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Decision on farmers’ power bills was
difficult, says Hooda
Rates of management quota seats go up in colleges
Trade unions to intensify stir
Haryana to launch census of wild animals
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Construct college or return land: residents
Irked by power crisis, villagers block traffic
Rs 14 cr for improving water supply, sewerage
Posing as cops, 2 women abduct girl
Kidzee school inaugurated
2 prisoners escape, cop arrested
2 drowned in canal
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Decision on farmers’ power bills was
difficult, says Hooda
Asan (Rohtak), July 11 Addressing a public meeting here he said he was under tremendous pressure from different quarters on this issue and no one appeared to favour giving this relief to the peasantry. Those opposed to the move painted a dismal picture of the post-waiver economy and politics of Haryana. “That really made me think about it over and over again. I did not sleep for days together, but ultimately I decided that if farming had to survive in this small state, the arrears of bills had to be waived”, he added. Mr Hooda who began a three-day tour of his Assembly constituency Kiloi today said now it was up to the farmers to prove him right by paying their bills in future. “You pay the next 10 bills and wait for what I plan to do next. I will not disclose it today but I can say your future generations will remember me for that decision”, said. The Chief Minister said a canal would be built at a cost of Rs 260 crore to bring irrigation water to this area which had been denied its due share for more than 40 years consecutively. Already Rs 75 crore had been provided for this project in this year’s Budget and the canal would be completed in two years. He assured that with the construction of the canal it would not be possible for any future Chief Minister to deny this area water for irrigation and drinking purposes. Regarding power, he said, the government planned to increase generation and in the next four years villages would start getting assured power supply for 20 hours in a day. Round-the-clock supply will take a few more years since boosting generation was a costly affair. Mr Hooda recounted the major policy decisions his government had taken in the past four months and asked the audience to raise hands if they approved of these measures. The audience duly obliged after which he quipped, “I am human too like you. I could go wrong. But, I assure you it would be an inadvertent mistake. Never doubt my intentions behind that and I am quick to learn and rectify my mistakes”. The Chief Minister thanked the voters for his record win in the recent bypoll and said he would fulfil all his promises he had made ever since he fought his first election in 1991. “I had entered politics with a mission in mind and I am doing my best to end corruption and lawlessness in the state. The results are there to see already but I need another four years to fully implement my agenda. You can judge me after that”, he said. Mr Hooda visited 10 villages today and plans to cover the entire constituency by Wednesday. |
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Rates of management quota seats go up in colleges
Rohtak, July 11 While the rates for preferred colleges varies from Rs 3 to Rs 5 lakh per seat, the rate for management quota seats in the least preferred colleges varies from Rs 1.5 to 2 lakh. The management quota is presently pegged at 15 per cent. Another 15 per cent are reserved for all-India merit candidates. Of the remaining 70 per cent seats, 30 per cent fall in the general category and 40 per cent are reserved for various categories including NRIs, sportspersons, SCs and STs and Army personnel and children of armed forces personnel. Inquiries reveal that the managements have joined hands and decided that they would neither lower their rates nor indulge in poaching to rule out bargaining by the candidates. Till last year Haryana had 37 engineering colleges, most of which came up after 1995. Till then Haryana had an engineering college at Murthal, a Regional Engineering College at Kurukshetra (since upgraded to a technological institute level), an advanced polytechnic at Faridabad, which was also later upgraded as engineering college, a textile technology institute at Bhiwani and Haryana Agricultural University’s College of Agricultural Engineering at Hisar. The past few years saw politically influential persons branch out into technical education since the management quota seats provided them hefty profits. The mushrooming of colleges created a problem of plenty and last year about 2000 seats remained vacant. This affected the financial health of these colleges and consequently the colleges reduced their intake. Despite the last year’s crisis the Directorate of Technical Education, Haryana, has issued a no objection certificate to Maharshi Dayanand University here to start undergraduate level B. Tech courses. These include electronics and communication engineering, computer science and engineering, mechanical engineering and bio technology engineering. There will be 60 seats for each course. The university has not yet clarified whether it will launch these courses this session or from the next academic session. However, there are hardly any jobs for those passing out of these colleges. That about a 100 engineering graduates applied for the post of ward boy and peon in the local Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in July last is an indication of the job potential of the degrees awarded by these colleges. Meanwhile, the students face another problem. The dates for counselling for Haryana engineering colleges clash with counselling for Chandigarh colleges. Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar, which is conducting the counselling, announced last week that it would take place from July 14 to 24. The counselling for Chandigarh colleges began today and will continue up to July 15. Students seeking admission under the all India merit scheme and Haryana domicile candidates from Chandigarh and Panchkula now have to choose between Haryana and Chandigarh colleges since they have to miss one opportunity because of clash of dates on July 14 and 15. |
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Trade unions to intensify stir
