Hitender Rao

Hitender Rao is Assistant Editor covering the state of Haryana. A journalist with over two decades of experience, he writes on politics, economy, migration and legal affairs with a focus on investigative journalism.

Articles by Hitender Rao

Non-availability of DNA kits: 1,500 rape, murders cases lying pending in Haryana, says fast-track POCSO court

The precious time of the court is being wasted and the witnesses, including the doctors and experts cannot be examined in the absence of a DNA report, says court

About 1,500 cases pertaining to heinous crimes of rape or murder against women and child victims in Haryana cannot be concluded as the forensic science laboratories in the state do not have the kits to conduct DNA tests.
Updated on May 21, 2023 11:42 PM IST
By, Chandigarh

Ambala LS seat up for a contest before 2024 poll

The election commission (EC) will have to hold the bypoll by November 18 for Ambala, a Lok Sabha constituency reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates

Haryana minister Anil Vij at the cremation of BJP MP Rattan Lal Kataria at a cremation ground in Manimajra on Thursday. (Sant Arora/HT)
Updated on May 19, 2023 12:23 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

Graft case: ED likely to start money laundering probe against former CBI judge Sudhir Parmar

The central agency will conduct investigations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act after registering an enforcement case information report based on the April 17 first information report (FIR) registered by ACB against the ex-CBI judge

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will soon step in to investigate the money laundering facet in the corruption case registered against former CBI judge Sudhir Parmar, his nephew Ajay Parmar and director of real estate company, M3M India Pvt Ltd Roop Bansal by Haryana Anti-Corruption Bureau at Panchkula. (HT photo)
Updated on May 18, 2023 01:35 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

ED likely to join investigation against former CBI special judge in graft case

The Bansals and Goyal have been named as accused by the CBI and ED in cases pending before the special CBI court -- a court that was presided over by Parmar.

Sudhir Parmar was suspended on April 27, after being booked on April 17. (HT)
Updated on May 18, 2023 03:20 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

2023-24 Haryana liquor policy: Now, employees of large corporate offices can sip a drink at workplace

L-10F licence will be granted for corporate office if the minimum area of canteen or eatery is not less than 2,000-square feet

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar during a cabinet meeting.
Updated on May 12, 2023 12:13 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

Suspended Haryana judicial officer favoured realty firms: FIR

Haryana judicial officer Sudhir Parmar has been accused of favouritism towards real estate developers Roop Bansal and his brother Basant Bansal of M3M.

Haryana judicial officer (HT Photo)
Updated on May 11, 2023 12:56 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

Haryana judge trying corruption cases booked under anti-graft law

HT Exclusive: Special CBI judge Sudhir Parmar, who was suspended by the Punjab and Haryana HC two weeks ago, has been booked by the ACB for criminal misconduct

The anti-corruption bureau (ACB) was on Haryana judicial officer Sudhir Parmar’s trail for more than three months and sought the permission of Punjab and Haryana high court chief justice Ravi Shanker Jha for registering a case against him. (HT file photo)
Updated on May 10, 2023 11:18 AM IST

New Haryana director general of police: State govt sets ball rolling

The Haryana government has started the process to select the next head of the state police force as the incumbent director general of police's tenure comes to an end. The state home department has sought dossiers of IPS officers who have completed at least 30 years of service and are not below the rank of additional director general. The proposal will be sent to the Union Public Service Commission which will prepare a panel of three officers, and the state government will then select the next DGP from among the shortlisted officers.

The tenure of the incumbent director general of police (DGP), PK Agrawal, comes to an end on August 15.
Updated on May 06, 2023 11:24 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

Water deficit state: Haryana’s water demand supply chasm widening

The IWRP showed that 1,948 villages of Haryana were severely deficit in terms of groundwater availability with the depth to water table being more than 30 metres. Similarly, 1,093 villages were moderately stressed in terms of groundwater availability with the depth to water table being more than 20 metres but less than 31 metres.

Haryana is experiencing a water deficit of about 14 billion cubic metre annually with the total water demand across all sectors going up to about 34.96 billion cubic metre per year (about 34 lakh crore litres). (Representational image)
Updated on May 02, 2023 12:23 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

Panchkula special CBI judge suspended

Haryana judicial officer was holding trial of many high-profile cases, including those against former CM Hooda; Sudhir Parmar was holding state’s designated courts for CBI and ED cases.

Panchkula special CBI judge Sudhir Parmar, whose official residence was raided on the morning of April 18 by the Haryana anti-corruption bureau (ACB) team, was on Thursday placed under suspension by the Punjab and Haryana high court. (Image for representational purpose)
Updated on Apr 28, 2023 12:35 PM IST
By, Chandigarh

Structures on PLPA land: Haryana govt to seek regularisation of its unauthorised structures

Diversion as per the Forest Conservation Rules means an order issued by the state government or any authority with the approval of the Central government for the use of any forest land for non-forest purpose or assignment of a lease of any forest land for non-forest purpose.

