Rohtak, December 26
Sandeep Hooda, a final-year student of Law Department of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), was shot dead in broad daylight on the campus here today.

According to the police, the deceased was taking liquor with his friends in a cycle shed near the Law Department building around 3 p.m. when some unidentified youths came there in a car and fired seven bullets, killing him on the spot. His companions fled from there when firing began. None of them has been traced so far.

The campus was deserted at the time of the incident because of a holiday and inclement weather. Therefore, there were no eyewitnesses other than the companions of the deceased.

In their absence the killers too remained unidentified. The police has registered a case but no arrests have been made so far. A love tangle is reported to be the cause of the murder. The father of the deceased is an employee of the MDU printing press.

Chandigarh, December 26
The three-day 89th annual conference of the Indian Economic Association (IEA), which opens at Kurukshetra University tomorrow, will have four major thrust areas for its deliberations- the economics of health and education in India, Asian economic integration, gender and development and economic thoughts of W.W.Leontief, Nobel laureate.

The prestigious conference, being held in Haryana for the first time, will be inaugurated by the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda. About 2,000 economists from all over the country and abroad are expected to participate. It will also mark the conclusion of the golden jubilee year celebrations of the university.

Established in 1917, the IEA has been an important platform for interaction among stalwarts in the field of economics. It has over 3,000 members from India and abroad. The Nobel Laureate, Dr Amartya Sen, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, Prof V.K.R.V.Rao, Prof D.R.Gadgil, Prof C.Rangarajan, Prof V.M.Dandekar and Prof C.N.Vakil, all well-known economists, had been among its former presidents.

Its present president, Prof K.C. Reddy, is a renowned economist, specialising in International Economics and Development and Finance. Professor Reddy is currently the Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education.

The Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Prof R.P. Hooda, says the conference is the highest point of the university's golden jubilee celebrations.

The Chairman of the Department of Economics, KU, Dr V.N. Attri, who is the local organising secretary of the IEA, told TNS that considering the importance of economic integration among Asian countries, a full technical session would be devoted to "Asian economic integration". The findings of the deliberations would be forwarded to the Union Government.

The conference will have a special session on the Haryana economy on December 28. The session will be chaired by Mr Birender Singh, the state's Finance Minister. 

Chandigarh, December 26
The year 2006 was favourable for Haryana in terms of investments as it saw Rs 10,000 crore flowing in along with proposals of yet another Rs 35,000 crore. Though Haryana has benefited from the rapid globalisation and boom in the Indian economy, the figures assume a special significance considering that all investment in the state, since its inception in 1966, stood at Rs 40,000 crore.

Though only time will tell how Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led official-cum-business delegation to five European countries, including the Netherlands, France, Germany, the UK and Spain, results in terms of investment, the state has received proposals for an investment of Rs 12,000 crore. The Chief Minister led yet another study tour to China to observe the way Chinese do business.

Two major projects-that have generated a lot of political heat - included a multi-product mega Special Economic Zone and a Knowledge City for which the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIDC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Reliance Industries and Nano Works Developers (P) Ltd, at an estimated cost of Rs 1,850 crore.

Tourism, that is perceived to have a close relation with a booming economy, also saw a spurt in activities. A five-day Pinjore Heritage Festival was organised at the 500-year-old Pinjore Gardens near Chandigarh. The government also initiated the process to set up two institutes of hotel management and training to provide trained manpower to the fast-developing tourism sector.

The state government also set to the task of meeting the requirement of 10,000 rooms put forward by the Central Government for visitors during the ensuing Common Wealth Games to be held in New Delhi in 2010.

The new investment ventures propose to generate a number of new jobs. These are in addition to filling vacancies in the Education and Police Departments.Haryana has also constituted an overseas placement assistance society to help the youth get employment abroad.

For producing employable youth from within the state, Haryana has announced the setting up of the first women’s university in North India in a rural area at Khanpur Kalan in Sonepat district. The university will be named after Arya Samaj leader and educationist Bhagat Phool Singh. It also upgraded the Deen Bandhu Sir Chhotu Ram State College of Engineering, Murthal, to a University of Science and Technology through legislation.

During 2006, Haryana also became the first state to introduce the semester system at the school level and it yielded encouraging results as not only the number of students increased considerably, but also their performance was better. Also, the concept of EDUSAT (education through satellite) has been introduced during the year for some schools and colleges.

Bhiwani, December 26
Year 2006 will be known for the revolution in the field of information technology (IT), particularly in Bhiwani district. The year also witnessed the demise of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal, who hailed from Golagarh village in the district.

The Delimitation Commission’s recommendations of breaking away one of the Assembly constituency, Mundhal, from this district gave rise to a debatable issue while the last few months remained hot with news of property dispute between the successors of Bansi Lal.

Despite all these, the district showed significant improvement in IT sector. Since the state government showed its inclination to provide IT driven economy, e-governance and extensive percolation of IT literacy and massive IT related employment opportunities, the district administration took it as a challenge.

Deputy Commissioner Mohinder Kumar, who took charge of this district in 2006, showed results in a very short period. His achievements include computerised citizen centric services centre up to sub-tehsil level, empowering rural masses with computer literacy and making the district a part of the national e-governance plan.

