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‘Pattedars’ not illegal occupants: CM
Dura Ram has stabbed Bhajan in the back: Bishnoi
Paddy Procurement
Forest cover to be increased: Minister
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Ambala market decks up for wedding season
Rs 85 cr for Jind roads
Women councillors apprised of their duties
Won’t pay tax, say irate villagers
Bridge being rebuilt; villagers unhappy
Parents say son killed, police says drowned
Bank staff booked on fraud charge
Gohana
Good news for thalassaemia patients
1 killed in road mishap
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‘Pattedars’ not illegal occupants: CM
Kurukshetra, September 16 Announcing various benefits for the people of the state at a public meeting held at Pehowa, 25 km from here, today, Hooda said now “pattedars” could have Panchayat land on lease for 99 years by paying a lump sum amount of Rs 2,500 as one time payment and Rs 1,000 per acre per year during the lease period. The issue had been hanging fire for a long period and the “pattedars” had even lost case in the court. They were rendered as illegal occupants of the land. Hooda said the government had implemented a number of welfare schemes for all sections of the society. Haryana became the first state that waived off largest amount of arrears of electricity bills i.e. Rs 1,600 crore, he said, adding that another scheme had been implemented to benefit the farmers, rural craftsmen and petty shopkeepers, who have defaulted on loans taken from banks. The defaulters can get their entire interest waived off provided they deposit their principal outstanding amount before September 30, 2007. This scheme would benefit them to the tune of Rs 830 crore. The Chief Minister said the farmers were being given the highest ever price of Rs 138 per quintal for sugarcane. Three big canals of Dadupur Nalvi, BML Hansi Bhutana link canal and Mewat canal were being constructed, he said, adding that the government had also announced to give an annuity of Rs 10,000 per acre for 33 years to those whose land had either been acquired or would be acquired. Hooda informed that as many as 11,000 safai karamcharis would be appointed on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi next month. On the issue of power, he said the upcoming power generation plant in Yamunanagar would be commissioned on November 1 and the state would celebrate Haryana Day to mark the occasion. The first 300 MW unit of Deen Bandhu Sir Chhotu Ram Thermal Power Plant will be commissioned on that day. He said new projects had been initiated to add 5000 MW of power generation capacity within his tenure. He said a 1500 MW plant was being set up at Jhajjar, 1200 MW plant at Khedar village and 1320 MW power plant would also come at Jhajjar. Hooda announced that a stadium would be constructed in Pehowa and the Ramgarh Health Centre would be upgraded to primary health centre. He also announced to give a grant of Rs 17 lakh to the municipal council of Pehowa. Others who spoke on the occasion included working president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee Phool Chand Mullana, MP Ram Parkash, MP Naveen Jindal, H.S. Chatha, and political adviser to the Chief Minister Virender Singh. |
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Dura Ram has stabbed Bhajan in the back: Bishnoi
Fatehabad, September 16 Talking to mediapersons here today, Bishnoi said his doors were now closed
for Dura Ram. He said all those who had ditched Bhajan Lal would be finished politically as the people of Haryana would never forgive them for their treachery. Earlier, Bishnoi addressed a meeting of his supporters at the local Setia Palace today. Dura Ram, who has been recently appointed parliamentary secretary by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had also organised a parallel meeting today in Kajalheri village, dominated by the Bishnoi community. However, if the Kajalheri meeting was aimed at preventing followers of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal from reaching Bishnoi’s meeting - as being viewed here - it failed in its purpose and a large number of supporters of the former Chief Minister thronged the venue of Bishnoi’s meeting. Exhorting his followers to mobilise people for his December 2 Rohtak rally, Bishnoi claimed that his was the real Congress as people of Haryana were with Bhajan Lal and not with the present Haryana government. He said the manner in which people had assembled here in large numbers on short notice indicated that people were frustrated with the present Haryana regime. Bishnoi alleged that the Hooda government had failed to live up to the aspirations of the people. He said the government had failed on all fronts, be it power, irrigation or law and order. Dharam Pal Malik, MLA from Gohana, Ramji Lal, a former MP, Rakesh Kamboj, MLA, and Hari Singh Saini and Mani Ram Keharwala, both former MLAs, also addressed the meeting. Meanwhile, addressing a meeting at Kajalheri, Dura Ram said the Hooda government had broken all records of development and the state was fast on the track of becoming the number one state in the country. Dura Ram laid the foundation stone for a park being developed in memory of Amrita Devi, a Bishnoi, who is believed to have laid down her life protecting trees some 275 years ago in Khejlari village in
Rajasthan. |
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Paddy Procurement