Diversion as per the Forest Conservation Rules ncludes undertaking compensatory afforestation - planting trees in lieu of the diversion of forest land for non-forest purpose and payment of compensatory levies as per Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016. (HT File)
Updated on Apr 21, 2023 12:42 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

Haryana town and country planning dept suspends colonisation licence of cloth mill in Hisar

The order issued on April 17 by director general, TCP, TL Satyaprakash, stated that it has come to his notice that an inquiry has been initiated against DCM regarding illegal sale of land and changing use of the land of the mill, which was allotted for the purpose of millwork only

Haryana town and country planning department has suspended the real estate development licence granted to Delhi Cloth Mill (DCM) Limited for setting up a residential plotted colony under the Deen Dayal Jan Awas Yojana (affordable housing policy) at Hisar. (Image for representational purpose)
Updated on Apr 19, 2023 12:43 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

Gurugram land deal probe: Anti-graft law FIR against Bhupinder Hooda won’t hold water, say legal experts

Gurugram police committed a gaffe, did not take prior approval of state government before registering a PC Act case against former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda; the case pertained to suspected irregularities in a land transaction which took place between Sky Light Hospitality and realty major DLF Ltd in Gurugram’s Shikohpur when the state was governed by a Congress was in power

Legal experts said the FIR is unsustainable in the eyes of law and will not hold water since the police did not take prior approval of the state government before registering a PC Act case against former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. (HT File)
Updated on Apr 15, 2023 11:58 PM IST
By, Chandigarh

Gurugram land deal probe: Controversial mutation details sought from Haryana revenue dept

The land deal got embroiled in a controversy after Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who was then posted as director general, consolidation of holdings, set aside the mutation (number 4513) of Sky Light’s 3.53 acre on October 15, 2012.

The land deal between Robert Vadra’s Sky Light Hospitality and realty major DLF in Gurugram is embroiled in controversy over suspected irregularities. (HT File)
Updated on Apr 15, 2023 12:17 PM IST
By, Chandigarh

Gurugram land deal: SIT reconstituted to speed up probe against Hooda, Vadra

The SIT has been reconstituted to give “impetus to the probe” after a slap on the wrist by a Punjab and Haryana high court bench monitoring the timeline of cases against MPs and MLAs. Though being done in response to HC’s rap, the move also has political undertones as the state assembly and Lok Sabha polls are due next year.

Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is a director of Sky Light Hospitality and the deal took place when the Congress was in power in the state with Bhupinder Singh Hooda as the chief minister. (HT File)
Updated on Apr 14, 2023 02:09 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

Haryana reconstitutes SIT probing case against Vadra and Hooda

Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi, is a director of Sky Light Hospitality and the deal took place Congress's Bhupinder Singh Hooda rule.

The deal took place when the state was governed by a Congress administration under Bhupinder Singh Hooda. (Agencies)
Updated on Apr 14, 2023 01:04 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

Legislature v/s Judiciary: Haryana House decides not to reply to HC notice

If the assembly’s procedure is illegal and unconstitutional, it would be open to be scrutinised in a court of law – Supreme Court

Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) legislator Abhay Singh Chautala in Haryana Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh on Friday. (Keshav Singh/HT)
Published on Mar 18, 2023 12:59 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

After delay, 3 Gurugram Global City sites up for auction

The e-auction of three land parcels of Gurugram Global City aggregating 142.52 acres will be held on May 19. The last date to register as a bidder is May 1. The project is envisioned to come up on about 1,000 acres of Khandsa, Narsinghpur, Mohammadpur Jharsa, Garauli Khurd and Garhi Harsaru in Gurugram.

Global City is aimed at being developed as a futuristic city within a city, providing walk-to-work culture and state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities. Mixed land-use involved planning of compatible uses on a real estate development project combining commercial, residential, institutional, offices and recreational functions. (Gurugram Global City website)
Published on Mar 14, 2023 12:47 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

Police Complaint Authority: Haryana to narrow down definition of serious misconduct by cops

Varun Chaudhary, who was a member of select committee headed by deputy speaker Ranbir Gangwa, in his dissenting note said Haryana Police (Amendment) Bill, 2022, tabled in the assembly on August 10 last, is limiting State Police Complaints Authorities purview and defeating the very purpose of setting it up.

A select committee of the Haryana assembly which examined the Haryana Police (Amendment) Bill, 2022, in light of objections by lawmakers has decided not to press for the restoration of provisions which would have lend more teeth to the State Police Complaints Authority (SPCA). (Representational image)
Updated on Mar 04, 2023 01:13 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

Adani Power agrees to sign supplementary PPA with Haryana

The development assumes significance in view of early onset of summer and rise in the demand for electricity. State expected to face a power deficit in the range of 168 MW to 2476 MW in 2023-24

The Adani Power Ltd which had dithered from signing the mutually agreed supplementary PPA with Haryana, citing one condition or the other finally came around, top Haryana officials said. (HT File)
Updated on Mar 02, 2023 01:04 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

