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Decision to quit as Governor Chandigarh, June 28 A meeting with BJP leader and former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani has made Haryana Governor Babu Parmanand change his mind about resigning the job.
SC bars expelled Haryana MLAs from voting in RS poll
Chautala to expand Cabinet
on July 5
Haryana Speaker’s
resignation sought
One IAS, 2 HCS officers shifted
BKU workers repose faith
in Nain
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‘Nekah’ performed at temple
4 break into KU, steal wrong set
of papers
LEAF FROM HISTORY
Two police recruits killed in accident
Govt colleges to get staff before
new session
Youth Cong begins mass contact
Firecrackers distributed
to scare away elephants
Students awarded degrees
Several booked for abducting married woman
Cops’ recruitment from July 12
Transporter shot at
Two killed
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Babu Parmanand changed mind after meeting Advani
Chandigarh, June 28 A representative of the Union Home Ministry called up Raj Bhavan at Chandigarh on Friday and asked an official to tell the Governor to step down. The message was passed on to Babu Parmanand, who was in Mount Abu at that time. He reportedly agreed to quit and the Union Government was intimated accordingly. However, on his way back from Mount Abu, Babu Parmanand met Mr L.K. Advani in Delhi. Following the meeting, he apparently started reconsidering his decision to step down. Mr Advani, it may be remembered, has taken up with the UPA Government the issue of retaining Governors appointed by the previous regime. Attempts to contact the Governor on the issue proved futile. A Raj Bhavan official, who claimed having been authorised by the Governor to answer questions about his resignation, said: "He is studying the
relevant portions of the Constitution about the tenure of a Governor. He would let the Press know about his future course of action within two or three days.” In a related development, Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, who does not enjoy the best of relations with Babu Parmanand, indicated today that the Union Home Ministry had started the process of appointing a new Governor. Mr Chautala, who was at the Vidhan Sabha to oversee the Rajya Sabha elections, said the Union Home Minister, Mr Shivraj Patil, had sent him a list of names so as to choose one for appointment as the Governor. The Chief Minister did not elaborate. Babu Parmanand, whose tenure as the Haryana Governor, has been marked by his opposition to some controversial steps initiated by the Chief Minister, got into trouble when he allegedly eulogised Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee during a speech at Jhajjar shortly before the Lok Sabha elections. In his reply to a query from the Union Home Ministry about the speech, Babu Parmanand had attributed the furore triggered by his speech to "some vested interests". |
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SC bars expelled Haryana MLAs from voting in RS poll
New Delhi, June 28 A Vacation Bench of Mr Justice K. G. Balakrishnan and Mr Justice P. V. Reddi, refusing to grant interim relief to the six MLAs, expelled by Speaker Satbir Singh Kadiyan on June 25 under the anti-defection law, however, said they would continue to remain legislators without having any voting right. While admitting their petitions for final disposal, the court said: "All the petitioners are allowed to function as legislator in the Haryana Assembly. They are liable to draw allowances and perquisites and attend the proceedings of the House, but they shall not cast their votes in any of its proceedings... including the voting for the Rajya Sabha elections today." The six MLAs--Mr Karan Singh Dalal (RPI) and Mr Jagjit Singh (NCP) and four Independents, Mr Bhim Sein Mehta, Mr Rajinder Singh Bisla, Mr Devraj Dewan and Mr Jai Prakash Gupta--thus were protected from being expelled from the House in the interim period till their petition, challenging the Speaker's order, is finally disposed of by the court. The court rejected the plea of former Attorney-General Soli J. Sorabjee, who appeared for four Independent MLAs, that the disqualified legislators be allowed to cast their votes in the Rajya Sabha elections today and their votes be kept in sealed cover till the final judgement. "If this is allowed, it will result in uncertainty of the Rajya Sabha election results from the state and complicate the matter further," the Bench observed. "Your (MLAs) status as members will remain protected and you will get all benefits, but you will not be allowed to cast the vote in the House, including today's polling," Justice Balakrishnan