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Devi Lal varsity may have people’s VC
Hooda asks PM to take up N-power plant project
BKU activists lock up power staff
Cellphone firms to be asked to install jammers in
jails
Justice delayed by 24 years, but not denied!
Followers ignore sermon, block road
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Ban on transfers in School Education Dept
Policy sought to stop farmers’ suicide
CM to lay hospital stone today
Mango Mela kicks off
Textile workers set to strike
work on July 10
Rotary Club installation
ceremony
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Devi Lal varsity may have people’s VC
Sirsa, July 8 Advocate Jagdish Chopra, the convenor of the body, who is also a former chairman of a District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, said the decision to appoint a “people’s Vice-Chancellor” had been taken after repeated failures of the government-appointed search committees in this regard. The members of the search committee formed by the body include Mr L.D. Mehta, former Chairman of the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC), Dr Ved Beniwal, patron and former Chairman of the Haryana chapter of the Indian Medical Association, and Prof Rajesh Khatri, former Director, Jan Shikshan Sansthan. The “shadow” search committee has been asked to select a Vice-Chancellor by July 31. If the government-constituted search committee is not able to finalise its selection by then, the “people’s Vice-Chancellor” will assume charge of the university. But is there any Constitutional validity to such an appointment? To this, Mr Chopra replied, “This is a democratic way to register people’s resentment against the step-motherly treatment with the university in a symbolic manner.” Earlier, the Shiksha Bachao Abhiyan had met the Vice-President of India, the Haryana Governor and CDLU Chancellor and the Chief Minister and apprised them of the situation, but to no avail. It had also lodged a writ with the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which issued notices to the CDLU Chancellor and state authorities. The body had also written to the President of India. The President’s office had then forwarded the case to the Chief Secretary of Haryana for necessary action. In its representations, the Shiksha Bachao Abhiyan has pointed out that of the 302 posts sanctioned for the university, only 35 had been filled. There is no regular Vice-Chancellor, Registrar and Controller of Examinations at the university. Alleging that the very survival of the university was at stake due to financial constraints, the body has pointed out that while a demand for approximately Rs 27 crore had been made by the CDLU authorities for the 2005-06 session, it got merely Rs 2 crore. “Even of the said amount, Rs 1.5 crore were diverted to the Government National College leaving merely Rs 50 lakh at the disposal of the university,” said Mr Chopra. He added that in 2005, an amount of Rs 8.72 crore was diverted to other universities. “Initially, 77 non-teaching employees of various universities and government departments had joined CDLU on deputation, but due to an uncertain future and lack of facilities, more than 40 left the university and rejoined their parent departments,” he said. Moreover, all affiliated colleges in five districts —Bhiwani, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa — were disaffiliated from CDLU in March 2005. Even Government National Postgraduate College, Sirsa, which was earlier made University College, was re-affiliated to Kurukshetra University. In its memorandum, the body has demanded that a regular Vice-Chancellor, Registrar and Controller of Examinations be appointed at the earliest, besides filling up the vacant posts of faculty members and non-teaching employees and provision be made for adequate funds for the university. |
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Hooda asks PM to take up N-power plant project
New Delhi, July 8 The Chief Minister urged the Prime Minister to take up the proposed 4x700 MW nuclear power plant project in Haryana for implementation during the 11th Plan period as a site had been finalised in Fatehabad district. Mr Hooda said the work to set up the second unit of the 432 MW NTPC gas-based power project at Faridabad should be taken up at the earliest and Haryana should be given an adequate share in the super mega-power projects announced by the Centre. He sought early work on the extension of the metro rail to Gurgaon as alignment had been approved by the Union Ministry of Urban Development. He said the construction of an elevated flyover at Badarpur should be expedited. Mr Hooda also sought a separate high court for Haryana. He said there should be an integrated plan for the development of infrastructure like transport, water supply, communications and power in the National Capital Region.
