 |
| Wednesday, March 1, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
|
‘War widows facing
harassment’ Running from pillar to post for
justice Science Day celebrated Ration cards given to 2.29 lakh UGC asks college to refund grant Armed men snatch Rs 5.93 lakh |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Scientist missing since
Jan 30 2 die in road mishaps Tribune employee bereaved
|
Cong MLAs to elect leader
today CHANDIGARH, Feb 29 — The HPCC chief, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, is expected to make a bid for the post of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) chief. All the newly elected Congress MLAs have been asked to take part in a meeting here tomorrow to elect the CLP leader. AICC General Secretaries Motilal Vora and Ms Ambika Soni and the Secretary, Mr V Narayanswamy, are also scheduled to attend the crucial meeting. Sources close to Mr Hooda claimed that 15 of the 21 CLP members were Hooda loyalists who were expected to favour Mr Hooda's candidature for the CLP leader's post. The sources added that once Mr Hooda was elected leader of the CLP, he would relinquish the charges of the HPCC president, thus foiling any move by arch rival Mr Bhajan Lal, who is expected to insist on the principle of 'one man, one post' at tomorrow's meeting. Significantly, the Congress Party today also came out with the revised schedule for organisational elections of the party. Under the new schedule, the last date for enrolment of Congress membership for the organisational elections has been extended up to March 15. The crucial election for the HPCC chief will take place on June 30. A section of Congress members reportedly mooted the idea that while Mr Hooda might be made the leader of the CLP, the HPCC chief's post might be given to former Chief Minister, Mr Bhajan Lal. Sources in the Hooda camp, however, said that the followers of Mr Hooda would try their best to prevent Mr Bhajan Lal from holding any important party office in Haryana. These sources claimed that elevation of Mr Bhajan Lal as the HPCC chief would trigger off adverse reaction from the Jat community. The sources added that Mr Bhajan Lal's reported assertion during the last Assembly polls that he would be heading the government in Haryana, had alienated the Jat voters from the Congress, leading to defeats of Congress candidates in at least 15 constituencies. Knowledgeable sources,
however, said that Mr Bhajan Lal too is making determined
attempts to grab the CLP leader's post and is trying to
mobilise the MLAs in his favour. The Bhajan Lal camp
reportedly feels that the choice of candidates by Mr
Hooda led to the party's defeats in about 20 seats. |
‘War widows facing
harassment’ AMBALA, Feb 29 — Some of the war widows have been, reportedly, facing harassment and indifferent attitude by their in-laws, said Ms Shiv Jot Sihota, President of the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA), 2 Corps, while talking to The Tribune here today. She said AWWA had been doing its best to rehabilitate such widows. Narrating the case of a young war-widow of Jind, she said the association was informed that the in-laws of the widow, Sunita (not real name), had been giving her slow poison in tea regularly which had upset her mental balance to some extent. She said the in-laws wanted to grab the land and cash of the widow’s late husband. She said members of the association approached her, provided her with the services of a psychiatrist and now, she had been living with her parents happily. She said a similar case was also taken up in Panipat. Ms Sihota said the association also provided assistance to the needy widows of serving Army men and ex-servicemen. In some cases, it also provided financial assistance for the treatment of serious diseases to war widows. She said, especially for war widows, the association had been running five polyclinics in the Army area where the services of specialised doctors were made available. She said Asha, a school for handicapped and developmentally delayed children, a hostel for the Army men’s children (whose parents were transferred to other places) and a handicraft centre Suvidha were also being run by the association. She said AWWA also
provided legal aids and counselling facilities to the
Army wives in case of family disputes. In case of any
natural calamity in the country, the association always
took up fund raising drives. For the families of Kargil
martyrs and the cyclone victims of Orrisa, the
association had offered substantial contributions. |
Running from pillar to post for
justice AMBALA, Feb 29 — Mr O.P. Bhatt, a retired Superintendent of the Haryana Government, has been running from pillar to post since his retirement for setting aside of a disciplinary action so that his pension can be enhanced. His efforts are yet to yield fruit. Mr Bhatt’s two increments with cumulative effect have been stopped. Mr Bhatt claimed that he was suspended by “Director of Public Instruction on the basis of a verbal complaint in April 1972”. “This is against government instructions, which clearly state that such action can only be taken upon a written complaint and after proper and thorough investigation,” Mr Bhatt said. He said both these aspects were not looked into and he was subsequently issued a chargesheet by the Administrative Officer. “The Administrative Officer should have ordered a regular departmental inquiry and that, too, was not done. This means that charges against me were not investigated, no evidence was collected and no conclusion was drawn,” Mr Bhatt said. Then a second show cause notice was issued, following which two increments with cumulative effect were stopped, Mr Bhatt claimed. In a letter to the Financial Commissioner and Secretary to Government, Haryana Education Department, Mr Bhatt states “Reliance is placed upon the ruling given by the Honourable Supreme Court of India in a case of Kulwant Singh Gill versus State of Pb SLR 1990 (6) page 73 in which the Honourable apex court has laid down :- Stoppage of two increments with cumulative effect is a major penalty and its imposition without inquiry is per se illegal.” “The judgement of the apex court is squarely applicable to my case and the punitive order dated 30/4/75 deserves to be struck down in the light of this judgement...”, the letter adds. In another letter written in July last year, Mr Bhatt contends “Article 311 of the Constitution of India and Statutory rule 7 of P&A rules prescribed the procedure for imposing major penalty. One of the main characteristics of the procedure is the regular departmental inquiry, which is mandatory. In my case, this mandatory departmental inquiry was not conducted. The question of having followed the procedure prescribed by law is a remote question.” Mr Bhatt said he had
