H A R Y A N A

Pollution on the rise in Sonepat
SONEPAT, Sept 29 — This fast growing industrial township and district headquarters in Haryana is turning into the most polluted town in the state, thanks to the failure of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board authorities to check the air, water and noise pollution which has posed a serious threat to the health of local residents.

Haryana okays UGC scales for lecturers
CHANDIGARH, Sept 29 — The Haryana Cabinet today lowered the minimum marks for SC/ST candidates seeking lecturers’ jobs in the colleges of the state to 50 per cent at the Masters level.

BKMM to put check on cow slaughter
FARIDABAD, Sept 29 — The Bharatiya Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (BKMM), has announced convening a mahapanchayat on October 1 in Ballabgarh subdivision of the district against cow slaughter.

Army exercises: 45 villages notified
FARIDABAD, Sept 29 — The state government has notified as many as 45 villages of Faridabad and Gurgaon districts to be used for field firing and other exercises by the Army for a year till June, 2001.

Bag containing Rs 3.5 lakh snatched
ROHTAK, Sept 29 — Four car-borne youths allegedly snatched a bag containing nearly Rs 3.5 lakh from an accountant of a wine contractor of Bahadurgarh subdivision in Jhajjar district today.

Exporters welcome govt decision
AMBALA, Sept 29 — The Haryana Exporters Association has welcomed the decision of the Haryana Government to send a team of officials to the South-East Asian countries to woo industrial investment in the state.

Levy of octroi on CSD
AMBALA, Sept 29 — The Cantonment Board has began levying octroi on CSD and other Army units in Ambala Cantonment.

Ambala’s first dhaba on Internet
AMBALA, Sept 29 — The Internet, an information superhighway, is no longer going to be the exclusive preserve of the urban residents, as the first ‘Internet dhaba’ of the district has been opened in a village near here.

200 complaints heard in open darbar
PINJORE, Sept 29 — Nearly 200 complaints were put before the district administration officials at an open darbar chaired by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K. Monga, held here today. About 100 complaints, individual in character, were disposed of on the spot.

Model colony is hardly so
AMBALA, Sept 29 — New Model Colony here does not even have most basic amenities. The residents of this colony have failed to get these facilities even after repeated requests to the Municipal Council.

Ambala takes lesson from Chandigarh
AMBALA, Sept 29 — The roundabouts of Amabla City and Ambala Cantonment will be beautiful on the pattern of Chandigarh. It was announced by Mr Ram Niwas, Deputy Commissioner of Ambala, here today.

Father, daughter killed
AMBALA, Sept 29 — A father and his daughter, both residents of Ambala, were killed in a road accident near Dappar yesterday.

Upper age limit for HCS (Executive) up
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 29 — The Haryana Cabinet today decided to raise the upper age limit by five years to 45 for recruitment to the Haryana Civil Service (Executive branch). Accordingly, the Punjab Civil Services (Executive Branch) Rules, 1930, would be amended.

In another decision the Cabinet recommended the winding up of the Haryana Dairy Development Corporation under Section 484 of the Companies Act.

According to an official press note the decision to wind up the corporation was taken in view of the fact that the corporation had not done any business for the past 23 years. The assets of the corporation, which were currently on lease with Haryana Dairy Development Cooperative Federation Ltd, would be transferred. The milk plants were also leased out by the corporation to the federation on April 1, 1977. All liabilities of the employees, including their retirement benefits, were also taken over by the federation.

The Cabinet decided to adopt a policy on the regularisation of encroachments made by people in the form of dwelling units on panchayat land. Under this policy, which is part of the state government’s drive against encroachment, houses constructed up to March 31, 2000, would be regularised provided they were on uncultivated shamlat land. Such houses would include a reasonable open space which would be 25 per cent of the total constructed area or up to a maximum of 200 sq yd. Sale of the land would not be permitted unless allowed by the gram panchayat.

The Cabinet also approved the proposal of the Haryana State Federation of Cooperative Sugar Mills to send a team of senior officers to Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu to study the working of sugar mills there. The team members are Mr Wazir Singh, a former MD of the Karnal Sugar Mill who is now posted at Meham, Mr Mehtab Singh Shrawat of the Palwal Sugar Mill, Mr J.P.S. Dahiya of the Kaithal Sugar Mill and Mr Ramesh Chand Bidhan of the Shahabad mill.

The Cabinet also laid down special policies to invite investors to set up IT units in the state by allowing change in land use in different areas. stipulated under the development plans. It was decided to allow the setting up of cyber cities in areas measuring more than 100 acres. The cyber cities would be permitted to use 5 per cent of the licensed area for group housing and 4 per cent of the area for commercial or institutional use for which the charges fixed by the Town and Country Planning Department would be leviable. The Cabinet decided to allow the setting up of large cyber cities in the agricultural zone.

