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Monday,
May 14, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Chautala’s
assurance to scribes No action
against Sultan Singh: Hooda Wheat
purchase: farmers smell rat 200 trees
axed for Army ecological park |
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Water
shortage hits cotton sowing Mini
missions to improve quality of cotton: expert Irrigation schedule Rail
commuters wait for grievances’ redress IMA
concerned over notices to doctors Police
clueless on double murder CM
promises amenities despite crunch CM
suspends Hafed manager Students
on strike join hands with PAU union HVP seeks
white paper on govt projects Grants for bodies
working for handicapped Redesignation
of post One
killed in group clash Gang of
cheats busted, 2 held Thief
held after exchange of fire
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Chautala’s assurance to scribes Jind, May 13 The Chief Minister said this while addressing a conference of the Haryana Union of Journalists here. He assured all possible assistance to mediaperson and even approved the constitution of the press accreditation committee for providing accreditation to press reporters. He said soon after assuming office, the first step that his government had taken was to restore the honour of the reporters who had been affected during the earlier regime. He said he was of the firm belief that the mediapersons should be given their due since they had to perform their duties in tough circumstances such as during war, riots and even had to face terrorism. He said during the Kargil war journalists brought the war news to our door steps. Even today many of them were performing their duties with utmost dedication in the terrorist infested areas of Jammu and Kashmir, he added. Mr Chautala regretted the fall of the first three estates of democracy and stressed that the Press which was the fourth estate should now strive to contribute its best in performing its duties. He lauded the role of the Press which had played a significant role in the freedom struggle of the nation. The Chief Minister exhorted the mediapersons to build a national character and not reduce this noble profession to a smalltime business. He said Chaudhary Devi Lal had always fought for the rights of the Press and had even opposed a Bill introduced during 1987 by the Rajiv Gandhi’s government for curbing the rights of the Press. He said he welcomed healthy criticism and supported constructive suggestions which would improve the working of the system. He advised mediapersons to avoid publishing planted stories as they posed the biggest danger to their profession. He asked them to present news which was based on facts and not on their personal views. Mr Chautala assured all facilities and assistance to the Press and said an insurance scheme worth Rs 1 lakh had already been started in the state. He said whenever possible he would always consider the demands of the Press and redress their problems. He also promised to provide encouragement to small
newspapers highlighting the problems at local level which often national level dailies could not do. Earlier, the Chief Minister presented a cheque of Rs 5 lakh to the widow of Mr Anil Saini, who had been a sub-editor in a Hindi daily, and head died in a road accident recently. The cheque was handed over to Ms Sunita Saini on behalf of the Haryana Patrakar Sangh affiliated to the India Journalists Union. Mr Chautala assured a suitable job to her. The Chief Minister also presided over the District Grievances Committee meeting held here in which he heard 10 complaints and redressed them on the spot. Those present on the occasion included Mr Surinder Barwala, MP, Mr Ram Phal Kundu, Mr Ram Kumar Katwal Mr Bagh Chand Chatra and Mr Suraj Bhan Kajal, Chairman, Haryana Financial Corporation. Mr Desraj Namberdar, Chairman, Haryana Khadi Board, Mr Vijay Saihgal, Editor Dainik Tribune, Mr Ashwani Dutta, President Haryana Union of Journalists and other prominent press personalities. |
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No action against
Sultan Singh: Hooda Sonepat, May 13 Talking to mediapersons here last evening, Mr Hooda said the party had no objection to the decision of Mr Sultan Singh as he had taken this decision as an individual despite the fact that he was authorised to do. He also pointed out that Mr Chautala had also nominated him as member of the memorial committee but he declined to accept it as he was the HPCC president of the party. Mr Hooda, however, blamed Mr Chautala for politicising the issue for his selfish motives which he claimed was the main reason for his quitting the membership of the samiti. PANIPAT:
Mr Hooda today declared that a mass agitation programme against the anti-people policies of the state government would be announced at its state-level party rally scheduled to be held at Panipat on May 20. Mr Hooda was talking to mediapersons here at the PWD rest house before addressing a meeting of party workers. He alleged the Chautala government had failed to fulfil its promises like free irrigation and power supply, remunerative prices to farmers and tax reliefs to business community. He alleged that electricity charges had been enhanced many a times and it had become difficult for the consumers to pay the electricity bills at enhanced rates. |
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Wheat purchase: farmers smell rat Sonepat, May 13 According to a report here, the farmers blocked the road with tractor-trailers and other vehicles. Vehicles lined up on both sides of the road, causing inconvenience to travelling people. Mr Hari Om Bishnoi, Naib-Tehsildar arrived on the scene and tried to pacify the farmers but they declined to lift the blockade. They also raised slogans against officials of the procurement agencies, the state government and Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. Thereupon, the Naib Tehsildar left the place in panic. Many farmers alleged that the officials of the procurement agencies were in league with certain traders, who were purchasing wheat at lower price from the farmers of UP and selling the same to the procurement agencies at support price. They also demanded immediate transfer of the District Food and Supplies Controller and a high-level probe into their complaints. When the situation turned ugly, a contingent of the police headed by the Station House Officer arrived on the scene and the SHO succeeded in lifting the blockade by an assurance that the authorities would normalise the purchases of wheat by tomorrow morning. The traffic remained jammed for three hours. According to another report, the district administration has unearthed a scandal relating to the excess filling of procured wheat in the gunny bags by the officials of a cooperative marketing society at Gohana. It is alleged that the team of officials found 300 gram to 500 gram of wheat in excess in a 50 kilo gunny bags and they challaned the erring employees of the society. |
