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| Wednesday, January 3, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Tiwari-Mamta case in new light Elevated highway inaugurated Power, water supplies hit Foreign airlines told to pay relief Project changes lifestyle HVP protests against hike in power rates Rs 57-cr scheme for waste management |
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| Tikka Jagjit Singh dead Padayatra flagged off ‘Cong programme gaining popularity’ Psychology centre for Karnal Chief Secretary’s pay scale for 5 officers Man seeks custody of ‘wife’ 18 held for liquor smuggling Gang of thieves busted Woman succumbs to burns
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| Tiwari-Mamta case in new light CHANDIGARH, Jan 2 — Did the name 19-year-old Mamta Sharma of Kurukshetra, who accused the Additional Director-General of Police (Security), Punjab, Mr B.P. Tiwari, of attempting to molest her during her employment at his house as maid servant last month, figure in a case of abduction registered at the instance of her mother in June, 1998? Investigations reveal that on June 23, 1998, her mother, Mrs Bimla Sharma, had lodged a complaint at Thanesar police station that her daughter, Mamta, has been allegedly abducted. The police had registered a case under Sections 363 and 366 of the Indian Penal Code. On June 30, the case was, however, cancelled after Mamta reappeared and reportedly made a statement about her “disappearance”. The case was closed after a “compromise”, sources in the Haryana police said. Investigations reveal that the complainant had named a boy of her locality as the main suspect in the case. After Mamta accused Mr Tiwari allegedly for attempting to molest her with active connivance of his wife, the Punjab Government had ordered an inquiry into the allegations made by her. Mr S.V. Singh, Additional Director-General of Police, Crime, was asked to conduct the enquiry and submit the report within 15 days. Mamta and her uncle, Mr J.S. Sandhu, who incidentally had arranged her employment at Mr Tiwari’s house, however, refused to appear before the Inquiry Officer on the plea that “they have no faith in the Punjab Police and would await verdict of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on a petition filed by them seeking a CBI inquiry into the whole episode. While the inquiry became infructuous in the absence of any written complaint or refusal of complainants to before the Inquiry Officer, the case took interesting turn when one of the daughters of Mr Tiwari made serious allegations against him. However, the youngest of four daughters and the only son of Mr Tiwari defended their father by organising a Press Conference to refute the allegations made by their sister. Meanwhile, a complaint filed by a constable in Punjab Police, Onkar Singh, to the Punjab Human Rights Commission, was also produced in the High Court in which it was alleged that he used to get girls for Mr Tiwari, who was running a beauty parlour called “Peacock Beauty Parlour” at his residence. A complaint was filed before the Punjab Human Rights Commission in which allegations were made that Constable Onkar Singh, who had worked with Mr Tiwari as his bodyguard may have been liquidated. A habeas corpus petition was also filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court to trace the missing constable following which a Warrant Officer conducted raids at SAS Nagar police station, but failed to find him there. The Warrant Officer, however, found that a case under Sections 457 read with 380 of the IPC was registered against Onkar Singh on a complaint filed by another Constable, Surjit Singh, alleging theft in his house. Initially, Mr Jarnail Singh Chahal, Additional Director-General of Police, was asked by the commission to conduct the inquiry into disappearance of Onkar Singh under provisions of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. Mr Tiwari, however, wanted that inquiry should be given to some other officer as he did not expect “a fair inquiry from Mr Chahal”. The commission held that since the arrest of Onkar Singh was in a theft case, the only issue left to be determined was whether the constable had been arrested in a genuine case or implicated in a false case at the instance of Mr Tiwari. The commission felt that it would be futile to waste the time of an officer of the rank of Additional Director-General of Police to hold such an inquiry and ordered that a retired Sessions Judge be entrusted with the inquiry, a perusal of the record of the commission revealed. The inquiry, however, is yet to be conducted though the orders pertain to May 1999. |
