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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Sunday, May 16, 1999 |
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HSEB staff union seeks
White Paper |
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No
mid-term poll in Haryana: Grover ‘Injustice’ done to
retired lecturers
Haryana teachers warn govt
Demand for probe into lathi charge Woman harassed for dowry, 4 held
HVP leader joins Congress Two suspended for misuse of funds |
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Power bills of MLAs AMBALA, May 15 — The HSEB Workers Union has demanded a CBI probe into the theft of power by influential persons in the state so that proper action could be taken against them. Addressing a Press conference on the occasion of the 14th biennial conference of the union here today, the general secretary of the union, Mr Dhara Singh, said the government should issue a White Paper on the payment of electricity bills by ministers and MLAs. He said the policy of waiving of interest on bills of defaulters was wrong and was discouraging for honest consumers. He challenged the government's claim that benefits of the Fifth Pay Commission had been given to the employees. He said the total arrears of the HSEB had increased from Rs 400 crore to Rs 1,200 crore during the past three years and the line losses had risen from 50 per cent to 60 per cent. Despite a hike in the power tariff, there had been no proportionate increase in the revenue. Theft was still rampant in the power sector. He alleged misuse of funds on administration and sought an enquiry into the purchases made by the HVPN. The union disputed the claim of the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, that round-the-clock power supply would be made after June 30 next. He said even after the availability of power, the system was not perfect enough to bear the load. He demanded the reinstatement of dismissed employees of various unions in the state and withdrawal of the criminal cases registered against them. The organising
secretary, Mr Amrik Singh, said the government should
accept the long-pending demands of the union and cancel
the transfers of certain leaders which had been ordered
out of vendetta. |
Impersonator held, huge assets found FARIDABAD, May 15 — Sunil Behl, who posed as a senior vice-president of the World Bank, was arrested here today on a charge of cheating and impersonation. The arrest was made after a joint team of officials of the police, the Intelligence Bureau, the Customs and the Income Tax Department, raided his residential and office premises in Sector 16-A and 15. According to Mr Mohammed Aquil, SP. Faridabad, the investigating agencies found movable and immovable assests worth Rs 30 crore. These included Rs 4 lakh in cash, kilos of gold ornaments, silverware, coins, precious stones, foreign-made watches, costly pens, 1,000 bottles of imported perfumes, antiques, crystal and glassware, foreign crockery, Persian carpets and 47 bottles of liquor, mostly foreign-made Scotch Whisky, valued at approximately Rs 5 crore. In addition, the raiding party found fixed deposit receipts worth Rs 1.20 crore, three Mercedes cars valued at Rs 1 crore, one Contessa, one Opel Astra and one Maruti car and documents showing three houses in Faridabad and a farmhouse in Gurgaon owned by Behl. The documents also revealed that the wood panelling in the entire house had been done at a cost of Rs 70 lakh, and Rs 8.90 lakh had been spent on decoration pieces. Behl had 14 dogs, nine servants and seven air-conditioners installed in the house. The police did not rule out his links with foreign intelligence agencies. The raid was conducted after the district administration received a complaint from an official of Sun City, a Delhi-based coloniser, that Behl had taken a lot of money from him on the promise of getting a World Bank loan as he was "senior vice-president of the bank". Acting on the complaint, the district administration wrote a letter to the Delhi office of the World Bank to check the antecedents of Behl. Mr Edward Lim, Country Director (India) of the World Bank Delhi, said he "is not the senior vice-president of the World Bank". Mr David Mead, chief counsel of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Washington, also wrote that he is not the senior adviser of the World Bank subsidiary". Behl started his career
as an architect in Faridabad. His visiting card shows
that he did Ph.D. from Queensland (Australia) and MBE
from Harvard University (USA). As "senior
vice-president" of the World Bank he had been
meeting ministers and bureaucrats and was honoured at
public functions. He even donated Rs 5 lakh to the
District Red Cross. Several Central ministers and
high-ranking officials enjoyed his hospitality. |
No mid-term poll in
