 |
| Wednesday, July 5, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
|
MLA demands CBI inquiry Govt land ‘being encroached
on’ Scheme to detect power theft Train mishap probe begins Collegium to select HSSC chief,
members |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Petrol stations running
dry Bandh to seek train’s halt Birth anniversary of Nanda
observed Hike in medical fee opposed Malaria cases "decrease" Sarpanch forced to end fast Open LPG agencies in villages: CM Haryana Speaker’s resignation
sought Merit list for admissions on July
8
|
Acquisition of 2 plots by CM’s sons CHANDIGARH, July 4 — The lone RPI MLA in the Haryana Assembly, Mr Karan Singh Dalal, today demanded inquiries by the CBI and the Income Tax Department into the acquisition of two plots by Mr Ajay Singh and Mr Abhey Singh, sons of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, from DLF Builders. Talking to newsmen here Mr Dalal claimed that the company had transferred the two plots (28-C and 28-D in DLF Phase III, Gurgaon) in the names of Mr Chautala’s sons. He said the market price of the plots was over Rs 2 crore. Each plot, he said, was of two kanals. However, the office-secretary of the INLD, Mr Dharambir Singh, said in a statement issued in the evening that Mr Dalal’s allegation was baseless because these plots were purchased 11 years ago and not now. Mr Dalal alleged that in lieu of the plots the DLF was violating the rules and regulations with regard to the construction of colonies due to which the state exchequer had suffered a loss of over Rs 100 crore. Mr Dalal, who had acquired the reputation of being a "one-man demolition squad" when he was a minister in the Bansi Lal Cabinet for his verbal attacks on the Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha, also circulated copies of a letter from the Director, Town and Country Planning, written on February 23, 2000, among the newsmen. Mr Dalal said overruling the objections by the field staff, the Director, Town and Country Planning, wrote to the District Town Planner, Gurgaon, informing him that the government had relaxed the zoning clause so as to allow the combining of the two plots owned by Mr Chautala’s sons as a "special case." The Director also wrote that "however, this may not be treated as a precedent in future." A spokesman for the Town and Country Planning Department later clarified that combining of the two plots was permissible under the law and such a zoning plan did not in any way cause any financial loss to the government. The official spokesman said the combining of two plots put the allottees to disadvantage in terms of loss of the total floor area and dwelling unit. He said government dues were being charged as per the rules and policies of the government "from time to time". No favour or concession had been given to the coloniser. In case of delayed payment, 18 per cent annual interest was being charged from the coloniser. He said Mr Dalal’s allegations had no substance. Demanding a white paper on the acquisition of the plots, Mr Dalal said the Prime Minister should immediately order a CBI inquiry into the alleged illegal collection of money and property by members of the family of Mr Chautala through coercion or by showing favours by violating the rules. He said if the Centre
failed to act, he would file public interest litigation
to demand a CBI inquiry. |
Govt land ‘being
encroached on’ PANIPAT, July 4 — Mr Suresh Baweja, former president of the city Youth Congress, is reported to have submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, the Commissioner and the Secretary of Local Self Bodies, alleging that nagar parishad officials were depriving the parishad of crores of rupees of revenue by ignoring unauthorised constructions being made by the builders on the government land and that too without getting the plan sanctioned. He further alleged that besides the nagar parishad staff the administration authorities and staff of the Local Self Bodies Directorate were also involved. Officers of the nagar parishad are alleged to be busy in minting money. The financial condition of the nagar parishad is reported to be grim whereas the officers are busy amassing ill-gotten wealth. While giving details, Mr Baweja further alleged that in a complicated case of land grab and encroachment on the main GT Road near a cinema hall and gurdwara one party claims that the land being evacuee property was offered by the custodian to them. However, the second party is alleged to have unauthorisedly taken possession of the plot and got the plan illegally sanctioned. With the maximum permissible height against the Haryana municipal by laws and four storeys being constructed the rules and regulations of the Haryana municipal building by- laws have been openly flouted. The building is coming up right in front of the nagar parishad office, he added. Mr Baweja further alleged that the covered area was more than 400 per cent which is again a violation of the Haryana municipal building by- laws, but due to some mutual understanding with the alleged owners an illegal transaction had been put through. It is interesting to note how the officials of the nagar parishad flout the rules and regulations as the other party claiming the same custodian land requested the parishad to give them a certified copy of the sanctioned plan and with the application deposited the requisite fee. But till date the needful has not been done by the officials, which clearly shows that the department favours the alleged builder who is reported to have grabbed the land even though his claim of ownership of the plot is alleged to have been rejected in a civil writ no. 198 of 1963. The second party which claims to possess the letter of officer from the custodian for this plot has been moving from pillar to post without any tangible result, Mr Baweja said. In Model Town near Raunaq High School, approximately 3000 sq yards of government land is alleged to have been encroached, which is considered quite valuable from the commercial angle. Mr Baweja further said a portion of the land allegedly grabbed was actually meant for a road. An inquiry from the municipal engineer, Mr Narender Jindal, revealed that house tax was being paid by the builder for the aforesaid plot. On further questioning by this correspondent as to whether a person paying house tax could claim to be the legal owner of encroached land, the official replied in the negative. In his memorandum Mr Baweja requested the Chief Minister to open the case of commercial complex near the inter city bus stand despite a stay by the high court on that plot violating Colonisation Act. The land cost is about six crore and the department allegedly got Rs 6 lakh for that. Even the Deputy
Commissioner has ordered that construction work on the
four-storeyed building on the GT Road and the commercial
complex near the inter-city bus stand should be stopped.
