 |
| Sunday, July 2, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
|
Centre
sanctions 5.76 cr for Ambala city Concession to power bill
defaulters Crowd blocks traffic to protest
murder
Agrawal nominated to Hindi samiti Kataria announces office-bearers |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Missing doc returns Boy crushed to death Gang of dacoits busted
|
Centre sanctions 5.76 cr for
Ambala city AMBALA, July 1 — The Ministry of Urban Affairs and Employment has sanctioned Rs 5.76 crore for Ambala city under the integrated development of small and medium towns (IDSMT) for the improvement of its social economic and physical infrastructure which may slow down the margin from rural area and small town to larger cities. According to official sources, under this scheme Rs 2.40 crore will be spent on the construction of commercial complex, while Rs 84 lakh on a banquet hall, Rs 86.95 lakh on the development of Mahavir Park, Rs 29.10 lakh on solid waste management, Rs 47.95 lakh on strengthening the roads, Rs 57.45 lakh on storm water drains and Rs 30.50 lakh on streetlighting. Basically the plan for this scheme was submitted to the Union Government in 1998 by the state government through the Deputy Commissioner, Ambala. The then Deputy Speaker, Haryana Vidhan Sabha, Mr Faquir Chand Aggarwal, who was also the local MLA, had followed up the case with centre effectively. The official sources said the share from the Union Government would be passed on to the state government as grant. Only the 25 per cent of the amount given by the Centre could be accounted for as outright grant. The remaining 75 per cent would be treated as corpus to be returned to the revolving fund for self sustaining development. The roads which have been included in the scheme and from Shivalik Colony road to Jain College road, from the GT Road to Bakra Mandi, internal Anaj mandi roads, the Manmohan Nagar approach road, the Panchayat Bhavan road, the Janata Furniture road, the Prem Nagar main road, the Baldev Nagar road, the Geeta Nagri-Shivpuri Colony road, the Geeta Vidhya Mandir Road, the Layalpur Basti road, the road from Arya Chowk to Jagadhri gate, and the Kailash Nagar to Jeevan Nagar road. In this scheme, eight storm water channels would also be constructed in the city which include drains from the Session Court to Vikas Vihar, from the Devi Mandir police post to the Shukal Kund road from the Jagadhri Gate to Civil Hospital, from Novelty Cinema Chowk to Shivalik Colony, from the Badshahi Bag Gurudwara road to the Layalpur Basti main road and Do Khambha Chowk to Manji Sahib Gurudwara. Sodium bulbs and tube light fitting on various main roads have also been proposed in the scheme. According to official information, 130 sodium lights would be fitted from Baldev Nagar Chowk to Manav Chowk. Besides it 24 sodium light have been proposed for Jagadhri Gate, Old Anaj Mandi Chowk, Meera Chowk, Niyay Chowk, Policeline Chowk and Central Jail Chowk. As many as 830 new tube lights have also finalised for Model Town, Baldev Nagar, Circular Road, Anaj Mandi, Hisar Road and at the entry to the G.T. road and the Chandigarh road. Sources said the first
instalment for implementing the scheme has already been
sent to the state government by the Centre. As soon as
the work start, the remaining amount would also be
released, the sources added. |
Concession to power bill defaulters HISAR, July 1 — As a major concession to defaulters, the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam has decided to allow payment of arrears of power bills in instalments, it is learnt. According to sources, a large number of consumers at Badhra, Loharu, Jhoju, Narnaund and some areas of Mahendragarh district had approached the nigam for payment of arrears. However, they expressed their inability to pay these in one go. Although the deadline for payments had expired, the nigam authorities decided to allow them to deposit their arrears in four equal instalments. The concession will be available to both agricultural as well as domestic consumers. While domestic consumers will have to deposit the instalment every two months, agricultural consumers will have to pay these instalments every three months. However, the first instalment will have to be paid latest by July 31. To encourage others to comply, the nigam has also decided to waive surcharge on arrears to the extent of 75 per cent. However, this benefit will be available only at the time of payment of the last instalment of arrears. Besides no further surcharge will be imposed on the arrears after the payment of the first instalment. The sources said current power bills would have to be paid concurrently and in case of default the benefit of payment in instalments would be withdrawn. The development is being viewed in government circles as a major breakthrough since most of these areas were dominated by chronic defaulters who had not cleared their bills under the influence of various farmers’ organisations. All attempts to recover the dues in the past had led to violent protests and clashes between powermen and the police and the defaulting farmers. The sources said the
