Chandigarh, March 27
Entry tax to the tune of up to 5 per cent will soon be imposed on goods brought to Haryana from outside the state. The state assembly today passed the Haryana tax on entry of goods into the Local Areas Bill, 2008, without any discussion.

However, finance minister Birender Singh, who had moved the Bill, after the session told The Tribune that only 2 per cent entry tax would be charged though the government had been empowered by the assembly to impose this tax up to 5 per cent. The entry tax would be imposed on those goods, which did not attract VAT.

The entry tax would replace the local area development tax (LADT), which would stand abolished once the new tax law gets assent of the Governor.

However, certain goods like bajra, jowar, maize, common salt, celery seeds, cattle and poultry feed, fresh vegetables, sugarcane, fruits, milk, meat, hand spun yard, newsprint and tyres, tubes and flaps of animal driven vehicles would be exempted from the new tax.

The House also passed the Haryana Cattle Fairs (Amendment) Bill, which aims at improving financial position of the gram panchayats under the areas of which cattle fairs are organised.

The Haryana Evacuee Properties (Management and Disposal) Bill, which was also passed by voice vote, would help the government in managing and disposing the evacuee property transferred to it by the union government.

The Haryana Lifts and Escalators Bill passed by the assembly would regulate the construction, installation, maintenance and safe working of lifts and escalators which were being installed in the state in a large number, particularly with the opening of big malls in districts like Faridabad and Gurgaon. So far there was no such law in the state.

Earlier, the House voted demands of various departments totaling Rs 23,717.73 crore. Out of these, Rs 18,216.31 crore was on account of revenue expenditure and Rs 5501.45 crore on account of capital expenditure. 

Panipat, March 27
Serious questions have been raised over the functioning of jails in the state as now the prisons department has found large-scale irregularities in the purchase of medicines in Ambala and Gurgaon jails.

It may further cause embarrassment to the government which is being blamed for not initiating steps to check the role of jail staff in spending money meant for the welfare of jail inmates.

The Tribune had highlighted the Hisar Central Jail scam today where cases were registered against several senior jail officials for their alleged role in adopting wrongful methods in buying medicines.

IG, prisons, M.S. Mann said today several anomalies were found in the procurement of medicines at Ambala, Gurgaon and some other jails. He said the department had seized records from various jails for scrutiny.

Mann admitted that chemists supplying medicines to jails had connived with jail staff, which caused a huge loss to the state exchequer.

He added that the department had decided to check the medicine purchase procedure at the Hisar Central Jail from June 1999 onwards to check the role of officials.

There are 19 jails in Haryana - 12 district jails, two central jails, four sub-jails and a Borstal jail.

The superintendent of jails is also the drawing and disbursement officer (DDO), who is responsible for financial matters of the jail.

Mann said some jailers and other staff members had misused the funds while purchasing medicines meant for the jail inmates. He said the provisions that allowed a jailer to spend Rs 500 to purchase medicine and Rs 2,000 in case of an emergency were widely misused.He said it was found that no prior permission was sought in several cases before spending money in emergency cases.

He said preliminary examination of jail records, including Ambala and Gurgaon jails, revealed that funds were misutilised. Sources said the department was investigating the role of senior jail staff.

Gurgaon, March 27
“Please give me more time”. “I would repay the whole amount”. “I have never broken your confidence”, were some of the messages sent to Delhi assistant commissioner of police Rajbir Singh’s two mobile phones by property dealer Vijay Bhardwaj, who has confessed to have killed the ACP.

In turn, Singh had also sent some messages to Bharadwaj saying, “Time limit has already passed”. “I have given too much time”. “I will come on Monday to get the payment.”

Singh had allegedly sent these massages to Bharadwaj from two different mobile numbers while that of property dealer’s messages were delivered from only one number, deputy commissioner of police (West) Rakesh Arya, who is supervising the investigation, said today.

Bhardwaj told the police that he owed around Rs 95 lakh to Singh, who was upset over Bhardwaj’s failure to arrange the amount for the past six months, Arya said.

He said Bhardwaj owed around Rs 2 crore to different people in Gurgaon and was depressed since the property rates had started falling around a year ago in the region.

Arya said Bhardwaj had been successful in managing loans from other people on the pretext that he shared close relations with the Delhi police “encounter specialist” and that was probably the reason why none were putting pressure on him for repayment.

