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| Sunday, April 29, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Make lok adalats effective:
judge Ugandan envoy meets Chautala Fake car papers case: 4 more in police
net Will Satvinder revive
HYC? Move to dump CST alarms govt |
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Fire destroys wheat in 90
acres
Barara residents block road to protest killing KU English paper stuns students 7 students held for copying 331 cases solved Teachers’ transfer policy resented
Swimming pool yet to begin functioning
Small savings a big hit Produce plantation record, HC tells
Haryana Lawyer attacked in Bar room
Jaundice cases in Panipat Court gives 3.94 lakh to wife of
mishap victim
Two booked for rape
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Make lok adalats effective:
judge Jind, April 28 Inaugurating a Lok Adalat here, he said seven permanent and continuous lok adalats had been established in Ambala, Panchkula, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Hisar, Bhiwani and Yamunanagar districts. Seven retired judicial officers had been appointed as presiding judges to enable regular courts to refer cases of acrimonious nature such as under the Hindu Marriage Act to these adalats. Mr Justice Bali said in the remaining seven districts and at the subdivisional level courts of Haryana, serving judicial officers had been assigned the task of holding permanent lok adalats on a rotational basis. He stressed the need to implement the provisions of the Legal Services Authorities Act. By doing so workload in the courts would be reduced. Addressing a zonal-level conference of judicial officers at the PWD rest house last evening, he asked them to make lok adalats more effective. Addressing mediapersons, Mr Justice Bali asked them to popularise the concept of lok adalats. He said 50 per cent cases in regular courts were of a nature which could be settled through the lok adalats. He said cases relating to power thefts and water disputes could be solved through the lok adalats. Pending arrears of the government could also be recovered speedily through the lok adalats. Mr R.S. Virk, member secretary of the Haryana State Legal Services Authority, said since 1985, 1,216 lok adalats had been organised all over the state. As many as 3,26,152 cases, including 16,908 motor accident claim petitions, were settled. He said as per the directions of the National Legal Services Authority, the Haryana Government had added Rule 28-A in the Haryana State Legal Services Authority Rules (1996), whereby every award of the lok adalat would be deemed to be a decree of a civil court. With this amendment an order of any other court and where a compromise or settlement had been arrived in the lok adalat under sub-section 1 of Section 20, the court fee paid in such cases was refundable in the manner provided under the Court Fee Act, 1870. Any award made by a lok adalat was final and binding. He said legal aid counsel scheme for remand hours had been introduced for representation of indigent accused. Legal aid was being given to those in custody. He said under the legal aid cells in jails scheme, advocates had been empanelled in every district for visiting jails every evening for collecting
applications from inmates and helping them in drafting their appeals and petitions.
In four lok adalats in Jind, 1350 cases relating to bank loans were settled. |
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Ugandan envoy meets Chautala New Delhi, April 28 Mr Tomusange sought technical cooperation from the Haryana government for setting up industrial parks in Uganda on the pattern of Industrial Model Township, Manesar which has been developed by the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation. Appreciating the impressive progress made by Haryana in the field of agriculture, Mr Tomusange disclosed his country’s plan to launch a programme of shallow and deep tubewell boring with the help of expert agencies, like Haryana State Minor Irrigation Tubewell Corporation. According to an official spokesman, the help of the Haryana Government has been sought to design and implement an efficient canal irrigation system. He also sought Haryana’s help in setting up a custom-made tractor plant in Uganda. Mr Tomusange held detailed discussions with Executive Director,
HMT, who was present during the meeting. The High Commissioner said an MoU would be signed with the Haryana Government shortly. The meeting was a follow-up of the envoy’s visit to the HSIDC industrial estate at Kundli recently. |
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Fake car papers case: 4 more in police