Chandigarh, September 16 Their produce is selling at prices much higher than not only the minimum support price of Rs 675 per quintal but also than what they got last year. The growers fear that once the government agencies enter the market, a nexus between millers, commission agents and officials would emerge, depriving them (the growers) the higher prices being offered by the free market forces. According to sources, the sharbati variety is selling for Rs 1,400 to Rs 1,450 per quintal against last year's price of Rs 850 to Rs 950 per quintal. The PR-11 variety is selling for anything between Rs 900-1,000 per quintal against Rs 650-700 per quintal last year. Parmal is being sold for Rs 725-735 per quintal against last year's rate
of Rs 650. Duplicate basmati is fetching Rs 1,900-2,000 per quintal, which is about Rs 700 higher than the last year. The RH-10 variety is being purchased by private traders for Rs 1,700 per quintal against last year's price of Rs 1,100. These two varieties are often used by exporters to mix with basmati rice. The sources say about 90 per cent of paddy coming to the mandis is being purchased by the exporters. A farmer of Baghthala in Kurukshetra district, Pritam Singh, is all smiles as he got Rs 68,000 after selling paddy grown in less than two acres. The average per acre return to paddy growers in the state this year is around Rs 40,000 against the average per acre return of less than Rs 30,000 last year. Normally, the government agencies start procuring paddy from October 1. Last year, the purchase started from September 23 because of the pressure of the state
government. Most of the millers prefer custom milling where paddy is purchased by the government agencies at the MSP and the millers mill the paddy on their behalf. If the millers buy their own paddy, they have to pay a higher price, which means higher
taxes also. In practice, the sources say, officials of the agencies seldom visit the mandis. The paddy is purchased on their behalf by the millers in connivance with the arhtiyas at prices higher than the MSP. The arhatias show in their books that the paddy was sold to a government agency. The difference between the MSP and the actual price paid by the miller is pocketed by
the arhtiyas. Certain unscrupulous millers and arhtiyas resort to another illegal practice. The arhtiyas show false sale of paddy to the government agencies and issue the bills to the millers for paddy that is never delivered to them. The millers then buy poor quality rice from Uttar Pradesh or Delhi and deliver it to the agencies. In many cases, when the price of rice in the open market was high, some millers defaulted on delivering the rice to the government, which could only blacklist them for the future. Though criminal cases were also registered against certain millers, the fraud continues. |
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Forest cover to be increased: Minister
Palwal (Faridabad), September 16 Speaking at a function relating to launching of “district vanamahotsava” here yesterday, Haryana minister for forest, environment and tourism Kiran Chaudhary said the present green cover stood to 6.3 per cent and there was an urgent need to expand it. She said the centre had sanctioned a sum of Rs 250 crore for the state for undertaking various forest and environment-related projects. She said environmentalists were of the view that if people continued to play havoc with environment at the present pace, there would be water shortage after eight years. To restore the balance in climate, it was important that plantation of trees was taken at a war footing, she added. The ministry has decided to distribute 10 lakh saplings to the state. The minister said about 1,000 schools would be roped in as part of the ongoing campaign to protect environment. She said the ministry of tourism was laying stress on eco-tourism. The forest areas around the Morni and Kalesar tourist complexes were being upgraded. Also, Badkal and Surajkund lakes in the district were being given a facelift. While a park on about 15 acres in Faridabad was in the process of being set up, another park will be set up in Palwal on 8 acres. |
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104 more gastro cases in Ambala Ambala, September 16 Deputy commissioner, Ambala, Mohammad Shayin said while 104 persons are suffering from diarrhoea, 32 persons have been discharged from Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantt. He said that cleanliness drive has been initiated in the Aloo Godam area and the areas adjoining the affected area. Civil surgeon Dr V.K. Sharma said that two water samples have failed the tests and one of the water samples collected from Aloo Godam area has shown signs of coliform, which leads to diarrhoea. He said that teams of doctors are working round the clock. He said the four persons, who have died, were not being treated at Civil Hospital. Dr Sharma said that they have checked the medical report of a fifth person who had died in the Aloo Godam area. He stated that the person had not died due to diarrohea but due to cancer. Superintending engineer, public health, V.K. Handa, said that 10 teams are deployed in the area and they are checking the water pipelines. He said that a tubewell, from where contamination of water was suspected, has been closed and an alternative tubewell is expected to be made operational by tomorrow morning. Also, water is being provided through water tankers. He said that during checking of the pipelines, 22 water connections have been detected which are in unhygienic surroundings. He said that immediate action is being taken on any report regarding contamination of water.