already been called by senior officials at Chandigarh and
“my case has been heard sympathetically by all of
them. “However, despite being convinced, suitable
action from them is awaited. The enhancement of my
pension depends on the speedy redressal of my
grievance,” he said. |
Science Day celebrated KURUKSHETRA, Feb 29 — While inaugurating a Science Day function at Kurukshetra University here yesterday, a distinguished scientist, Dr S. Ahmad, Director of the Central Electrical Engineering Research Institute, Pilani, said information technology would be the technology of the next century in the country. Dr Ahmad, who is an authority in the areas of microwave and millimeter wave, semiconductor device and design, etc, was delivering a lecture on ‘Looking for an Individual Atom: The New Millennium Technology’. He highlighted various developments made by the scientists in India. He hoped that the young scientists would bring about a scientific revolution in our country. In his presidential address, the Kurukshetra University Vice-Chancellor, Dr Hoshiar Singh, hailed the contribution made by Dr Ahmad in the field of science. The Dean, Faculty of Science of the University, Prof J.S. Yadav, said that such occasions provided an opportunity to the masses to know about the progress made by our country in the field of science. A large number of
students participated in the exhibition and quiz
competitions organised on the occasion. These students
were drawn from the Departments of Bio-Chemistry,
Physics, Psychology and Electronics Science Department of
the University. The winners were awarded honoured. |
Ration cards given to 2.29 lakh SONEPAT, Feb 29 — The Food and Supplies Department has issued ration cards to 2.29 lakh persons out of a total population of 11.80 lakh for distribution of rationed commodities among them in the district. This was stated by Mr Ashok Yadav, Additional Deputy Commissioner, while addressing members of the district Food Advisory Committee here yesterday. He disclosed that the
department had also issued special ration cards to the
families of those persons living below the poverty line
so that they could buy rationed commodities at the
subsidised rates. |
UGC asks college to refund
grant SONEPAT, Feb 29 — On account of alleged irregularities and misutilisation of the funds, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed the management of Gita Bhavan Vidya Mandir (GVM) Girls College here to refund the amount of Rs 7.50 lakh which had been given as grant for the construction of the building of the hostel for girls. According to official sources, the UGC authorities are reported to have threatened the management that the college will be blacklisted and debarred from receiving further financial assistance if the said amount was not refunded immediately. The action followed a
controversy going on between the management and the
Principal on the utilisation of the funds. |
Armed men snatch Rs 5.93 lakh FARIDABAD, Feb 29 — Unidentified armed persons today snatched a bag containing Rs 5.93 lakh from employees of a Central Government department. Reports said the cash was withdrawn from the State Bank of Bikaner in NH-4 for the distribution of salary to the staff. As soon as the vehicle of the department reached the Central Government Office Complex in NH-5, the miscreants blocked its way by parking their vehicle in front of it and snatched the bag. Later, they escaped in
their car while firing in the air. |
Scientist missing since Jan 30 KARNAL, Feb 29 —A senior scientist of the NDRI here has been missing since January 30. Dr Ashok Kumar, who was working as a Senior Scientist in the economics division of the National Dairy Research Institute here, left home on the morning of January 30. He has not returned home since. Mr Harikishan Kural, elder brother of Dr Sharma, told TNS today that the scooter of the scientist and his shoes had been found at the banks of Kachwa minor. Interestingly, although
the scooter was found locked, the keys were missing. |
2 die in road mishaps ROHTAK, Feb 29 —Two persons were killed and one other was reportedly injured in two road accidents. According to police sources, one person identified as Aman Kumar, a resident of Sonepat, was killed and another got injured when a Tata 407 vehicle collided with another vehicle on the Rohtak-Sonepat road yesterday. In another incident,
Sunil Kumar of Bhaini Chanderpal village, died after his
jeep hit a tree. A case has been registered in this
connection. |
Tribune employee bereaved AMBALA, Feb 29 — Dr Kali Ram Sharma, father of Mr Anil Kumar Sharma, Sectional Head in The Tribune, died here this morning. He leaves behind his wife, three sons and two daughters. He was 71. Dr Sharma was an
educationist and a social worker. His cremation was
largely attended. His kirya ceremony will be held at the
local Brahmin Sabha Hall, near Alu Godam, on March 12 at
2 pm. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | In Spotlight | 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 119 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
