H A R Y A N A

Set up units in Haryana, CM asks IT giants
CHANDIGARH, Aug 8 — The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, today gave a call to IT giants like Mircosoft India to take benefit from the friendly IT policy recently announced by the state government and set up their stations and units in Haryana so as to make it one of the leading states in information technology.

SC notice to Haryana Chief Secy
CHANDIGARH, Aug 8 — The Supreme Court has issued notice on a contempt petition to Haryana Chief Secretary R.S. Verma and five other state government employees.

Giri sect gets new head
BALAK (Hisar), Aug 8 — Mahant Prithvi Giri is the new head of the Giri sect of sadhus. The panchayat of this village appointed him as the new mahant of the dera located here which is the headquarters of the sect. The announcement regarding his appointment was made in the presence of hundreds of sadhus of this sect here today.

Probe into clearance to complex sought
PANIPAT, Aug 8 — The local Citizens Council has demanded a probe into the “unauthorised” sanction given to the construction of shopping complex here on the G.T. Road.

Martyr cremated with honours
PANIPAT, Aug 8 — With the arrival of the body of Kargil martyr Sushil Kumar at his ancestral village, Atolapur, in Bapoli block, a huge crowd of villagers gathered at his parental house. The villagers paid their respects with tearful eyes.

Poor bus service hits students
PANIPAT: The roads from Khukhrana village to Salban village and from Old Industrial Area to Baholi village, near the Panipat Refinery, are in such a bad condition that to ply buses on them is risky.

Monkeys give tough time to students
HISAR, Aug 8 — Monkeys have become a big nuisance for local residents. Hundreds of monkeys in large groups visit many colonies of the town from morning till evening. They have bitten dozens of people during the past few days.

3 dead in cracker factory fire
HISAR, Aug 8 — A powerful blast in a cracker factory situated in Hansi town, about 27 km from here, yesterday claimed three lives, including a woman, while the condition of one woman is still critical.

Suicide or accident?
FATEHABAD, Aug 8 — A 70-year-old man, who had recently left drugs and was under medical treatment at the local General Hospital, fell from the second floor of the hospital last night. He died instantly. Whether he committed suicide or fell accidentally is a mystery.

Train services disrupted
SONEPAT, Aug 8 — Train services on the Sonepat-Delhi section of the Northern Railway remained disrupted for a few hours following the jamming of the brakes block of a passenger train at the Rathdhanna railway station, about 8 km from here, last evening.

Probe sought into Red Cross work
REWARI, Aug 8 — Mr Vijay Saini, General Secretary of the Haryana Vikas Party, in a representation to Babu Parmanand, Governor of Haryana, has urged him to order a CBI or judicial inquiry into the functioning of the District Red Cross Society here.

Set up units in Haryana, CM asks IT giants
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 8 — The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, today gave a call to IT giants like Mircosoft India to take benefit from the friendly IT policy recently announced by the state government and set up their stations and units in Haryana so as to make it one of the leading states in information technology.

Mr, Chautala was speaking after inaugurating a seminar on “IT Initiatives for Haryana” organised by the Secretariat of Information Technology, Haryana, and Microsoft India, here.

He said Haryana had emerged as the most important destination for the IT industry. It had the advantage of being close to Delhi, had a pollution-free environment, good infrastructure and no labour problem the uninterrupted power supply for IT industries.

The Chief Minister claimed that with the implementation of the new industrial policy, investment proposals worth over Rs 3,000 crore had been received from national and international industrial houses. One such big house was Honda Scooters Limited, which had decided to invest Rs 500 crore at the industrial model township of Manesar for setting up a project to manufacture two-wheelers.

Mr Chautala reiterated that the new education policy announced recently would not only be job-oriented but would also help propagate information technology at the grassroot level.

The Chief Minister said the government would implement an IT literacy plan for its employees to achieve 100 per cent literacy in the government set-up by 2002. The use of Hindi in information technology would be promoted. A SMART-card based I-card for citizens would be introduced by 2003.

Mr Chautala said all public-domain information like official gazette notifications, Acts, rules, regulations, circulars and policy and programme documents would be digitised and made available for electronic access on the Web by the year 2002. Public information and facilitation counters would be set up in government offices.

The Chief Minister said the IT module would be introduced in engineering and non-engineering degree and diploma courses.

He said a corpus fund of Rs 5 crore for the setting up of an Indian Institute of Information Technology at Gurgaon had been created. He said the linking up of Microsoft with the IIIT at Gurgaon would prove beneficial.