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59 lakh mt of
wheat procured Chandigarh, May 13 An official spokesman said Sirsa district was leading in the state by contributing more than 7.70 lakh mt of wheat for procurement, followed by Karnal with 6.53 lakh mt, Jind and 6.15 lakh mt and Kaithal with 5.96 lakh mt. |
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200 trees axed for Army ecological park Ambala, May 13 The trees have been felled by the Army, a short distance away from the Flag Staff House. The new ecological park is reportedly being developed across an existing “ecological park”. After felling the trees the ground was levelled and construction work started at the site. Station Commander, Brig N.D. Prasad, told The Tribune that a few kikar trees had been felled for developing an environment-friendly ecological park and training area. “A few kikar trees have been axed for the improvement of the training area of the Army over a period of time,” he said. Brig Prasad pointed out that a slum area which had come up on defence land, where the new ecological park was being developed, was also demolished by them. “The slum was removed along the Kalarheri road and the whole area has been cleaned up,” he said. He said some of the trees had overgrown and posed a problem for electric poles. “Also, some of the trees were a potential fire hazard. Looking at various factors, we have felled a few trees and pruned some of them,” he said. The Conservator of Forest, Mr R.K. Sapra, said except for the kikar trees located in the hilly regions, no permission as such was required for felling of kikar trees here. “However, if a number of kikar trees are felled, it definitely has an impact on the environment,” he said. He said: “We stress upon planting trees even if those have to be felled to fulfil requirements. Kikar trees are basically useful as fuel wood and for agriculture implements. They take about 16 years to reach maturity and these trees are considered to be hardy. In Haryana kikar trees are common. The felling of kikar trees is controlled in the hilly areas like “Shivalik and Aravalli ranges,” he said. Mr Sapra stated their role was to set the minimum price for auction for the trees which had been axed. |
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Water shortage
hits cotton sowing Sirsa, May 13 In Darba Kalan legislative constituency farmers of many villages face difficulty as there is little irrigation water available in canals due to which hardly 15 per cent of the area has been sown with cotton. Officials of the Agriculture Department visited the various villages and advised the farmers to sow the crop before April 30. But most of the farmers could not do it because of the little rains and inadequate water available in the canals. There is not enough water in canals to meet requirement of drinking and some villagers complain that if they utilise this water for irrigation, cases of water theft are lodged against them. That is why the farmers have either not sown the cotton crop or are apprehensive of the yield due to water scarcity and the rising mercury. In the Pantalisa area under Kheri minor cotton has been sown over hardly 15 per cent of area and is mainly dependent on tubewells. Farmers are in the fear of not getting enough produce from the crop to meet cultivation cost. Many of them have resentment against the government while some of them believe that if the government provides them irrigation water through canals they can still sow cotton. Though they accept that late sowing will greatly affect the yield, they say they can not give their fields a barren season. Cotton is the leading crop in the Kalanwali area of the Rori constituency. The cotton crop which had brought more frustration to the farmers last year is giving a tough time to the farmers this year too as the scarcity of the irrigation water is threatening it. Only those farmers who own tubewells have sown this crop but they too have to depend on tubewell water and canal water. According to a farmer the fear of scorching of crop in the absence of the same always looms large. In the wake of the prevailing water scarcity, therefore, many of the farmers in village Panniwala Mota have decided to shift to other crops due to shortage of water for irrigation. |
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Mini missions to improve quality of cotton: expert Sirsa, May 13 He was addressing a press conference in the local market committee office. Mr Lal was here along with a high-level team to inspect the progress of the mini missions under which three market yards in the district namely, Sirsa, Ellenabad and Dabwali are being improved to reduce the contamination in the cotton. Mr Lal disclosed that in the Ninth Five Year Plan as many as 51 market yards were being improved out of which work on three in Haryana was in progress while two others namely Hisar and Fatehabad would be taken up next year. He said the Centre was spending Rs 4 crore on the project while Rs 3.5 crore would be borne by the respective market committees. Replying to a question regarding the poor supply of seeds and lack of other facilities to the farmers, he said, under this project it had been made mandatory to open a government shop in the market yards to make available quality seeds and pesticides. In addition a rest house with all facilities, computerised information centre and grading laboratory would be developed for the benefit of farmers, Mr Lal added. He said to meet the threats to the Indian market due to the implementations of WTO provisions as many as 300 market yards and 650 factories would be improved under these mini missions during the Tenth Five Year Plan. |