| Elevated highway inaugurated AMBALA, Jan 2 — Elevated highways, an international road concept which helps in easing traffic congestion, could well become the order of the day in Haryana. Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Maj General B.C. Khanduri (Retd) today inaugurated the four-lane elevated highway near the Cantonment railway station. The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, said Asia’s longest elevated highway, about 7 km long, would be constructed in Panipat soon. “We have prepared a similar proposal for an elevated highway in Faridabad,” he added. Mr Chautala said constructing bye-pass was an old system. “During my visit to Germany, I noticed that the moment we were approaching a town we would take an elevated highway which is effective,” he said. He said a proposal for converting four major stretches of roads into national highways had already been prepared. “Haryana is adjoining Delhi and our state has to be crossed if one heads towards other states in the North. We are keen to improve the roads so as to enable smooth traffic flow in Haryana,” he said. Earlier, while addressing the gathering, Mr Chautala said small sections of road which are heavily used as they are well-connected should be converted into national highways. “For instance, the stretch of roads from Ambala to Saha, Saha to Shahbad, Tohana to Uklana, Titarmore to Delhi via Kaithal, Ambala to Saharanpur and Mehrauli to Gurgaon should be developed as national highways,” he stressed. General Khanduri said till 1998, there was 655 km of national highway to which about 690 km more had been added by the Vajpayee government. “Haryana is comparatively better placed than the national average in the national highways. The national averageis 17.6 km while for Haryana it is 30.8 km,” he said. He pointed out that two major road network projects are being undertaken by the present government. “The first is the golden quadrangle which will connect Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkatta and Chennai and the second project will connect the four corners of the country,” he said. “We are also laying stress on port roads and rural roads. As a matter of fact, the cess on petrol and diesel is being utilised specifically for the construction of roads,” he said. The elevated highway (viaduct) along with its approaches near bus stand and railway station at Ambala Cantonment has been constructed as a part of the ongoing project of four-laning and strengthening of the national highway number 1 from Karnal to Ambala under the World Bank Project — II in Haryana. General Bus Stand and railway station facing each other in Ambala Cantonment cater for road and rail transportation needs of North India and about 2,000 buses pass through the bus stand area crossing the national highway at this location. Mr Anil Vij, MLA, said directions had been given by the Union Minister for the construction of a subway so that the people could conveniently cross over to the railway station. Mr R.R. Sheoran Engineer-in-Chief, Haryana PWD (B&R), said decks had been cleared for the elevated highway in Panipat. “Elevated highways are in vogue in Delhi and now the time has come for the highways as there has been a tremendous increase in traffic leading to congestion in cities and towns,” he said. He pointed out that state highways too are likely to have a similar concept. “Tenders have already been invited for four-laning of rail over-bridge at Kurukshetra on Built Operate Transfer (BOT) system,” he said. “In Rewari too, we are going to undertake a similar effort for the rail over-bridge,” he added. |
| Power, water supplies hit AMBALA, Jan 2 — The power grid failure in the northern region early this morning led to train traffic being thrown out of gear. The power grid failure took place at 4.40 a.m. and it was restored at 8.30 a.m. Again the power grid failed at 10.30 a.m. and the supply was restored at 11.45 a.m. Several trains, including the Shatabdi, were delayed today. Two trains, Swaran Shatabdi and Shan-E-Punjab, were diverted through another route. The Shatabdi train for Chandigarh was also delayed. The trains which were delayed by more than eight hours include 2475, 2925, Malwa and Uchahar. About 18 trains will be running behind schedule because of the grid failure. A railway official explained that the grid failure led to electric engines coming to a halt. "This in turn had a cascading effect with other trains on the same route being pulled by diesel engines also being forced to stop," he said. He said that the situation had begun to normalise. "However, it will take a couple of hours before the schedule comes back to normal," he said. | |