net Fatehabad, April 28 An HCS officer, R. S. Chahal, City Magistrate, Kaithal, is already in police custody in connection with some cases of the registration of stolen cars and fake registration certificates. Chahal has worked as the SDM, Tohana, for about five months in the year 1999 and is alleged to have issued a number of fake registration certificates. The arrested typists were allegedly charging money from people for getting issued driving licence and registration of vehicles. They had allegedly connived with the then SDM and got the registration certificates issued for the stolen vehicles. The SP, Mr Hanif Qureshi, however, expressed his helplessness in furnishing details of the case and said as the help of the district police was not sought in the case he had no knowledge of it. The SP, Jhajjar, could not be contacted as he was out of station. However, his Reader said the typists were not arrested but might have been rounded up for interrogation. Meanwhile, the involvement of the accused officer in another case of the registration of a stolen car during his tenure as the SDM, Tohana, has come to light. The case came to the notice of the police when fearing police action the owner handed over the car to the police. The sources revealed that a stolen brand new car was registered in the name of Mukesh Chahal, son of the accused HCS officer, when the latter was the SDM. A fake sale letter from a fake car dealer of Ludhiana was used to issue the registration certificate. And the certificate was issued only at the time of Chahal’s transfer from Tohana. It is interesting to note that no fee was deposited against the registration initially and when the matter came to the notice of higher authorities, the fee and the fine for the late payment were deposited on December 15, 1999. Later, when Chahal was posted at Gulha, he issued a new registration number. |
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Will Satvinder revive
HYC? Chandigarh, April 28 The elections provide an opportunity to a political organisation to hone its skills. But the dormant Youth Congress missed not one but three opportunities, which naturally had a demoralising effect on the party’s cadre. Satvinder, Timmy to his friends, however, does not agree that the Youth Congress is dormant in Haryana or its cadre is demoralised. He says it is true that there was no president of the party for the past five years but there were workers and other office-bearers who kept the party’s flag flying. He concedes that he will have to work from the grassroot to activate the party. Therefore, immediately after taking over as president, Mr Sandhu plans to visit the block units to establish contacts with the grassroot workers. He plans to constitute his team only after visiting the entire state, which may take another about two months. Mr Sandhu, who is the first Sikh to head the Haryana Youth Congress, is conscious of the expectations the high command has from him. He is hopeful that he will be able to bring members of his community closer to the Congress. He says that after Mr Nirmal Singh (who is perceived more as a Jat than a Sikh in the caste-ridden Haryana) stepped down as president of the Haryana Youth Congress, the organisation slowly ceased to be an effective force, particularly in the Punjabi belt of the state. His first priority will be to “recapture” the area for the Congress. A law graduate, Mr Sandhu has been active in the party for the past about one decade. Earlier he was a member of the National Students Union of India, a front organisation of the Congress. He has been active in Chandigarh, though he held national positions in the party during the presidentship of Mr M.S. Bitta and Mr Manish Tiwari. He says since Chandigarh is the capital of Haryana, he continued to be in touch with the party workers of the state. Moreover, be belongs to Pehowa in Kurukshetra district. He also remained a party observer for Haryana. Mr Sandhu, who has always been identified with the Bhajan Lal group in the faction-ridden Haryana Congress, says he got the Youth Congress assignment with the blessings of Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, president of the state unit of the party. Obviously, Timmy is well conversant with the Congress tradition of keeping balance between various groups of the party. Critics of Mr Sandhu allege that he had been involved in a number of serious
criminal cases. He firmly refutes the allegation. He said when he was an active leader of the NSUI, his name did figure in some cases of fighting between various groups of the students on the Panjab University campus. But he has been acquitted in all the cases. He says he had never been involved in any murder or a TADA case. |