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Irrigation schedule Chandigarh, May 13 While stating this here today, a spokesman of the department said the irrigation schedule had been divided into three groups. The rotation would continue till October 25. |
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Rail commuters wait for grievances’ redress Bhiwani, May 13 Bhiwani, one of premier model stations in the country, is in bad shape these days. The authorities are busy now sprucing up the junction after hearing of the visit of the board. Bhiwani’s local city station was started for easy access of the residents of the city, but attitude of Railway authorities towards it has been apathetic and it has become only a halting station. The residents and the Sangh have been demanding it as a complete station for years. The Sangh in a charter of demands in which at least one pair of circular passenger train, direct train service from Bhiwani to Ludhiana, electrification of track from Bhiwani to Shakoor Basti, extension of 2JPR passenger train from Rohtak to Rewari and 4085-86 Haryana Express be extended upto Nizamuddin Railway station, are included. Bhiwani junction has the facility of washing line and three trains could be washed at a time. Long route trains which don’t have enough space to park inside Delhi could be extended to Bhiwani. A spokesman of the Sangh expressing dissatisfaction over arrangements made for the passengers at Railway station said that one of the two water coolers are out of order and passengers have to face drinking water problem. There is no coach attached to any of the trains for Guwahati, the spokesman said. He said the Railway line from Bhiwani to Rohtak has worn out and Bhiwani Express escaped getting derailed many times. The sangh is sore over the non-fulfilment of promises made by the DRM, Bikaner Division in regard to the installation of seven coolers and other development works but later these were put in cold store due to insufficient Budget. |
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IMA concerned over notices to doctors Ambala, May 13 The association has, however, welcomed the Biomedical Waste (management and handling) Rules, 1998, and has already directed its members of to install shredders for destroying syringes, needles, autoclaving and micro waving facilities at the clinics and the nursing home to destroy the biomedical waste. Dr D.S. Jaspal, president of Haryana unit of the IMA, in a letter to the Chairman of the Haryana State Pollution Central Board and Director General, Health Services, Haryana, has clarified that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest vide its notification issued on July 20, 1998, has exempted nursing homes having less than 50 beds from the Biomedical Waste Act till December, 2002. He said the nursing homes in towns having population of less than 5 lakh can dump their medical waste in deep burials since the installation of incinerator costs a lot and private nursing homes cannot afford these. Moreover, the incinerators are a big health hazard and these violate standards of air pollution, have potential of acid rains and can be a health hazard for the people residing in surrounding areas. He urged the Chairman of the Pollution Control Board to direct HUDA and municipal councils to provide space for landfills to the nursing homes so that deep burials of the biomedical waste can be carried out. Meanwhile, it is learnt that the District Health Department has decided to organise a conference on biomedical waste with the support of the IMA on May 18 in Ambala City where a discussion on the safe methods of destroying biomedical waste of private nursing homes will be taken up. The nursing homes are of the view that it is the responsibility of the health authorities to collect medical waste from the nursing homes and destroy it. But the health authorities and municipal committees do not have adequate transporting arrangements for it. Moreover, the incinerators also cannot be used for a long time as these consumed electricity in huge quantities. Dr R.K. Patnaik, former Civil Surgeon of Ambala, said the health authorities and the private nursing homes should come together to find a solution to the problem. “This is a social as well as a professional problem which can be sorted out only with the mutual consensus, he added. |
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Police clueless
on double murder Panipat, May 13 The industrialists argued that on the one hand the Haryana Government is wooing foreign business houses to set up industries in Haryana but on the other hand the police failing to provide security to existing industrialists. Mr Malik assured them that the police would arrest the culprits very soon and the case handed over to crime branch. Mr Malik visited Panipat for a meeting of police officers to discuss checking of crime in Rohtak range. Industrialists and traders protested to the DGP against the rising crime in the city. Sons of the deceased industrialist announced a reward of Rs 60,000 to anyone giving clue to the murder of their parents. |
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CM promises amenities despite crunch Hodal (Faridabad), May 13 Speaking at ‘sarkar apke dwar programme’ for Hassanpur constituency here yesterday, the Chief Minister said the involvement and contribution of the masses was necessary for speedy development. Responding to the demands of several panchayats for construction of roads, phirnis, bricklaning and building of rooms for schools and chaupals, he said such schemes could be carried out more easily if the residents contributed to them. He said it would be difficult for the government to take up all works on its own due to paucity of funds. |
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CM suspends
Hafed manager Bhiwani, May 13 Farmers and traders had complained to the Chief Minister against the negligent attitude of the manager when the Chief Minister visited the local Anaj Mandi today. The Chief Minister spoke to the farmers and instructed the officers of the district administration to solve their problems.
