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Hooda expresses concern over Durjanpur incident
Unions should teach teachers about morality: Mullana
“Demand for separate HC under consideration”
Central assurance for action
in tractor scam
Surajkund Mela a big draw
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Inside Babudom
INLD warning against changing names of institutes
Exam centres sans chairs, tables
Resentment over poor security
2 cattle smugglers hurt in gunfight with cops
Highway robbery bid foiled
16 hurt in mishap
Forum tells DHBVN to refund fine
Tributes paid to literatteur
One beaten to death
Minor raped
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Hooda expresses concern over Durjanpur incident
Chandigarh, February 12 While reviewing some of the schemes being implemented by the Education Department, Mr Hooda expressed concern over the incidents relating to girl students had that occurred in districts of Jind and Sirsa recently. Mr Hooda directed the DCs to conduct surprise checks to ensure that the teachers attended schools regularly. It was also decided that the menace of copying and use of unfair means during examinations would be checked with a firm hand. While urging the officers to speed up the pace of development in the state, Mr. Hooda said the change of government should be felt by the people with the massive development. He said there was no dearth of funds for developmental works. The DCs should have a dossier of the developmental works undertaken by each department in their respective areas. He said cases of corruption should be dealt with without any delay. He said a massive public meeting would be organised in Hisar on March 5 to mark the completion of one year of the present government. A sum of Rs 77 crore for the repair of buildings of schools, bus stands and hospitals had been released during this financial year and Rs 117 crore would be released for the same purpose during the next financial year. Mr Hooda urged the district officers to send by April-end, the estimates for repair and maintenance works to be undertaken during the next year so that sufficient funds could be released in time. He also directed them that all buildings of schools should be got repaired within two months. The meeting was informed that Rs 427 crore was being given to the Panchayati Raj Institutions and civic bodies, over and above the plan allocation, for developmental works. An equal amount would be released to these bodies during the next financial year for the same purpose. The Chief Minister directed the Divisional Commissioners to set up a mechanism for ensuring judicious use of funds and check complaints of misappropriation of funds. He said there was no dearth of funds, but the pace of development should be accelerated and funds should be used judiciously. Mr Hooda said strengthening and widening of roads in urban areas should be given priority. Out of Rs 625 crore sanctioned for the purpose, 67 per cent funds had already been spent by December-end. He also directed the officers to complete computerisation of land records by March 31. They were also asked to take up computerisation of mutations. On the suggestion of the Chief Secretary, Ms Meenaxi Anand Chaudhry, Rewari district was chosen for launching a pilot project to seek the help of self-help groups and parent-teacher associations as well as mahila mandals in the effective implementation of the mid-day meal scheme. It was decided that the DCs would review every month the implementation of the announcement, made by the Chief Minister. Also the system of intimation of announcements to the department concerned and state headquarters would be made more effective. Ms Chaudhry assured the Chief Minister that his directions would be implemented in letter and spirit and he would not find anyone lacking in spirit. Earlier, she had reviewed the implementation of various developmental schemes by the Departments of Rural Development and Panchayats, Health, Education, Urban Development, Transport and Food and Supplies with the Divisional Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners, and had focused on physical and financial targets and achievements. She called upon her colleagues to ensure that developmental schemes must make their impact felt and focus should be laid on achieving desired targets and not on utilisation of funds. |
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Unions should teach teachers about morality: Mullana
Karnal, February 12 Replying questions on the Durjanpur incident, Mr Mullana said that this was the duty of the teachers’ unions to teach its members about morality instead of indulging in strikes and demonstrations in favour of their demands. The government would look after their legitimate interests and union leaders’ should teach teachers about morality as usually they followed their instructions more than those issued by the government, he added. He said that government would also plan a programme to teach new teachers about morality at the time of their appointments. The inspection of government schools would also be tightened, he said. |
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“Demand for separate HC under consideration”
