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| Sunday, January 7, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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IG heads Haryana’s crime-against-women cell Cabinet expansion: CM tantalises MLAs HUDA claims selling 25,000 plots in 2000 Haryana steps to tone up higher education Incentives await honest officers |
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| HAU cook’s death: probe sought BJP seeks probe into paddy package ‘misuse’ Chess for the blind — triumph of the human spirit Residents to step up stir on house tax Council decides to impose octroi Move to attach farmers’ land: morcha plans stir Farmers stage dharna HC direction to SHO on arrest Grain lifting from godowns picks up DHBVN employee beaten up Ten injured in car-bus collision Sarpanch’s suspension protested District Diary
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| CM’s office sends letter to officialdom GURGAON, Jan 6 — Is it a case of dereliction of duty or sheer oversight on the part of a section in the state officialdom in not implementing a number of announcements made by Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala at his much-hyped “Aap ki sarkaar, aap ke dwaar” programmes? Or, is it a subtle move by a section of the officialdom to torpedo the announcements? A terse letter, recently sent by the Chief Minister’s Office(CMO) to all administrative authorities, both civil and the police, drawing attention to non-implementation of the announcements, raise a number of questions. The letter and the contents have reportedly sent the mandarins in various departments, especially in districts, in a tizzy. There is apparent nervousness in the officialdom following the receipt of the letter. However, optimists in the official circles play down the development, describing the letter as a “routine administrative” affair. According to sources, the letter mentions that “it has been brought to the notice of the Chief Minister that his announcements are not being implemented”. The letter concludes with a plea for expediting the completion of works announced by the Chief Minister. The letter also proves hollow repeated assertions by Mr Chautala and his ministerial colleagues that a majority of announcements have been implemented, and work on the remaining is progressing without any hitch. There is another angle to the issue. The state exchequer is said to be not in the pink of health. It is not in a position to cushion the entire gamut of the expenditure on new projects along with renovation, repair and augmentation of old ones. These were in addition to a series of concessions announced by the Chief Minister. The government has been unethically borrowing from some of its departments and agencies to meet its expenses. The worst part is that successive government’s have not repaid the loans. Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), which was once considered to be the richest of the government bodies, is now in doldrums on account of sustained borrowing by the present regime and the preceding Bansi Lal government. The profits of HUDA come from the astronomical price at which it sells plots after buying land at low rates from the farmers. The money with HUDA is for the development of sectors, improvement of civic amenities and other development projects. The development works by HUDA in Gurgaon, considered to be one of the most rapidly expanding and urbanising districts, have dwindled. The contractors of HUDA and other government departments are said to be unhappy as they are not getting payments on time. The government is apparently making a number of moves to tap every possible source to raise money to meet the pressure of developmental works. The recent hike in the power tariff and other levies are ample testimony to the fact. The apparent sense of urgency in the CMO and the government quarters has also to be seen against the backdrop of the increased criticism of the government, especially with regard to the Chief Minister’s promises and announcements, by opponents of the ruling Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). The principal Opposition in the Haryana Assembly and an archrival of the INLD, the Congress, has launched its agitational programmes in the state. Its leaders have started moving among the farming community to mobilise support against the government in Haryana and the NDA government at the Centre. To add to the problem of the NDA, notwithstanding the bravado of its leaders, a strong section within the BJP, has also begun to criticise the functioning of the state government. |
