H A R Y A N A

CM ‘settling scores’ with opponents
Kurukshetra, June 8
Addressing a public meeting at Gaadli, village 10 km from here yesterday, the Haryana Vikas Party, chief general secretary and former member of Parliament, Mr Surinder Singh alleged that the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, instead of discharging the Chief Minister’s responsibilities, was engaged in a one-point programme of settling old scores with his opponents.

Middle school in each village: CM
Sirsa, June 8
Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala today announced the decision of the state government to open at least a middle school in each village in the state.

NDA govt mortgaged country to MNCs: SJP
Panipat, June 8
The General Secretary of the Samajwadi Janata Party, Mr Shyam Singh Rana, who is leading SJP’s Jan Chetna Car Yatra against the economic policies of NDA government, told reporters here today that the NDA government had put the country on sale to multinational companies by adopting pro-MNC policies.

MDU discontinues BIT course
Rohtak, June 8
The Bachelor of Information Technology course introduced by Maharshi Dayanand University last year appears to have failed to take off as it has decided not to admit students to this course from the coming academic session.

Thefts on rise in Rohtak
Rohtak, June 8
The incidence of theft in the town appears to be on the rise. At least 12 vehicles have been stolen and 5 incidents of chain or purse snatching reported in the town in the past six days. Besides, several incidents of theft and chain snatching went unnoticed as the affected persons did not report the matter to the police.

Web reunites them after 27 years
Ambala, June 8
It looked like any other reunion of friends with the usual exchanging of old memories and light banter, except that the friends were meeting after 27 years and the Internet had brought them together.

Bharat Ratna for Devi Lal sought
Kaithal, June 8
The former Governor of Tripura and chairman of Devi Lal Yadgar Samiti, Mr Sultan Singh, called the late former Deputy Prime Minister, Devi Lal, as a “messiah” of farmers, poor and down-trodden, and said his death was a great loss to the nation.

• Chapter sought on Devi Lal in school syllabi

Development works reviewed
Narnaul, June 8
Mr Bhagwati Prasad, Secretary and Commissioner, Department of Social Welfare, Haryana, today reviewed various development works in the district and listened to the problems being faced by the officers concerned.

Cong protest against house tax
Rewari, June 8
Congress activists led by Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, deputy leader of the Haryana Congress Legislature Party, organised a dharna at the Moti Chowk here today in protest against the “anti-people” policies of the Chautala government. Several municipal councillors also joined in.

47 cr for police modernisation
Chandigarh, June 8
The Haryana Government will spend Rs 47.88 crore to modernise its police force during the current financial year, according to Mr M.S. Malik, Director-General of Police. He said Rs 8.63 crore would be spent on the construction of offices, police stations, police posts, etc.

Licences of 14 dealers cancelled
Chandigarh, June 8
The Haryana Food and Supplies Department cancelled the licences of 14 dealers in April during an intensive campaign launched to improve the functioning of fair price shops in the state.

Dhosi hill being ‘exploited’
Narnaul June 8
Stones are being extracted illegally from the historic Dhosi hill Jhunjnu district in Rajasthan.

Bail plea of murder suspect rejected
Sirsa, June 8
Additional District and Sessions Judge C.B. Jaglan turned down the bail application of the main suspect in the case of the murder of Ellenabad municipal corporator and sent him again into judicial custody.

Residents hold demonstration
Sonepat, June 8
Hundreds of residents of Akbarpur Barota village staged a demonstration in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner here yesterday in support of their demand for an independent and impartial inquiry into the alleged murder of a youth, Satish, of the village whose body was found on the track between Rathdhanna and Narela railway stations on June 2.

MA classes discontinued
Kalka, June 8
MA classes in three subjects — political science, Hindi and economics — have been discontinued from the next academic session in the local Government College. Classes in honours subject have also been stopped.

• Admn to fix auto rates

CM ‘settling scores’ with opponents
Our Correspondent

Kurukshetra, June 8
Addressing a public meeting at Gaadli, village 10 km from here yesterday, the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP), chief general secretary and former member of Parliament, Mr Surinder Singh alleged that the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, instead of discharging the Chief Minister’s responsibilities, was engaged in a one-point programme of settling old scores with his opponents.

He also alleged that resources of the state and public exchequer were being misused for Mr Chautala’s personal programmes.

He said Mr Chautala was trying in vain to establish himself as national leader by organising public meetings in other states at the state government expenses. Mr Chautala’s political base in Haryana had got eroded he alleged.

Commenting on the education system in Haryana, Mr Surinder Singh said the state government had put a question mark on the promotion of the primary and middle school teachers in the state by handing over the control of primary and middle schools to village panchayats and zila parishads, respectively.

