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CBI raids:
Chautala asked to quit CBI raid on
District Primary Education Office Sanjiv Kumar to
file another writ Birender to
launch mass-contact drive Fighter aircraft
valuable even in form of scrap Police fails to
solve murder, dacoity case |
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CM lays
foundation stone for bridge Inside Babudom
Test-tube triplets born to Shanti in Ambala on Wednesday.
— Photo by Neeraj Chopra 2 get jail term for
alluring unemployed High
Court 4 killed in road
mishaps 1 killed, 5 hurt
in road accident Additional train
on Kalka-Shimla route Bitta against
repeal of POTA Brigadier
inspects recruitment rally
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CBI raids: Chautala asked to quit Chandigarh, May 26 The Haryana Congress President, Mr Bhajan Lal, and the former Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, have demanded in separate statements that Mr Chautala should immediately quit his office because the CBI raids were a clear indictment of his regime. They said if Mr Chautala failed to quit, he should be sacked by the Governor. The President of the All-India Youth Congress, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, said the CBI raids were the beginning of the end of the Chautala regime. He said the CBI inquiry had given a lie to Mr Chautala’s claim that the recruitments under his rule had been on merit. The newly elected MP from Bhiwani, Mr Kuldip Singh Bishnoi, said the CBI should inquire into all recruitments made by the INLD Government. Mr Karan Singh Dalal, a Congress MLA, said unless the CBI raided the house of Mr Chautala and arrested him, the “real culprit” behind the teachers’ recruitment scam would not be booked. He said the persons whose houses the CBI had raided were “mere minions” of the Chief Minister and they were a small fry in the entire episode. The Secretary-General of the Haryana Vikas Party, Mr Surender Singh, also demanded a CBI probe into the recruitments made by the Chautala Government which, he said, should immediately quit in the interest of justice. Mr Kishan Pal Gurjar, Leader of the BJP Legislature Party, said the CBI raids had vindicated his party’s decision to snap ties with Mr Chautala. |
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CBI raid on District Primary Education Office Ambala, May 26 The CBI officials began their raid in the morning in connection with the JBT teachers who were recruited in 1999. The officials scrutinised the records and took away certain files. The three-member team was led by Inspector Devinder Singh. Mr RC Dogra and Mr Prem Prakash were the other members of the team. The District Primary Education Officer, Mr
A.S. Dalal, was present during the raid. He later apprised the Additional Deputy Commissioner about the raid. The files which have been taken away by the CBI officials include a file containing record of District Primary Education Officer joining and relieving, a file containing DPEO’s tour programme, a file containing TA bills of
DPEOs, a letter no. 556 (1) and another file of December 1, 1999. The officials also took away a file containing the appointment list of
JBTs, the roster register, reallocation of districts file, the diary register from January 1, 1999 to April 3, 2002, an advertisement on November 15, 1999 and a file containing changing option of district. The Supreme Court had ordered an inquiry after a former Director, Primary Education
(DPE), Mr Sanjiv Kumar, IAS, filed a writ petition over the recruitment of JBT teachers. Mr Sanjiv Kumar, in his petition, had alleged that the powers-that-be had got prepared another list of selected candidates and put pressure on him to implement the second list, but he refused. The apex court had directed the CBI to investigate the alleged irregularities in the recruitment of JBT teachers in November 26 last year and had asked it to complete its investigation “preferably within six months”. |
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Sanjiv Kumar to file another writ Chandigarh, May 26 It was on his writ petition that the apex court had directed the CBI to inquire into the alleged irregularities in the appointment of JBT (primary) teachers in the state in 2000. In an exclusive interview to The Tribune on the phone, Mr Sanjiv Kumar alleged that the signatures of a dead person were forged while making the second list of the candidates in the Directorate of Secondary Education