Mr Chautala released a compact disk prepared by the Haryana unit of the National Informatics Centre relating to the three volumes of the manual of instructions on service matters of the state government at the seminar.

The President of Microsoft India, Mr Rajiv Nair, was among those present.

Trade bodies all set for bandh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 8 — Despite yesterday’s announcement by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to simplify the procedure for transit challans (ST-38) and increase in the limit of the self-assessment scheme, various trade organisations, including the two Beopar Mandals, but excluding pro-INLD bodies, are all set for observing a state-wide bandh in Haryana tomorrow.

While the Congress has openly extended its support to the bandh, the BJP has extended tacit support. Its leaders are refraining from coming to the forefront of the bandh preparations, but BJP workers do not hide their sympathy for the traders.

Mr Lakshmi Chand Gupta, president of the Haryana Beopar Mandal, and Mr Bajrang Dass Garg, president of the Haryana Pradesh Beopar Mandal (HPBM), have said that the sops announced by Mr Chautala are far below the expectations of the traders who have been burdened with heavy taxes by the INLD government.

They want the withdrawal of the transit challans and establishment taxes. The traders also want that no sales tax should be imposed on halwais and bakeries.

The president of the Ambala district unit of the HPBM, Mr Arun Garg, said halwais and bakeries used goods which were taxed at the first point as raw material. By taxing them the government wanted to tax their labour input. The Local Area Development Tax should also be withdrawn.

Mr H.S. Bhatia, president of the Ambala Wholesale Cloth Market Association, the largest of its kind in the state, has also supported the bandh call.

The president and the senior vice-president of the Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, respectively, Mr Manmohan Singla and Mr N.C. Jain, have demanded that the government should defer the entire matter related to taxation for three months. A high-powered committee under the chairmanship of a senior Cabinet Minister should be constituted and asked to give its report after visiting each district headquarters to ascertain public opinion.

Dr Jai Dev, Mr S.P. Gupta, Mr D.R. Dhawan and Mr Rajinder Nath, all past presidents of the chamber and prominent industrialists of the state, are of the view that the state Excise and Taxation Department should first repose confidence in industry and trade which, they said, were paying taxes regularly. They said that the intentions of industry and trade were honest as was clear from the steady growth in the state’s revenue.

They also advocated the need for negotiations between the government and trade representatives.

However, certain trade organisations, including the Sirsa Cotton Ginners Association, the Pucca Arhtiya Association, the Wholesale Gur and Sugar Merchants Association (all from Sirsa, the native district of the Chautala family), the Rohtak Traders Association, the Haryana Fruit and Vegetable Market Association of Rohtak and the Yamunanagar-Jagadhri Timber and Plywood Manufacturers Association have opposed the bandh call.

Bandh call leaves traders divided
From Bijendra Ahlawat
From Our Correspondent

FARIDABAD, Aug 8 — While the state government is all set to deal with the Haryana bandh called by certain trade associations against the imposition of ST Form-38, the issue has left traders and local BJP leaders and activists divided. Those working for and against the proposed bandh today made last-ditch efforts to mobilise public opinion in the town which is an important centre of trade and industry.

The proposed bandh, which is the first attempt of its kind after the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD)-BJP coalition government led by Mr Om Prakash Chautala took over about a year ago, has put the credibility of both parties at stake. The BJP, which is supporting the INLD government from outside, seems to be in a tight spot as this party is believed to have considerable base among the trading and business communities.

These are reports have a large sections of BJP activists who have been working actively to make the bandh a success.

They claim that the imposition of ST Form-38 is only a ploy to force traders and shopkeeper “bow before authorities”.

On the other hand, the Chautala government has announced that the form is only for checking tax evasion. It says the government is ready to consider any suggestion by the business community.

Leaders of the INLD and trade associations opposed to the bandh call today held a procession in various parts of the town. They agreed that the bandh call was meaningless as the state government had accepted the recommendations of the nine-member committee led by Mr Niranjan Lal Bansal, head of the vyapaar cell of the INLD.

It is reported that the recommendation accepted by the Chautala government include extending the self-assessment limit from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore. The government has announced to remove the provision of a penalty of Rs 2500 in case a trade loses his “pass book”. The traders will now have to inform the officials concerned about the matter and they need not lodge an FIR or give a notification in newspaper.

It is learnt that several leaders and activists of organisations supporting the bandh call have gone underground.

Timber merchants say no to bandh
From Our Correspondent

YAMUNANAGAR, Aug 8 — The Yamunanagar-Jagadhri Timber and Plywood Manufacturers Association will not participate in the bandh called by the Haryana Beopar Mandal tomorrow.