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Ambala market decks up for wedding season Ambala, September 16 In fact, the Himachal Pradesh Governor had reportedly visited the market along with his family to shop here. There are around 40 exclusive sari showrooms in the city, where hundreds of would-be brides and their families come to purchase the best and latest designer wedding material. Sources said going by the popularity, the daily net sale of this market could stand anywhere around 10 crore. Meanwhile, the trends in fashion world are very well visible in this market too. With ‘designer wear’ the choice of the day, there are some who still revel in the exquisite Banarasi saris, which have managed to hold their charm. Along with these beauties are the nine-yard wonders from Lucknow, Bangalore, Jaipur and Kolkata that find many takers. An owner of a leading sari showroom, Manohar Lal Sachdeva, said Ambala has come up as a prominent centre for wedding cloth material because of its wide range and comparatively low rates. He said along with suiting and shirting, some of the sari showrooms also have sale counters for artificial jewelry, purses and cosmetics to give their customers a one-stop shop experience. Another trader Raj Kumar said the budget of a middle class family usually ranges from Rs 75,000 to 1 lakh. But there are some who even spend up to Rs 10 lakh on wedding trousseau. The owner of a showroom catering to men’s wear, Harish Chadda, said the soon-to-be grooms usually go for ‘sherwanis’ and ‘achkans’, which are often inspired by the latest craze in Bollywood. Meanwhile, Joginder Jaggi, a wholesale dealer, said the market had been surviving on its own resources and had also achieved success. However, the government should now come forward to ‘groom’ the market and take its level even higher.
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UNESCO team visits Yadavindra Gardens Panchkula, September 16 Back after inspecting the 100-year-old railway track between Kalka and Shimla, the team remained tight-lipped about its findings. The team members said that the report would be sent to UNESCO within a month’s time. Dr Leen, a consultant to UNESCO from Australia, said that the decision on conferring World Heritage Site status on the railway station would be out only in July 2008 when the council meets in Canada to consider all the applications. There is no limit to the number of sites that are given the World Heritage status at such a meeting. All sites inspected may qualify or none of them may be able to meet the UNESCO standards,” he said. Having been a part of UNESCO team on two previous occasions for similar inspections, Dr Leen said that a railway track in Darjeeling and another in Tamil Nadu had cleared all guidelines to be put on the world tourist map with their declaration as World Heritage Sites. Not willing to comment on Haryana’s keenness to present its case of Pinjore’s Yadavindra Gardens for the status, he said that it was upto the Government of India to make two recommendations which would be examined independently. It is a long drawn process which takes about two years. A draft plan has to be prepared after evaluating whether the site fulfils the UNESCO guidelines, a report is sought after which it is evaluated. We have a separate category for natural sites where nature is the driving force,” he explained. Stating that there was a need to take into account sites associated with the Industrial Revolution as well, Dr Leen said that the World Heritage Convention has made no provisions to consider such locations. “The Industrial Revolution was the biggest event in the last 200 years and it surrounds us wherever we go. These sites too are of interest to us but nothing has been done about them so far,” he added. Earlier, the Haryana tourism minister Kiran Chaudhary addressed a conference along with the senior officers of the Railway Board consisting of R.S. Rao, member mechanical, Rajesh Aggarwal and H.K. Jaggi. She said that they had roped in consultants to prepare a plan to propose Kurukshetra and Pinjore as world heritage sites. “We will make a bid for the status once the document for marketing the two places is ready,” she maintained.