(DSE), which was headed by Mr P.K. Mahapatra. The recruitment of primary and secondary teachers went on almost simultaneously. He alleged that in the DSE also, similar irregularities were committed as was done in the Directorate of Primary
Education(DPE) while recruiting teachers. Like the primary teachers, the secondary teachers were also selected by the District-level Selection Committees. The Rohtak committee was headed by the then District Education Officer (DEO), Mrs Ram Devi Hooda. The interview was held in January, 2000. Unfortunately, Mrs Hooda died in May, 2000. The alternative list, he said, was prepared in September, 2000. These facts, Mr Sanjiv Kumar said, were brought to the notice of the CBI by him. On inquiry, the DSE confirmed that Mrs Hooda was the chairperson of the Rohtak committee. The
DSE, he said, was first reluctant to hand over the record of the recruitment to the CBI, but later on gave in when the investigating agency requisitioned it. Certain staff members of the Rohtak DEO’s office, who were called to verify the signatures of Mrs Hooda, denied that those were her signatures. When the CBI reverted back to the
DSE, Mr Sanjiv Kumar said, it was informed that for the Rohtak district, a second interview was held because there were certain complaints against Mrs Hooda. Mr Sanjiv Kumar said if the interview was held for the second time, why there was no advertisement. And if there were complaints against Mrs Hooda, why no administrative action was taken against her. He said there were many more issues about the recruitment of the secondary teachers, which needed a thorough probe by the CBI. He said he would also file a contempt petition in the Apex Court against the state government because it had neither reinstated him nor had paid even a single paisa as subsistence allowance in the past four years. Going into the sequence of events, Mr Sanjiv Kumar said the then Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Mr Vishnu Bhagwan, gave a call to him at his Gurgaon residence on July 8, 2000, to have breakfast with Mr Om Prakash Chautala, the next morning. He reached Chandigarh after a night-long journey. He said a doctor was bandaging a foot of Mr Chautala. The then DIG, CID, Mr
K.P. Singh, was also present there. When Mr Sanjiv Kumar reached there, the Chief Minister sent the police officer and the doctor away. Mr Vishnu Bhagwan, who was present, told Mr Sanjiv Kumar that Mr Chautala wanted to give them a New Year gift by promoting the 1985 batch IAS officers, which included Mr Sanjiv Kumar and Mr
Mahapatra, to the supertime scale from January 1 next. Mr Sanjiv Kumar claimed that Mr Chautala himself told him to implement the alternative list of the selected candidates. He also claimed that Mr Chautala made derogatory remarks about Mr
R.P. Chander and Mrs Rajni Sekhri Sibal, who had been heading the DPE prior to Mr Sanjiv Kumar. He said Mr Vishnu Bhagwan assured Mr Chautala that he (Mr Sanjiv Kumar) would do his bidding. Mr Sanjiv Kumar said Mr Chautala had doubts about the political affiliations of Mr Chander, who is a son-in-law of a Congress leader, Mrs Shakuntala
Bhagwaria. Moreover, he said, Mr Chander had already been promoted to the supertime scale and his next promotion was due only after six years. He said Mrs Sibal’s promotion was also due only after one and half years since she belonged to the 1986 batch. He wondered what prevented Mrs Sibal from implementing the first list even though the Punjab and Haryana High Court had asked her to do it. Its was Mrs Sibal who sealed the almirah in which the lists were kept before she was transferred out of the directorate. Mr Sanjiv Kumar said Mrs Sibal took this step only after a functionary of the INLD misbehaved with her. |
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Birender to launch mass-contact drive Rohtak, May 26 He told newspersons here today that he planned to launch a statewide mass contact programme under the Congress banner to counter Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala’s “sinister” plans to snap the social fabric in Haryana by his caste oriented statements. Mr Birender Singh said he did not know whether Mr Chautala was doing so out of frustration after the drubbing his party received in the recent Lok Sabha polls or it was by design but his statements were bound to damage the social fabric in the state. Asked whether Haryana Congress chief Bhajan Lal and Lok Sabha member Bhupinder Singh Hooda and their supporters would also join his campaign he said it was up to them to join adding that even if they did not do so, he was