| IG heads Haryana’s crime-against-women cell CHANDIGARH, Jan 6 — Proposal to set up a Special Rapid Action Force (RAF) to deal with cases of heinous or serious crime is under the active consideration of the Haryana government. Director General of Police, Haryana, Mr M.S. Malik said the RAF would be setup at divisional headquarters and function under the control of the Inspector General of the range concerned. This force would consist of one Deputy Superintendent of Police, two inspectors, five non gazetted officers and 182 policemen. Giving details of steps being taken to strengthen further the police in the State, the DGP said the crime investigation branch of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was being strengthened. A special Economic Offence Wing was also being set up to deal with economic offences. Another special initiative taken by the government was the formation of a special cell under the chairmanship of IG, Law and Order at Police headquarters to investigate the cases against women, minorities and people belonging to the weaker sections of the society. Mrs Kala Ramachandra, Superintendent of Police, Cooperative Societies, Mrs Rajshree, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Police Control Room, Panchkula and Mr Karnail Singh Cheema, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Flying Squad, Panchkula have been posted in the cell. He said that government was also allotting 314 acres of land at Bhondsi (Gurgaon) for Police Recruitment Training Centre, Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Special Police Training Institute and Demo Training Battalion. Highlighting improved performance in nabbing culprits, Mr Malik claimed that the police had solved 87 per cent cases of offences against humans, including nabbing of 79 per cent of murder suspects and 96 per cent of rapists. The police had succeed in recovering 60 per cent of the stolen and looted property amounting to Rs 22 crore. He further said that the police had apprehended 337 interstate criminals. He said there was sharp decline of 50 per cent in cases of kidnapping for ransom. The DGP said on an average an increase of two per cent had been reported at the national level in crime against humans, in Haryana there had been a decline of one per cent in this regard. This showed the efficiency of the police, he added. He added the police had been successful in solving 96 per cent of rape, 92 per cent of dowry death and 94 per cent of eve teasing cases reported during the year. |
| Cabinet expansion: CM tantalises MLAs CHANDIGARH, Jan 6 — Even as Mr Om Prakash Chautala, Chief Minister of Haryana, recently spoke about the expansion of the Cabinet, there does not seem to be any such possibility. Mr Chautala told at a press conference here, last week, that the Cabinet might be expanded in view of the increasing workload of the Government. Political observers, however, believe that Mr Chautala is likely to continue with the 11- member Cabinet for some more time since induction of new ministers might lead to unrest by the MLAs left out during the reshuffle. The observers point out that Mr Chautala also has steadfastly avoided assigning the posts of chairpersons of boards and corporations to the MLAs unless they had held these positions earlier. The appointments of four chairmen of boards and corporations on December 31 also confirm the pattern, the observers say. On December 31 the Haryana Government appointed Mr Balwant Singh Mayana, MLA of Hassangarh as Chairman of the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board, Mr Banta Ram, MLA of Radaur as Chairman of the Haryana State Federation of Cooperative Sugar Mills, Mr Ramesh Khatak, MLA of Baroda (Sonepat district) as the Chairman of the Haryana State Backward Classes and Weaker Sections Kalyan Nigam and Dr Ram Kumar Saini, MLA of Gohana, as the Chairman of the Haryana Board of Ayurvedic and Unani Systems of Medicine. All four of them held Chairmen’s positions in these organisations earlier also, which they had quit at the time of Assembly elections in February. Similarly, Mr Ramphal Kundu, Mr Nafe Singh and Mr Krishanlal Panwar, MLAs, were retained as Chairmen of the Haryana State Cooperative Apex Bank, the Cooperative Agriculture & Rural Development Bank and the Housing Board, respectively. The only change was for the post of Hafed Chairman. While Mr Rishal Singh, holding the position before the February election, was inducted in the ministry as the Social Welfare Minister, the post of Chairman of Hafed was given to Mr Suraj Mal, MLA from Rai, who was Chairman of the Khadi and Village Industries Board before the February polls. The Chief Minister’s decision to allocate the Irrigation Department to Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Rampal Majra also falls in this pattern. The Chief Parliamentary Secretary did not have any portfolio till he was attached with the CM on Thursday to look after the Irrigation Department. It is interesting while Mr Chautala has not shown any inclination of following up his periodic comments about a possible expansion of the ministry, the INLD legislators are trying to outdo each other in showing loyalty to the Chief Minister. Mr Bhagi Ram, an elderly MLA from Ellenabad said that he would not mind even doing menial work if the Chief Minister asked him to do so. The question of becoming a minister had never even occured in his mind, he claimed. Shashi Ranjan Parmar, INLD MLA from Mundhal Khurd, who is also among the youngest members of the house, also responded in similar fashion when asked if he would like to become a minister. “Things are going on fine with the 11-member Cabinet”, he said. Sources close to the Chief Minister said that the ministry might be expanded if the BJP agreed to join the government. The sources also claimed that that there was not much pressure from the MLAs for giving ministerial berths since most of them won the elections riding on the Chautala wave and his father Mr Devi Lal’s popularity. |