Mr Ved Parkash Rekhan, chairman of the association, in a letter to the Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, today assured him that they would run their business establishments as usual. He thanked the government for giving concessions in the implementation of ST form-38.

The Haryana Ayurvedic Medicine Association has also decided not to participate in the bandh.

SC notice to Haryana Chief Secy
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 8 — The Supreme Court has issued notice on a contempt petition to Haryana Chief Secretary R.S. Verma and five other state government employees.

The petition has been filed by two Under Secretaries of Haryana Mr Sadhu Singh and Mr B.L. Grover.

The others to whom the notice has been issued are Mr J.P. Kaushik, IAS, Joint Secretary, Secretariat Establishment; Mr Shiv Kumar Lowe, Under Secretary; Mr Krishan Lal, Superintendent; Mr Malkiat Singh, Superintendent; and Mr Dev Raj Dhawan, Assistant.

The petitioners have alleged that the respondents failed to apply the principle of “catch up” laid down by the apex court in the case of Sube Singh Bahmani versus state of Haryana while fixing the seniority of certain officials viz-a-viz the petitioners.

HPCC chief’s election: Hooda working hard
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 8 — While the election to the top post of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee is more than two months away (it is scheduled to take place on November 1), the camp led by Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the current chief of the HPCC, are working hard to consolidate its position and ensure the return of Mr Hooda.

Mr Hooda was outwitted by his bete noire Mr Bhajan Lal at the time of the election of the leader of the Congress Legislature Party(CLP) which went to the latter. However, Mr Hooda’s supporters say that a non-Jat Congressman becoming the leader of the CLP has made it mandatory that someone from the Jat community becomes the president of the HPCC and among the Jat leaders of Congress there is no one of Mr Hooda’s stature.

Also, the Hooda camp reportedly had an overwhelming supremacy in enrolling primary members for the party. Out of some 8 lakh people enrolled as primary members in the party, more than 60 per cent was claimed to have been inducted by Mr Hooda’s supporters. Neither Mr Bhajan Lal or Birender Singh or Shamsher Singh Surjewale, three important faction leaders of the Congress in Haryana, performed well in the membership front.

While Mr Bhajan Lal and Mr Birender Singh were reportedly trying to convey it to the Congress party’s central leaders that Mr Hooda had shown “bogus” members, the Hooda camp is hopeful that AICC would ignore this allegation and it would appreciate the good work done by Mr Hooda by the way of enrolling primary members.

Moreover, none of the three names suggested by Mr Bhajan Lal sometime back, would be found worthwhile for the HPCC chief’s post, claim Mr Hooda’s supporters. The name of Dharam Bir is ruled out because of his erstwhile INLD connections. According to them, Balbir Pal Shah is also not a suitable candidate because he lost in the 1996 Assembly elections. Mr Jagdish Nehra also lost in successive elections. The name of Mr Virender Singh, who is an important faction leader and may be a candidate for the HPCC chief’s post, is also ruled out because he lost in the last Lok Sabha as well as in the last Assembly elections.

Though Mr Hooda has made no secret of his ambition to be reelected as the HPCC chief, he likes to keep his finger crossed regarding his chances. “ Ours is a democratic party, someone may like to challenge my leadership”, he says. He, though, adds that he is a “fighter” and the party perhaps needs someone like him in Haryana at this juncture.

In fact the recent spurt in activities by the Congress in Haryana- by organising dharnas, making representations to the Governor, organising numerous camps for its cadres and so on - is being seen by Mr Hooda’s critics as an attempt by him to project his “fighter” image to clinch the president’s office again.

This is obviously strongly denied by Mr Hooda who says that if he is re-elected, the agitations by the Congress will be further intensified.

Giri sect gets new head
From Our Correspondent

BALAK (Hisar), Aug 8 — Mahant Prithvi Giri is the new head of the Giri sect of sadhus. The panchayat of this village appointed him as the new mahant of the dera located here which is the headquarters of the sect. The announcement regarding his appointment was made in the presence of hundreds of sadhus of this sect here today.

He is the 18th head of the 700-year-old dera which has followers all over the country. He has succeeded his Guru Mahant Krishan Giri, who was shot dead by unidentified persons at Rampura, Beri near Rajgarh in Rajasthan on July 23.

The appointment came at the end of the “satrvin” ceremony of the slain mahant today. As per tradition the congregation of sadhus from all over India asked the village panchayat to nominate the new mahant. The panchayat met for about 20 minutes before deciding on Prithvi Giri who is the senior most disciple of the dead mahant. The panchayat’s decision was unanimous.