said, rejecting the plea of Mr Sorabjee that he was asking for "bare minimum". After the Bench had pronounced its order, Mr Sorajbee said if the Speaker's verdict was set aside by the court in its final judgement, the MLAs would be highly prejudiced as their voting right would be vitally affected in the interim period. The Speaker had expelled the MLAs after they allegedly "joined" the Congress on June 14. In his order, Speaker Satbir Singh Kadiyan had said there was sufficient evidence to suggest that the six MLAs had violated the provisions of the anti-defection law. With the six MLAs being deprived of the voting right, the strength of the electoral college in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha was virtually reduced to 80 members, putting the ruling INLD with its 57 legislators in an advantageous position because it gave an edge to the party-supported candidate, Mr Tarlochan Singh, Chairman of the Minorities Commission, over Congress rival Kiran Chaudhary. Mr Sorabjee and senior advocates A. M. Singhvi and Gopal Subramaniam, appearing for the six MLAs, during the two-hour long arguments alleged that the Speaker in this case had acted with a "pre-meditated mind in a tearing hurry" without giving the legislators opportunity to cross-examine the additional evidence placed before him. "The Speaker's verdict was perverse and against the principle of natural justice as he in his order had recorded that he had personal knowledge of the MLAs joining a political party," Mr Sorabjee said, adding it was highly improbable for the Speaker to talk about "personal knowledge" as no presiding officer of a tribunal is supposed to do so. This was strongly objected to by senior advocate Shanti Bhushan and former Solicitor-General Kirit Raval, who appeared for two INLD MLA, Mr Nafe Singh Rathi and Mr Krishan Lal, on whose application the Speaker had passed the expulsion order. Shanti Bhushan said there was nothing wrong in the Speaker's order as there was "clinching" evidence before him about the six legislators joining the Congress. "As soon as an Independent MLA joins a political party, he is supposed to be disqualified under the anti-defection law... All TV channels and newspapers had reported that the six MLAs had joined the Congress in the presence of party President Sonia Gandhi and senior leader Ahmed Patel on June 14," he said. Three TV channels, whose videocassettes had been placed before the Speaker as evidence, had certified that the cassettes were "original and genuine," Shanti Bhushan said. "Where is the question of denying of the right of natural justice to the MLAs?" he asked. Referring to Mr Sorabjee's allegation that the Speaker had talked about "his personal knowledge" about joining the Congress by the MLAs, he said: "It is important in his case as the presiding officer of the House is supposed to know about the activities of legislators." |
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Chautala to expand Cabinet
on July 5
Chandigarh, June 28 This was announced by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, here this evening after the Transport Minister, Mr Ashok Kumar Arora, took over as the President of the Haryana unit of the Indian National Lok Dal. This will the first
expansion of the Chautala Cabinet after it was formed in March, 2000. Mr Chautala said while most states would have to reduce the size of their ministries following a ceiling on the Cabinet size, Haryana would be the only state where the number of ministers would go up. The new law says the size of a ministry cannot exceed 15 per cent of the total strength of the Assembly. The Haryana Assembly has a sanctioned strength of 90. At present there are 10 ministers, including the Chief Minister. |
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Haryana Speaker’s
resignation sought
Chandigarh, June 28 Mr Kadian had
disqualified two Congress MLAs — Mr Karan Singh Dalal and Mr Jagjit Singh Sangwan — and four Independent MLAs — Mr Rajinder Singh Bisla, Mr Dev Raj Diwan, Mr Jai Prakash Gupta and Mr Bhim Sen Mehta. The officiating Leader of the Haryana Congress Legislature Party, Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, said Mr Kadian should quit his office immediately because by staying his order, the Supreme Court had held that prima facie there was something wrong with his order. Mrs Kiran Choudhary, who lost the Rajya Sabha election on the Congress ticket, said Mr Kadian should resign immediately because he had lowered the prestige of the high office of Speaker. The former Leader of the Opposition in the Haryana Assembly, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and Congress MLA. Karan Singh Dalal also demanded the resignation of Mr Kadian. |