Rohtak, February 12 The demand was made by the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who was also present on the occasion. Incidentally, Mr Hooda, a lawyer by profession, is also a member of the association. Mr Bhardwaj said the Haryana Vidhan Sabha’s resolution seeking a separate high court had been received by his office and the case was being dealt with expeditiously. He said he would soon seek the Chief Justice of India’s opinion on this issue and the matter would then be sent to the President for his final approval. Referring to a demand for a separate high court and setting up of a high court bench here raised by members of the association, the Union minister said being a Haryanvi himself he would suggest that the demand for a bench could wait till the high court issue was decided as the two demands were conflicting. Mr Bhardwaj, who hails from Garhi Sampla village of this district, and had worked as a lawyer here in the initial stages of his career, said till the new court came into being he would ensure that Haryana got its due share in the number of judges. He said 13 more judges would be appointed to the Punjab and Haryana High Court shortly. He would see to it that any existing shortfall in Haryana’s quota was met with these appointments. He said eminent lawyers and judicial officers from all walks of life would be accommodated. The minister sought lawyers’ help in implementing the rural courts scheme to provide speedy justice to the ruralites and also bring down the cases pending in the courts. He said this scheme would also generate more work for lawyers. He appealed to them to think of ways for improving the quality of legal help. He said times had changed and there was need for making legal education to keep pace with new challenges in the legal field. He said cyber and new corporate laws had opened new avenues for the legal profession. Mr Bhardwaj said the Centre would spend Rs 1000 crore on digitisation of bar libraries in the country and linking these to e-governance systems. He said the local bar library would be among the first to be converted. Earlier, the Chief Minister referred to the resolution for a separate high court passed by the state Assembly and said the opposition criticised his move saying it would dilute Haryana’s claim on Chandigarh. He said there was no substance in this allegation. Every state, he said, must have its own high court and Haryana was only seeking its constitutional right. Mr Ved Parkash Kadian, president of the association, presented mementoes to Mr Bhardwaj and Mr Hooda. He also backed the demand for a separate high court and establishment of its bench here. |
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Central assurance for action
in tractor scam
Hisar, February 12 The Tribune had also published a report regarding the matter. A few months later, Union Minister of State for Finance S.S. Palanimanickam wrote to Mr Chakraborty, stating that the Income Tax Department had examined the matter and necessary action as per law was being taken. Mehboob Zahedi, CPM MP, had also asked Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram to check the fraudulent practices of the company. However, the authorities concerned kept on dilly-dallying on taking effective steps in the case. The CPI MP then wrote to Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda urging him to intervene into the matter and direct the police officials concerned to thoroughly investigate the case. Still, no concrete action has been taken in the multi-crore scam. The Left parties have now decided to raise the issue in the Lok Sabha. The company had allegedly cheated lakhs of farmers of the region by publicising its pre-paid service facility as “free” service. When the matter came to light, the scheme was withdrawn. Mr Pardeep Singh Dhull, a farmer of Banda Heri village, under Hansi tehsil of the district, got an FIR lodged against the management of the company alleging that the company had been defrauding its customers by charging a certain amount from them for the service facility which was publicised to be free of cost. The farmers purchasing tractor from the company were charged a certain amount in the name of material service performance security deposit (MSPSD) at the time of purchase. However, by charging this amount for a free service the company not only cheated its customers but also the government exchequer as the amount thus collected was shown as liability in the books of the company. In a letter written to the Chief Minister, Mr Dhull has pointed out that though the case had been registered in 2003, nothing tangible has come out of it so far. Alleging that the local police officials were hand in glove with the company management, he has urged Mr Hooda to get the matter investigated by the CBI or some other independent agency. |
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Surajkund Mela a big draw
Chandigarh, February 12