| HUDA claims selling 25,000 plots in 2000 CHANDIGARH, Jan 6 — The Haryana Urban Development Authority, (HUDA) today claimed having sold nearly 25,000 residential plots last year. Haryana Town and Country Planning Minister Dhirpal Singh said out of total residential plots, 1013 EWS plots were sold at highly subsidised rates to weaker sections. Nearly 1008 EWS plots were offered to the Haryana Housing Board for the construction of flats for economically weaker people and 2284 plots allotted to the Hayana Government employees. He said these plots were sold in Gurgaon, Panchkula, Faridabad, Panipat, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Naraingarh, Karnal, Ambala, Gohana, Jind, Jagadhri, Palwal, Hansi, Hisar, Sonepat, Sirsa, Rewari, Dharuhera, Bhiwani, Rohtak, Fatehabad, Bhattu, Ratia, Dabwali, Bawani Khera, Ellenabad, Kalanwali, Pundri and Guhla-Cheeka. The minister disclosed that reservation in residential plots had been made for all sections of the society like Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes, war widows, disabled soldiers, freedom fighters, handicapped, defence personnel, ex-servicemen and paramilitary forces. He said 57 per cent reservation was made for weaker sections of society in plots up to three marlas. He revealed that 2320 industrial plots had been floated at Gurgaon, Roj-Ka-Meo, Rewari, Dharuhera, Faridabad, Hathin, Hisar, Bhiwani, Kurukshetra, Panipat and Rohtak. For the corporate offices and institutions, 135 plots had been floated at Gurgaon in Sectors 32 and 44. The minister said during the same period 1,14,873 acres of land had been acquired and Rs 185.99 crore paid to land owners as compensation. In addition, 10,106 acres of land had been notified under Section 4 and 1907.94 acres under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act. He said land owners whose land was acquired were also being rehabilitated by way of allotment of plots under the oustees’ policy. Mr Dhirpal Singh said for the welfare of general public, amendments had been made in the policies of HUDA. The authority had lifted ban which prohibited individuals from acquiring more plots than one in an urban estate in general category under the oustees’ policy, plots would also be given to those land owners whose land had been acquired before September 10, 1987, if the plots were still available in the sector or the Urban Estate in which the land was acquired. |
| Haryana steps to tone up higher education CHANDIGARH, Jan 6 — The Haryana Government claimed to have taken several steps to improve academic atmosphere in state’s colleges. Haryana Minister of State for Education, Bahadur Singh, said it had been decided to streamline admission procedure in colleges. The applications would be invited in a time-bound manner and processed by a committee of four/five staff members in a week. Thereafter the classes would start from the first week of July. This step would increase the number of actual teaching days. It has been decided to complete annual examinations in the shortest possible duration by holding examinations for under-graduate classes both in morning and evening shifts. Mr Singh said evaluation would be continuous and the students given monthly tests. He said results would be declared by the second week of June and the universities would resort to table marking to avoid delays. The Minister added that the government had also decided to scrap preparatory holidays and continue teaching right up to the commencement of the final examinations. He said this step would enable remedial teaching for weak students during the period preceding the examination, besides enabling those students who had shortage of attendance, to make up attendance deficiencies. He said earlier teaching discontinued in colleges in February though preparatory holidays start towards the end of the first week of March. He said the universities had been asked to curtail suitably summer and autumn vacation in order to increase the number of teaching days. He said now the post-graduate teaching classes would start without waiting for annual results so that sufficient teaching at the post-graduate level was done. Earlier, the post-graduate classes were not started till the declaration of the results which were declared very late towards the end of August. Mr Bahadur Singh said to