Old manual records of vehicle registrations got converted into computerised database, besides the computerisation of data relating to driving licences, birth and death records and arms licences.

The computerisation of land records was a challenging job, but now the records could be access on the Internet for global use. All mutations have been recorded and linked. Almost all government departments are equipped with computers and efforts are being taken for its maximum use.

Bhiwani leads all districts in having e-Disha (e-district level integrated services of Haryana) Centres, which provide 12 services to citizens under one roof. These services are related to motor vehicle registration, issuance of driving licence, certificates of bonafide resident, caste, income, rural area, birth and death, passport application collection, online grievances information system, services related to arms licence and house tax.

To make rural people computer literate, a two-month program of computer awareness and basic training has been introduced for rural youth in all nine e-Disha Centres in the district. 

Rewari, December 26
The police has eventually arrested four more accused, Ganga Ram Yadav, Govind Yadav, Attar Singh Yadav and Satbir Yadav, allegedly for torturing a Dalit youth, Kalu Das (30), at Lisan village, about 30 km from here, on the night of September 2.

All of them have been remanded in judicial custody by a local court.

One accused Bobby Prajapat was arrested by the police about a fortnight ago.

It is reported that one of the main accused of this case was still at large.

Earlier the police had registered a case of causing hurt, trespass and rioting under Sections 323, 452, 147 and 149 of the IPC as well as Section 3 of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against 10 alleged torturers.

Barring Bobby Prajapat, all other accused of this case belong to the upper caste.

The families of the two Dalit youths, Ramesh Kumar and Kalu Das, which had abandoned their houses in Lisan village in September, after being tortured and threatened by men of the upper caste in connivance with the police, were yet to return to Lisan.

The torture had come as a sequel to the elopement of the wife of Surender Singh Yadav with Ajay Kumar, son of Ramesh Kumar of the village, on August 29, 2006.

Meanwhile Mr Ved Prakash Godara, DSP, Kosli, said that most of the alleged torturers had already been sent behind the bars and the Dalit families could now return to Lisan.

Yamunanagar, December 26
The Hooda government was just making announcements and no development work was being carried out. The government has been shaken up by the increasing popularity graph of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the anti-government protests.

Mr Ishwar Palaka, INLD MLA from Radaur, claimed this while talking to reporters. He said that a big rally would be held in Yamunanagar on January 11 to highlight the failure of the government. Mr Palaka who had stunned the political pandits by winning the Assembly seat alleged that the present government was not serious about the development projects initiated by former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and the projects had been stopped.

Mr Palaka said that a rally would be addressed by a former president of the Hayana Olympics Association. The speakers would highlight the failure of the government on all fronts, including power and drinking water supply and "worsening" law and order in the state.

Fatehabad, December 26
Former state minister Sampat Singh has emphasised the need to formulate a national youth and sports policy.

Talking to the mediapersons at the residence of former MLA Swatantar Bala Chaudhary here today, the former minister said looking into the fact that our youth had to face stiff global competition in all spheres of life, there was an urgent need to go for this exercise.

Mr Sampat Singh said it was high time that the political parties should stop exploiting the youth for furthering political goals and instead come forward for giving proper direction to them.

He suggested that the Prime Minister should call an all-party meeting for formulating a national youths and sports policy and sportspersons and organisations with proven records should also be involved.

Pooh-poohing at the “knee-jerk reaction” the government exhibit every time our sportspersons failed to deliver, the former minister said the government should implement long-term policies for the promotion of sports and culture.

Karnal, December 26
A middle-aged woman killed in an accident when a car in which he was travelling drowned in a canal, near Madhuban, here this morning.

Police sources said that Reshmi Devi (50) the deceased, a local resident, was travelling with her son, Praveen Gupta, on the way to Panipat. Sources said that Praveen lost control over his car and the car fell into the canal.

Several people gathered at the accident spot and made efforts to save the victims. Villagers got hold over the car and smashed the windowpanes to take out the victims.

The sources said that Reshmi Devi was still breathing when she was taken out from the car but later breathed her last on the way to the hospital.

Hisar, December 26
The alarming increase in the number of diabetes patients over the past few years is a cause of concern for all. India has become the diabetic capital of the world. Unhealthy lifestyle, coupled with consumption of intoxicating substances, is the chief reason behind the rapidly rising cases of diabetes and other related health disorders.

This was stated by renowned cardiologist and former head of Cardiology Department at AIIMS, Dr S.C.Manchanda, while talking to newspersons here. Dr Manchanda was in the city to inaugurate a medical camp organised by Ravindra Cath Lab and Heart Centre. Several medical specialists from various institutions of repute were present on the occasion.

Dr Manchanda said due to the emergence of fast-food culture and lack of physical activity, disorders like diabetes, and high blood pressure had become very common these days. “Mental stress causes diabetes and hypertension, which then lead to heart ailments,” he remarked.

The heart specialist advised the people to avoid consuming tobacco, bread and “vanaspati ghee”, reduce the intake of salt and sugar and have more fresh fruit and green vegetables. Regular walk and yoga were also beneficial to keep such diseases at bay, he added.

Dr Manchanda maintained that in case of heart attack, a qualified doctor should be called as soon as possible. He added that life could be saved if proper medical care was provided in the first hour of heart attack.