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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Thursday, October 14, 1999 |
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Pre-paid telecom card for Ambala,
Gurgaon AMBALA, Oct. 13 — The Haryana Telecom Department will provide the inter Intelligence service (pre-paid cards for telephone users) in Ambala and Gurgaon like in some metro cities by the end of this month. Bhajan lays claim to HPCC presidency GURGAON, Oct 13 — The factionalism in the Haryana Congress took a new turn today with the former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal making it known that he would like to become the president of the party in the state in the wake its poll debacle and lead the organisation in the next assembly elections. |
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Victims of frequent
transfers ROHTAK, Oct 13 — The practice of reshuffling administrative officers en masse by fresh governments after coming to power appears to have become a "traditional flaw" in their style of functioning. Lyngdoh files affidavit Paddy
procurement target surpassed Murder
mystery solved HVPN
introduces disclosure scheme |
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Pre-paid telecom card for Ambala,
Gurgaon AMBALA, Oct. 13 — The Haryana Telecom Department will provide the inter Intelligence service (pre-paid cards for telephone users) in Ambala and Gurgaon like in some metro cities by the end of this month. This was disclosed by N.K. Mangla, Chief General Manager, Telecom, Haryana Circle, here yesterday, By the end of March, 2000, this service will also be made available to consumers of Faridabad, Panipat, Rohtak, Hisar and Rewari, he added. Mr Mangla said the pre-paid cards of Rs 200, 500, and 1,000 will be released. A secret code number will be mentioned on the cards. The card holders will be able to avail this facility by dialling the code followed by his required number from any CTO, DTO or any other telephone number (known to them) without paying any charges. The amount will be deducted from the cardholder's account. When the amount is exhausted the card-holder will be informed and he will have to purchase a new card." he said. By the end of March, 2000 Inter Net Node will be installed at every telecom district in the state. At present Inter Net Node has been installed only at Ambala telephone exchange. He said within six months all the districts of Haryana will get a new telephone directory. Mr Mangla said the capacity of trunk automatic had been enhanced from 27,000 lines to 59,000 lines which would improve the quality of long-distance service and the STD consumers would not have to face the 'waiting queue' for a long time. He said 1.17 lakh new
telephone connections would be provided during the
current financial year, out of which 23,000 connections
had already been provided while. there were 1.05 lakh
consumers on the waiting list. |
Bhajan lays claim to HPCC
presidency GURGAON, Oct 13 — The factionalism in the Haryana Congress took a new turn today with the former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal making it known that he would like to become the president of the party in the state in the wake its poll debacle and lead the organisation in the next assembly elections. The leader of another faction and former president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC), Mr Birender Singh added a further dimension by saying that although he would not lobby for the top post, he would not shirk from heading it either. The views of the two leaders both of whom are known critics of the present chief Bhpinder Singh Hooda, come in the wake of reports of another former president of the party, Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala also activating himself in the wake of the poor showing of the Congress in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections. The stand of the two leaders is being seen in the context of an ongoing whisper campaign by their factions for the resignation of Mr Hooda from the top post. Talking to TNS on the telephone, Mr Bhajan Lal said that in the present circumstances, when Mr Om Prakash Chautala was the Chief Minister, it would be politically wise to have the president of the party from a non-Jat community. He said that Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda must own moral responsibility for poll debacle and quit. Mr Birender Singh, however, differed on this point saying the community should not be a criteria. "The only criteria should be the popularity and one who could give a fight to Mr Om Prakash Chautala", he said. He further charged that although there had been factionalism in the party even earlier, the people of the state still had reposed faith