Haryana: Grover TAORU (Gurgaon), May 15 — At a joint press conference here, top leaders of the Haryana unit of the BJP, including the state President, Mr Om Prakash Grover today ruled on the possibility of mid-term assembly elections in Haryana. The Chairman of the Haryana Bureau of Public Enterprises, Mr Sitaram Singla, and the Deputy Chairman, Planning Board, Haryana, Mr Kailash Sharma, were also present. There had been speculation in the past few days on the continuation of the HVP-BJP coalition government in Haryana. In case the BJP withdrew to the government, the HVP government would have become a minority one. In response to a specific question, the BJP leader said their party’s efforts was to forge an alliance with the HVP as well as its archrival, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) for the ensuing — Lok Sabha elections. To a question whether the HVP and the INLD would agree to the proposition, Prof Sharma said the BJP high command was continuing. Talks with Chief Minister Bansi Lal and Mr Om Prakash Chautala on the issue. When pointed out that the INLD had already declared its nominees for Bhiwani, Sonepat, Sirsa, Hisar and Kurukshetra, they said they had no objection the party had won these seats except Bhiwani. Reacting for the first time on the dismissal of two HVP ministers, Rao Narbir Singh and Mr Brij Mohan Singla, the BJP leaders said they felt concerned as the HVP was their ally. The BJP leaders denied reports that any of their partyman was involved in the latest move to topple the BJP government. The BJP leaders were here to kick off the party campaign from Taoru, falling in the Faridabad Lok Sabha seat. The campaign was started with an impressive rally. The BJP plans to hold such rallies in all districts. The BJP leaders declared
Mr Ram Chander Bainda as its nominee again from
Faridabad. |
Sirsa weir to be replaced SIRSA: A Rs 32-crore proposal to build a weir has been submitted to the government. According to sources, this proposal has been submitted under the Haryana Water Resources Consolidation Project of the World Bank. The 100-year-old Ottu weir needs immediate replacement as its capacity (16,000 cusec litres which was increased to 20,000 cusec litres) is much less than 42,000 cusecs — the height reached by floodwaters, in 1993 and 1995. This discharge was high enough to cause concern and was a risk to life. The bridge over this weir is so light that only one vehicle from a single side can pass through it. Its old design also create problems during dry days as feeding into the canals is difficult because of old wood system. Now a new weir is on the anvil and clearance for it has been sought from the World Bank for floating tenders for the construction of a new weir with a wider bridge. The authorities said the process was started way back in December 1997 when the matter was referred to the Central Water Commission which had inspected the site in May 1998, followed by World Bank experts visit. A decision has been
taken to construct a new weir as it is technically and
economically better than repairing the old one. With the
construction of a new weir it is hoped that one only
irrigation system will improve but it will also
effectively control floods. |
‘Injustice’ done to retired
lecturers YAMUNANAGAR, May 15 — The Haryana Government has done "injustice" to senior citizens by fixing May 11, 1998, as the cut-off date for pension benefits instead of April 1, 1995. This was alleged by Prof K.C. Thakur, President of the Haryana Retired College Teachers Association, here today. Professor Thakur said it was 'unfair' to fix a cut-off date to benefit one section of society and debar another. According to government announcements, the lecturers of universities and government-aided colleges in Haryana would get pension benefits from April 1, 1995. However, though university lecturers were allowed pension benefits from this date, college lecturers were not. He claimed April 1, 1995, as the cut-off date for pension benefits would not put the government to a financial loss as the beneficiaries would return their Provident Fund share with interest to the government. He lamented that the government had not agreed to the demands for encashing leave and gratuity, as allowed to the government employees. The association at a
meeting held yesterday urged the government to allow
these benefits immediately. |
Overcharging for LPG: 1 held SIRSA, May 15 — A criminal case under Sections 7, 10 and 55 of the Essential Commodities Act was registered against Bhupinder, owner of Bhupinder Gas Agency and his manager Anil Sharma here yesterday. Mr B.S. Sandhu, SSP, Sirsa, said the case was registered on a complaint of Mr Narotam Kumar Mittal, District Food Supply Controller, in which it was alleged that the accused were charging excess rates from consumers for the supply of LPG cylinder. The complainant also alleged that the accused had not displayed rate-list on the counter. The manager of the
agency was arrested yesterday. |
Haryana teachers warn govt ROHTAK, May 15 — The Haryana Federation of University and College Teachers organisations (HFUCTO) has warned the government it will not accept any proposal to release arrears of revised UGC grades in cash from April 1,1999, instead of January 1,1998. Mr Vasir Mehra, convener of the HFUCTO, said here today although a notification in this regard was awaited, he had learned from sources that the state government had at a meeting yesterday decided to pay the arrears in cash from April 1 this year. He said if this was true, the federation would hold a strong protest." Meanwhile, the Maharshi Dayanand University Teachers Associations (MDUTA) has opposed the appointment of retired teachers as professors of various chairs in the university. In a joint statement,