It was also decided that no permission to convert land use would be required in the industrial areas in the case of an existing industry or industrial unit converting into an IT industry. However, permission would be required for the setting up of a unit. Ground coverage of 40 per cent would be permissible for the IT industry, while ground coverage of 60 per cent would be allowed if an existing industry is converted into an IT unit with the prior approval of the District Industries Centre. A floor area ratio (FAR) of 250 per cent and a height of 30 metres would be permitted for the IT industry.

IT industries and cyber parks would have to provide parking facilities at the rate of one car unit for every 50 sq m. of floor area. HUDA would allow two-tier basements for such facilities and the basement would not be restricted to the 40 per cent limit of ground coverage.

The Cabinet further decided to amend the Haryana Local Fund Audit (Group A) Service Rules, 1980, to designate the posts of Examiner and Deputy Examiner as Director and Joint Director and of Assistant Examiner as Deputy Director. The Cabinet accorded approval to the amendment of the rules for the departmental examinations for Assistant Commissioners and Extra Assistant Commissioners.

The Central Committee of Examination, till now headed by the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, would now be headed by the Haryana Chief Secretary with the Financial Commissioners and Secretaries of the Revenue and Home Departments as its members.

Pollution on the rise in Sonepat
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Sept 29 — This fast growing industrial township and district headquarters in Haryana is turning into the most polluted town in the state, thanks to the failure of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board authorities to check the air, water and noise pollution which has posed a serious threat to the health of local residents.

The township has a number of large, medium and small-scale industries which include chemical and engineering units. It is alleged that certain industrial units have been discharging untreated effluents into the sewer system and the authorities concerned have utterly failed to check it.

It is also alleged that the authorities have not even prepared an action plan for tackling the problem of environment pollution in the city. The orders of the Supreme Court in this regard are being violated as no action against such units has been taken and this is the main cause of the pollution of the Yamuna passing through this district.

Moreover, no serious effort has been made to check the disposal of city waste, including sewage and solid waste by the Municipal Council, which has failed to set up a single treatment plant. At present, there is no proper outlet for the sewage.

Effluents keep stagnating on the roads which have resulted in big potholes making it difficult for people to pass through these roads. Some of the industrial units have laid their own sewer pipes and are discharging these effluents directly into the sewerage system in violation of the laws.

Haryana okays UGC scales for lecturers
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 29 — The Haryana Cabinet today lowered the minimum marks for SC/ST candidates seeking lecturers’ jobs in the colleges of the state to 50 per cent at the Masters level.

An official press note said that the previous government led by Mr Bansi Lal had raised the percentage to 55 (which was the cut-off percentage for general candidates) despite the UGC urging the state government to relax the norms for the reserved category candidates.

The Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Mr Om Prakash Chautala, also accepted the recommendations of the UGC for revising the pay scales of teachers in the universities and colleges. The new scales would be effective from January 1, 1996. The Bansi Lal-led government, according to an official press note had made certain changes in the recommendations made by the UGC and the Centre Government.

Those with teaching experience of 15 years would be considered for promotion or direct recruitment to the post of principal so as to ensure that all appointments to the post, whether by direct recruitment or promotion, were made in the scale fixed for professors (Rs 16400-22400), the press note stated. Teachers who were Ph.D degree holders on January 1,1996, or had obtained a doctorate after that date would now have the benefit of two advance increments. The increments would be admissible from the date the degree was awarded. The awarding of senior and selection grades would be strictly on the basis of the UGC guidelines.

The Cabinet also accepted the guidelines of the UGC regarding the promotion of readers in universities to the post of professor. It was also decided to give the scale of Rs 12000-18300 as replacement scale of Rs 3700-5700 in the case of assistant librarian (selection grade) in universities. A lecturer in the senior scale will have to undergo at least four refresher courses for getting promoted to the selection grade.

BKMM to put check on cow slaughter
From Bijendra Ahlawat

FARIDABAD, Sept 29 — The Bharatiya Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (BKMM), has announced convening a mahapanchayat on October 1 in Ballabgarh subdivision of the district against cow slaughter.

According to a spokesman of the morcha, the participants in the mahapanchayat would take a pledge to stop cow slaughter. He said members of all communities, including those belonging to the minority community, had been invited to the meeting. He said cow slaughter had been going on unchecked for the past several years.

According to activists of the BKMM, hundreds of cows were being slaughtered daily in the state. The maximum number of such cases are reported in this region, comprising Faridabad and Gurgaon districts. Fatehpur Taga and Dhauj villages of this district have come prominently in the news concerning cow slaughter and smuggling of beef in this area.