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BKU activists lock up power staff
Yamunanagar, July 8 Later, today Mr Sanjeev Kumar, Senior Superintending Engineer of Uttari Haryana Bijali Vitran Nigam (UHBVN), visited the power house and assured the agitating BKU activists that villages connected to the power house would get a minimum of seven hours of power supply daily and efforts would be made to provide power at night also. Work on setting up of a high power transfer in the area would also start from Wednesday. Activists of BKU were staging a dharna at the Basantpura power house for the past four days. The locked employees, three to four in number, were freed only when the police intervened. A delegation of the BKU would also be meeting the Haryana Chief Minister on July 16. The BKU members are also demanding a power bill collection center at the power house, as villagers had to travel a long distance to Radour to deposit bills. Meanwhile, the people in the district continue to brave the extreme hot and humid weather in absence of regular power supply. Urban areas have been subjected to indefinite power cuts and the situation in the rural areas is worse. Residents of the district have been protesting and blocking national and state highways during the past five days to lodge their protest. Members of the Jagadhri Metal Manufacturers Association had yesterday met the Deputy Commissioner and demanded that their industries be given at least eight-hours of continuous power supply. Residents of Sadhoura had blocked Jagadhri – Kalaabm highway yesterday against the erratic power supply. Fed up with the power shortage, residents of Mahilwala area had blocked the Ambala – Jagadhri highway on July 6. |
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Cellphone firms to be asked to install jammers in
jails
Chandigarh, July 8 It is learnt that Hutch had recently installed jammers at the Karnal and Kurukshetra jails to block the use of its phones by inmates of these jails. The company had installed the jammers on its own without charging the government any money for the facility. The government now wants other mobile companies also to install jammers on various jail premises to block the signals of their phones. For this purpose the government has called a meeting here on July 11. The meeting, convened by the Home Secretary, will be attended by officials of the Department of Prisons and representatives of HARTRON. HARTRON may later hold a separate meeting with private mobile service providers on the issue. The installation of jammers on jail premises has figured on the agenda of the authorities in Haryana for some time. However, it was Hutch which was instrumental in installing the first jammers in the state jails. It is, however, only a partial measure because the jammers are not expected to block the signals of other service providers. The government’s own effort to install jammers in the Ambala jail never really took off. Implementation of the proposal apparently entailed an expenditure of Rs 80 lakh. The expenditure aspect may be one reason for the proposal gathering dust. Instances of the use of mobile phones by hardened criminals from inside Haryana prisons to carry out kidnappings, robberies and even murders have surfaced frequently. The most recent incident was that of a murder allegedly committed at the command of a criminal from inside the Karnal jail. The Deputy Superintendent of the jail has been even arrested in connection with the murder. Another important aspect of strengthening jail security, which will figure at the July 11 meeting, has to do with the helplessness often shown by jail staff in preventing escape by prisoners when they are taken out from prison for going to court. It is learnt that the government is planning to introduce the video-conferencing facility for linking up prisons and courts to avoid the physical production of undertrial prisoners in courts. The July 11 meeting is slated to set the ball in motion regarding holding trials in Haryana through video-conferencing, official sources said. |
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Justice delayed by 24 years, but not denied!
Ambala, July 8 The accused was in the prime of his youth when the trial of the case began in October 1982. The Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Mr Lal Chand, today granted relief to the accused by acquitting him. The accused, Ram Singh, who was the secretary of Dhin Cooperative Society, had to visit the court for more than 36 times to get the justice. According to the prosecution, Ram Singh was accused of cheating and embezzling a sum of Rs 10,000 by giving loan to fake persons by putting fictitious thumb impressions in place of actual beneficiaries. As a result, four members of the society made a complaint to State Vigilance Bureau in this regard. The bureau arrested him and later released him on bail. In September 1990, during the anti-Mandal Commission agitation, the agitators burnt the buildings of local courts of Ambala Cantt and a number of files of the cases, including the file of Ram Singh, was destroyed in fire. Later, a supplementary fresh challan was present in the court by the police and Ram Singh had to seek bail for the second time. The hearing in the case restarted from the scratch. The court again summoned the witnesses and the counsel of the accused, Mr Om Prakash Malik, argued the case in the court far 24 years.
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Followers ignore sermon, block road
Rohtak, July 8 A large number of men and women put up road blocks around 11 a. m. and the road was still blocked when reports last came in. According to reports received here the police had registered a case against nine persons in connection with an assault on followers of another ashram located in Chhudani village on July 7 last. While two persons were detained in this case earlier, two more were picked up by the police recently. This angered the preacher’s followers who had gathered at the ashram at Karontha today for a three - day annual gathering at the ashram. The police diverted the traffic to Jhajjar via Dighal and the other traffic via Rohtak. Additional forces were rushed to the village to keep the situation under control. It is learnt that a disciple of the preacher had left his mentor about a year ago and founded his own ashram near Ambala. He originally came from the rival ashram in Chhudani village. This disciple had written a book criticising the preacher. A group of supporters of the Karontha preacher led by a woman had gone to Chhudani looking for the former disciple who was not there at that time. A scuffle followed following which the police registered a case. The woman had also lodged a complaint which was allegedly not entertained by the police. The situation continues to be tense but peaceful. |
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Ban on transfers in School Education Dept
Chandigarh, July 8 Those found in the office of the Directorate here for securing transfers will invite stern disciplinary action, stated the Director- General, School Education, Mr K.K. Khandelwal, in a press release issued here. He said disciplinary action would also be taken against those who tried to secure transfers through MLAs, MPs or other politicians. Action such as suspension, debarring from further promotion and making an adverse entry in the confidential file would be initiated against the defaulters, he said. However, in the case of any discrepancy in the transfer orders issued earlier, representations could be given to the District Education Officer concerned before July 12. The District Education Officers had been directed to forward such requests to the Directorate by July 15, Mr Khandelwal said. |
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Policy sought to stop farmers’ suicide
Karnal, July 8 He has demanded formation of a long-term agricultural policy at national level to prevent the farmers from ending their lives. Mr Surjewala provided the media with a four-page list of six villages of Haryana and Punjab where 157 farmers and landless workers had committed suicide. During 2000-06, as many as 23 farmers committed suicide at Ujhana village (Jind), 28 at Belerkha (Jind), 24 at Karamgarh (Jind), 16 at Kharal (Jind) and Khurana (Kaithal) respectively. As many as 50 farmers ended their lives at Bhoolan village in Sangrur between 1990-2004, claimed Mr Surjewala. Terming the suicide rate as alarming in the states of Haryana, Punjab, Uttranchal, parts of Rajasthan, UP and MP, he demanded a special package to end their problems. Addressing a press conference here today, he charged the Hooda government for not implementing the loan scheme offering agricultural loan up to Rs 3 lakh at 7 per cent interest. Due to an increase in production cost and low returns, he said that each quintal of grain produced by a farmer left him under a debt of Rs 100 to Rs 200. He appealed to the state governments to engage the official machinery to assess the situation in the villages. |
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CM to lay hospital stone today
Jhajjar, July 8 The SDM, Bahadurgarh, Capt Manoj Kumar, said here today that the Chief Minister would also be the chief guest at the stone-laying ceremony of Government High School for Girls in Parnala village on which Rs 84 lakh is likely to be incurred. He would also lay the foundation stones of two waterworks in Bamnoli and Kulasi villages. Later, Mr Hooda would address a public rally at Brigadier Hosiar Singh Stadium in the town and hold an interaction with the industrialists in the Chamber of Commerce and Industries.