determined to carry it out on his own. Praising Congress president Sonia Gandhi for declining to accept the post of Prime Minister he said he would lead a 50,000-strong group of farmers and youths from Haryana for a solidarity show at Mrs Gandhi’s New Delhi residence on June 1. Mrs Gandhi, he said, had vociferously raised farmers and youths’ issues during the campaign for the Lok Sabha polls and the two sections of the society. In reply to a question, Mr Birender Singh said he had not contested the recent Lok Sabha poll because he intended to contest the next assembly elections in Haryana due early next year. He said while in the opposition the Congress never projected any individual as its candidate for the post of Chief Minister. When the Congress is returned to power in Haryana Mrs Sonia Gandhi would decide who the next Chief Minister would be at an appropriate time, he added. The Congress leader said in reply to another question that those who were projecting themselves as the next Chief Minister of Haryana were only misleading the people. “This is petty politics and nothing more”, he added. The former Congress chief said he was also finalising plans to hold road shows in Haryana. The schedule was being drawn up and the campaign would be launched shortly. |
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Fighter aircraft valuable even in form of scrap Ambala, May 26 For the Indian Air Force, aircraft wreckage may not have any intrinsic value. However, there is a market for its metal scrap. Ambala happens to be the only place in Haryana where disposed of fighter aircraft are dismantled and sold off after the metal is melted. Different types of fighter aircraft wreckage, including that of MiG 21 and the Jaguars is handled by scrap dealers. While such dealers are present all over the country, there are a handful of such dealers in Ambala who maintain a low profile. The process of buying a wrecked aircraft is simple. An open tender is floated by an agency called Metal Scrap Trade Corporation for the wreckage kept at a particular air base. The highest bidder takes away the scrap. Thereafter, different metals in the aircraft are separated and sold in different markets where there is a demand. A trade insider said a fighter aircraft was composed of a number of metals, including the more common aluminium and lesser-known elements like titanium. “It is a common misconception that a fighter aircraft is made of iron. There is low content of iron in a fighter aircraft,” he explained. He said breaking down a fighter aircraft was a difficult task. “The aircraft is very solidly made. It takes a lot of effort to separate the different parts,” he said. “From buying an aircraft wreckage to ultimately selling off the metal, it takes a couple of months,” he added. After the different parts have been separated, the scrap is melted in a foundry. “A high degree of heat is required to melt some of these metals. The furnace process helps in easier handling of metals,” he said. Aluminium forms high content of the fighter aircrafts and so does stainless steel. The quality of stainless steel is related to the nickel content. Good quality stainless steel fetches a good price in the market. The stainless steel is sold off in markets like the utensil industry at Jagadhari. “Magnesium is useful for making alloys. For the common man, he witnesses the extensive
use of magnesium products during Divali. A `phool jhari’ sparkler has magnesium
content. Magnesium is sent to places like Saharanpur and Sivakasi,” he said. “Earlier,
even wireless parts of the aircraft were utilised in some items manufactured at Sahranpur. But that demand has now gone
down,” he stated. Even the cockpit glass finds buyers. The cockpit is made of a special quality
material and the scientific instruments industry uses it for manufacturing different products. “Titanium is one of the hardest
metals and it is lighter than aluminium. It has many uses in the industry,” he stated. These days there is minuscule quantity of gold and silver used in the aircrafts. “There are a couple of gold-coated instruments. Also, earlier there used to be batteries which utilised silver but now nickel cadmium batteries are used,” he pointed out. Those who deal in aircraft wreckage observe that this work is erratic. “It all depends on the availability of the fighter aircraft wreckage,” he said. “Also, it needs to be emphasised that this task requires a high degree of expertise and knowledge of metallurgy and cannot be |