improve academic environment in the colleges of the State, the principals of all colleges and universities have been asked to ensure 180 teaching days as per UGC stipulations, instead of the existing 100 to 105 days. Classes with common syllabus are to be clubbed to optimize faculty utilisation, 40 hours per week workload is to be ensured for every lecturer besides participating in other college activities. Duration of period had been fixed at 45 minutes now, instead of earlier 40 minutes. A minimum stay of five hours for every lecturer was to be strictly ensured. Besides December examinations, he said, a system of weekly or monthly tests had also been introduced to evaluate scholarly achievements. This system would also improve the attendance, timely identification of the students weaknesses and thus remedial teaching, feedback to parents and prevention of mass-copying in final examinations. Private tuitions had been banned. |
| Incentives await honest officers PANIPAT, Jan 6 — The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, today said the efficiency of the district administration in the state would be judged from its performance and the minimum number of persons visiting the state capital for redressal of their grievances. The Chief Minister was addressing a huge gathering of Naulatha Assembly constituency at Israna while presiding over the second phase of the Sarkar Aapke Dwar programme. He said honest and efficient officers of the district administration would be honoured and incentives given to encourage them to be friendly and cooperative and maintain cordial relations with the masses. Mr Chautala said those officials of district administration who were not complying with government directives would be dealt with sternly. He said the endeavour of the present government was to provide all basic facilities such as power, roads, clean drinking water, irrigation facilities to farmers and other infrastructure to each village of the state as was available in the towns and cities. The government, he said, was fully aware of the problems of the people residing in rural areas and was committed towards working for their welfare. He assured the farming community that all water courses in the state would be repaired with government expenditure and wherever new water courses were required they would be constructed and for this no application was required from any individual. The government had decided to increase the per capita water supply to the people of the state from 40 litres to 70 litres per day. At places where there was shortage of water new boosting stations and waterworks would be constructed to augment the water supply. He urged the people of the area to pay arrears of electricity bills and their surcharge and interest would be waived. He said rusted electricity poles would be replaced with cemented ones. The electricity lines passing over the residential areas and schools would also be removed to avoid any mishap and if necessary efforts would also be made to remove the high tension wires. On the new policies he said the government had implemented the new industrial policy, the new job oriented education policy and information technology for the overall development of the state. As part of the new education policy, all vacant posts of teacher would be filled shortly. The newly appointed teachers would be required to serve in rural areas at least for five years and those who had been serving in urban areas since their appointments would also be shifted to rural areas. He said schools which fulfil the required norms envisaged in the new education policy would be upgraded shortly. Mr Chautala said all encroachments from the public property would be removed in due course. Justifying the constitution of Gram Vikas Samitis, he said these were constituted to strengthen the Panchayati Raj institutions in the state and give due representation to every section of society in the villages. He said more financial powers had been granted to the panchayats to accelerate the pace of development of the villages. He said his government was even considering handing over the supervision of education to panchayats up to eighth standard as the government was committed to providing free and compulsory education to all up to the age of 14. Earlier, the Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of the Uriana minor, to be constructed at a estimated cost of Rs 465.63 lakh within six months. The minor will irrigate an area of 9,752 acres of Uriana Khurd, Uriana Kalan, Attawala, Dumiana, Ahar, Chichrana and Kurana villages. Others present on the occasion included the Speaker of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, Mr Satbir Singh Kadiyan, the Minister for Cooperatives, Mr Kartar Singh Bhadhana, the INLD district unit president, Mr Katar Singh Chhokar, the Deputy Commissioner, Panipat, Mr M.R. Anand, and senior officers of the district. |