Faridabad, July 11 The decision was taken at a recent meeting of leading employee organisations and the trade unions at Delhi. It was also resolved to launch a campaign against the present policies of the Union Government. Disclosing this secretary of the All-India State Governments Employees Associations (AISGEA) R. C. Jagga said here today that the meeting was attended by over 200 representatives and leaders of various unions. He said the meeting condemned the present stand of the UPA government on various matters and resolved that there was hardly any difference in the policies and programmes of the previous NDA regime and this government. Despite strong opposition from the Left partners and the trade unions, the government had shown no response to their genuine demands, the meeting observed. Claiming that while a ban on fresh recruitment in various government departments had not been lifted, the government had been carrying on the old policy of downsizing the departments. He said while the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the UPA government was against any sell-off of the government stake in the public sector enterprises which were earning profits, the decision on BHEL was in clear violation of the CMP. He said the unions which took part in the meeting included CITU, AITUC, UTUC, HMS, TUCC, and the UTUC (ML). The employees federation has decided to carry out a nationwide agitation from July 20 to August 20 next, during which employees associations will hold meetings and demonstrations at the district and state level. During the second phase, dharnas would be held from August 27 to September 7. He said the unions and associations would observe “solidarity day” on September 15. The main demands of the employees include the withdrawal of the Pension Bill and Power Bill-2003, legalising the right to strike and the right to work, lifting the ban on recruitment in government departments, an increase in the rate of interest of the PF and giving up the policy of the privatisation and awarding contracts.
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3 die, 5 hurt in shop collapse
Hisar, July 11 Deputy Commissioner Arun Kumar Gupta, and Senior Superintendent of Police Arshinder Singh Chawla, reached the site and initiated the rescue operation. A crane and a JCB machine from the premises of MLA, Ms Savitri Devi Jindal, were pressed into service. According to police sources and eye-witnesses, construction work on the plots of three adjacent shops in the market was in progress when a wall as well as roof of the adjoining shop collapsed. Debris fell on the labourers and some passersby, some of whom were trapped under it. Mason Sadhu Ram, and two other unidentified persons were killed in the mishap. The injured persons were removed to a local hospital in an ambulance. A large number of residents gathered at the site and the police personnel on duty had tough time controlling the crowd. Several local social organisations and leaders of different political parties have expressed shock and grief over the incident. |
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Haryana to launch census of wild animals
Panchkula, July 11 The census work, inform officials, will be carried out in 973.4 sq km of forest area, including the Kalesar Wildlife Sanctuary and its surrounding areas like Kalsia Forest in Yamunanagar, Morni, Bir Shikargah and the Raipur Rani area in Panchkula and Aravali forest belt in Gurgaon and Mahendragarh. This census will be conducted using a scientific methodology, which will first be approved by the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, says Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Haryana, Mr J.P.L. Srivastava. The census of wildlife in Haryana was done in 2002, and again in 2003-04. However, both the census reports have not been published. This census estimates put the number of sambars at about 740, barking deers at 1031, wild boars at about 2300, gorals around 2850, chitals at 54; 311 chinkaras and about 250 langoors. This census also put the blue bull population at 38,000. A census was ordered again in 2003-04. After the census counting was complete, the compilation of census data was, however, not done on account of frequent changes in officers assigned to do the task. The census to be carried out now will identify leopards, sambhars, chitals, barking dogs, black deer, blue bulls and chinkaras. After, the seizure of leopard skins at Chandimandir recently, and incidents of poaching being reported in various parts of the state, the concern for the wildlife among environmentalists has mounted. Forest officials say that special teams of wildlife officials would be constituted and specially trained to conduct the census operation. Generally, the sampling is done by counting pugmarks on 10 hectares of forest area and similar figures for 100 hectares of forest area are then worked out. The data thus collected, is sent to Wildlife Institute of India, for assimilation.
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Construct college or return land: residents
Ambala, July 11 Now, the residents of Lakhnaur Sahib village, who had handed over about 16 acres of Panchayat land to the Education Department of Haryana Government, are demanding that either a college should be constructed immediately or the land should be handed back to the village. Lakhnaur Sahib is a village of historical importance for Sikhs as it is said to be the maternal home of Guru Gobind Singh. Looking at the importance of the village, a college was to be established at Lakhnaur Sahib. The college was to be called ‘Shri Guru Gobind Singh College’. The foundation stone of the college was laid by the then Maharaja of Patiala. The foundation stone states that on July 1, 1968 ‘His Highness Maharaja Dhiraj Yadvindra Singh Jee’ had unveiled the stone. After the laying of foundation stone, construction work was started for building of some rooms of the college. However, the work was never completed. Through a Gram Panchayat resolution on July 2, 2005, the residents of Lakhnaur Sahib village are demanding that the Haryana Government must promptly complete the task of building the college. They said that if the Haryana Government did not do so, then the land should be returned back to the Panchayat with compensation for the last 37 years. Mr Manmohan Singh, a social activist, said “We want that a college must come up in Lakhnaur Sahib. We feel that some technical college can be established on the land,” he said. He said that a college was the wish of the villagers as it would benefit the youth residing in the region. “Barring a college in Naneola, there are no other colleges in the Naggal assembly segment. It would help in providing technical education,” he said. Mr Manmohan Singh said that a memorandum in this regard had already been submitted to Haryana Education Minister Phool Chand Mullana. “We will also be meeting the Haryana Speaker Mr Chatha as well as Deputy Commissioner, Mr J.P. Kaushik,” he said. He said that Rajya Sabha MP Tarlochan Singh had already been extensively briefed about the project. “Mr Tarlochan Singh has assured us that he too would be interacting with the persons concerned so that a college comes in the historical village of Lakhnaur Sahib,” he said.