the president, Mr Shamsher Singh, and the secretary, Dr
Ajmer Singh, have said the university was violating
decisions of its own Executive Council which had already
resolved not to appoint retired teachers. |
Lovers commit suicide JIND, May 15 — Lovers Rajbir (24) and Seema (18) allegedly committed suicide by throwing themselves in front of a train here on Friday. Their bodies were found on the railway track near the local canal bridge. According to reports the
two ended their lives because of their parents'
opposition to their marriage. |
Demand for probe into lathi
charge AMBALA, May 15 — The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and the North-Zone Coordination Committee of the Medical and Sales Representatives' Associations have demanded a high-level probe into the lathi charge on medical representatives in the city demonstrating against the termination of the services of an employee of a Mumbai-based company. The coordinator of the committee Capt Tilak Raj, and the secretary of the sangh, Mr Pawan Kumar have made a representation to the Chief Minister and senior police officials of the state in this regard. Captain Raj said the action of the police against "peaceful" demonstrators and registration of criminal cases against them was "highly condemnable" A delegation of medical representatives met the DIG, Ambala Range, Mr Resham Singh, yesterday who ordered an inquiry into the incident. Various associations of
medical representatives had threatened to launch an
agitation if appropriate action was not taken against the
guilty. |
Woman harassed for dowry, 4
held SIRSA, May 15 — Mohinder Singh, his father Balbir Singh, elder brother Dinesh Kumar and mother Mrs Kamla Devi have been arrested by the police on charges of criminal breach of trust, cruelty to a married woman and criminal intimidation. A case was registered against them yesterday under Sections 498-A, 406, 506 and 34 of the IPC. Mr B.S. Sandhu, SSP, said here today that in a complaint Mrs Santosh Rani had alleged that she was being harassed by her in-laws and her husband, Mohinder Singh and they were demanding Rs 5,000 in cash and a moped as dowry. She alleged that she had
been beaten by the accused several times and had been
thrown out of her in-laws' house about two month back.
She said that her mother was a widow and was unable to
fulfil the demands of her in-laws. |
Jawan kills wife, himself ROHTAK, May 15 — A jawan of the Border Security Force allegedly shot dead his wife and then killed himself with the same weapon following an altercation in Jhajjar today. According to police sources, the jawan was home on leave. In another incident, 20 unidentified persons allegedly intercepted a Tata (608) truck by felling trees on the road near Subana village and took away 80 bags of mustard worth Rs 1 lakh. The Jhajjar police has
registered a case. |
HVP leader joins Congress CHANDIGARH, May 15 — The Haryana Vikas Party today suffered a minor jolt when Mr Mehar Chand Sharma, a Vikas Party leader of Naraingarh, resigned from it and joined the Congress. Mr Sharma called upon
the Haryana PCC chief, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, at the
PCC headquarters here this morning in this regard. |
Two suspended for misuse of
funds SIRSA, May 15 — Mr Krishan Lal Gujjar, Minister for Transport and Chairman of the local grievances Redressal and Public Relations Committee, ordered the suspension of the Jhoradnal village and Secretary of the Panchayat Department yesterday on the charge of misappropriation of funds. A complaint against the two was filed by Mr Ram Chander, member of the panchayat, and Mr Shyal Chand, lambardar of the village alleging they were misappropriating funds allotted for the development of the village. The minister also
ordered an inquiry against Mr Ganesh Gabba, depot-holder
of the local Multani Colony, on a complaint that he had
been selling kerosene on the black market. |
Protest against
"high-handedness" of HVPN staff YAMUNANAGAR, May 15 — Industrialists and workers today held a protest against the "high-handedness" of Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) employees who forcibly tried to remove a 500 k.v. transformer from the Industrial Area here. The employees said the transformer was to be shifted to another site to enable certain persons to watch the Cricket World Cup. Mr Anal Pal Bantra, general secretary of the Chamber of Trade and Industries, Haryana, SDO of model town, along with other official, tried to remove the transformer "illegally". The same was to be installed at Pyara Chowk here. Mr Bantra alleged at least 12 medium and small units in the Industrial Area were forced to stop work at 10 a.m. today because of the unscheduled stoppage of power which however, was resumed at 2.30 p.m. after persuasion with the local authorities of the HVPN. Mr R.K. Gupta, Executive
Engineer, has apologised for the incident. |
Cong observers for 17 Haryana