Haryana capex went down by 7,600 crore in 2022-23

Capital expenditure or capex is money spent by the government on creation of long-term assets like roads, healthcare facilities, bridges, infrastructure projects and for development works. Haryana’s capital expenditure went down by about ₹7,697 crore in the current financial year

Haryana’s capital expenditure went down by about <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>7,697 crore in the current financial year (2022-23) even as chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar proposed a more than 17% increase in expenditure for capital asset creation while presenting the 2023-24 budget estimates. (HT File Photo)
Published on Mar 01, 2023 02:59 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

Haryana budget 2023-24: Making up revenue loss a challenge for Khattar in next fiscal

Generating resources for the populist measures will be a major challenge for Manohar Lal Khattar led BJP-JJP government. Revenue deficit means that the government’s revenue expenditure is in excess of its revenue or tax receipts.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar presents the State Budget 2023-24 during the Budget Session of the State Assembly, in Chandigarh on Thursday. (ANI)
Published on Feb 24, 2023 02:24 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

Haryana budget 2023-24: Social sector in focus in CM Khattar’s sop opera

Haryana chief minister (CM) Manohar Lal Khattar, who holds the finance portfolio, presented his fourth successive budget in the state assembly, allocating a sum of ₹10,254 crore for the social sector for the upcoming 2023-24 fiscal, an increase of 7.1% over the revised estimates of the current financial year.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar during the Budget presentation of the state assembly in Chandigarh on Thursday. (Manohar Lal twitter)
Updated on Feb 24, 2023 02:25 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

Haryana budget: Emphasis on social sector, benefit of Ayushman Bharat extended

Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who alos holds the finance portfolio, proposed ₹1,83,950-crore state budget for 2023-24, an increase of 11.6% over revised estimates of ₹1,64,808 crore

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who also holds the finance portfolio, reading out the budget estimates for 2023-24 from a tablet in the assembly on Thursday. (HT Photo)
Updated on Feb 23, 2023 02:52 PM IST

INLD MLA Abhay Chautala moves HC against Haryana Speaker’s order

Claims Speaker Gian Chand Gupta’s order to temporarily remove him from assembly violated rules as the motion to suspend him was not brought in the House

The lone INLD MLA in the Haryana assembly, Abhay Singh Chautala, on Wednesday filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana high court, seeking the setting aside of Speaker Gian Chand Gupta’s order on Tuesday to name and remove him from the House for two days for disorderly conduct. (HT file photo)
Updated on Feb 23, 2023 01:30 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

Haryana Speaker names Abhay without bringing motion for ‘unruly behaviour’

The lone INLD MLA in the Haryana assembly, Abhay Singh Chautala was on Tuesday named by the Speaker Gian Chand Gupta for two days after he entered into an argument with him over the deferral of a calling attention motion

Haryana INLD MLA Abhay Singh Chautala.
Updated on Feb 22, 2023 10:43 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

Haryana: Regulator seeks validation of farm sector power sales data

The DHBVN in a January 16 response said that while the normative loss considered was 16%, the actual line loss on agriculture feeders was between 8% to 9%. Power regulator cited discrepancies in the numbers of the highly subsidised electricity consumed by the farm sector in Haryana.

Citing discrepancies in the numbers of the highly subsidised electricity consumed by the farm sector in Haryana, the power regulator has asked one of the two state-owned power distribution companies (discom) to validate the sales and input energy statistics for the farm sector, also known as agricultural pump sector. (Priyanka Parashar/Mint)
Published on Feb 18, 2023 12:56 AM IST
By, Chandigarh

Criminal fall and political resurrection of Gurmeet Ram Rahim

Recent developments suggest that the Sirsa-based sect is on the path to revival, with a helping hand from politicians in Haryana

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who was serving a sentence for rape and murder, has been granted a 40-day parole, on Friday. (ANI)
Updated on Feb 17, 2023 12:55 PM IST
By, Sirsa

With eye on elections, bid to resurrect Dera Sacha Sauda

The dwindling numbers, both in terms of followers and offerings, besides the closure of its commercial establishments and manufacturing units brought the dera operations to a halt and put its once robust financial status under cloud.

A poster outside the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters in Sirsa with portraits of founder Mastana Balochistani, his successor Satnam Singh and Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who heads the sect since 1990. Gurmeet Ram Rahim, convicted of rape and involved in two murder cases, is out on parole from Sunaria Jail in Rohtak. (HT Photo)
Published on Feb 17, 2023 01:04 AM IST

No hike in Haryana power tariff despite 357 crore revenue gap

Going into poll mode, Haryana government owned power distribution companies -- the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), had prayed before the power regulator to allow the existing levels of electricity tariff and charges to be continued in 2023-24 financial year. The Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC), which is responsible for the regulation of power sector and fixing electricity tariff in the state, seems to have played along.

In good news for electricity consumers in Haryana, they will continue to pay the existing electricity rates in the next financial year starting April 1. (HT File)
Published on Feb 16, 2023 10:46 PM IST
By, Chandigarh
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