in the party. But Mr Hooda, instead of making efforts to check factionalism, fuelled it. He was also responsible for the decision to extend support to the discredited Bansi Lal government after the BJP withdrew support to it. However, the Hooda lobby is countering the charges of its detractors saying that both Mr Bhajan Lal and Mr Birender Singh had been working relentlessly against the state leadership (Mr Hooda) and it was improper for them or their supporters to pass on the buck in defeats. According to sources, Mr Hooda met the party chief Mrs Sonia Gandhi, day before yesterday, and apprised her of the reasons for the party’s poor showing in the elections. He also offered to quit but Mrs Gandhi is understood to have asked him to continue. Hooda loyalists say the
leadership issue would be decided in the coming
organisational elections in the state. |
Victims of frequent transfers ROHTAK, Oct 13 — The practice of reshuffling administrative officers en masse by fresh governments after coming to power appears to have become a "traditional flaw" in their style of functioning. Hundreds of senior administrative officials are usually transferred by the new government without any profound reason. The shifting of these officials to a better or worse place is done at the discretion of the government. The officers close to the Chief Minister manage to get some "incompetent" officials posted to "beneficial" places. This policy harms the official machinery in two ways. First, it demoralises dedicated officials who are shifted to "worthless" posts and second, the incompetent officials, who are awarded beneficial posts, become more complaisant. Following the precedents, the present government has transferred nearly 200 senior officials in the state so far and according to sources, a long list of transfers is to be released within a few days. Several officers have been victimised in the process as they have been shifted twice within two months. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Arun Kumar, has also been shifted. His performance during his four-month has been overlooked. This is probably for the first time here that the transfer of a Deputy Commissioner is being taken as "unpleasant" by the people and political leaders. A large number of prominent citizens of the town have protested against this transfer and alleged that the outstanding works carried out by the Deputy Commissioner were ignored by the state government. Similarly, hundreds of people took out a protest march in Fatehabad district yesterday opposing the transfer of the Deputy Commissioner, Mr V. Raja Shekhar. They said the Deputy Commissioner had provided a transparent administration during his 10-month tenure. Later, they submitted a memorandum seeking the withdrawal of his transfer to the Chief Minister. Expressing concern over
the undesirable trend, a retired Chief Secretary said the
government could "adjust" the officials to some
extent in the personal staff of the Chief Minister but
the other officials must be shifted only on the basis of
merit and in a restricted manner. He alleged all
principles and ethics were set aside by the successive
governments after coming to power. He said there should
be a clearcut policy for the transfers. |
Website launched on Kurukshetra KURUKSHETRA, Oct 13 — The Haryana Governor, Mr Mahabir Prasad, today launched an exclusive website which would disseminate information on the religious, ancient, spiritual and historical aspects of Kurukshetra. He also released a book and a compact disc, entitled "Kurukshetra-48 Kos Bhoomi Ki Parikrama" and a souvenir, "Gita Manthan". The address of the website would be Kurukshetra, db.org, which would be placed on Internet by the Indian Express’s server located in San Diego, USA, and through it the website would be linked to Cerfnet, the largest Internet service provider in the world. Earlier, Mr Mahabir Prasad, who is also the Chairman of the Kurukshetra Development Board (KDB), inaugurated a new multipurpose auditorium built on the banks of Sannihit Sarovar under the auspices of the board. The KDB had completed the construction work of the auditorium for beautification and development of the sacred Sannihit Sarovar in a record time of five months at a cost of Rs 12.56 lakh. Mr Mahabir Prasad also inaugurated the newly built Parikarma, constructed at a cost of Rs 80 lakh near the holy Braham Sarovar. With the construction of this, the work on the third phase of Northern Parikrama has come to an end. The speciality of this phase is that the 6-bays of this entry gate have been built three-storeyed high, whereas the entry gate of the western Parikrama of Brahm Sarovar is double-storeyed. While commending the development schemes of the KDB, the Governor said such schemes