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One IAS, 2 HCS officers shifted
Chandigarh, June 28 Mr Pankaj Aggarwal, Additional Deputy Commissioner-cum-Chief Executive Office, District Rural Development Agency and Special Officer, APZ, Hisar, has been given additional charge as the Administrator, HUDA, Hisar. Mr Satbir Singh Jangu, SDO (Civil), Ellenabad, has been given additional charge as the SDO (C), Dabwali, during the leave period of Mr Ashwani Kumar. Mr Tilak Raj, OSD to the Chief Secretary, has been posted as Secretary, Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board, Panchkula, against a vacant post. |
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BKU workers repose faith in Nain
Jind, June 28 The BKU workers, at their meeting here yesterday, pointed out that the union would protect the interests of the farmers under the leadership of Mr Nain. The workers authorised Mr Nain to reconstitute the state executive committee of the BKU. After the meeting, Mr Nain declared that a state-level rally of the BKU would be held at Jind on July 23 and the names of the office-bearers of the state executive committee would be announced at the rally. The meeting of the BKU workers was organised at Kandela village as a reaction to the meeting of several BKU leaders held at Rohtak on Saturday in which Mr Nain was removed from the presidentship of Haryana BKU and Risaldar Dharam Singh was elected president of state unit of the BKU. Reacting to his removal from the presidentship of the BKU Mr Nain said he was elected president by farmers of the state and he had been struggling to safeguard their interest for the past 21 years. He alleged that certain BKU leaders indulged in anti-union activities and they were asked to explain their conduct. Mr Nain said they had no right to remove him from the post of presidentship. He said certain BKU leaders were working on the directions of Indian National Lok Dal leaders. He said the INLD government had not fulfilled its election promises and had failed to implement the Kandela agreement reached between the BKU and the representatives of the government about two years ago. He said due to these reasons the BKU supported the Congress in the recent Lok Sabha elections. It was decided at the meeting that the BKU would raise the issue of the SYL canal completion at the rally. — PTI |
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‘Nekah’ performed at temple
Sonepat, June 28 According to a report, the villagers raised funds for the marriage. A wealthy man, who had assured Mr Sharafat Ali, father of the girl to bear the expenses, went back on the commitment one day before the marriage. When residents of the village learnt about the refusal of the said man to spend money on the marriage, they assured Mr Sharafat Ali that they would make arrangements for the marriage. They immediately started collecting money from each house and solemnised the marriage. The bridegroom was from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. The marriage ceremony was organised at a temple in the village. Members of the marriage party, who were given a rousing reception, were happy at the gesture of the villagers. Mr Sharafat Ali thanked the people of the village for their humble gesture. The village for expressed anguish at the refusal of the wealthy man who had backed out of his promise. They announced that they would socially boycott the rich man. |
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4 break into KU, steal wrong set
of papers
Kurukshetra, June 28 The four have been identified as Chaand Singh and Joginder Singh of Kheri Boora village in Bhiwani district, Sanjay of Pilana village in Rohtak district and Ombeer, alias Vijay, alias Vineet, of Kidana in Bhiwani district. The police recovered a Tata Indica car, 84 keys, 36 locks, two wire cutters, one iron cutter, an iron saw blade and two chilly powder packets from their possession. During interrogation, they told the police that they had come here on June 24 to steal B.Ed entrance test question papers so that these could be used by them and this relatives and could be sold in the market on black. On the night of June 26, they stole a bundle of old unused and spare question papers and hid these in a sugarcane field along the Kurukshetra-Yamunanagar road. They slept on the bank of the Brahamsarover, where a patrolling police party, during interrogation, became suspicious, following which their car was searched and the tools recovered from the car. They were taken to the local police station. Admitting to their crime, they narrated the incident to the police. The police today recovered the unused and spare question papers of last year. The accused were produced before the Duty Magistrate, who sent them in police remand for two days. |