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Police fails to solve murder, dacoity case Panipat, May 26 In this year dacoity, murder and shootout cases have become a routine in the district due to lackadaisical attitude of the police to solve cases. With the rapid increase in crime, people are now suspecting that the police is hand in glove with criminals. Finding it difficult even to solve a single case of dacoity or murder, the police has now decided to give a prize of Rs 10,000 to the person providing a clue of the gang responsible for the crime. The modus of operandi in all dacoity cases that took place here appeared to be same. A group of five or six miscreants usually attack the house of a businessman or wealthy family during late night. They use country-made pistols and sharp-edged weapons to commit crime. A city-based contractor, Mr Vijay Singh, was shot at by some miscreants with a country-made pistol in Sector-16 here and the miscreants decamped with jewellery and cash late night. The contractor’s wife sustained injuries when she tried to help her husband. A 65-year-old Mewa Singh was done to death in Kachroli village by five persons who attempted to steal a tractor from farmhouse yesterday. In a similar incident, Mewa Ram and Rajesh were seriously injured when some persons struck at their house in Nimbri village and decamped with jewellery and cash yesterday. A group of miscreants had seriously injured handloom businessman Radhye Shyam and his wife Suman, in HUDA, Phase-1 on Monday. The miscreants stabbed the two when they raised alarm against the miscreants. Illegal colonies in the city are believed to be the safest hideouts for the criminals, as the police does not bother to maintain records of the migrants staying here. |
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CM lays foundation stone for bridge Yamunanagar, May 26 This was stated by Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala today while addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone for a bridge to be constructed at a cost of Rs 2.23 crore over the Pathrala river on the Khizrabad-Bilaspur road, 25 km from here. With the construction of this bridge, about 50 villages will be benefited and the distance between Khizrabad and Bilaspur will be reduced by about 9 km, he said. The Chief Minister directed officers of the PWD (B&R) that the bridge should be ready by October 31 this year as he would inaugurate it on Haryana Day
(November 1). The Chief Minister maintained that while casting their votes during the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the people had ignored development work undertaken by the state government and had elected persons who did not care for the welfare of the people. The Chief Minister said nine bridges were being constructed at a cost of Rs 9.70 crore in the district. Later, the Chief Minister addressed a meeting of party workers at Jagadhri. He asked them to go to the people and resolve their problems at their doorstep. He said they should give information about those persons to the authorities who had misused government funds. Mr Balwant Singh, Dr M.C. Gambhir, Mr Banta Ram and Mr Bishan Lal Saini, all MLAs and Mr Akram Khan, Chairman, Hartron, were present on the occasion. |
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Inside Babudom Chandigarh, May 26 Mr Om Prakash Chautala, President of the Indian National Lok Dal and Chief Minister, got cut up with him reportedly for presenting a rosy picture of the party's prospects in the Lok Sabha polls. As it turned out, the INLD lost all 10 LS seats of the state. In fact, the Chief Minister is so much put off by the CID's assessment of the political scenario of the state that he is reportedly contemplating winding of this department which is used in Haryana primarily for collecting political intelligence Recently, the Chief Minister talked about winding up the CID at a meeting of the Council of Ministers . The officials attending the meeting thought Mr Chautala was saying this out of frustration and he did not really mean to wind up the intelligence-gathering wing of the state police. However, it now appears that the CM is indeed serious about winding up the CID. It was learnt that the CM subsequently asked one of the officials attached to him about what was being done regarding winding up the CID. Mr Chautala then reportedly directed that the Home Department, in consultation with the Director General of Police, must prepare a proposal for doing away with the CID . Importantly, while the state government today did put Mr K.