would provide immense information to tourists and pilgrims. He also congratulated the district administration and the KDB for timely completion of the work. He also appreciated the efforts made by Additional Deputy Commissioner D. Suresh and Chief Executive Officer, KDB, Ashok Yadav for making sincere efforts to expedite the website service, CD cassette and the book. Mr Prasad directed the officers of the district administration and the KDB that one copy each of the book and the souvenir be sent to every district headquarters in the state. He instructed them that during the ensuing Gita Jayanti festival, 19 pavilions depicting the culture, development and history of the districts concerned should be set up and the site demarcation of these pavilions should be finalised at the earliest. The Financial Commissioner and Secretary, Local Bodies, Mr M.K. Miglani, said the exclusive website, the CD and the book on Kurukshetra would prove a landmark in disseminating the philosophy of Gita and the culture of Kurukshetra within the country and abroad. Mr Manik Sonawane, Secretary to the Governor and member-secretary, KDB, briefed the Governor about the book and the CD prepared with the inspiration and guidance of the Governor himself. He said of the 360 holy places mentioned in the book, the details of 134 holy places accompanied by pictures and maps had been described in these publications. The Deputy Commissioner, Kurukshetra, Mr S.N. Roy presented the vote of thanks and assured the Governor of an accelerated pace of development in the district. The Vice-Chancellor of
Kurukshetra University, Mr M.L. Ranga also attended the
function. |
Lyngdoh files affidavit CHANDIGARH, Oct 13 — Mr J.M. Lyngdoh, Election Commissioner, today filed an affidavit in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, saying the "allegations made in the petition filed by Mr Kanti Parkash Bhalla as well as in the newspaper reports are false and hence denied. None of them pertains to or refers to any direction or order given/made restraining Mr Om Prakash Chautala (Chief Minister of Haryana) from casting his vote or exercising his right to franchise on September 5." This affidavit was filed pursuant to the notice issued to him by Mr Justice T.H.B. Chalapathi, a Judge of the High Court, who had taken up suo motu notice of newspaper reports saying that Mr Chautala had been asked by the Election Commissioner not to exercise his franchise in the September 5 Lok Sabha elections. In his five-page affidavit Mr Lyngdoh stated "No illegality, much less an electoral offence, has been committed by the deponent as whatever steps were taken by the Election Commission of India were taken to ensure free and fair elections to ensure the purity of the election process and level playing field for all concerned. All this was done in the bona fide discharge of the constitutional duties bestowed upon the deponent by the Constitution of India." "Mr Kanti Parkash Bhalla is not entitled to ask this court to embark upon an inquiry into the false allegations as made by him in his petition," says the affidavit. It adds: "The detailed procedure prescribed for the registration of a case or the filing of a complaint under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, cannot be short-circuited or circumvented by resorting to the provisions of Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. Mr Bhalla, the complainant, may approach a competent court of law having jurisdiction in this matter and prove and establish his case therein. The admission or denial of the allegations in the complaint of Mr Bhalla at this stage by the deponent are not warranted. Consequently, the rule-nisi issued by this court deserves to be discharged." The Judge adjourned the
case to November 16 to enable the Haryana
Advocate-General, Mr Mohan, to file affidavit of Mr
Bhaskar Chatterji, Chief Electoral Officer of Haryana,
containing all relevant particulars so as to enable the
court to adjudicate the matter. |
Paddy procurement target
surpassed AMBALA, Oct 13 — The paddy procurement in Ambala has surpassed the target following a bumper crop this year. Farmers are thronging various mandis in the district to sell their produce. Deputy Commissioner Ram Niwas today visited the mandis of Ambala city and cantonment to assess the arrangements made by procurement agencies to handle the paddy arrival. He said 43,320 metric tonnes of paddy had been procured by various agencies so far while previous year the arrival was 35,815 tonne during the corresponding period. Meanwhile, it is learnt
that most of the paddy has been purchased by millers. The
millers purchased 23,353 tonnes while Hafed, Confed,
Haryana Agro and Warehousing Corporation had purchased
3,308 tonne so far. |