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Mango Mela kicks off
Pinjore, July 8 In fact, it was a treat for mango lovers as scores of varieties from various states, including UP, Uttaranchal, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, Delhi and Maharastra, tempted a motley Saturday crowd. This year, 175 varieties of the fruit are on display, besides the 504 entries of home-made and processed mango products like pickles, jams, and squash. However, the “mango fruit competition” evoked a tremendous response with the Haryana Tourism and the Department of Horticulture receiving 2,674 entries. Among the prominent varieties displayed are dushehri, langra, chausa, alphonso, Bombay green, amrapali, ramkela and totapari. The picturesque garden bore a festive look since morning with fountains adding to the beauty and folk artistes, including bhangra, been, kachi ghori dance, kath putli and puppet show, enthralling visitors. The rangoli competition among school children added to the beauty of the garden as strategic locations had been chosen for designing rangoli patterns. The Haryana Agriculture and Horticulture Minister, Mr H.S. Chatha, who inaugurated the fair, showed keen interest in some of the rare varieties and enquired about them from experts. He was accompanied by Ms Asha Sharma, Principal Secretary, Agriculture, Mr Sanjay Kothari, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Mr Vijay Vardhan, Managing Director of the Haryana Tourism, and Dr Satyavir Singh, Director of the Horticulture Department.
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Textile workers set to strike
work on July 10
Panipat, July 8 The federation has declined the invitation of a meeting with the deputy labour commissioner to discuss the issue. This has added to the woes of the Panipat textile industry which is already suffering due to low production because of long power cuts since the onset of summer. The IFTU has alleged that the district administration and the district labour department did not fulfil their promises made on June 30 to protect the interests of the workers. Mr P.P. Kapoor, state convener of IFTU, alleged that industrialists in the district, in order to deprive the workers of the facilities like ESI and PPF which are necessary under the Factory Act, were creating partitions in buildings and dividing the workforce among those partitions. This way they were able to reduce the number of workers in a partition below 10 and evaded compulsory registration under the Factory Act, he claimed. In addition, the management of some industries were forcing workers to work more than the stipulated eight hours without give them any overtime dues, he said. Workers were being forced to work for twenty-four hours on Saturdays so that factory owners could declare a holiday on Sunday alleged the IFTU leader. Some factory owners have stopped operations in their units rendering the workers jobless to pressurise them to refrain from making any demands. The workers were on agitation for the past one year and the district administration had assured the IFTU on June 30 that the work of registration of factories would be speeded up. Two members of the IFTU were to accompany the team deputed for registering the factories under the Factory Act. Mr Kapoor said nothing substantial had been done in this regard in the past week. Meanwhile, Mr Azad Singh, Deputy Labour Commissioner, informed that he had invited Mr Kapoor to discuss all issues tomorrow. More than fifty per cent work of registration of factories on the list submitted by IFTU has been completed. The 14 factory owners have also agreed to start work in their industries who had stopped production for the past few weeks after alleging high handedness of union leaders.
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Rotary Club installation
ceremony
Ambala, July 8 Speaking on the occasion, Mr Soota said this year's Rotary international theme was “Lead the way”. “This year's Rotary international theme will be my guiding principle throughout my tenure. Haryana Staff Selection Commission member, Mr Ashok Jain, said the club had immensely contributed towards the betterment of society. The new office-bearers are as follows: Secretary— Mr S.C. Khurana; treasurer—Mr Inderjeet Guglani; sergeant-at-arms— Mr Ashok Garg; directors— Mr N.K. Sadana, Dr Desh Bandhu, Mr Rajesh Chaudhary, Mr Suket Dhawan, Mr Ajay Aggarwal, Dr Neeraj Prashar, and Mr Pardeep Jain; vice-president —Mr Ravinder Dhawan; editors— Dr Vinay Malhotra and Mr Subhash Bansal.
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