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Irked by power crisis, villagers block traffic
Fatehabad, July 11 Over 300 villagers from Ayalki village, 8 km from here, gathered on the Fatehabad-Ratia-Chandigarh road and started blocking vehicular traffic. They were raising slogans against the electricity authorities. Long queues of vehicles could be seen on both sides of the road. Farmers, Swaran Singh, Sandeep, Parminder Singh, Mukhtiar Singh and Ram Swaroop, said they had been living without electricity since Sunday. They alleged that they had been without electricity for the past 24 hours. Villagers said the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam authorities had claimed that the problem of electricity would be addressed once monsoon begin, but even after good rains, the problem had increased. They alleged that the power authorities had been discriminating with their village. Later, the SDM and the DSP reached the village and persuaded the villagers to lift the blockade. The Executive Engineer, Operation Division, DHBVN, Fatehabad, Mr R.P. Ruletia, said an oil-circuit breaker had burst in the power substation due to which the power supply was disrupted since yesterday. He said Nigam official had been working overtime to rectify the fault and hoped that the problem would be set right soon.
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Rs 14 cr for improving water supply, sewerage
Kaithal, July 11 He said the model bus stand under construction here would be completed by September-end and possibilities were being explored to make it 16 subways in place of the existing proposal of eight subways. He said efforts were on by the state government to purchase power from the neighbouring states and the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had contacted the Chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal in that regard. However, the plan got delayed as some power generating units in these states faced closure due to increased silt level, he said. He expressed hope that the power situation would improve after the generating units in these states become operational and the technical snags developed in Haryana own power stations were rectified.
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Posing as cops, 2 women abduct girl
Sonepat, July 11 According to a report, Tej Bhan, a rickshaw puller and father of the girl, has informed the police. However, the police has failed to nab the culprits so far. It is stated that the father of the girl left the farmhouse in the morning for Sonepat. His wife Bimla, along with girl Sita, a son remained there. After some time two women arrested the three-wheeler at the farmhouse. One of them approached Bimla, saying that she was a police constable and has come to take her daughter for interrogation in a case at the police station. When Bimla refused the women started beating her and abducted her daughter. The father went to police station in the city but failed to trace her. Then, he informed the Sadar police station about the incident. No breakthrough: The police and residents of Chirashmi village have failed to achieve any breakthrough in locating the parents of Gopal, an eight-year-old boy who was found in the field of Dharambir of the village last week. The boy had been handed over to Luxmi, Sarpanch of the village, and since then he has been living in her house. |
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Kidzee school inaugurated
Ambala, July 11 He said the teacher-student ratio in the school would be 1:20 and one attendant is there in each class. “All staff members have to undergo training imparted by Zee. The training is periodically refreshed,” he said. School coordinator Shivani Rawat said Kidzee encompasses teaching methodology involving complete interaction where children are encouraged to interact and help each other. Kidzee adopts the philosophy of ‘Learning by Doing’. “The curriculum has been structured keeping in mind the interest and abilities of students with emphasis on all round development,” she said. Ms Rawat stated the school would use multi-sensory materials which are culture specific. “We aim to provide the experiences for physical, intellectual, aesthetic, emotional, sensorial and social development of the child through creative and modern education in an attractive and caring environment,” she said.
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2 prisoners escape, cop arrested
Hisar, July 11 The Fatehabad police had deployed four policemen, including one Head Constable and three constables, to keep a watch over the prisoners. However, at the time of the incident, three of them were reportedly away, while the fourth one had gone to have tea. Though the prisoners were fastened to their beds with the help of handcuffs, they opened the same and fled. The escapees include Baldev, a convict under the NDPS Act, and Prem, an undertrial under the Excise Act. |
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2 drowned in canal
Bhiwani, July 11 According to details, Kalu, alias Praveen, and Harish of the Naya Bazar area here had gone to bath in the canal.
— OC |
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