http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Athletes-brought-glory-to-Haryana-in-2010--Mirchpur-shame/732162/
Athletes brought glory to Haryana in 2010, Mirchpur shame
Agencies Posted: Jan 02, 2011 at 1125 hrs
Chandigarh 2010 will go down in the annals of Haryana\'s history as a
year in which its athletes won laurels in the Commonwealth and Asian
Games, the Dalit-burning incident of Mirchpur and honour killings
brought shame and embattled former police chief S P S Rathore escaping
unscathed in a molestation case evoked anger.
On the political front, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda managed
to consolidate his position and initiate a number of development
schemes after Congress\' poll reverses in the October 2009 Assembly
elections.
With khap panchayats earning a bad name for their \'fatwas\' against
young couples who marry against societal norms, a Karnal court in
March delivered a landmark judgement.
It awarded capital punishment to five persons and life sentence to
another for murdering a couple on the diktats of a self-styled
community panchayat for marrying against societal norms. It was the
first case in the state in which the boy\'s family had moved court
against the honour killing.
In April, mayhem was unleashed in Mirchpur in Hisar district, as
people from the dominant caste in the village attacked and burnt
houses of those belonging to the Dalit community. A 70-year-old man
and his disabled daughter were burnt alive leading to exodus of Dalits
from the village to different parts of the state and the national
capital and causing major embarrassment to the government.
In December, the Supreme Court transferred to a special designated
court in Delhi, the trial relating to the Mirchpur incident to ensure
a free and fair trial.
The year brought relief to Haryana\'s former DGP Rathore in the
Ruchika Girhotra molestation case. Later in the year, CBI filed
closure reports in two of the three fresh cases against him.
In May, he was jailed following his arrest for the first time after a
session\'s court enhanced his prison term to 18 months for molesting
the teenager -- who later committed suicide -- 20 years back.
However, after spending close to six months behind bars at
high-security Burail jail here, Rathore was released on bail by the
Supreme Court.
November brought good news for farmers as Hooda gave a Diwali-eve
bonanza, announcing doubling of the minimum floor rate (MFR) payable
for acquisition of land.
But it were the sportspersons who put the state on the international
map, bagging 38 of the total 101 medals India won in the Commonwealth
Games. The commendable part was that with most of the players came
from humble rural backgrounds.
The icing on the cake came when players from Haryana also left their
mark at the Asian Games in China, the notable being boxer Vijender
Singh, shooter Gagan Narang and athlete Krishna Punia.
In the year gone by, the state also battled one of the worst floods in
its history as several lives were lost. Many parts of Haryana
including Ambala, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Fatehabad and Sirsa faced the
flood fury and the state and its neighbour Punjab engaged in a blame
game over the deluge.
The months of August and September saw many parts of Haryana on the
boil as the predominant Jat community was up in arms demanding
reservation for the community in jobs (OBC quota) and a youth was
killed in the agitation in Hisar.
In August, the Haryana Janhit Congress, founded by former chief
minister Bhajan Lal, moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court here and
sought disqualification of five MLAs who were elected on party tickets
but subsequently joined the ruling Congress after the last state
Assembly polls held in October 2009.
Bhajan Lal\'s son and HJC chief Kuldeep Bishnoi filed a writ petition
seeking the disqualification of the MLAs under the 10th Schedule of
the Constitution.
In mid-November, the Supreme Court upheld Haryana government\'s
decision to remove the Chairman and all other eight members of the
State Public Service Commission for various irregularities and
misconduct in recruitment process.
In late November, India ushered in mobile number portability that
allows cell phone users to switch operators without changing numbers,
with Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal launching the service from Rohtak.
India also signed an agreement with the US to set up an International
Nuclear Research Institute in Bahadurgarh city.
Metro rail link was provided to connect the satellite town Gurgaon
with the national capital thus facilitating with better connectivity
and fulfilling a long standing demand of the people.
While continuing its efforts to make modern health services easily
accessible to the people, Indira Bal Swasthya Yojana was implemented
to focus on health of children of up to18 years of age. The scheme was
targeted to benefit 40 lakh children.
The Government also announced its decision to declare Punjabi as the
second language in the state even as the Sikhs demand for the
formation of a separate Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee for
managing the Sikh shrines in Haryana remained pending.
The state took a big leap forward in becoming an education hub. The
state got approval for setting up of a Defence University at Gurgaon
and a Central University. The Central University has already become
functional in district Mahendergarh.
The pension admissible to freedom fighters and their widows was raised
from Rs 6000 to Rs 11,000 per month.
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