Selvaraj, another IPS officer as the IG, CID, he was given the responsibility in addition to his present duty as IG, Crime. Giving the office of the CID to someone as an additional charge must be a very very rare thing to have happened in the administrative history of Haryana. The state government today also transferred Mr Alok Joshi, who was the incumbent IGP of Ambala Range, as IG, Railways and Technical Services in place of Mr S S Deswal who has been posted as IG, Rohtak Range. The posting order of Mr Sharad Kumar, who was IG of Rohtak, would be issued later, it was learnt. |
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Test-tube triplets born to 44-yr-old woman Ambala, May 26 Dr Poonam Lamba said the triplets include one girl and two boys. She said the birth of triplets was a rare phenomenon. Ms Shanti Devi is recuperating at the hospital. Her relatives said she had lost her 20-year-old son a few years ago. Thereafter, she had undertook IVF treatment in October, 2003. |
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2 get jail term for alluring unemployed Kurukshetra, May 26 According to the Public Prosecutor, Mr Sadhu Ram, Nirmal Singh, a resident of Ramana and Balwant Singh, a resident of Taraori, had promised to send six unemployed youths of Chhailo village, in this district abroad against payment. The unemployed youths namely Mr Balkar Singh, Mr Bhajan Singh, Mr Chhatan Singh, Mr Balwinder Singh, Mr Jeet Singh and Mr Balbir Singh in a complaint lodged with the Pehowa police, said they came in contact with the two accused, who told them that they (accused) had contacts in foreign countries. They further alleged that the accused had also promised to send them to Lebanon for employment. On this assurance, Mr Balkar Singh, Mr Jeet Singh and Mr Balwinder Singh paid Rs 70,000 each while Mr Bhajan Singh paid Rs 55000 each while Mr Chhatan Singh and Mr Balbir Singh paid 60000 each as advance payment and promised to pay the remaining amount setting employment abroad. However, the accused showed them fake air tickets to get the balance amount, they alleged. |
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High Court
Chandigarh, May 26 Taking up a petition filed by Pradeep, seeking anticipatory bail in a case registered by the Samalkha police on May 10, the Bench of Mr Justice SK Mittal also issued notice to the respondents for August 2. Pradeep, whose father contested the recent Lok Sabha election from Sonepat, had been booked on the voting day for allegedly breaking the law. His anticipatory bail petition was dismissed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Panipat on May 18. Saying that since his father was contesting against the ruling Indian National Lok Dal candidate, who is also the wife of Haryana Director- General of Police, the case against him was politically motivated. |
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4 killed in road mishaps Kaithal, May 26 In the first incident, which took place 5 km from here on the Kaithal-Ambala road this morning, three persons were killed on the spot when the car in which they were travelling collided head-on with a truck. Two of the victims have been identified as Romesh (21), who was driving the car, and Mohinder, an employee of the Haryana Board of School Education, Bhiwani, while the third, a Sikh, could not be identified. Two of the injured were admitted to the Civil Hospital here while the third one was discharged on request, according to hospital sources. Another accident took place near Dhand, about 20 km from here, late last night when a Tata 407 vehicle, on way from Ratia to Raison village, rammed into a truck. Santosh (35) died on the spot while nine others were injured and taken to the Civil Hospital here. Three were later referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. |
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killed, 5 hurt in road accident Ambala, May 26 According to information the deceased Gagan, had gone to Karnal along with his relatives to attend a family function there. While he was returning to Ambala in his car collided with a truck on the GT road. Gagan died on the spot. The injured Satish, Suman, Kanta, Monu and Chunmun were rushed to local Civil Hospital. Later the doctors referred them to the PGI Chandigarh. The police has registered a case against the truck driver. |
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Additional train on Kalka-Shimla route Ambala, May 26 Mr Dogra said Shivalik Express-II would run on every Saturday. The fare will be the same as that of Shivalik Express. The additional train will have 89 seats, and it will run till July. The facilities on Shivalik Express- II include breakfast at Barog. Mr Dogra said for the convenience of passengers at Ambala, Shatabdi tickets for Delhi for the same day were now available at the unreserved ticketing centre. He said the tickets for Shatabdi were available at Counter
No.8. |
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Bitta against repeal of POTA Ambala, May 26 Mr Bitta stated that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance must not come under pressure to repeal POTA. He said that POTA was effective in tackling terrorism. He stated that the government needs to consider his suggestion in the backdrop of the killing of over 30 BSF personnel and their family members in the valley. “The terrorist
training camps in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir must be destroyed. Pakistan must hand over to Indian security agencies dreaded terrorists, like Dawood Ibrahim. Pakistan must also apologise for the Kargil conflict,” he said. He said that removing POTA would be an insult to those who had sacrificed their lives fighting militants. “If at all a need is felt to repeal POTA, then an anti-terrorist military court must be formed. This court must have special powers and the case must be completed within six months,” he said. |
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Brigadier inspects recruitment rally Kurukshetra, May 26 He said over 6000 youths from Panchkula, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar and Karnal districts had so far participated in the 10-day recruitment rally, being organised by the Army Recruitment Office, Ambala Cantonment. Addressing participants and their parents, Brigadier Sharma gave information regarding recruitment techniques, Army traditions and transparency in the recruitment system. He said the Army recruitment system was transparent and corruption-free. |
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