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Move to dump CST alarms govt Chandigarh, April 28 The phasing out of CST is one of the four components of the tax reforms proposed by the Union Government. The other components of the reforms are, uniform floor rates (which has been already introduced in the state), withdrawal of sales tax incentives to industries to avoid unhealthy competition and introduction of value added tax (VAT). The Union Government wants the states to introduce VAT after CST was gradually abolished. Official sources said on April 20, a meeting of the states was convened by the Union Finance Ministry in Delhi, where the states were urged to reduce CST by 1 per cent and set off the process of phasing out of CST. Another meeting on this issue was scheduled to take place in Delhi on April 30, the sources said. They, however, added that the only glimmer of hope was that all the industrialised states were opposing the move and it would not be easy for the Union Government to have the proposal approved by the states. “The Union Government is of course telling us about giving compensation for the loss suffered by reduction in CST, but the states know that such promises usually do not materialise”, the sources remarked. They said as it is revenue collection in the state is not looking up as the projected percentage of increase in collection from excise duty in the current year is likely to be less than the rate of increase last year. The sources said in 2000-2001, Haryana earned Rs 850 crore from excise duty, which was an 11 per cent increase than the collection from excise in the previous. Whereas in the current year, it is expected that Haryana will net Rs 30 crore to Rs 40 crore more than last year’s collection, which will come to about only 5 per cent increase in the collection. The sources, however, added that even 5 per cent increase in excise revenue should be considered an achievement as most of the states of northern region were facing a drop in the collection from excise duty. While excise collection was expected to come down in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the scenario was also dismal in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and the newly created state of Uttaranchal, they said. While the state government, in a bid to refurbish its coffer, had introduced the local area development tax (LADT) on entry of raw material, and approved an ordinance yesterday to charge LADT on motor vehicles purchased outside the state, such moves are fraught with political consequences, the sources said, adding that Haryana was finding some of the proposed tax reforms as hard pills to swallow. |
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Birth anniversary of Surdas
celebrated Faridabad, April 28 Speaking at a kavi sammelan organised by the Haryana Sahitya Academy to mark the 523rd birth anniversary of renowned Hindi poet Surdas at municipal corporation auditorium here today, Mr Chautala praised the poets, who had done good work by motivating Army jawans during the Kargil war. He said writers and poets not only motivate people but also help in building nationalism and character. He said poets had been doing their ‘job’ during the time of national crisis as well, while educating and entertaining the masses. He said his government would do its maximum to promote literature and literary skills at various levels. The Chief Minister visited Sihi village in the district, the birthplace of Kavi
Surdas. He and other senior authorities garlanded the statue of the poet. Mr Chautala said his father, Chaudhary Devi Lal, had taken the initiative of beautification of the birthplace of Surdas in 1987 by giving Rs 2 lakh for the purpose. He also released a book titled “Kargil Ke Shahid” published by the Urdu Academy, Haryana. A folder on the life of Surdas was also released. The Chairman of the Haryana Sahitya Academy, Dr Chander
Trikha, announced starting of four state-level awards in the field of literature, poetry, ragini and journalism. These awards would be known as Balmukund
Puruskar, Sur Puruskar, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Puruskark and Pandit Lakhmichand
Puruskar. Earlier, the Chief Minister inaugurated the pocket-two of the housing board colony in Sector-3 here. These houses numbering 2046 had been built by the Haryana Urban Development Authority at a cost of Rs 13 crore. Ambala, April 28 The fire apparently started from a field where harvesting process was on and it soon spread to adjoining field. In less than three hours, the wheat was destroyed. A visit to the spot, about 25 km from Ambala Cantt in village Teja Mohri, revealed that the earth had been scorched in a large tract of land. Except for some poles which were still standing after the fire, no wheat stalks were left and the whole area had a strong pungent smell. A farmer whose produce had gone up in flames lamented that he was planning to harvest the wheat. “The wheat was ready and I was planning to harvest in the next day. However, it has all been reduced to ashes”. |