dists CHANDIGARH, May 15 — The Haryana Congress today announced the appointment of party observers for 17 of the 19 districts for formulating panels of names for the party ticket for the 10 Lok Sabha seats from the state. Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, President of the Haryana PCC, said here today that these observers would visit the respective districts and attend meetings of the district Congress executive committees in the first week of June for recommending panels of names for grant of the party ticket. The aspirants of the Congress ticket would have to apply by May 31 to their district Congress committees which, in turn will recommend the panels to the party headquarters here by June 7. The names would be sent to the party high command for final selection. The following have been appointed as observers: Mrs Prasanni Devi (Ambala); Mr Pritam Singh Balhara (Kurukshetra); Mr Paramvir Singh (Karnal); Dr Ram Parkash (Sonepat); Mr Dharambir Gauba (Faridabad); Mr Dharampal Yadav (Bhiwani); Mr Ishwar Singh Lamba (Mahendragarh), Mr Sultan Singh (Hisar); Mrs Shakuntla Bhagwaria (Sirsa); Mr Jai Singh Rana (Rohtak); Mr Rajesh Sharma (Panchkula); Mr B.R. Ojha (Yamunanagar); Dr K.V. Singh (Kaithal); Mrs Kartar Devi (Jind); Mr Lachhman Dass Arora (Gurgaon); Dr K.R. Punia (Rewari); and Mr Anand Singh Dangi (Panipat). Fatehabad and Jhajjar
districts have been clubbed with Hisar and Rohtak
districts, respectively. |
Minister refutes Singla's charge CHANDIGARH, May 15 — The Haryana Minister of State for Public Relations, Mr Attar Singh Saini, today refuted the charge of a former minister, Mr Brij Mohan Singla, appearing in a section of the press today that funds were being diverted from other areas for the development of Bhiwani district and the Chief Minister Mr Bansi Lal, had adopted a dictatorial attitude. The minister said it was just a figment of the imagination of Mr Singla as the Chief Minister had always laid stress on the overall development of the state, and no area was being neglected, irrespective of it being represented by legislator of the ruling HVP-BJP combine or by an Independent or by an Opposition party. Mr Saini made it clear that the HVP-BJP Government was functioning in a very cordial atmosphere as all decisions were being taken unanimously. All legislators were free to air their views and were functioning in a democratic set up. It was, therefore, wrong on the part of Mr Singla to say that the Chief Minister had followed a dictatorial attitude. He said such allegations were being levelled by those who were either frustrated or were not able to digest the success achieved by the government in a short period of three years or were interested in personal gains. He asked Mr Singla to
recollect that Mr Bansi Lal had electrified all villages
and connected them with metalled link roads and launched
various lift irrigation schemes without any demand from
any quarters in 1970. |
Rs 31.32 crore for SCs, BCs CHANDIGARH, May 15 — The Haryana Government has earmarked a sum of Rs 31.32 crore for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes, Vimukt and Tapriwas Jatis and backward classes in the current financial year. An official spokesman said the government had initiated ambitious, welfare schemes to raise their socio-economic status of people. The Social Welfare Department had launched a scheme to impart training in cutting and tailoring to poor women and girls belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Tapriwas Jaits. The department has also set up six pre-training examination coaching centres at Ambala, Rohtak, Bhiwani, Rewari, Karnal and Hisar to prepare them for various competitive examinations. The centres will provide free coaching to the trainees belonging to Scheduled Caste candidates, besides the one-year training in stenography to the students so that they could get jobs after training A provision has been
made for training 500 candidates in the current financial
year. |
Stick to Pranab directive,
Hooda tells party men CHANDIGARH, May 15 — Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, President, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, today asked the party office-bearers and other functionaries, including MPs and MLAs, not to interact with the media about internal matters of the Congress. Mr Hooda issued the warning to the party men on the basis of a communication received from Mr Pranab Mukherjee, General Secretary of the AICC, in this regard. Mr Mukherjee has said
that party men must ensure that views on internal matters
were not aired in the media but at appropriate party
fora. He asked them to concentrate on the party's
ideology, programme and policies and not use the media to
ventilate their bias against individuals. |
Dist Attorney's arrest stayed CHANDIGARH, May 15 — The Additional Sessions Judge of Ambala, Mr B.M. Bajaj, today stayed the arrest of Mr T.D. Khetarpal, District Attorney in the office of the Financial Comissioner (Revenue), till May 19. Mr Bajaj also issued notice to the State of Haryana for May 19 and forwarded a copy of this order to the SHO of the Sector 5 Panchkula police station. Mr Khetarpal apprehended arrest in connection with an FIR registered against him under Sections 167, 189, 218, 467, 469, 473, 500, 506, 511 and 120-B of the IPC by the Panchkula police. Allegation against Mr
Khetarpal was that he had intimidated and threatened Mr
Chhattar Singh Nain on April 6, 1999. |
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