| Foreign airlines told to pay relief HISAR, Jan 2 — Two international airlines — Gulf Air and United Airlines — have been directed to pay Rs 1.41 lakh as compensation to Dr Verender Singh Malik, professor of entomology, Haryana Agricultural University, on account of poor service, inconvenience and financial loss suffered by him during his way home from Ohio in the USA last year. The compensation has been awarded by the New Delhi District Forum for Redressal of Consumer Grievances headed by Mr N. K. Jain. In his complaint, Dr Malik had said he had purchased four tickets from Gulf Airlines for Rs 1,80,700 to travel from New Delhi to Wooster in Ohio and back. While returning to New Delhi, he got his bookings confirmed in the first week of September. He was brought from Ohio to Frankfurt on October 29, 1999, and was told by the airlines duty officer that all connecting flights had been arranged for him and his family. On landing in Frankfurt, he was told that his luggage had been sent by mistake to New Delhi through a different airline. He was also informed that no connecting flight was available for them from Frankfurt to New Delhi. He said he and his family had to be confined to the Frankfurt airport without sufficient clothing in extreme cold. Dr Malik said since he did not have a visa for Germany he could not stayed there beyond 24 hours. After a lot of dilly dallying, Gulf Airlines brought him to Abu Dhabi the next day from where he was sent to Mumbai instead of New Delhi. He had to put up in a hotel there at his own cost. He travelled from Mumbai to New Delhi at his own cost. In New Delhi, his luggage had been deposited in a warehouse in a damaged condition and several articles were missing from the bags. He alleged that he had to spend a lot of money on getting his son treated as he had fallen ill due to the cold in Frankfurt. Dr Malik had claimed a compensation of Rs 4,77,450. The two airlines claimed before the forum that Dr Malik did not confirm seats and was therefore dropped at Frankfurt. However, in its judgement, the forum observed that Dr Malik had got his seats confirmed and that was proved by the fact that the airlines had booked his luggage for New Delhi itself and not for Frankfurt. The forum noted that the Maliks were brought to Abu Dhabi and then flown to Mumbai as it was more of a compulsion for them than an act of grace. Holding the airlines guilty, the forum ordered them to pay a compensation to cover the financial loss and mental agony suffered by the complainant and his family. | |
| Project changes lifestyle YAMUNANAGAR: Haryana’s Shivalik Development Board is determined to change the lifestyle of people living in the Shivalik Hills. These areas are devoid of basic necessities. The Kandi Project is extending help to the Shivalik Development Board. In certain areas, the project has done immense work, particularly in remote and difficult areas. In this project water, flowing under the surface of the Somb river and was being wasted, is being tapped for drinking as well as for irrigation. It was discovered by hydrologists and forest officials that underground water was uncontrolled and was being wasted. This water can be tapped by making a wall against the flow of water. The Shivalik Development Board gave Rs 11.50 lakh while Rs 3 lakh was given by the project authorities. The wall was constructed and results were encouraging. The result is apparent — water is harvested from Kathgarh, Bagpat, Kansli and Bhagwanpur villages. At Kathgarh village water is available for 24-hour irrigation and it is drawn without power or diesel as water flows due to gravity. The flow of water is being taken as a divine gift by rural people. The feeling to grow up in a better environment is coming out. So far these people are dependent on rain water only. If it rains, the crop can be sown, otherwise they have to face a long dry spell. But now the picture has changed. The Kandi Project has built four sub-surface dams at Kathgarh, Bagpat, Kansali and Bhagwanpur by which 400 acres of land are being irrigated without any electricity or diesel Poor and marginal farmers live in these villages and only a few farmers own more than 10 acres of land. At Kathgarh one government tubewell is there for 100 acres, but it can provide water for only 25 acres. Farmers say that watering has to be done four to five times for harvesting the crop and the watering costs Rs 400 to Rs 500 per time. Thus the watering totalled Rs 1800 to Rs 2000 per acre for a crop. Water is now provided Rs 10 per hour to villagers by the project authorities. The money thus collected would be kept with Village Development Committees (VDCs) and not with the government. Such VDCs are being formed in the Kandi areas. Villagers have different opinions about this project. Mr Banarsi Dass, president of the Kathgarh VDC, says that this sub-surface dam has helped bring more and more land under agriculture and they would get bumper crops. Mr Bachan Singh, a owner of a three acre plot, said from onwards living standards would improve. One farmer, Dhani Ram, pointed out that before that he was able to get fodder for his animals only. Another farmer, Ratten Lal, said water from the government tubewell was costly and it look time to get it. The chairman of Bagpat VDC, Mr Laludeen, said before this project, women of the village used to bring water from a distance of 6 km. They were not only facing an acute shortage but water was also not good. Now the village gets good drinking water round the clock. All this work is being done by the Divisional Forest Officer of the local Kandi Project unit, Mr Rajender Singh Panghaal, and two Forest Officers, Mr Deepak Nanda and Mr NB Gupta. Mr Panghaal stated that similar work was being done in Asgarpur and Ahrainyawalla villages. It would take another six months for completion. These villages have sent resolutions and have ensured full cooperation. Mr Panghaal predicted that the day is near when lush green fields would be seen. |