nigam was nevertheless continuing its drive to disconnect
supply to defaulters. Under this campaign, as many as
16,110 disconnections were ordered in June alone. The
supply was restored if the arrears were paid. The nigam
recovered Rs 6 crore from these defaulters. Meanwhile,
raids to check theft of power are continuing. Special
attention is being paid to those whose supply was
disconnected due to non-payment of bills. As many as
1,176 theft cases have been registered in this connection
and Rs 77 lakh were recovered as penalty. |
Crowd blocks traffic to
protest murder KARNAL, July 1 — Irate residents here blocked traffic on the G.T. Road for the second day today to protest against the brutal murder of Virinder Gauba by a dairy owner of Model Town here. Mr Gauba was attacked by a group of goons at the busy Hospital chowk in front of Shaifali restaurant 10 days ago. He succumbed to his injuries at the PGI, Chandigarh, last evening. Hundreds of people shouting slogans blocked traffic on the ITI chowk last evening as Gauba’s body reached there. The Deputy Commissioner and the SP, however, were able to persuade the crowd to clear the jam on the assurance that the culprits would be arrested. No arrests, however, were made till today morning and a tense crowd, led by Ms Usha Gauba, wife of the deceased, blocked the G.T. Road after Gauba’s cremation. Initially, all efforts by the SDM and the DSP to persuade the crowd to disperse failed. The police had to divert the traffic, but the crowd reached the Liberty chowk and blocked the traffic there too for about two hours. On an assurance by the authorities that the culprits would be arrested by today evening, the crowd dispersed. The deceased had gone to Shaifali restaurant in the evening 10 days ago. A group of drunken youth came to the restaurant. The owner objected to their drinking in the restaurant. When Mr Gauba too protested, the youth dragged him out on the road and beat him with iron rods. According to eye witnesses nobody came to the rescue of Mr Gauba. The group of assailants have been identified as some fruit and vegetable sellers. Inquiries reveal that the leader of the gang enjoys political patronage. In the initial stage, the police is reported to have dismissed the incident as a case of scuffle between two groups, but after Gauba’s death the police is now taking up the matter afresh. Shops in Model Town
remained closed as a mark of protest against the murder. |
Agrawal nominated to Hindi
samiti ROHTAK, July 1 — Dr O.P. Agrawal, retired Professor of Chemistry, Maharshi Dayanand University, has been nominated as a member of the Kendriya Hindi Samiti, a body constituted for issuing directions about the official language policy of the Union Government. The samiti is headed by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, whereas the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, is its Deputy Chairman. Some of the other members on the committee are the HRD Minister, the Information and Broadcasting Minister and the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs. The reconstituted samiti also comprises the Chief Ministers of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh besides the conveners of the first, second and third subcommittees of Parliament on official languages. Dr Bajrang Lal Gupta, renowned academician and social worker from Haryana, has also been nominated a member of the samiti. Dr Agrawal is the Vijnana Mantri (in charge, science affairs) of the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Prayag, and also Chairman of the Haryana Vidvat Parishad. He has also been a
member of the editorial board of the Hindi-medium science
research journal "Bharatiya Vaigyanik Evam Audyogik
Anusandhan Patrika" being published by the CSIR for
the past several years. He is an established Hindi writer
of popular science and has been honoured by the Vijnana
Parishad, Allahabad. |
Kataria announces office-bearers AMBALA, July 1 — The newly elected President of the Haryana unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party Mr Rattan Lal Kataria, yesterday, announced the new office-bearers of the state unit. Mr Atma Prakash Manchanda (Panchkula), Mr Gurdyal Singh Saini (Kurukshetra), Mr Kishan Singh Sangwan (Sonepat) and Prof Ganeshi Lal (Sirsa) are vice-presidents, Mr Manohar Lal is general secretary (Organisation), Mr Om Prakash Dhankhad (Charkhi Dadri) and Mr Veer Kumar Yadav (Rewari) are general secretaries, a press note said. While the secretaries are Mr Kanwar Pal Singh (Chachrauli), Mr Ramesh Kashyap (Gharounda) and Ms Shakuntla Raj (Jind), the treasurer is Mr Sriniwas Goel (Hisar). Besides the office bearers, those who will be members of the 31-member working mandal include Mr Om Prakash Grover, Mr Ramvilas Sharma, Mr I.D. Swami, Mr S.R. Singla, Mr Puroshottam Deshmukh, Mr Kailash Sharma, Mr Krishna Pal Gurjar, Mr Ram Chandra Bainda, Dr Sudha Yadav, Mr Faqir Chand, Mr Prabhat Kumar and Mr Ishwar Singh. All these party