| HAU cook’s death: probe sought HISAR, Jan 6 — Work at Haryana Agricultural University here came to a standstill today as non-teaching employees of the university decided to continue their agitation to press the demand of registering a criminal case against those responsible for the death of Narayan Singh, a cook of the university. His body was recovered from a canal near Tokas Patan village yesterday. He had been called by some university officials to prepare dinner for them on the New Year Eve. He had been missing since than. The employees continued dharna in front of the administrative block of the university for the second day today and raised slogans against the Vice-Chancellor, Mr Vinay Kumar. The Vice-Chancellor reached the dharna site and tried to persuade the employees to lift the dharna. He assured them that the university administration would provide financial help to the family of the deceased. The angry employees turned down his request, saying that they would continue their agitation till the arrest of the culprits. They demanded that the university administration should also take strict action against them. Several organisations have extended their support to the agitation. Addressing the protesters, Mr Jogender Singh Patar, president of the Guru Jambheshwar University Non-Teaching Association, alleged that the university authorities were trying to shield the culprits. He demanded that the case should be transferred to CBI for investigation. Mr M.S. Yadav, secretary of the HAU Teachers Association, demanded that a fair probe should be conducted in the matter. |
| BJP seeks probe into paddy package ‘misuse’ ROHTAK, Jan 6 — The Haryana BJP has urged the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, to order a probe into the complaints of irregularities committed in utilisation of the paddy package to the state amounting to Rs 90 crore. A demand in this connection was raised by Mr Rattan Lal Kataria, President, Haryana BJP, during a recent meeting with the Prime Minister in Delhi, in view of the charges in this regard levelled by Opposition parties. Addressing the mediapersons here today, Mr Kataria said reports were published in certain newspapers stating that benefits of the scheme could not pass on to the farmers on account of same lapses. He appealed the state Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to apprise the people of the financial assistance given by the Centre while announcing allocation of funds for different development works during “sarkar aapke dwar” programme. The BJP leader clarified that it had become a tendency in the states ruled by opposition parties to grab the credit themselves of development works in the region for which funds were granted by the Union Government. He reiterated that although the BJP was an ally of the state government, it would continue to raise issues of public interest. Clarifying his party’s stand on the hike in power tariff, the BJP leader said that the state government should have ensured round-the-clock supply in the region before announcing the hike. He announced that the party would strengthen its base at villages through 1318 “shakti kendras”in the state. He said senior party leaders, included in the 30-member working group,would conclude a series of meetings at these “shakti kendras” till January 15. Meanwhile, a Food and Supply Department spokesman said that the Haryana government sought Rs 38 crore package from the Centre on 50-50 share between the Centre and the state for the farmers who sold their paddy at below the minimum support price. Calling Mr Kataria’s claim outrageous, he said so far the Haryana government had not received a single penny from the Centre as compensation for paddy farmers. Even last Wednesday also the Chief Minister had written to the Union Finance Minister for releasing the money, he said. |
| Chess for the blind — triumph of the human spirit AMBALA For the unitiated, a pin has been drilled on the top of the white pieces and there is no pin on top of the black pieces, which helps in distinguishing them from one another. Each piece has a pin at the bottom, which fits snugly on the modified chess board, this helps the pieces to stay in their place, even when the blind player feels them to know their exact position on the board. The rules, incidentally, are the same for the blind as well as the sighted players. In this championship, the game of chess is being played as per International FIDE rules of the Swiss League system. President of Haryana Sports and Chess Association for the Blind, Mr K.K. Malik, said that about 90 players from Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh are participating at the three-day tournament. Mr Malik pointed out that there is not enough encouragement to play chess for the visually challenged. “We don’t have the chess board of international specification. Also, we lack watches which are specially meant for this game,” he said. We had to arrange for 40 boards, each costing about Rs 650. “The boards are similar to the ones utilised by