administration, municipal and town planning authorities regarding unauthorised construction of a religious structure in a green belt along the Rohtak-Panipat National Highway in violation of Supreme Court’s orders.

In the notice of motion issued to the Rohtak Deputy Commissioner, District Town Planner, Municipal Commissioner, DTP (Municipal Corporation) and Dinesh, a former sarpanch of Ghilour village in the district, Justice Augustine George Masih has asked them why proceedings under the Contempt of Courts Act not be initiated against them for the violation of Supreme Court’s order dated September 29, 2009.

The respondents have been asked to file their replies within a period of six weeks. December 6 is the next date of hearing.

The petition has been filed by Neelam, wife of Shamsher Malik, a local resident, for contempt of the said order of the Supreme Court, which states that “We direct that henceforth, no unauthorised construction shall be carried out or permitted in the name of Temple, Church, Mosque or Gurudwara etc on public streets, parks or other public places”.

The apex court’s order further maintains that “We direct all district collectors and magistrates/deputy commissioners in charge of the districts to ensure that there is total compliance of the order passed by us”.

The petitioner maintains that the construction of the religious structure is unauthorised, unpermitted and illegal. It is just on the edge of V-1C Rohtak-Gohana Road on the green belt and is being constructed by Dinesh Ghilour under the patronage of a local minister, deputy commissioner and the municipal officials.

The petitioner states that as per RTI replies, the religious structure is being built in violation of the Punjab Scheduled Roads and Regulation Act, 1963. She points out that any plan of the said religious structure has not been sanctioned or can be permitted as per law.

Bhiwani :
Two women boxers from Bhiwani have won gold in Youth World Championship held from August 21 to 31 in Hungary. The gold medalists, Neetu Ghanghas and Sakshi, both residents of Dhanana village of the district, were given a rousing welcome on reaching Bhiwani Boxing Club here on Monday.

They have scripted history by winning gold in the same championship thrice in a row. The 2015 event was held in Turkey and the 2016 event in Guwahati.

Another boxer Lalita, who lost in the quarterfinals, was also honoured. Their coach Jagdish Singh, boxing club office-bearer Kamal Singh and Sports Authority of India in-charge Bhupinder Singh praised the boxers and demanded a government job for them.