| HVP protests against hike in power rates FARIDABAD, Jan 2 — Activists of the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP), led by former MP Surender Singh, staged a demonstration here today in protest against the recent hike in power rates. A memorandum was submitted to the Governor through the Deputy Commissioner here. Demanding the intervention of the Governor on the issue, the party asked for the withdrawal of the hike as it described it as anti-people. Mr Surender Singh said it was the same Mr Om Prakash Chautala who promised free power and water just before the last election. He claimed that it was one of the biggest frauds with the electorate. Alleging that the state government had failed miserably on various fronts, the memorandum claimed that while the farmers had not been getting adequate power and water, the Chautala government had failed to provide proper procurement rates to paddy growers last season. Alleging irregularities in the recruitment of policemen recently, it claimed that the process lacked required transparency. The party lambasted the government on its move to form Gram Vikas Samitis (GVS) and for the new tubewell connection policy, Sarkar Apke Dwar programme, corruption and law and order situation. The party sought the declaration of south Haryana as drought hit, rise in sugarcane procurement prices, the withdrawal of some of the taxes and the cancellation of the cases registered against, leaders of Opposition parties. |
| Rs 57-cr scheme for waste management CHANDIGARH, Jan 2 — With a view to providing a cleaner environment in urban areas, the Haryana Government today formulated a Rs 57 crore scheme for the modernisation of solid waste management. An official spokesman said this scheme would cover all 17 towns of the state managed by municipal councils except Ambala city, Ambala cantonment and Sirsa and would benefit about 22.81 lakh people. The Minister of State for Local Government, Mr Subhash Goyal, said under the scheme 80 per cent of the project cost would be provided by HUDCO, while the rest would be borne by the municipal council concerned or the state government. The scheme envisaged a multi-pronged approach involving the setting up of compost plants and the mechanised collection and transportation of solid waste from households. The Minister said hospitals and nursing homes would be responsible for the treatment and transportation of their waste to the municipal dumping site. Similarly, industries would be responsible for the transportation and dumping of their waste. |
| Tikka Jagjit Singh dead PANCHKULA, Jan 2 — Tikka Jagjit Singh, a two-time former MLA of composite Punjab and later Haryana, died here last night of a heart attack. He was 76. Thousands of his friends and admirers joined his funeral procession today. Among them were Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal and former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. A scion of the erstwhile ruling family of Ramgarh, Tikka Jagjit Singh was elected to the Punjab Assembly in 1962 from the Naraingarh constituency as an Independent. He won the same seat again in Haryana in 1972. He was President of the Ambala District Congress for 13 years from 1973 to 1985 and played a major role in its expansion and development. A multi-faceted personality, Tikka Jagjit Singh was President of the Maharana Pratap Rajput Students Aid Society for more than a decade. Only last week, he was elected Vice-President of the National Rifle Association of India. He is survived by one son and three daughters. Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, President of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC), also condoled the death of Mr Tikka. The Congress has lost a staunch supporter, the HPCC chief said in a message. Padayatra flagged off SIRSA, Jan 2 — “The BJP believes in nationalism and not in feudalism with its power centre confined to a single family” said the senior party leader and former Education Minister, Mr Ram Bilas Sharma at Talwara Khurd, a far flung village of the district bordering Rajasthan yesterday late evening. Mr Sharma was here to flag off the padayatra’s of the party’s youth wing led by the State President, Mr Subhash Barala. This is one of the five yatras started yesterday from different parts of the state and will culminate on January 12 at Gohana where the youth wing of the BJP will organise a rally to celebrate the Youth Day on the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand. The rally will be addressed by the Union Law Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley, and others. |