functionaries will also be members of the state working
samiti. The 51-member working samiti will be announced
soon, the note added. |
Missing doc returns KAITHAL, July 1 — Dr Romesh Bansal, who had been reportedly missing since June 26, returned here today. Talking to mediapersons, he said during the past week he had been receiving threatening calls to pay a ransom of Rs 10 lakh. He has been provided security by the police. Dr Bansal said the person who had been making calls spoke in Haryanvi and gave his name as Balli. The doctor said the calls were received by him on Tuesday and Wednesday and he was asked to pay the ransom or face elimination. After that he left for some unknown place and last evening his brother lodged an FIR. The doctor said he left the town from the security point of view. According to information
available, many well-to-do people of the town have been
receiving threatening calls to pay money or face the
consequences, but most of them have not yet lodged a
formal complaint with the police. The police, however,
has otherwise been alerted. |
Boy crushed to death ROHTAK, July 1 — A young boy was crushed to death by a speeding jeep at a nearby village in an incident of road mishap yesterday. According to police sources, the deceased Amit, a resident of Saman village, was hit by the jeep. He died on the spot. The driver of the jeep belong to the same village. Meanwhile, in another
incident, the police seized about 246 bottles of illicit
liquor from a vehicle intercepted by it for checking. Two
persons identified as Devender and Jagbir were arrested
and their car was impounded. A case has been registered. |
Gang of dacoits busted YAMUNANAGAR, July 1 — A gang of eight persons which had created panic in the entire northern India has been arrested and sent in police remand till July 3. Mr K.K. Sindhu, Superintendent of Police said here today that the gang has admitted to its involvement in more than 200 cases of murder and dacoity, but the figures is likely to increase. The gang has been active
for the past about 20 years in Haryana, Punjab, Uttar
Pradesh and Delhi. Their wives used to sell the stolen
jewellery at cheap rates in the remote areas of Uttar
Pradesh. |
Autorickshaws
tamed at last ROHTAK: The district administration has devised a novel way to regulate the haphazard traffic in the city caused mainly by the large number of autorickshaws. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Rajesh Khullar, has arrived on an agreement with the Autorickshaw Union, which lays down that autorickshaws having even registration numbers (ending with 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8) will ply on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays while those with odd registration numbers (ending with 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9) will be on the roads on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The Deputy Commissioner issued an order under section 144 of Cr PC prescribing two years’ imprisonment for any autorickshaw driver caught violating the order. There are nearly 6,000 autorickshaws in Rohtak, the highest for any town in the state. Moreover, all autorickshaws run on a single route on Delhi Road. This creates difficulties for other vehicles besides causing air pollution. The district administration has been receiving complaints in this regard over the past several years. Previous attempts to solve this problem did not bear fruit because of the support of the opposition parties that the Autorickshaw Union enjoys. However, Mr Khullar has been able to hammer out a solution after prolonged negotiations with the union. The drive against encroachments launched by the district administration has met with mixed response. While the residents and shopkeepers of certain localities and markets have welcomed the move, there are those who allege discrimination by the anti-encroachment squad in removing the unauthorised structures. While the drive has achieved success in several busy markets, it has not yielded similar results in the residential areas and in certain villages. Most of the residents of HUDA Sector 1 themselves removed the illegal structures, but the new Housing Board Colony has remained mostly unaffected by the repeated announcements to clear the encroachments. There are some elegant structures constructed on encroached land by some influential persons. Government officials are also not lagging behind in the matter of encroaching upon open spaces adjacent to their official residences. Encroachments around the residences of some officials remain intact. The Deputy Commissioner,
however, asserts that no encroacher will be spared and
strict action will be taken against those who reconstruct
the demolished structures. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 120 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