In the past few years the police has recovered hundreds of cows and calves in the recent past which were being taken for slaughter. It is learnt that a kind of mafia had taken roots in the past few years which had been engaged in lifting stray cows and other animals from both rural and urban areas to take these to slaughterhouses running illegally in some villages.

It is alleged that some of the persons engaged in this work and got patronage from influential political persons and as a result many of the cases were not registered by the police.

Mr Vasudev Ahoria of the BKMM said the morcha would raise its strength and depute volunteers to gain information about these activities so that proper action could be taken against the culprits. He said there was a proposal to build shelters for stray cattle in the near future. He said certain members of the morcha had even demanded death penalty for persons engaged in cow slaughter.

Army exercises: 45 villages notified
From Our Correspondent

FARIDABAD, Sept 29 — The state government has notified as many as 45 villages of Faridabad and Gurgaon districts to be used for field firing and other exercises by the Army for a year till June, 2001.

According to a statement issued by the department concerned sanction for the same had been accorded under Section 9 of the Field Firing and Practice Act, 1938.

The villages whose areas have been specified in Faridabad district are Dhauj, Kot, Alampur, Sarohi, Badkhal, Khori Jamalpur, Ehankari, Pali, Kotra Mohbatbad, Mangar, Sulankheri, Sahestabad Zirat, Gujriwala Johar, Banriwala Johar, Dhakuwala Johar, Lamiwala Johar, Dhaunwala Johar and Sohanwala Johar.

At least 27 villages in Gurgaon district have also been included in the list including Behalpa, Kherala, Khobri, Khor, Phulawas, Garhi Bazidpur, Daula, Hingotiwala Johar, Sijarkha Johar, Baniwala Johar, Pirwala Johar, Barawala Johar, Gheta, Kharka, Bindwari, Godhwala, Gosainwala Johar, Sahibwala and Bhadshapur.

Bag containing Rs 3.5 lakh snatched
From Our Correspondent

ROHTAK, Sept 29 — Four car-borne youths allegedly snatched a bag containing nearly Rs 3.5 lakh from an accountant of a wine contractor of Bahadurgarh subdivision in Jhajjar district today.

According to information, Ajit Kumar, the accountant, was going on his scooter when he was intercepted by a Maruti car. The latter’s occupants allegedly fled with his bag. The police has registered a case but no arrests have been made.

In another incident, a youth allegedly tried to molest a teenaged girl at Sampla village yesterday. The girl stated in an FIR that Ram Kumar of the same village tried to outrage her modesty when she was working in a field. A case has been registered under Section 354 of the IPC.

In another case, Ms Murti Devi of Indraprastha locality here stated in an FIR that her husband, Ajit, was kidnapped on September 13. The police has registered a case under Section 364 of the IPC.

Exporters welcome govt decision
Tribune News Service

AMBALA, Sept 29 — The Haryana Exporters Association has welcomed the decision of the Haryana Government to send a team of officials to the South-East Asian countries to woo industrial investment in the state.

The association is of the view that a large number of industrialists in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are interested in establishing their units in different sectors.

The Chairman of the association, Mr N.C. Jain, recently undertook a business survey of South-East Asian countries and held discussions with a number of businessmen, a release said.

The businessmen were interested to invest and establish their factories in India where there was a homogenous atmosphere for establishing their units because the labour in India was cheap and from India they could export their products to the markets of the world. They were also interested in joint ventures with Indian manufacturers, the release added.

Levy of octroi on CSD
Tribune News Service

AMBALA, Sept 29 — The Cantonment Board has began levying octroi on CSD and other Army units in Ambala Cantonment.

The Executive Officer, Mr S.S. Chahal, said that octroi on civilian population has been postponed till October 10. “A meeting of senior officials is expected to take place before September 30 where deliberations on octroi are going to take place,” he said.

Mr Chahal pointed out that Cantonment Board had demanded that compensation be paid to them in lieu of octroi according to an agreement which had been worked out during the time of excision.

Ambala’s first dhaba on Internet
By Rahul Das
Tribune News Service

AMBALA, Sept 29 — The Internet, an information superhighway, is no longer going to be the exclusive preserve of the urban residents, as the first ‘Internet dhaba’ of the district has been opened in a village near here.

Nanhera village, about 10 km from Ambala cantonment, has become the first village in the district which is going to have access to the Internet, through a scheme launched by the telecom department. The words “Int Dhaba”, emblazoned on the shop window in a dusty village lane, say it all.

The dhaba is not an eating joint, but an STD-PCO booth which has been provided Internet access.

Mr Anil Bali of Bali Traders the proud owner of the first such dhaba said that they were keen to provide all communication related facilities at one place. “We already provide STD and fax services. When we learnt about this scheme of the telecom department, we opted for it as we hope to see a growth in rate of Internet access by rural residents,” he said.

