Lest barking dogs bite Barking dogs seldom bite. But before they change their mind or spark community riots,as witnessed in Hisar districts Mirchpur which claimed two lives and injured several others Haryana babus do not want to be seen not taking complaints of barking dogs seriously. So,when a Bihar resident from Karnal districts Gudha village complained to the Karnal deputy commissioner during a public hearing session that his neighbours had manhandled and misbehaved with his wife and sister-in-law after his dog barked at them it caused quite a flutter in the district administration. After week-long tension in the locality,during which,the complainant alleged that he had been assaulted and threatened thrice and had lodged a police complaint,he took the matter of police inaction before the DC during the public hearing. The district machinery soon sprung into action and the complainant withdrew his complaint the very next day with none other than the police department issuing a press release describing the situation as under control and no law and order disruption. Punjab info panel under PR It may one of the most important weapons in the hands of a common man,but for the Punjab government,the RTI Act is a public relations job. The link of the state government website punjabgovt.nic.in/departments/information&public.html mentions the Punjab State Information Commission as one of the organisations under the public relations department. So when information is denied,a citizen should not wonder why. After all,it is in the interest of good public relations. On the roll in Hisar bypoll In the dynastic war between political heavyweights Ajay Chautala and Kuldeep Bishnoi in the Hisar bypolls,it is the GenNext of Haryanas two families that is grabbing eyeballs during the election campaign. Ajay Chaultalas son,Dushyant (23),who has recently completed his graduation in business administration from University of California and Kuldeep Bishnois son,Bhavya,who is scheduled to leave for UK next week to pursue his graduation in London School of Economics,are the new crowd-pullers. But the similarity ends here. Dushyant reflects the heavy,pehalwan look a Chautala legacy and is a hulk fashioned exactly on his father. In sharp contrast,Bhavya has the soft-spoken,gentle demeanor of his father about him with his soft locks falling over his forehead. What look do Haryanvis prefer in the GenNext? The poll results will tell us that too. Capt not amused To cross-examine someone without leaving him cross is not an art even a lawyer like former BJP MP from Chandigarh,Satya Pal Jain,can boast of. Last week when as counsel in an election petition against Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh,the lawyer first tried to humour him before grilling. Please dont mind,I will be asking you certain uncomfortable questions, said Jain,flashing a broad smile towards Captain,who looked unamused. However,the humour travelled from the other side of the Bench,as Justice Rajive Bhalla quipped: Are you (Jain) on his (Amarinder) side or on the opposite side? It generated a good laugh in the court room bringing smiles on the faces of the two opponents Amarinder and Sukhbir. No,it was not Sukhbir Badal,but the petitioner,Sukhbir Singh a Patiala resident. Famous Gill DGPs of Punjab What is in a surname? A lot,if it happens to be Gill and the position of director general of police in Punjab. First Kanwar Pal Singh Gill and now,just-retired Punjab DGP Paramdeep Singh Gill,are competing with each other for the record of Punjabs most talked about DGPs. While two-time DGP K P S Gill hogged the limelight and courted controversies over his role during days of militancy in the state,Gill seems to have bagged as many headlines during peace time. Lest talk of his candidature from hometown Moga vanished from public memory after he was appointed Advisor (Home),a day before he retired last week,Gill announced his next move a massive road show in Moga. In his new role as Advisor,he is out of scrutiny of the Election Commission,while he can still call shots within the police department. That explains the smile as he passed on the baton to the new DGP on Friday.