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LEAF FROM
HISTORY AMBALA: Kumari Rukmani Devi hall, which is one of the first multi-purpose halls built in Ambala Sadar, has been meeting the various requirements of the local populace for the last three decades. The huge building of the hall can be spotted from a distance. The hall is located on Railway Road. The multi-purpose hall has been constructed in memory of Rukmani Das, daughter of past Rotary District Governor, the late Mr HK Das. Mr YP Das, managing director of Metro Motors, said that on July 26, 1959, they received the sad news of the demise of his sister Rukmani. She was 19-year-old and a student of Lady Irwin College, Delhi. Mr Das said that the local community did not have any facility of a community hall then. “In November, 1968, the Rotary Club of Ambala jointly with Kumari Rukmani Devi memorial trust took upon themselves to provide this facility as a silver jubilee project of the club,” he said. The foundation stone of the hall was laid by the then Governor of Haryana, Mr BN Chakravarty, on October 12, 1969. The sanction was received from the Haryana Governor to construct the hall on the land belonging to the Education Department. The sanction letter states “Mr HK Das will complete the construction of the proposed hall within a reasonable period at his own expense, failing which the Haryana Government will be competent to demolish the building or to complete the same at its own expense. In the latter course, the Government will not be bound to entertain any claim for the refund of the amount expended by Mr HK Das and shall be free to utilise the property for any other purpose. The government further agrees for naming the hall after the late daughter of Mr HK Das and also for the nomination of Mr HK Das and one other member of the Rotary Club on the managing committee for the management of the hall.” Mr YP Das stated that it took several years to complete the construction of the hall due to fund constraints. “Organising events and personal contributions by the members of the Rotary Club of Ambala and other individuals & organisations helped raise funds,” he said. He stated that the hall was inaugurated on April 7, 1977, by Swami Ranganathananda of Rama Krishna Mission. In 1985, the Haryana Education Department notified the constitution of committee of the management of the hall. The Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, is the Chairman. The members include Mr YP Das, Executive Officer, Municipal Council, Ambala Sadar, District Education Officer, Rotary Club of Ambala, representative and Librarian of Central State Library. |
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Two police recruits killed in accident
Karnal, June 28 The recruits, Rajneesh and Rajiv of Karnal and Surender of Bhiwani, were going towards the complex from Karnal on a motorbike yesterday, when their motor
cycle got punctured and they fell on the road. Two of them were crushed under a truck. While Rajneesh died on the spot, Rajiv succumbed to his injuries in a hospital. The condition of Surender is said to be critical. The police had registered a case against the truck driver. The recruits were out of the complex without permission, Additional Director-General of Police, said. — UNI |
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Govt colleges to get staff before
new session
Rohtak, June 28 This was disclosed by the Commissioner, Higher Education, Haryana, Mr Dhanpat Singh, while addressing a meeting of principals of government colleges of this district here yesterday. He added that principals should not make demands for posting of lecturers in Hindi, Punjabi and Sanskrit. Posts of lecturer in English would be filled soon and the lecturers selected recently by the Haryana Public Service Commission would be posted shortly. Responding to the demands made by principals, he said efforts would be made to provide toilet, drinking water, common room and library facilities where it was required. He announced that students placed under compartment in one subject would be allowed to seek admission to Class XII. However, such students would be admitted only after admitting all who had passed. Mr Dhanpat Singh said the government had reversed its decision to close down evening colleges in Sirsa, Faridabad, Bhiwani and Bahadurgarh. Admission to these colleges would be open only to the employed, he added. The Commissioner directed principals to issue complete merit lists to enable students to know their chances of admission. |
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Youth Cong begins mass contact