He has directed that papers of the ownership should be
produced for checking. The DC further said that
encroachment on government land would be removed at all
costs. |
Scheme to detect power theft ROHTAK, July 4 — The Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) has installed new electronic meters as a part of its strategy to detect power theft in domestic and non-domestic sectors, mainly in urban area. According to sources as many as 40 meters have been installed in Rohtak town so far. The Nigam authorities are reportedly working on a plan to cover all towns, including Jhajjar, Bahadurgarh and industrial areas coming under this region shortly. It is learnt that hundreds of meters have already been put up on transformers to check power theft. The authorities have reportedly decided to spare rural areas for the time-being where the Nigam faces stiff opposition in recovering bills pending to the tune of several hundred crores. The Nigam is learnt to be concentrating on urban areas where the problem is less serious. According to sources, the electronic meters developed by a company based at Jaipur have been installed on transformers from where power to houses or factories is released. The new type of meter which reportedly cannot be tampered with has been attached to the exit point. It will record every unit transferred. After a certain period, the authorities will check the number of units supplied by the transformer and compare these with the total consumption of units by households or factories getting power from a particular transformer. These meters are known as LTCT (Low tension city meters) and have been tested in the Nigam’s laboratory. Such an experiments was carried out at Narwana in Jind recently with success. It is reported that the Nigam plans to cover all urban areas. According to Nigam
sources, if any major difference between the supply and
the units consumed is found, the authorities will conduct
house-to-house surveys to detect the theft or the faulty
meters, if any. It is alleged that some Nigam employees
are themselves involved in meter tampering. |
Train mishap probe begins AMBALA, July, 4 — The Commissioner Railway Safety (Northern Circle), Mr A.P. Aggarwal, today, began the inquiry into the Howrah-Amritsar Express accident in which the driver and assistant drivers of this train were killed on July 1 when it rammed into an empty train rack near Ambala city. Soon after reaching here today, Mr Aggarwal had a discussion with senior officials of the Ambala Railway Division who were at the site on the day of the mishap. Later, he inspected the power cabin and the control room at the Ambala Cantt railway station. He also visited the accident site along with the officials. He inspected the four damaged coaches of the Ambala-Saharanpur Passenger and the diesel engine of the Howrah-Amritsar Express. The Railway sources for the next two days Mr Aggarwal would meet more Railway employees in this regard. The sources said by the end of this month, Mr Aggarwal would submit his report to the General Manager of the Northern Railway. According to the
sources, the Railway employees who have been summoned to
join the inquiry included the driver, assistant driver
and guard of the Ambala-Saharanpur Passenger, the guard
and Assistant Guard of the Howrah-Amritsar Express,
section controller (maintenance), the official on duty in
the control room at the time of the accident and the
crews of the Chattisgarh Express, the Kisan Express, the
Holiday Special Express and the Himachal Express. |
Petrol stations running dry KARNAL, July 4—Dealers have stopped picking supplies of diesel and petrol from the Indian Oil depots in protest against raids on them. As a result, petrol stations in the district are running dry. The dealers have not been lifting fresh stocks since July 1. A spokesman for the Petrol Pump Dealers Association told TNS today that they had urged the administration to lift samples from the source of supply and not from the petrol stations. The administration, however maintains that the samples were being lifted on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. It is perplexed as to why the dealers should object to lifting of samples from petrol stations if they were selling unadulterated products. But the stand of the administration is not acceptable to the dealers. The dealers are
contemplating that if the administration sticks to its
stand, the dealers will stop selling petrol and diesel to
government vehicles. Another stand taken by the dealers
is that samples at the source should be lifted in the
presence of the Indian Oil officials. |
Collegium to select HSSC chief,
members CHANDIGARH, July 4 — Haryana has become the first state in the country to have a collegium for the selection of the Chairman and members of the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC). This decision was taken at a meeting of the state Cabinet held under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, here the other day. The three-member collegium would have a representative each from the political executive, the permanent executive and the judiciary. The decision follows a commitment made by the Advocate General before the high court on behalf of the government in the Manmohan Singh Chaudhary versus State of Haryana case stating that the entire issue relating to the appointment of the Chairman and members of the commission and their conditions of service would be got examined by a high-powered committee. Appropriate rules would also be framed so that in future high political functionaries do not use these posts as tools in their hands for conferring favours on individuals. While disposing of that
case, the high court had expressed the hope that in
future only persons having a sound academic background
and experience of having worked in the fields of
economics, political science, social sciences and law
would be appointed to these important posts. Only then
would the commission instil confidence in the people of