“I am passing through a difficult time” and “Please cooperate” were some other messages Bharadwaj had sent to Singh, the officer added. A mobile shop owner said Bharadwaj owed around Rs 50,000 for various mobile phones he had bought from his shop but had not paid the amount for the past six months. Meanwhile, Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda today ruled out the state government seeking a CBI inquiry into the murder of Delhi police’s “encounter specialist” Rajbir Singh, who was shot dead on Monday night in Gurgaon.

“It is more than apparent that it (murder) was a result of dispute between two people,” Hooda told mediapersons in the Vidhan Sabha lobby. — PTI

Chandigarh, March 27
The Haryana Railway Government Police, which has been investigating the last year’s bomb blast in Samjhauta Express near Panipat, is hopeful that the arrested top brass of SIMI in Indore may provide some clues in the train blast.

All leads on which the Haryana police worked ended at Indore. It was able to locate the shop from where the perpetrators of the crime had purchased suitcases and their covers in Indore. The bombs were planted in these suitcases. However, the shopkeeper who sold the suitcases and the tailor, who stitched the cloth covers, could not shed any light on the identity of the purchasers.

IG, Railway Government Police, K.K. Mishra said a team of officers was being sent to Indore and Bhopal so that it could participate in the interrogation of the arrested SIMI activists. He said if need be, the Haryana police would seek remand of the SIMI leaders so that they could be interrogated for seeking clues to the train blasts. He said he was in touch with the Madhya Pradesh STF, which had arrested the SIMI activists.

Chandigarh, March 27
Nexus between PWD (B&R) officials and contractors figured in a big way in the assembly today with several MLAs complaining about “commissions” taken by the officials to clear sub-standard roads made by the contractors.

It was the misfortune of PWD minister Ajay Singh Yadav that the first two questions listed for question hour today were pertaining to his department.

The first question was from Congress MLA Shiv Shankar Bhardwaj and in reply Yadav said the PWD (B&R) department would provide drainage alongside the road from the new bus stand at Bhiwani to the part of city known as Rohtak Gate. The work had already been allotted to a contractor.

Yadav replied in the negative to Congress MLA Ramesh Gupta’s question on the possibility of constructing a four-lane road from Pehowa to Haridwar via Ladwa.

Even Speaker Raghubir Singh Kadiyan said the quality of roads had deteriorated because of corruption by PWD officials. Kadiyan asked Yadav to urgently take remedial steps against graft by personnel of his department.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda also intervened in the deliberations and asked the MLAs to write to the government when they came across any instance of shoddy work by contractors. “We have never received any such complaint from an MLA,” he said.

Chandigarh, March 27
The opposition INLD today walked out of the assembly during zero hour to protest against Speaker Raghubir Singh Kadiyan’s decision to disallow a call attention notice on the Gurgaon kidney transplant racket.

The walkout was preceded by noisy demands made by the INLD for admitting the notice given by the party’s deputy leader Sushil Indora.

Reading out the notice, the Speaker said he could not allow it because the CBI was investigating the matter.

To the protesting INLD MLAs, Kadiyan said they were simply interested in getting media coverage by staging walkout from the house on the issue. In the absence of INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala, Indora and Sita Ram took the lead in protesting against the Speaker’s decision. Parliamentary affairs minister Randeep Singh Surjewala, following a nudge from Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, requested Kadiyan to admit the notice. The Speaker, however, made it clear that he would not budge from his ruling.

Meanwhile, INLD members also staged a walkout during a discussion on a resolution moved by Shiv Shankar Bhardwaj on the need for water conservation in the state. The deputy leader of the party, Dr Sushil Indora, was named.

Led by their deputy leader, the members demanded time from the Speaker to speak on the resolution. However, the Speaker said the INLD members had run away during the earlier session when they were asked to speak.

This resulted in a furore with the INLD leaders trooping into the well of the House. At this, the Speaker named Indora and marshals arrived to escort him out of the House. However, to protest against the naming of Indora, the INLD members announced their decision to walk out. After much discussion on the topic and irrigation minister Ajay Yadav’s reply on various projects by the state government to conserve water and recharge ground water, the resolution was finally 
withdrawn.

Rohtak, March 27
The Haryana government has extended the tenure of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) director, Prof S.S. Sangwan, by another year. Professor Sangwan, who was appointed director of the institute in January 2006, was due to retire on March 31.

According to sources, the official orders issued by the state health secretary granting one-year extension to the director have been received at the latter’s office. Thus, Professor Sangwan will now continue in office till March 31, 2009.