PTI |
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Students
on strike join hands with PAU union Hisar, May 13 Addressing mediapersons here today, Mr Bijender Sharma, a former president of the HAU Students’ Union, said the decision was taken at a meeting of student leaders here last evening. He said the students of PAU had also been agitating over the same issue and it would be in the interest of the agriculture students of both the states to join hands. He said a delegation of student leaders would be sent to Ludhiana tomorrow to discuss the future course of action in this regard. He said a Joint Action Committee would also be formed to spearhead the agitation in Haryana and Punjab. Mr Sharma said another delegation would also be sent to Chandigarh tomorrow to meet legislators of all political parties of Haryana, including those of the ruling Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) to seek their support. The delegation would also meet Haryana Governor Babu Parmanand. They would apprise them of their demands, he added. Reacting to university authorities warning to agitators to submit good conduct undertakings by tomorrow, he said the authorities had extended the deadline thrice in the past too but no student had submitted the undertaking so far. He said the authorities were pressurising them to end their agitation by using such tactics but students would not resume classes till their demands were met. They were ready to face the consequences. Criticising the Vice-Chancellor, Mr Vinay Kumar, he alleged that on the one hand the VC had supported their demands saying that he would raise these before the state government but on the other hand he had termed these demands as not genuine. Meanwhile, Mr Vinay Kumar today reached the dharna site and appealed to the students to resume their classes from tomorrow as the on-going semester was on the verge of being scraped. The VC asked students to resume their classes first then hold discussions. Mr Vinay Kumar said the demands were genuine and he was ready to plead their cause with the government. |
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HVP seeks white paper on govt projects Bhiwani, May 13 He lashed out at the government saying that the farmers were being forced to sell their produce at meagre prices and they have to stay for 10-15 days in mandis. He said the state government had failed to provide gunny bags in mandis. Criticising the government he said that it had increased the security of tubewell connections by Rs 91,000 and asked the farmers to get their transformers and line repaired after obtaining the same. He promised that the flat rate system would again be introduced if the HVP was voted to
power. A former Minister of State for Home, Mr Ram Bhajan, Mr Ram Kishan
Fauji, MLA, former MLAs Satpal Sangwan and Nripender Singh were present on the occasion. |
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Grants for
bodies working for handicapped Chandigarh,
May 13 A spokesman of the department said voluntary organisations, registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1995, and working in Haryana for at least three years
(relaxable in the rural areas), could apply to the District Social Welfare Officer concerned by July 31 for obtaining the grant. |
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Redesignation
of post Chandigarh, May 13 The Government has redesignated the post of Director, Higher
Education, in the super-time scale as Higher Education Commissioner. |
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One killed in
group clash Bhiwani, May 13 “Old enmity between two groups dealing in liquor trade seems to be the reason behind the clash last evening,” the police said. One of the injured, Anil, was attacked by a liquor contractor Vijay Mood along with about 10 persons with lathis. The group ran away after reportedly avenging a past similar brawl. The attackers were chased by shopkeepers, villagers and the police upto the contractor’s godown where one of his associates opened fire, killing a man in the crowd and injuring another. The angry mob started pelting stones and a SHO was hurt in the incident.
PTI |
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Gang of cheats busted, 2 held Sirsa, May 13 According to the district police chief, a case was registered under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC against two persons on a complaint by Mahender of Chatargarhpatti. Mahendra had alleged in his complaint that two persons had cheated him on the pretext of doubling his money with a chemical process at 25 per cent commission. They allegedly gave him a bundle wrapped in a black cloth and told him that the currency notes would be ready in half-an-hour. When Mahender later checked the bundle he found that it only had a genuine currency note at the top and another at the bottom while the other were merely white papers. Following the complaint the police arrested Mohammad Basir and Salim Mohammad of Bhishamberpur in Uttar Pradesh from the old bus stand here. They have reportedly confessed their involvement in various other cheating cases. |
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Thief held
after exchange
of fire Sirsa, May 13 According to information received today, a gang of inter-state vehicle thieves sneaked into the district in three cars without number plates. They stopped at a way-side hotel near
Khairekan. The police reached the hotel and demanded documents of the vehicles from them. On the pretext of taking out the documents from the car two of them managed to flee in a car. The police fired at the third while he was starting the car. In retaliation the duo exchanged shots with the police. The third accomplice was arrested along with the two cars. |
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