| ‘Cong programme gaining popularity’ ROHTAK, Jan 2 — Describing the “sarkar aapke dwar” programme an eyewash, the District Congress Committee (DCC) has claimed that the “vipaksh aapke samaksh” programme launched by the party was gaining more popularity. Prof Virender, President, DCC (Rural), today said that the programme was not only drawing the government’s attention towards various problems of people, but also exposing the false promises made by the government. As part of the programme, the Congress leader visited a village to know the problems of the people. The villagers reportedly told him that Mr Ajay Chautala, MP and son of the Chief Minister, had assured them of making canal water available to the village, among other things, but nothing had been done in this regard. |
| Psychology centre for Karnal KARNAL, Jan 2 — The Maha Nirvani Akhara engaged in social welfare activities and the spread of education has decided to open a centre of psychology to find out why the present generation of Indians were drifting away from religion and religious chores. This was announced by Mahant Gangapuri, General Secretary of the akhara, at a religious congregation organised at Sri Sangmeshwar Mahadev Temple in Arunai village near Pehowa, about 70 km from here, on New Year Eve. He maintained that the present generation avoided following the religious chores which formed the basis of age-old Indian tradition and culture. The centre would be named as Sri Sangmeshwar Mahadev Centre of Psychology where experts from the field would work on the subject. |
| Chief Secretary’s pay scale for 5 officers CHANDIGARH, Jan 2 — The Haryana Government today decided to grant the Chief Secretary’s scale of pay to all five officers of the 1967 batch of the IAS in the state. The officers are Mr A.N. Mathur, Mr Prem Raj Kaushik, Mr M.K. Miglani, Mr Virendra Nath and Mr Sunil Ahuja. The state government also decided to grant the Financial Commissioner’s scale to the 1972 batch officers of the IAS. |
| Man seeks custody of ‘wife’ FARIDABAD, Jan 2 — Mahesh Kumar, a resident of the NIT locality here, has sought the custody of his ‘wife’, who has allegedly been kept captive by her parents in their house. In telegrams sent to the District and Sessions Judge and the SSP, the youth has claimed that he had married the girl, a resident of the same locality with mutual consent and without any pressure on December 12 and the marriage had been solemnised at Arya Samaj Mandir, Shalimar Bagh, New Delhi. It is reported that the marriage took place without the consent of parents of both the girl and the boy, and not attended by them. Mahesh has stated that both he and his ‘wife’ were adults at the time of the marriage. He has sought the safety of his and his ‘wife’ and her release from her parents. He has claimed to have sent a communication to the local SHO, the SSP, and the SDM on December 18 regarding this. |
| 18 held for liquor smuggling PANIPAT, Jan 2 — As many as 18 persons allegedly involved in liquor smuggling were arrested and a large number of illicit pouches of liquor were seized from their possession last evening. Following a tip-off, the police organised nakas and intensified patrol during the past two days and succeeded in seizing over 2,600 pouches and bottles of illicit liquor which were being smuggled in Panipat. The Samalkha police seized about 1,300 pouches and bottles of illicit liquor from six persons who were nabbed from different places. The Chandni Bagh police seized 500 pouches from one Anil Kumar near Ugra Kheri village, 180 pouches from Suresh and Devi Singh of Unjha village and 700 pouches from Braham Deep, Ashok and Kartar of Sanoli road. The police has registered cases against those arrested under the Excise Act. Gang of thieves busted BHIWANI, Jan 2 — The police has busted a gang of thieves, who used to steal goods and machines from closed industrial units, besides other thefts. All seven members of the gang have been arrested. The police said the gang had stolen electric motors, plastic and silver wires from Mohta Electro Steel Limited in the Industrial Area here and Rama Fibres Limited at Bamla village recently. Mr Pradeep, ASI, nabbed the gang on a tip-off. The leader of the gang is a resident of Kelanga village but the police has not revealed the names of the other gangsters. |
Woman succumbs to burns BHIWANI, Jan 2 — Shakuntla (35), wife of Mahesh, who was admitted to Civil Hospital here with nearly 100 per cent burns four days ago died last night. In another incident, Manju (20), wife of Ranbir Singh has been admitted to a hospital in a serious condition. Manju got reportedly burnt which cooking food on a gas stove at Bapora village. The police has registered a case. |
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