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Rs 85 cr for Jind roads
Jind, September 16 The department concerned has already started the work on majority of the stretches, which include nearly all main stretches and internal roads in Jind district. The total length of the roads that are being repaired under the ongoing projects is 684.15 km and the work will likely be over by the end of the next year. The total length of the roads in Jind is over 1,076 km at present. According to details provided by senior officials of the
PWD, several roads which needed immediate repairs under the priority category, would get repaired by the end of March next year under which a total budget of Rs 10.89 crore would be spent. About 440 km length of roads would be covered under this category. Funds worth Rs 25.66 crore and Rs 21.45 crore have also been earmarked under the schemes launched by the NABARD and the Prime Minister Gramin Sadak Yojna under the Bharat Nirman
Yojna. These schemes would be financed by the union government and would cover a length of about 165 km of roads in various parts of the district. The state government has also been able to get a sanction of additional funds worth about Rs 19.85 crore from the union government for the rural roads in the
district. S.B. Boora, superintending engineer, PWD, Jind, said besides the major development works, the department had also been carrying out the construction of five new bypasses for the city at a cost of about Rs 20
crore. In addition to the above projects, the department had also been in process to implement the repair work under the LADT scheme worth Rs 1.18 crore at present. |
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Let’s battle female foeticide: CJ
Panipat, September 16 The Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Vijender Jain, stressed the need for launching a mass movement on a war footing to check foeticide. He was addressing the seminar at SD Vidya Mandir, organised jointly by the National Commission for Women and the Haryana State Legal Aid Services in association with Mata Sita Rani Sewa Sanstha, a Panipat-based NGO. Justice Jain urged NGOs and the youth to come ahead and support more actively the mass movement against female foeticide. He stressed the need for changing the mindset where the girl child was considered a burden. He wondered how society would survive the era of social imbalance if the sinful practice of female foeticide continued. Speaking on the occasion, chairman of the Haryana State Legal Aid Services Justice A. K. Goyal said girls were no less than boys in any sphere of life. He gave the examples of Kalpana Chawla, Indira Gandhi and Sunita Williams to substantiate his claim. ADGP V.N. Rai stressed the need for uplift of women. |
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Women councillors apprised of their duties
Karnal, September 16 Addressing 16 women councillors of Nilokheri, Assandh, Gharounda and Karnal blocks of the district, Dalip K. Gosain stressed that they should look beyond developing only physical infrastructure in their respective wards and should involve people in various developmental programmes so that the families of the needy ward members could get additional income and employment through these programmes. Gosain apprised the members about the various programmes of the NDRI and the KVK, and added that the councillors should associate the needy families of their ward with various developmental institutions to improve the living standard of the people by improving their knowledge and skills. Krishan Tyagi, regional coordinator, PRIYA, apprised women councillors of their rights, duties and role in developmental programmes. |
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Won’t pay tax, say irate villagers
Yamunanagar, September 16 Like three earlier panchayats, the villagers asked the government to start development works or else transfer their villages to Himachal Pradesh so that they could get jobs, water and power supply. The panchayat was held under the banner of the Ghaar Chetra Sangharsh Samiti. Sultan Singh, chairman of the samiti, said the villagers also decided that they would not let any politician enter their villages. The villagers said Kala Amb in Himachal, which was only a few kilometres away, was getting 24-hour power supply while they barely got power for three hours a day. Amar Pal of the samiti exhorted villagers to unite for the common cause of development in the area. |
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Bridge being rebuilt; villagers unhappy
Karnal, September 16 Ilam Singh, secretary, Indri Gramin Vikas Samiti, said, “There are 20 villages which are going to be affected by this anomaly. In the original plan, the approach road to the bridge was straight. But the approach to the present bridge has many turns which has caused many accidents.” “The PWD authorities are building the bridge on the same site. We have met the Chief Minister and the DC and apprised them of the problem, but work on the bridge is continuing,” Ilam says. “The mistake which was committed nearly half a century ago is being repeated again. If the fault is not rectified, many generations will have to suffer for no fault of theirs,” he added. Asked about his views on the rebuilding of the bridge, DC B.S. Malik said, “Nobody knows what the original plan was. The old files will have to be searched if they are still there. Moreover, the PWD authorities have assured me that the new bridge will be wider than the old bridge and hence safer.” |