sighted players. We have to get them modified. As far as the clocks are concerned, for many players, it was the first time they were following such a system,” he said. The clocks cost about Rs 1,500 each. “The problem is that many players have never played with a chess clock and they panic when little time is left. When I began playing for the first time, I went to the national championship and forgot to press the clock. The players from Delhi are talented, but they are also facing a problem with the clocks,” he said. “We are putting in a lot of effort for uplifting the sports for the visually-handicapped, but still we have not been affiliated despite our best efforts,” he lamented. Mr Mahipal Singh, a visually handicapped maths teacher from Panipat and a national ‘A’ level chess player, said that they lack facilities. “We do not have Braille books for chess here which are essential for improving our knowledge. Also, leave is also not easily sanctioned by the authorities concerned for tournaments, in spite of our being sportspersons of national stature,” he said. Mr Singh stated that chess is a mental game. “We see the pieces in our mind. Any good player can see the board in his mind. It is 10 per cent sight and 90 per cent mind. For the sighted, in a few seconds he can see the location of the pieces, but we have to use 10-15 seconds to feel around for the location of the pieces,” he said. Treasurer of All India Chess Federation for the blind, Mr Suryakant Raut, said arbitration is needed only when there is some problem between players, like pieces being changed or a piece being moved incorrectly. “We have a lot of hope for Haryana players,” he said. Mr Raut said that there was hope for blind players. “It is interesting to note that in the world, 29 blind players are international masters today,” he said. “The blind do get coaching from the experienced chess players. For instance, Dronacharya awardee, Raghunandanji Gokhale, and Grand Master Pravin Thipsay, always extend a helping hand in coaching,” he added. Be that as it may, a young visually handicapped competitor, perhaps spoke for the other ambitious blind chess players when he said, “I want to be a world chess champion like Vishwanathan Anand.” Residents to step up stir on house tax FARIDABAD, Jan 6 — The issue of increased house tax in the city seems to be hotting up following protests by several organisations and resident welfare associations. Aggrieved residents have formed “Grih Kar Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti” and decided to intensify their agitation against the hike. Hundreds of activists of the samiti met the Commissioner, Gurgaon division, Mr L.M.S. Salins, here on Friday, while he was here on a visit. They submitted a memorandum to Mr Salins, demanding to review the new policy of calculation of the house tax and sought to reduce the house tax rates immediately. It is learnt that as many 850 protest letters were submitted to the Commissioner, who reportedly assured the protesters that he would take up the issue with higher authorities. The protesters earlier staged a demonstration outside the Municipal Corporation office here and raised slogans against the new policy. Leaders of the samiti have asked the residents here not to pay the house tax till their demand was met. They described the hike in house tax, which is reported to be three to 10 times the earlier rates, as a major “fraud” with the people. Local leaders of the Congress and the BJP have also condemned the new policy of house tax. They have promised their support to any move or agitation in this connection. Meanwhile, according to the Municipal Corporation officials, the recovery of house tax for the year 2000 had been going on full swing. The authorities have recovered an amount of Rs 3,39,22,389 so far. The collections include over 2.39 crore from Old Faridabad, Rs 63.27 lakh from NIT and 72.27 lakh from Ballabhgarh zone respectively. It is learnt that Municipal Councillors, who are under pressure from the residents, have decided to ask for some relaxation. |
| Council decides to impose octroi BHIWANI, Jan 6 — The local Municipal Council decided to impose octroi and abolish teh bazari system at its day-long meeting held under the chairmanship of its President, Mr Som Prakash Arora, yesterday. This was the first meeting held after the election of new president. The meeting, which witnessed great uproar of members passed several resolutions, including the one for the auction of the land of disposal, construction of 75 shops in auto market, house tax as per old assessment, recovery of Rs 200 per month from rehriwalas who operate from the vegetable market of Krishna Colony, and allotment of plots to the sweepers as per rule. According to a decision, all dairies would have to be shifted from the limits of the city and notices would be served to the cattle owners who tie their cattle in the streets. Councillors agreed to sell the old building of the council and ordered an inquiry into the theft of goods from the old building. A former president of the council, Mr Ramesh Masta, objected on the time limit for the agenda sent to members. He said the agenda should have been sent at least one week before the scheduled meeting but it was sent just two days before it. Members supported the objection and the chairman assured to rectify it in the future. The council unanimously passed a resolution to constitute an inquiry into the missing of old Khasra of the city from the record room. The old khasra had been ruined during the devastating floods of 1995 and a new one would cost Rs 7 to 8 lakh. A three-member inquiry committee, comprising three councillors, Mr Ramesh Masta, Mr Sudama and Mr Mohan Lal was constituted. |