He said that it is only because of the assistance extended by the telecom department that it has been possible to set up the dhaba. “The Internet connection has been provided through Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) by the DoT,” he said.

Mr Bali is hopeful that Internet will help local people in keeping abreast of the latest information technology and access information easily. “Our customers will be able to surf the Net and get information they want,” he said.

However, he pointed out that a little knowledge of computers and English will be needed to become familiar with the Net. “In case of any difficulty, the customer can approach us and we will try and help him out. Already, there have been several inquiries regarding our new service and young people here are enthused by the idea,” he said. E-mail is anyway the cheapest compared to other media,” he added.

The Internet access rates at the newly opened Internet dhaba are comparatively steep, Rs 20 for every 15 minutes.“But, if a person is going to surf for an hour or more, the charges can be reduced,” Mr Bali said.

The Internet dhaba has got a Pentium III with a multi-media kit and scanner along with a coloured printer. “Later, we plan to impart Internet training”, said the owner.

INLD (youth wing) state general secretary, Mr Sucha Singh Baknaur, who visited the newly opened dhaba at Nanhera village, said that such dhabas were going to go a long way in making information accessible to the masses.

Chief General Manager Telecom, Haryana, Mr N.K. Mangla, said that the scheme was open for STD-PCO owners and others who fulfil the criteria, including unemployed educated youth. “The person keen to start the Internet dhaba will have to buy his own equipment,” he said. We are keen to introduce such Internet dhabas in every block headquarter of the state,” he added.

General Manager Telecom, Ambala, Mr G.S. Daria, said “In the urban areas, 1500 Internet hours will be given free and in the rural areas, Internet access is going to be free.”

200 complaints heard in open darbar
Tribune News Service

PINJORE, Sept 29 — Nearly 200 complaints were put before the district administration officials at an open darbar chaired by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K. Monga, held here today. About 100 complaints, individual in character, were disposed of on the spot.

While most of these pertained to shortage of electricity supply and drinking water, the panel received many complaints of absence of streetlights in many areas.

Mr Monga informed the complainants that the SDM, Mr M.K. Ahuja, would conduct a survey in all colonies for streetlighting and work out an estimate for the same. This estimate would be passed on to the wards that would be required to finance the streetlighting project in their colonies.

Other problems related to ration cards and identifying the families below the poverty line and those pertaining to old age pension also came up for hearing. All these were referred to the officers concerned for verification. 

Model colony is hardly so
From Our Correspondent

AMBALA, Sept 29 — New Model Colony here does not even have most basic amenities. The residents of this colony have failed to get these facilities even after repeated requests to the Municipal Council.

The road that leads to this colony has not been repaired for the past five years. Pedestrians and vehicles cannot cross it safely. During the rains, water accumulates here for days.

Streetlights have also been out of order for a long time. Residents of this colony have made several complaints to the local administration, but nothing has been done. Sanitation here is poor because sweepers do not visit the colony regularly.

Mr Adesh Kumar Jain, an advocate and resident of this colony, said, “We had constructed our houses here after paying a handsome amount to the Municipal Council as development charges, but there has been no development so far.” Many of the residents said if the Municipal Council did not do something about it soon, they would approach the court.

An official of the Municipal Council said some of the roads of Prem Nagar were to be repaired shortly. “As soon as we receive funds for it, the road of this colony will also be repaired,” he said.

Ambala takes lesson from Chandigarh
From Our Correspondent

AMBALA, Sept 29 — The roundabouts of Amabla City and Ambala Cantonment will be beautiful on the pattern of Chandigarh. It was announced by Mr Ram Niwas, Deputy Commissioner of Ambala, here today.

He said, initially, some roundabouts, including Manav Chowk and Maharaja Agarsen Chowk at Ambala City and Indira Chowk at Ambala Cantt, have been identified for it. He said some other roundabouts and road dividers would also be beautified.

Mr Niwas said the job of the maintenance of these roundabouts would be offered to some social organisations and business houses that would decorate these at their own expenses according to the designs provided by the administration. The organisations would be allowed to install their nameplates at the roundabouts.

He said that the administration had decided to shift the dairies of Ambala out of the urban area. He said the dairy owners had agreed to the proposal. The administration would give them land near the city one subsidised rate, he added. 

Father, daughter killed
From Our Correspondent

AMBALA, Sept 29 — A father and his daughter, both residents of Ambala, were killed in a road accident near Dappar yesterday.

Kanwaljit Singh, his wife and two children went to Nada Sahib Gurdwara near Panchkula on Thursday. While returning, their scooter collided with a truck near Dappar village.

The daughter of Kanwaljit died on the spot, while Kanwaljit succumbed to his injuries in the PGI in Chandigarh