the state. |
Bandh to seek train’s
halt REWARI, July 4 — Residents and shopkeepers of Bawal observed a bandh today in protest against the cancellation of the halt of the Inter-city Express at the Bawal station by the Railway authorities with effect from July 1. The fast unto death being observed by Mr Roshan Singh Chauhan, president of the Bawal block BJP committee, as a mark of protest against the decision entered its fourth day today. Mr Chauhan, who complained of weakness and uneasiness, was medically examined by government doctors yesterday. According to the agitating public, the railway administration had provided for the halt of the Intercity Express, which runs between Jaipur and Delhi, at Bawal station about 16 months ago. Former Union Minister S.S. Barnala had reportedly paid a key role in the decision taken. But now the halt was cancelled by the railway administration on the plea that it was not proving beneficial. People said the
agitation would be intensified if the order cancelling
the halt was not revoked immediately. They said the halt
had benefited the residents of Bawal and dozens of its
adjoining villages. |
Birth anniversary of Nanda
observed KURUKSHETRA, July 4 — Haryana Transport Minister Ashok Kumar Arora has urged people to follow the path shown by the late Bharat Ratna Gulzari Lal Nanda whose birth anniversary was celebrated on the premises of ‘Sadaachaar Sthal’ — commonly known as ‘Nanda Ji Ki Samaadhi’ — near the eastern bank of the sacred Brahmasarovar here today. Appreciating the contribution of Nanda towards restoring Kurukshetra’s glory and its surrounding pilgrim centres, Mr Arora said Nanda established the Kurukshetra Development Board (KDB) which had been engaged in pilgrim centre’s restoration situated within 48 kosas of the town. On similar lines, the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala’s government would work to put Kurukshetra on the world map as a religious, historical and a tourist destination. Describing Nanda as an
ascetic and a hermit, the Haryana Agriculture Minister,
Mr Jaswinder Singh Sandhu, said Nanda, throughout his
life worked for others. |
Hike in medical fee opposed ROHTAK, July 4— The district unit of the all-India Krishak Khet Majdoor Sanghathan (AIKKMS) has opposed the proposed hike in the medical examination fee in the PGIMS here and privatisation of a few Civil Hospitals in the state. In a statement here
today, Mr Anup Singh, secretary of the organisation,
asked the state government to immediately withdraw the proposal. He claimed that if the hike was effected, the
poor class would not be able to get proper medicare
facilities. He claimed the World Bank on promise of
giving aid had ‘forced’the authorities to take
such ‘anti-people’decisions. He said the
Chautala government had also been following its predecessors in office in the matter of hiking rates of
basic commodities and taxes. |
Malaria cases
"decrease" CHANDIGARH, July 4 — The Haryana Health Department today reinforced its vector control operation to prevent the spread of malaria, dengue and Japanese encephalitis in the state during the monsoon season. The Minister of State for Health, Dr M.L. Ranga, said the incidence of malaria had declined substantially during the past three years following preventive measures taken by the department. He said the number of malaria cases came down from 12,115 in 1998 to 2,604 in 1999. Similarly, cases of falciparum malaria had declined significantly. Dr Ranga added that all
civil surgeons had been directed to regularly monitor the
progress of the programme at district community health
centres and primary health centres so that preventive
steps could be taken. |
Sarpanch forced to end fast KARNAL, July 4 — Mrs Kastoori Devi, sarpanch of Kalsora village, along with Mrs Rajesh Devi were forcibly removed from the dharna site in front of the district courts by the police. The two women, who along
with some male members of the village, were sitting on a
fast since June 28, were admitted to the local Civil
Hospital as their health was deteriorating. They were
force-fed in the hospital. |
Open LPG agencies in
villages: CM CHANDIGARH, July 4— The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, today urged the Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry to open gas agencies at the block level, in hilly areas and in big villages of the state to enable the rural masses to avail themselves of this facility. The Haryana Chief
Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Ram Pal Majta, who read out
the speech of the Chief Minister at a meeting of the
State Food and Supplies Ministers held in New Delhi this
morning, said until now this facility was available only
in urban areas. |
Haryana Speaker’s
resignation sought PANIPAT, July 4 — The RPI legislator from Palwal Assembly constituency and convener of the Haryana Nirman Morcha, Mr Karan Singh Dalal, today said he would bring a no-confidence motion against the Haryana Assembly Speaker in the next session after consulting Opposition parties. Mr Dalal was talking to
mediapersons at the PWD Rest House here yesterday. He
demanded that the Speaker, Mr S.S. Kadiyan, should resign
his post for getting one Joginder Kaur evicted from her
house on June 21 as alleged by her in a statement to the
police. Mr Dalal also visited the house of Joginder Kaur. |
Merit list for admissions on
July 8 ROHTAK, July 4— The first merit list for admission to various postgraduate courses of Maharshi Dayanand University will be displayed on the notice boards of the respective departments on July 8. The candidates selected
for admission will be required to deposit their fees up
to July 10. The second merit list will be displayed on
July 11 with the candidates required to deposit their
fees up to July 12. Other admissions without late fee
will be made up to July 12. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 120 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