The claim of Mahant Dutt Giri, a gurubhai of the deceased mahant, was rejected by the panchayat last night itself. He had been lobbying for the coveted position for the past few days. He had lost the battle of succession in 1978 also when Mahant Krishan Giri succeeded his guru, Mahant Dewan Giri, as the new dera chief.

After his nomination a mahayagya was performed amid the samadhis of the previous dera heads. The new mahant was then carried to his predecessor’s room by Mr Rajbir Singh, husband of the sarpanch, Mrs Angerjo Devi, and a former sarpanch, Mr Balwant Singh, to seek his blessings. Several sadhus and villagers presented chaddars” to the new dera head after his installation.

After the ceremony the 30-year-old Prithvi Giri told The Tribune he would follow in the footsteps of his predecessor. He promised to complete the tasks left incomplete by guru.

Meanwhile, Mahant Hari Giri, secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Sabha, has threatened to launch a nationwide agitation by the sadhus if the killers of Mahant Krishan Giri are not arrested soon. He had also demanded the suspension of the Superintendent of Police, Hisar, for his alleged failure to provide security to the slain mahant.

Haryana to have ‘pink city’
From Jatinder Sharma
From Our Correspondent

ROHTAK, Aug 8 — Haryana, too, may have its own ‘pink city’ here if the scheme launched to beautify this ancient town by the administration proves to be a success.

The Deputy Commissioner (DC), Mr Rajesh Khullar, today claimed that if the beautification scheme succeeded, this town would be more pink than the Pink City of Jaipur. And to implement this scheme, he had sought the total involvement of the residents of the city. The idea is to make Rohtak their most beautiful town of the state.

The boundary walls of Model School and the Red Cross Bhavan had already been painted pink. The telephone and electricity poles in the town were being painted blue. The posters pasted on walls of houses and public institutions were being removed.

Mr Khullar convened a meeting of representatives of various voluntary organisations, trade associations and prominent citizens last week to seek their involvement in the beautification campaign. The steps to paint the city pink were initiated only after getting nod of these organisations, he said.

Initially, the administration had planned to paint pink the front portions of the shops and houses situated on the main roads by August 15.

The Municipal Committee had also been asked to coordinate with the social and trade organisations in accomplishing the task.

The administration also planned, for putting up Preamble of the Constitution of India on the Ambedkar Chowk, near the Model school. “The purpose was to provide ordinary citizens an opportunity to read it.

The administration also planned to erect 25 welcome gates on the Independence Day in different parts of the city. Each of the gates would be named after national leaders and freedom fighters of the area, he said. “The idea is that the Independence Day celebrations should not be limited to ‘sarkari’ function, he said.

Probe into clearance to complex sought
From Our Correspondent

PANIPAT, Aug 8 — The local Citizens Council has demanded a probe into the “unauthorised” sanction given to the construction of shopping complex here on the G.T. Road.

A piece of land measuring approximately 5 acres in the heart of the city is going to be a commercial shopping centre where about 51 shops are proposed to be constructed and construction up to the plinth level has already been done. Though the building plan was sanctioned only for four shops, but the illegal construction of plinth has been done for about 51 shops which has caused a loss to the municipal council of Rs 80 lakhs. The construction has been done in a haphazard and unplanned manner.

Sources said that without the connivance of nagar parishad staff, this sanction of commercial complex was not possible.

A complaint had also been lodged by Mr Hari Singh of Azad Nagar against the previous Executive Officer, Mr K K Jain and the present District Town Planner (DTP), Mr Kamlesh Gupta, regarding sanctioning of this unauthorised commercial complex. An inquiry was still pending with the Additional Deputy Commissioner.

Sources further said Mr K K Jain had also misused his powers and sanctioned the plan against the rules in an unauthorised manner violating the Haryana Urban Act 1975, inflicting a loss of development charges and other charges which include change in land use (CLU) charges. The NoC was also not obtained from the District Town Planner (DTP) and the national highway authorities.

The District Town Planner when approached said he had recommended filing of an FIR against the party even though only nagar parishad officials were at fault and against whom no action had been taken so far.

Mr K K Jain, when approached, told this correspondent that he was not a technical person and only accepted recommendations of the Municipal Engineer.

Sources further claimed that the present SDM, Mr Kulwant Kalsan, also visited the site for examination, but no action had been taken in this case.

The Citizens Council demanded a thorough probe into the unauthorised and illegal activities of these officials by other technically qualified architects to find the truth.