| Move to attach farmers’ land: morcha plans stir FARIDABAD, Jan 6 — The Haryana Nirman Morcha has decided to launch an agitation in protest against the move of the government to attach landed property of farmers who had failed to pay power bill arrears. The convener of the morcha and MLA from Palwal, Mr Karan Singh Dalal, told mediapersons here today that the morcha would not let the government attach or auction the land of the farmers who had been declared as defaulters by the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN). Alleging that the state government had made a move in this regard in this district, he claimed that he had come to know that notices had been issued to several farmers in the region. He said the Haryana Nirman Morcha would stage a demonstration at the district headquarters here on January 24. He said if the authorities did not relent, the farmers would resort to an agitation. Criticising the recent hike in electricity rates, he said the government should roll back the hike as the farmers were not even in the position to pay their old bills. Charging the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, with having launched a campaign to harass his opponents. He alleged besides implicating him in a criminal case, a move was on to defame him. He also alleged that the state government had diverted at least 800 cusecs of irrigation water to Rajasthan, which was meant for south Haryana. |
| Farmers stage dharna SONEPAT, Jan 6 — Farmers affiliated to the Bharatiya Kisan Union held a demonstration in front of the tehsil office here yesterday to register their protest against the rampant corruption prevalent in the offices of the Tehsildar and Deputy Registrar. They shouted slogans against the government and the district administration and staged a dharna. Earlier, a memorandum of demands was submitted to the authorities of the Revenue Department. Meanwhile, a deputation of the union called on the Deputy Commissioner and demanded the immediate release of Mr Surat Singh, former president of the district unit of the union, unconditionally. Mr Surat Singh had been charged with stealing electricity and arrested by the police on the complaint made by the official of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN). Mr Surat Singh was produced before the Judicial Magistrate here yesterday. |
| HC direction to SHO on arrest CHANDIGARH, Jan 6 — Mr Justice V.M. Jain of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed SHO the (Station House Officer) of Jind CIA Staff, Jind, in Haryana not to arrest Ajit Singh, Sawinder Singh , and Sukhwinder Kaur ,all residents of Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab without giving them three days’ prior notice. The petitioners alleged that they were being harassed in connection with the alleged involvement of one Gurdip Singh , a resident of Talwandi Zhiran village also in Batala tehsil in a case of fake currency notes of the denomination of Rs 500 found in circulation in Jind city. The petitioners further alleged that on December 22 last year the Jind police raided the house of Sawinder Singh to arrest Gurdip Singh and since Sukhwinder Kaur is married to Gurdip Singh and Ajit Singh happens to be his father-in- law the Jind police had been harassing them since then on one pretext or the other. |
| Grain lifting from godowns picks up CHANDIGARH, Jan 6 — Lifting of grain stored in the Haryana godowns is picking up, official sources told the Tribune. While 1.50 lakh tonnes of grain was lifted in October, amount picked up in November was 1.92 lakh tonnes while 2.25 lakh tonnes was picked up in December, sources said. “It is picking up but not to the extent we want it to be”, the sources said. It may be recalled that the Haryana Chief Minister has also written to the Union Food Ministry for speeding up lifting of grain from the state and create storage space for wheat. The procurement of wheat by the official agencies would start in March-April. Tenders have also been invited from private parties for constructing plinth for storing 26 lakh tonnes of grain, the sources informed. The sources said that 360 purchase centres would be opened in the state for the procurement of wheat. The official agencies would purchase an estimated 50 lakh tonnes of wheat in Haryana this time, they said. DHBVN employee beaten up FARIDABAD, Jan 6 — A case has been registered in connection with the alleged beating up of an employee of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN). According to information, Mast Ram, an employee of the vitran had gone in connection with the repair of a transformer in NH-1 area of the NIT, when he was allegedly beaten up by a youth identified as Narender. According to sources, the incident took place after some residents demanded resumption of power supply. Meanwhile, in another incident, four buffaloes were charred to death in Gad Khera village in the district after a fire broke out in a house. One person has been booked. |