The government decision has put an end to all speculation regarding the successor of the present incumbent. The move assumes even greater significance in view of the fact that a proposal to upgrade the institute into a medical university is at an advanced stage.

An MS and DNB in orthopaedics, Professor Sangwan is regarded as a renowned orthopedic surgeon of the region. His working has been appreciated by the state authorities. He played a crucial role in providing emergency medical services to patients during the recent strike by resident doctors against the alleged irregularities in the MD/MS entrance test.

Professor Sangwan, who has also headed the orthopaedic surgery department of the PGIMS for several years, has developed several surgical techniques, besides designing new tools and modifying the existing ones.

The innovative orthopaedician has also carried out several limb-salvage surgeries on patients of bone tumour, using advanced techniques like rotation-plasty and mega-prosthesis. By using these methods, the height of a patient is preserved and mobility maintained even after the amputation of lower limbs.

Professor Sangwan has received several national and international honours and awards for his innovative efforts. These include the SICOT World Congress Award, the Commonwealth Fellowship, UK, and the Dr C.L. Sahni Award by the IMA College of General Practioners. He has more than 100 research publications and 65 scientific presentations to his credit.

Rewari, March 27
Decks have been cleared for the tentative commencement of classes of the recently sanctioned Sainik School from the forthcoming academic session here.

Col R.S. Nehra, along with deputy commissioner Chander Prakash and other senior officials of the district, inspected the newly constructed building of Government Primary School in Sector 4 as well as the building of the youth hostel here for this purpose. He would soon submit his report regarding the “suitability” of these two buildings to the defence ministry.

Subject to the clearance of the report by the defence ministry, classes of the Sainik School would be held in the Government Primary School, Sector 4, while building of the youth hostel would be used as students’ hostel. The arrangement will continue till the accomplishment of the building of the Sainik

School on a 71-acre piece of land donated by the panchayat of Pali-Gothra village, 15 km from here, for this purpose.

The demand for a Sainik School in Rewari was raised by union minister of defence production Rao Inderjeet Singh as well as the irrigation and PWD minister, Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, at Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s rally here on October 7 last following which Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had simultaneously accorded his concurrence to the demand. Subsequently the Sainik School proposal was forwarded by the state government to the defence ministry which recently gave its nod to this regard.

Faridabad, March 27
The Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) today passed its annual budget of more than Rs 640 crore for the financial year 2008-2009.

The expenditure incurred by the civic body in the next financial year is about Rs 640 crore. The character of the budget adopted by the full House of the civic body is a surplus one.

The major source of revenue is on account of capital income, which tots up to Rs 419 crore. The other major source of income is from taxes, which is about Rs 53 crore and from licence fees, which is about Rs 94 crore.

On the expenditure side, the major component is original development works, which is Rs 548 crore and on salaries, which will be Rs 67 crore. 

Kaithal, March 27
The show-cause notice issued in haste to chairman of the local municipal council Sunita Bansal has raised eyebrows in the local political and social circles here.

The director of the local bodies, Haryana, had issued the notice asking her to explain her position for violating mandatory provisions of the Haryana Municipal Act and misusing her position as the council president.

The show-cause notice, which was served to Krishan Bansal, husband of Sunita Bansal, in her absence on March 26, bears the date of issue from Chandigarh as March 25. Interestingly, the notice had been issued in pursuance of letter no. 4812\ LFA dated March 25, 2008, written by the Kaithal deputy commissioner to the director, local bodies.

The notice stated that the Kaithal deputy commissioner had reported that the complaint was inquired by the Kaithal ADC and during the course of inquiry it was revealed that Sunita Bansal had violated the mandate of Section 35(1) of the Haryana Municipal Act by not reporting the sanctioned or allotted works in the next meeting, which clearly showed that Bansal was prima facie guilty of having violated the provisions and misusing her position as chairman.

As per the notice, Bansal has been given 3 days time to explain her position failing which it shall be presumed that she has nothing to say.

Meanwhile, a meeting under the banner of the local Aggarwal Yuva Sabha was held at Aggarsain Dharamshala here today, in which the move to dislodge Sunita Bansal from her post was strongly criticised and Chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was urged to intervene in this matter.

Chandigarh, March 27
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notice of motion for August 8 on a petition filed by residents of Sector 8, Faridabad, seeking the removal of encroachments in and around the market place.

In the petition placed before a Division Bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Jaswant Singh, petitioners Vijay Sharma and four others have also asked for directions to ensure the maintenance of cleanliness in the area. The petition has been filed against the State of Haryana, Haryana Urban Development Authority and other respondents.