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Barara residents block road to protest killing Ambala, April 28 Ranjit Singh, a vegetable trader, was shot dead by motorcycle-borne youths when he was returning after making the day’s collection. The assailants had managed to escape. The blockade of the road, for about an hour, disrupted vehicular traffic, leading to a traffic jam. Before blocking the road, the protestors had gone to the Barara police station demanding the arrest of the assailants. District police officials including the Superintendent of Police, Mr Sandeep Khirwar, rushed to the spot. The blockade was lifted after Mr Khirwar assured the demonstrators that the police would nab the assailants at the earliest. A committee of the local Barara residents will also be formed which will be kept abreast of the latest developments in the shooting case. Meanwhile, the main market of Barara remained closed today as a mark of protest. Local traders spoke about a growing feeling of insecurity. At least two policemen have been placed under suspension on the complaint of local people. To boost the confidence of people, mobile police vehicles have been stationed at Dosarka. The postmortem of Ranjit Singh was conducted today at the Ambala Cantt Civil Hospital and the body was handed over to the relatives. The body was consigned to flames at Barara with a large number of people turning up at the funeral. |
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KU English paper stuns students Fatehabad, April 28 The examinations for BA honours in various subjects are in progress these days and the students of BA (II) were to take English honours paper this afternoon. But as the question paper was distributed at the two examination centres at the local Government College for Women and Manohar Memorial College, the students were nonplussed to see it. The question paper not only contained questions from paper A but also from paper B, the examination for which was to be held on April 30. The bewildered students brought the matter to the notice of the invigilators, who informed the matter to the college Principals. The Principal of Government College for Women, Mr R.K. Sehgal, and the Principal of Manohar Memorial College, Dr A.P. Madan, told this correspondent that they had brought the matter to the notice of the Controller of Examinations, Kurukshetra University and the controller had ordered the postponement of the examination. Mr Sehgal said Paper B would be conducted as per the datesheet on April 30. The date for Paper A would be announced after April 30, he added. Rohtak, April 28 According to sources, following a tip-off the police raided Vidya Bharti School near the Jind bypass here at about 6.30 pm and found students using unfair means inside a locked room at the examination centre. The students were taking the examination of the evening shift which was to be held from 2 pm to 5 pm while the police caught them red-handed while cheating at about 6.30 pm. Those arrested are Bhupender, Kamaljeet, Anil, Rajiv, Anoop, Vinod Bajrang and Mitesh, son of the owner of the school. The students have reportedly confessed to having given Rs 1,500 per paper to the school authorities for the latter’s “cooperation”. The students were produced in a local court today which sent them to judicial custody. Meanwhile, there are allegations that the police had rounded up 16 students from the spot on the same charge while only seven were arrested.
Despite several attempts, no police official could be contacted in this connection. |
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331 cases solved Ambala, April 28 Talking to mediapersons here today, the District and Sessions Judge, Ms Kiran Anand
Lall, said Lok Adalat was formed on December 14, 1985 and till March 31, 2001, 41 Lok Adalats have been held in the district. A total of 16,377 cases have been solved till now which includes 687 MATC cases in which a total compensation worth Rs 5.57 crore have been given. Besides that 155 cases under the Hindu Marriage Act have been solved.
Teachers’
transfer policy resented Fatehabad, April 28 It may be recalled that the government had announced its new transfer policy for the school teachers in the state two days ago. Under this policy, the teachers were required to submit their applications for transfer by April 30. The government had also put certain conditions for the applicants. Ever since the policy was announced, the teachers who wanted to seek transfer from their present place of posting have been repeatedly visiting the education office here to apply for transfer but they are told that draft application forms were not available. Nor this draft is available in the open market. The district unit of the Haryana Adhyapak Sangh has urged the government to extend the last date for the receipt of applications and ensure the availability of the draft application forms. |
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Swimming pool yet to begin functioning Ambala, April 28 The swimming enthusiasts feel let down since the swimming pool normally starts functioning by this time of the year. They opine that the swimming pool has not started due to “administrative reasons”. A visit to the swimming pool reveals that there is no water in the pool except for dirty murky water in the deep end. Sources said that non-payment of electricity dues is one of the main reasons for the delay in starting of the swimming pool. “Electricity dues currently of the War Heroes Stadium are over a lakh of rupees. Things will move once the power dues are paid,” he said. “During the season, children and adults are charged a monthly fee which is, however, utilised for the