Murder mystery solved ROHTAK, Oct 13 — The police today claimed to have solved the mystery shrouding the murder of Mr Dalbir Bangar, a local Municipal Commissioner, with the arrest of two persons. Mr Bangar, who represented ward No 14 in the local civic body, was shot dead by three persons on October 5 on the premises of the Municipal Committee. The alleged assailants escaped on a motorcycle after committing the crime. The SSP, Mr P.K. Aggarwal, said old enmity was the cause of the murder. He said Dalbir Singh Bangar and his accomplices had murdered Raj Singh, the then sarpanch of Lath village in 1993. The police has arrested Ramesh Kumar, son of Partap Singh, a nephew of the deceased, Raj Singh, and Sunil alias Silu, son of Satbir Singh, both residents of Lath on a charge of murder of Dalbir Bangar. The motorcycle used in the crime had also been recovered, the police further said. Mr Aggarwal said the
arrested had confessed to have murdered Dalbir Bangar to
take revenge for the murder of Raj Singh. The third
suspect was absconding. |
HVPN introduces disclosure
scheme GURGAON, Oct 13 — The Haryana Vidyut Parsaran Nigam (HVPN) has launched a voluntary disclosure scheme (VDS) for the declaration of unauthorised load for all categories of consumers. The HVPN spokesman said under a simplified procedure, consumers who voluntarily declare their unauthorised load would be required to submit a certificate to the effect that electrical wiring had been done by an authorised wiring contractor and that the installations were safe. Further submission of a high wiring report would not be insisted upon for consumers with a connected load upto 10 kw. He said consumers with
connected load above 10 kw would be required to submit a
fresh test report along with the certified. The scheme
will remain in force from October 5 to November 30. |
HAU teachers begin dharna HISAR, Oct 13 — The Haryana Agricultural University Teachers Association (HAUTA) today launched an "indefinite protest dharna" against the delay in the implementation of revised pay scales in accordance with the guidelines of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. HAUTA secretary Prof H.K. Verma said pay scales had already been revised in the three other universities of the state. The HAUTA secretary said, the association had withdrawn an earlier dharna on July 26, after a commitment from Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala that the scales would be revised according to the ICAR guidelines, but the scales are yet to be revised. About a few hundred teachers and scientists of the HAU staged a dharna in front of the Eletcher House, the main administrative block of the university. The dharna will continue in a phased manner, till the scales are not revised. The Vice-Chancellor, Mr
Vinay Kumar was confident that a final decision on the
issue would be taken on October 18. |
Jyoti Arora new Kurukshetra DC CHANDIGARH, Oct 13 — Mrs Jyoti Arora, Director and Joint Secretary, Women and Child Development department, will be the new Deputy Commissioner of Kurukshetra district. She replaces Mr S.N. Roy
who takes over as Director, Development and Panchayats
Vice Mr Krishan Kumar, who has been posted as
Commissioner of Municipal Corporation Faridabad in place
of Mr V. Umashankar, whose posting will be ordered later. |
Life term for murder FARIDABAD, Oct 13 — The Additional District and Sessions Judge, today convicted and sentenced Sunil Kumar (20) of Sanjay colony to life imprisonment for murdering Amar Chand on October 10, 1997. According to the prosecution, Sunil Kumar, Brajesh and Ram Kishen took Amar Chand to Atala village on the pretext of arranging a loan for him. The body of Amar Chand was later found in the fields on October 11. Amar Chand who was a tenant in the house of Brajesh had allegedly developed illicit relations with his sister which led to the crime. Mr Goyal sent Brajesh to
the juvenile court for facing trial as he was less than
16 years and Ram Kishen was acquitted by giving him the
benefit of doubt. |
Haryana gesture to freedom
fighters CHANDIGARH, Oct 13 — The Haryana Government has decided to enhance the reimbursement charges for eye lens and hearing aid to the freedom fighters. They will now get
reimbursement for eye lens up to Rs 800 and up to Rs
1,000 for hearing aid. |
Tanker catches fire FARIDABAD, Oct 13 — Three persons received serious burn injuries early this morning when a tanker carrying chemicals overturned and caught fire after hitting an autorickshaw at Ajrondha Chowk The injured who were in the autorickshaw which also caught fire were rushed to the Civil Hospital. Four fire engines took more than three hours to put out the flames. The autorickshaw was
destroyed in the fire. |
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