Martyr cremated with honours
From Our Correspondent

PANIPAT, Aug 8 — With the arrival of the body of Kargil martyr Sushil Kumar at his ancestral village, Atolapur, in Bapoli block, a huge crowd of villagers gathered at his parental house. The villagers paid their respects with tearful eyes. The martyr’s mother, Mrs Sheemla Devi, blessed him by saying, “My brave son Sushil has become immortal by sacrificing his life while defending his country.”

The martyr’s body was consigned to flames by his elder brother with full military honours.

On August 30 last year Sushil Kumar was fighting the intruders in Hanifuddin sub-sector when a bomb exploded. He fell from the mountain summit and his body was buried under snow. After a year with the melting of the snow, Army personnel saw the body which was sent to his village after identification.

Sushil Kumar, an enthusiastic young man, was born in 1975 in an ordinary Gujjar family and to defend his motherland he joined 3 Rajput Regiment. His father Jai Singh had died and his two elder brothers looked after agricultural land.

The Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr Subash Chander Goyal, and on behalf of the Army Major J.C. Talukdar offered floral tributes. The Additional SP, Mr Haneef Qureshi, the secretary of the District Sainik Board, Major Mohinder Singh, Captain Uggar Sain also paid floral tributes to the martyr.

Other district officials were also present on the occasion. Dependants of the martyr have been paid grant by the government and his widow Santlesh has been sanctioned a petrol station.

Poor bus service hits students
From Rakesh Bhardwaj

PANIPAT: The roads from Khukhrana village to Salban village and from Old Industrial Area to Baholi village, near the Panipat Refinery, are in such a bad condition that to ply buses on them is risky.

Besides, the number of buses that operate on these routes is small and only one bus of a cooperative society operates in addition to Haryana Roadways buses to the Khukhrana area.

On the other hand, no Roadways service is available on the Baholi-Panipat route and only two private buses of a cooperative society operate.

It is noteworthy that due to unsatisfactory operation of Roadways buses, students of these villages have to travel on the roof of cooperative society buses to reach their schools and colleges. As many as 280 students from about 16 villages en route have to reach Panipat for their studies.

The students allege that drivers overload their buses on profitable routes and their movement depends on their will. Village residents have demanded that administration should pay attention to their difficulty.

Monkeys give tough time to students
From Narender Sharma

HISAR, Aug 8 — Monkeys have become a big nuisance for local residents. Hundreds of monkeys in large groups visit many colonies of the town from morning till evening. They have bitten dozens of people during the past few days.

The areas in the vicinity of temples are the worst affected. These include Rental Colony near CRM Jat College, Urban Estate, Model Town, the walled city, Nagori Gate and Barwala Chowk on the Hisar-Chandigarh highway. The problem is aggravated by the fact that devotees visiting these temples give fruits and other edibles to these monkeys. After partaking the food the monkeys roam about in these colonies the whole day.

Over a dozen students of the local F.C. College for Woman have been bitten by monkeys during the past week. The Devi Bhavan temple is situated at a stone’s throw from the college campus. A few other temples are located near this college. Monkeys enter the rooms of the hostel inmates and attack the students. They also damage clothes and other belongings of the inmates.

The students have to dry their washed clothes inside the rooms as the monkeys tear these apart if they are left in the open. The college administration has installed iron grilles in the staff hostel to keep monkeys away. All corridors of the staff hostel have been fenced for the purpose. However, these measures have not been taken in the student’s hostel. The college authorities have approached the district administration for help.

On the Hisar-Chandigarh highway, monkeys have become the main cause of accidents near the Hunuman temple. Hundreds of monkeys are present on this stretch of the road throughout the day. Motorists throw edibles for them from moving cars and they run to grab them. The vehicles coming from behind lose control while trying to save them.

Professional trappers are used to catch these monkeys from time to time and release them outside the town. However, they are back in no time. The residents now want a permanent solution to this problem.

Probe sought into Red Cross work
From Our Correspondent

REWARI, Aug 8 — Mr Vijay Saini, General Secretary of the Haryana Vikas Party, in a representation to Babu Parmanand, Governor of Haryana, has urged him to order a CBI or judicial inquiry into the functioning of the District Red Cross Society here.

He alleged that with the connivance of the Chairman of the Society, its Secretary, Mr D.R. Sharma, had amassed benami assets.

He said even the Red Cross ambulance had become out of reach of the needy.

Mr Saini said if his demand was not accepted, he would go on fast unto death at Moti Chowk here from August 15.