| Ten injured in car-bus collision SONEPAT, Jan 6 — At least 10 persons were injured, three of them seriously, when a Haryana Roadways bus collided with a car on the G.T. Road near Murthal Chowk, about 10 km from here, yesterday. The bus, which belonged to the Delhi depot, was on its way from Panipat to Delhi. All injured were immediately hospitalised and are stated to be out of danger. The police has registered a case and further investigations are in progress |
| Sarpanch’s suspension protested SONEPAT, Jan 6 — Residents of Anwali village staged a demonstration in front of the office of the Additional Deputy Commissioner here yesterday in protest against the suspension of the sarpanch of the village. They shouted slogans against the state government and the district authorities. According to an official source, the sarpanch has been placed under suspension on the charge of discriminating in removing the encroachments on gram panchayat and shamlat lands. |
| District Diary HISAR: A photo exhibition on the Kargil war was held at the Mahavir Stadium here recently. The exhibition, in which photographs of the heroic deeds of Army men were displayed, was organised by the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry and the District Public Relations Department. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anurag Rastogi inaugurated it. The photographs of two martyrs belonging to Hisar district — Pavitter Kumar, resident of Milakpur village and Hav Mahaveer Singh of Ghirai village — were also on display. Mr Rastogi in his opening remarks said this war was fought between Indian soldiers who became national heroes for their valour and those whose bodies were disowned by their own country, Pakistan. He said Operation Vijay has strengthened India’s image as a strong nation. The war was foisted on this nation by a neighbouring country and India had no alternative but to teach the enemy a lesson. He called upon people to look after the martyrs’ families as they had laid down their lives to save the country. * * * The district administration has decided to ban the sale of meat in corridors of local markets. The municipal officials have been directed to take strict action in this regard while the Haryana Urban Development Authority has already launched a drive to remove encroachments by meat shops in the markets. Some social organisations had started a dharna in Ganesh Market last week demanding removal of meat shops. They submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, during his visit. The latter directed district officials to take necessary action. According to a Municipal Council spokesman, the sale of meat in the corridors of markets would not be allowed and strict action taken against violaters. On the other hand, the agitators are not satisfied with these assurances. Mr Hanuman Prasad, president of the council, said the council was planning to build a slaughter-house outside the town but it would take some time. * * * Mr Ratan Dev Jangra of Hansi, a nearby town, has set a world record in reverse walking. His name has been included in the Guinness Book of World Records. He broke the previous record by walking backwards 164 km in 21 hours and 40 minutes. The last time he walked from the historical Gujri Mahal in Hisar on October 19, 1997, but, heavy rains interrupted his bid to enter the Guinness Book. Ratan Dev did not lose heart. Though in the first stage of the campaign, Guinness Book officials had asked him to complete 140 km in 56 hours but he covered 174 km in just 48 hours and 20 minutes and completed it successfully at Raj Ghat in Delhi on October 24. In the second stage he was directed to cover 153 km in 24 hours and he again completed it in just 21 hours and 40 minutes. He started the walk from Delhi’s famed Ramlila Maidan on October 30, 1998, in the presence of a representative of the book publishers. They have now recognised his record and intimated him in this regard recently. Mr Jangra, who sells ayurvedic medicine, said he had decided to set a world record in reverse walking when he read about this record in a sports magazine in 1990. After this he decided to break this record and started practising. |
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