The project was offered to the HTC when the Union Tourism Minister, Ms Ambika Soni, visited the mela to inaugurate it. According to the Managing Director of the HTC, Mr Vijai Vardan, the project envisages, among other things, night bazaars, permanent food courts and events like tea, cofee, mango and wine festivals. Meanwhile, the 20th annual craft fair, currently on at Surajkund, is setting new records as far as the people’s participation is concerned this year. On February 5 last, organisers collected over Rs 9.50 lakh as entry fee when about 40,000 persons visited the mela. This was an all-time record of visitors on a single day in the history of the fair. However, this record was broken within a week. According to information received here, the organisers today collected over Rs 12.50 lakh when about 55,000 persons visited the mela, setting a new record in the mela’s history. The most remarkable achievement of the organisers is the high degree of sanitation in the mela vene spread over 28 acres, despite such a large turnout. Their experiment of handing over the sanitation to the Sulabh International has succeeded. Sulabh workers are spread over the entire mela area to keep it clean. Another first for the annual feature is that this year the organisers will end up with a profit. In the past they had just been breaking even. About Rs 2 crore is spent on organising the mela, out of which only about Rs 35 lakh comes as grant from the Union Government. The major burden is borne by the HTC. The participation of SAARC nations is another first for the mela, the theme state of which this year is Maharashtra, which has sent a contingent of 300 dancers and folk artistes to show case the culture of the state. A fashion show by a famous designer of Mumbai, Ms Shaina NC, tracing the emergence of the Maharashtrian saree in the past 8000 years. Shaina can tie a saree in 42 different wasys. The HTC has deployed over 200 men to organise the mela for the past 20 days. They are all connected with each other over the wireless network. In view of the militant activities in New Delhi last year, there is unprecedented security at the mela. Besides, over 500 policemen in uniform and plain clothes and about 200 securitymen have been hired from a private security agency. |
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Room shortage hits Haryana Secretariat
Shubhadeep Choudhury Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 12 The Civil Aviation Secretary, Mr D.S. Dhesi, has been asked to tie up with the Fisheries Secretary to use his office when the latter is on tour. Mr G Prasanna Kumar, Fisheries Secretary, is also Chairman of the Mewat Development Agency and prefers to spend more time on his latter assignment. He has declined to make it a permanent arrangement. As a result, the Civil Aviation Secretary is making sporadic forays into various officers' rooms in the New Secretariat building to get his Civil Aviation work done. Initially, nine officers, who are in the middle and senior levels of the bureaucratic ladder, were asked to shift to other rooms to accommodate the new ministers and parliamentary secretaries. But eventually more officers got displaced. This is because some of the parliamentary secretaries were not satisfied with the office rooms allotted to them and wanted to change the rooms. Thus, Ms Krishna Pandit and Ms Sharda Rathore have changed their rooms by displacing a Joint Secretary and a Commissioner, respectively. Ms Meena Mandal, Minister of State for Archives and Archaeology, has rejected her seventh floor room and has occupied the eighth floor room of Mr S K Saxena. Mr Saxena, Financial Commissioner, had to move up to the top floor as a result. Mr R S Gujral, Principal Secretary, Education Department, has lost his eighth floor room to Mr Ranjit Singh, who has been recently appointed Deputy Chairman of the Planning Board. It was, however, a blessing in disguise for Mr Gujral, who has moved into the beautifully done room of a former Principal Secretary, Irrigation, Mr Anil Rajdan. The bureaucrats replaced from their rooms are upset but they can only fret and fume.
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INLD warning against changing names of institutes
Kaithal, February 12 Referring to the change of name of the Tau Devi Lal Thermal Power Plant, Panipat, Mr Chautala said the decision of the government showed that it had no respect for the freedom fighters, martyrs and great leaders. He said there was resentment among the INLD workers and people of the state. To lodge their protest over the issue, INLD workers would organise processions and submit memorandums to the respective DCs all over the state on February 15. He announced to lead a procession at Kaithal on that day. He served an ultimatum on the state government for reviewing its decision of changing the name of the Panipat thermal power plant by March 5 or be ready to face a massive movement in the state. He held the present government responsible for the power crisis in the state. He said state government was supplying power to Delhi which had resulted in power shortage in Haryana. He also blamed the government for deterioration in law and order situation in the state and accused certain Congress leaders of shielding criminals. Mr Ram Pal Mazra, a former Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Narinder Sharma, a former minister, and Mr Leela Ram, Mr Buta Singh and Mr Makhan Singh (all former MLAs) and Mr Kailash Bhagat were also present. |
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Exam centres sans chairs, tables