Rohtak, June 28 Youth Congress workers led by Mr Tejbir Singh, general secretary, Haryana Youth Congress, met leaders of various organisations and communities to know their problems. They also met residents of various localities in the town. Mr Tejbir Singh said residents of the town complained of an acute shortage of drinking water and erratic power supply. He said traders were forced to fulfil demands of criminals because of the failure of the police to curb the activities of anti-social elements. Crime was on the rise and the residents were feeling insecure, he added. The Youth Congress leader said the issues had been brought to the notice of the authorities concerned and if no action was taken soon to resolve these problems, the organisation would gherao the officers concerned. |
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Firecrackers distributed
to scare away elephants
Yamunanagar, June 28 Some of the villagers had earlier complained to the forest officials that elephants were straying out of the forest area and damaging crops and trees. The villagers were advised to burst crackers in case they spotted the animals moving towards fields or villages. A forest official who visited Kalesar village today also advised the villagers to avoid working in fields during nights. A former sarpanch of the village told the forest officials that an elephant had damaged mango trees standing in his fields. |
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Students awarded degrees
Ambala, June 28 Dr Pillai said the benefit of engineering and technology education was available to limited number of people. Even in the overall higher education sector the opportunity for higher education was only available to about 0.5% of the total population and when it came to engineering education it was still an extremely small percentage totalling to 2.3 lakh of engineering seats in the whole country. He said rapid changes were taking place and there was a continuing demand for new skills. Mr Dharmbir asked the students to work hard to achieve their goal. He conferred degrees to the students. Mr Tarsem Garg reaffirmed his commitment to provide the best professional education to the students of these institutions. Mr M.K. Sehgal, Director, MMIM and Mr L.R. Sharma, Principal, MMEC, also addressed the students. Among those who achieved distinguished positions in MCA and BTech included Ekta Maini, Aman Singla, Anika Gupta, Reema Garg, Pankaj Rana, Gaurav Bhatia, Deep Sikha, Meenakshi Sukija, Suman Kaswan, Arnav Jain, Cherry Bhargave, Deep Mala, Tanuj Tandon and Raman Gupta.
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Several booked for abducting married woman
Ambala, June 28 Balbir Singh and his wife Usha Devi arrived at the Sahjadpur bus stand on June 14. He went to purchase some goods from the maternal bazaar leaving her wife at a shop on the bus stand. Meanwhile, his cousin Rajesh, alias Toni, appeared there. He asked Usha to accompany him and told her husband had been awaiting her at the new bus stand. On the way Balbir met them. He asked Rajesh to drop Usha to her parents’ house. Rajesh got her on a bus and drugged her on the sly due to which she became unconscious. When the bus reached near Ambala Cantt Usha regained consciousness. When she resist going along with him, he threatened her Rajesh then took her to Mumbai and left her at a teashop. The shopkeeper kept Usha with him for four days and later informed the police about her. On June 23 the Mumbai police informed the parents of Usha about her abduction. Her parents went to Mumbai and brought her to their village near Raipur Rani. |
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Cops’ recruitment from July 12
Chandigarh, June 28 A spokesman of the Haryana police said here today that constables would be recruited at the selection centres set up at the district police lines of Ambala, Rohtak, Hisar and Gurgaon and at Government Railway Police (GRP) lines, Ambala City. All candidates who had applied for these posts in the HSISF should report at the selection centres concerned on July 12 at 8 a.m. |
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Transporter shot at
Panipat, June 28 The incident took place around 5.30 pm when Joginder was alone. The two persons came on a motor cycle and one waited outside. The other went into Joginder’s office and shot at him indiscriminately. One of the assailants later surrendered with his .32 bore revolver to the police. |
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Two killed
Rewari, June 28 The police has registered a case of rash and negligent driving under Sections 279, 304-A of the IPC against the truck driver, who is absconding. |
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