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Parents say son killed, police says drowned
Rohtak, September 16 Ever since the body of their son Joginder was recovered from a well in Madina village, they have been trying to get a police case registered against some persons who, according to them, were behind his death. While Joginder’s parents allege that their son was murdered, the police authorities maintain that he had died by drowning in the well. The body of Joginder was found lying in a well at Madina village on May 5. However, the body could not be identified at that time. Following this, police personnel initiated proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC. After recording the statement of prominent persons present there, the body was kept at the PGIMS here for identification. Later, a post-mortem examination of the body was conducted and the viscera sent for further investigation. The boy’s mortal remains were handed over to his parents. Joginder’s father alleges he could not have drowned as he knew how to swim. He says he has been running from pillar to post in pursuit of justice, but no FIR has been registered against the persons named by them till date. Having failed to evoke favorable action at the local level, the parents approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) with their tale, hoping to get some help. The NHRC took cognisance of the matter and sought a report from the district authorities. In a reply sent to the NHRC, the then Superintendent of Police has maintained that the matter had been examined by the Meham DSP and it had been found that prima facie, the boy had died by drowning. The report further states that suitable action would be taken after the results of the viscera examination were received from the Forensic Science Laboratory, Madhuban. |
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Bank staff booked on fraud charge
Sirsa, September 16 The case was registered under Sections 420, 467, 468 and 471 at Rania police station on a complaint of Udai Ram. The matter came to light when Udai Ram approached the bank to obtained a no-objection certificate of his grandfather, Tulsa Ram, who had a savings account in the bank. The NOC was required for some official purpose, but he was shocked to know that his grandfather, who had died 14 years ago, was declared a defaulter and was shown having a debt of Rs 50,000, Udai Ram stated in a complaint to the police. Giving details, the complainant said bank employees informed him that his grandfather took a loan of Rs 28,150 on January 21, 1999. However, his grandfather had died on February 22, 1993, Udai further stated. |
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Gohana
Sonepat, September 16 It also held them responsible for damages cause to the government property during violent demonstration by members of the Dalit community. The panchayat, which was presided over by 95-years-old Deep Singh Chahal, adopted a resolution demanding the abolition of caste-based reservation. The panchayat also resolved to honour those youths who had allegedly murdered Lara, if Lara was given a status of martyr. |
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Good news for thalassaemia patients
Yamunanagar, September 16 Earlier, patients used to face a lot of problems in getting blood. Chairperson of the District Red Cross Society Meenakshi Yadav briefed thalassaemia patients about the new arrangements. The administration has decided to issue special identity cards to thalassaemia patients. |
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Tanker rams into tollbooth
Karnal, September 16 The tanker, which was coming from the Kurukshetra side, completely demolished the booth at the toll barrier. Attendant Rajpal, who was inside the booth, had a miraculous escape. He is presently recuperating at the trauma centre of the local civil hospital. The truck driver fled the spot. “The truck driver might have fell asleep or there might be a mechanical problem that resulted in this accident,” said Pankaj Sharma, deputy toll supervisor. The police has registered a case and efforts are on to trace the driver and owner of the vehicle. |
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1 killed in road mishap
Yamunanagar, September 16 Sanjeev was riding a bike when it met with an accident with a scooter near Burai. Sanjeev, Rajinder, who was riding pillion on the bike, and Rishipal, who was on the scooter, were injured and rushed to a hospital, where Sanjeev died later. |
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