Sonepat, February 12 According to a report, a large number of examinees have to sit on the floor to write their papers in the annual middle and matriculation examinations. In Sonepat city itself, there are a number of examination centres where furniture is not available and the examinees are forced to sit on the floor and solve the question papers. The situation in the rural areas is the worst. There are several examination centres in the district where the examinees have been asked to sit on the floor in varandahs due to the shortage of rooms. In the on-going annual examinations, most of the students have to sit on the floor and faced inconvenience for solving the question papers. As a result, the attention of the examinees were diverted and disturbed. According to the examinees, most of the buildings and rooms where the examination centres are poorly lit lack other basic facilities including drinking water and proper toilets. Representatives of the Haryana Students’ Welfare Association have blamed the successive governments for not improving the infrastructure up to the required standard. |
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Resentment over poor security
Panipat, February 12 Though the district administration has decided to step up security during the peak hours on Thursday but the management committee of the shrine lamented the administration for taking the situation lightly. Yesterday two motorcycle-borne youths of Panipat had barged into the shrine and created ruckus. The members of the shrine board headed by Sufi Sayeed Aijaz Ahmad Hashmi were able to catch the two accused. They were later handed over to the police. The Sufi lamented the role of the authorities. A number of the visitors also expressed resentment over the poor security arrangement. Another visitor rued the absence of police a day after the unfortunate incident. Mr Varinder Vij, DSP, informed the correspondent that force would be deployed on Thursday during the rush hours. He said the patrolling parties had been instructed to frequently visit the shrine during the day. |
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2 cattle smugglers hurt in gunfight with cops
Hisar, February 12 On a tip-off, the police reached a spot in the Mela Kothi area where some persons were putting cows in a Tata 407 vehicle. On seeing the police vehicle, the smugglers fled the scene. However, the police followed them. Near Nalwa village, the smugglers started firing at the police vehicle. The policemen retaliated, in which two persons were injured. Injured Abdul and Mohra were nabbed with their vehicle, while the others escaped. A pistol and two cartridges were seized from the arrested smugglers. |
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Highway robbery bid foiled
Karnal, February 12 The police said that one of the accused had put on women’s clothes and was waving to vehicles to stop these for lift as part of plan to commit robbery. In another incident, two financiers Balkar Singh and Mehar Singh running Jai Hind Finance Company at Kaladari Gate at Karnal were booked on the complaint of Rajesh Kumar of Mohideen village. The complainant alleged that he was attacked and threatened despite he had returned the money with interest borrowed from them. The police nabbed Akhtar of Deedarpur Khurd village under Gangoh police station in UP in connection with a robbery at Syed Chhapra village under Indri police station last year. Two persons are already arrested in this case, while fourth one was at large, said the police. |
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16 hurt in mishap
Rewari, February 12 The mishap occurred when the bus coming from behind overtook the other bus going ahead it. Both buses were coming from Dharuhera. Nine of the injured were admitted to the civil hospital here where as the seriously injured Mam Chand, Dinesh ( both residents of Alwar district of Rajasthan) and Subhash of Turkiawas village near here, were referred to Delhi. The remaining seven persons were being treated at a private hospital here. The Dharuhera police booked the driver of the bus for rash driving. |
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Forum tells DHBVN to refund fine
Fatehabad, February 12 Complainant Ms Sharwani Devi had complained to the forum alleging that the DHBVN issued a notice to her calling upon her to pay Rs 8000 for alleged theft of power. Forum president, Jagwant Singh and Member Ms Bebi Sethi in the judgment declared the notice null and void and asked the DHBVN to refund the fine. |
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Tributes paid to literatteur
Kurukshetra, February 12 Addressing the condolence meeting, the Haryana Punjabi Sahitya Academy Director, Mr C.R. Moudgil, said Kaushik was a story writer, feature writer, ghazal writer and satirist in Punjabi and Hindi literature and around 3,000 of his write ups had been published in various forms, including books, dailies, journals and magazines. Mr Moudgil said he would get Kaushik’s unpublished work published through the Haryana Punjabi Sahitya Academy. |
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One beaten to death
Karnal, February 12 At this, Kashmir Singh and his son Sandeep Singh beat Hari Singh with lathis. Both accused were reportedly nabbed after the registration of an FIR . |
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Minor raped
Karnal, February 12 |
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