maintenance of the swimming pool,” he said. However, the Deputy Commissioner of Ambala, Mr D. D. Gautam, said that the swimming pool located in the War Heroes Memorial Stadium will start soon. “We are already on the job and I have already spoken to the power officials,” he said. He said that necessary directions have been given and filteration process will start at the earliest. A district swimming association member said that the swimming pool is looked after by the Sports Department and the Swimming Association helps in organising of championships. “We hold championships to encourage the youngsters in swimming,” he said. It may be recalled that a state-level swimming championship was held in the swimming pool at the War Heroes Memorial Stadium last year. Mr Sunny, a school student, observed that summer is already here and the swimming pool has not started as yet. “Swimming is fun as well as an excellent exercise. I think this year we may not be able to do swimming in the pool for one reason or the other. I only hope that the swimming pool starts before the summer is over,” he said. |
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Small savings a big hit Ambala, April 28 He said the net deposits under these schemes had increased by Rs 39 crores, according to a press not issued here yesterday. “The computerisation of saving bank in all 15 Head Post Offices in the state is in progress. Once this work is completed, we will be able to provide more prompt service to public,” he said. Mr Sharma said the post-office savings schemes included the saving account scheme, the national saving scheme, 1992, the monthly income scheme besides, time deposit, recurring deposit, cash certificates and public provident fund. Mr Sharma said, despite the cut in the interest rate, the popularity of post office saving schemes had not been affected. In March 2000, Rs 293 crore was deposited in Haryana under various such schemes, whereas, in March 2001, Rs 308 crore was deposited in the state in these schemes. |
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Produce plantation record, HC tells
Haryana Chandigarh, April 28 Pronouncing the orders in the open court on a petition filed by a Karnal resident, the judges also asked for details regarding the area under forest cover 10 years ago and the forested area in year 2001. In his petition against the state of Haryana and 90 others, Mr Suresh Kumar Midha had earlier sought directions to the respondents to take proper care of the forests. He had also asked for a probe into the alleged high-level corruption and bungling committed by the officials of the Forest Department. Giving details, he had contended that crores of rupees had been misappropriated under a forestation project. |
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Lawyer attacked in Bar room Panipat, April 28 The model town police has registered a case under Sections 148, 149, 307 and 506 of the IPC against six persons namely Lehna Singh, Yogendra, Narender, Shrawan and two others. An old enemity is stated to be the reason for attack. According to information, the advocate was viewing T.V. in the Bar room when six persons entered the room and two of them, armed with knives attacked him. On hearing his cries, some friends and bar Council chowkidar entered the room and saved him. The assailants, however, managed to escape. Four of them were recognised . Panipat, April 28 According to information, six traffic police personnel have reportedly gone on leave after suffering from jaundice. Mr Prem Kumar of the local Dalbeer Nagar has been admitted to Civil Hospital for treatment. Several jaundice patients in rural areas are receiving treatment at private hospitals. Contaminated drinking water, sale of cut fruits and the supply of sub-standard drinks have been cited to be the main reasons for the spread of the disease. Though the district administration has ordered the chlorination of drinking water and banned the sale of cut fruits, these orders are being openly flouted. According to Dr V.K. Malhotra and Dr J.P. Saluja of the Health Department, the department has sent the samples of drinking water, food stuffs and other drinks for laboratory tests to Karnal. |
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Court gives 3.94 lakh to wife of
mishap victim Panipat, April 28 According to details of the case, Lakhvinder Singh of Hoshiarpur, who was working as a truck cleaner, was killed in a road accident near Ganjbarh village on the GT Road. The accident reportedly took place due to the negligent driving of truck driver Daljeet Singh. Ms Hardeep Kaur, widow of Lakhvinder Singh, filed a case in the court of the Additional Sessions Judge, Panipat, against Daljeet Singh, truck owner Raman Kumar and the insurance company. Faridabad, April 28 Meanwhile, Usha Devi of Saran village got serious burn injuries when she caught fire while cooking at her house yesterday. She has been admitted to hospital.
HPCC meeting Chandigarh, April 28 |
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