In this scheme, teachers working according to the wishes of the village panchayats and zila parishads only would be promoted. He vowed to restored the earlier education policy.

Declaring the Chautala government as anti-farmer, Mr Surinder Singh alleged that the pro-government traders had purchased wheat from Uttar Pradesh at a cheaper rate and sold it at Rs 610 per quintal in the Haryana grain markets.

This had resulted in losses of crores of rupees to the government treasury while the wheat of the state farmers lay rotting in the Haryana grain markets. He claimed that sarson which was sold at Rs 2,700 per quintal during the regime of a former Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal was now being sold at less than Rs 1150 per quintal, causing a loss to the sarson growers.

Talking about the prospects of an HVP alliance in future, if any, Mr Surinder Singh said the HVP would not enter into as alliance with any other political party and contest the next election on a manifesto promising to provide 24-hour regular supply of electricity, sufficient irrigation water to farmers in Haryana, re-implementation of the slab-system for the farmers’ tubewells and restoration of peace in the state.

Mr Surinder Singh promised that if the HVP came to power, it would withdraw all taxes, including Form ST-38, imposed by the Chautala government.

Middle school in each village: CM

Sirsa, June 8
Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala today announced the decision of the state government to open at least a middle school in each village in the state.

The Chief Minister, who was redressing grievances of people at Dabwali under the second phase of his programme “sarkar apke dwar” said the panchayats of those villages which had primary schools would be able to get their schools upgraded to the middle level, provided they constructed 10 rooms, besides making available three acres of land.

He said those panchayats which constructed 16 rooms and made available five acres of land, would have their middle schools upgraded. Those with 20 rooms and six acres of land would have their schools upgraded to the level of senior secondary.

He announced that a Rs 10 crore food processing unit would be set up at Dabwali to provide employment opportunities to people, besides facilitating farmers. He said a park would be set up to commemorate the memory of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal at Chautala village. PTI

NDA govt mortgaged country to MNCs: SJP
Our Correspondent

Panipat, June 8
The General Secretary of the Samajwadi Janata Party, Mr Shyam Singh Rana, who is leading SJP’s Jan Chetna Car Yatra against the economic policies of NDA government, told reporters here today that the NDA government had put the country on sale to multinational companies (MNC) by adopting pro-MNC policies.

Mr Rana, who is also in charge of the SJP for Northern States, lashed out at the NDA government for anti-farmer, anti-labour and anti-poor policies and said that after assuming power, the BJP had discarded Swadeshi movement even ignoring warning by allies.

Explaining the objects of this yatra, Mr Rana said the yatra was to give a call to the masses particularly the intellectuals and nationalists of the country to rise, awake and assert now to save India from exploitation by MNCs. He alleged the MNCs got entry into the country due to economic policies initiated by the Congress government and followed by the NDA government led by Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Advocating that positive subsidy be given direct to the farmers, he claimed that this would deter farmers from committing suicides due to poverty and debt. “Not only farmers of Andhra Pradesh were committing suicides, even the farmers of green states like Punjab and Haryana were embracing death due to debts,” he added.

He also urged the Central Government to frame a water policy so that all water distribution disputes were settled amicably.

About the details of this yatra, he informed that all yatras started from different parts of the country and led by senior party leaders will converge at Mahatma Gandhi’s ashram in Ahmedabad on June 16 from where a combined yatra will start via Rajkot to reach Porbandar on June 20 under the leadership of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar.

Mr Rakesh Pant and Darshan Singh, state unit presidents of Himachal and Punjab, respectively, were also present at the press conference.

The yatra which commenced from Shimla on June 5 reached here in the afternoon after starting today’s journey from Kurukshetra.

MDU discontinues BIT course
Jatinder Sharma

Rohtak, June 8
The Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) course introduced by Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) last year appears to have failed to take off as it has decided not to admit students to this course from the coming academic session.

The Registrar, Dr S.P.S. Dahiya, confirmed the discontinuation of the course, but refused to give reasons for the decision.

Sources said the university had no option but to discontinue the course as neither the UGC nor the AICTE had approved it. Even Delhi University, which had introduced this course last year, had been forced by the UGC to discontinue it.

Dr Dahiya said students admitted to the four-year course last year would, however, continue to pursue it and the university would grant them a degree at the end of the course.

He said no new course would be introduced from the coming academic session. The main stress of the university would be to strengthen the courses being run by it.

The Registrar expressed concern over the decision of Kurukshetra University to allot traditional courses to study centres being set up by it in Rohtak. He denied that the MDU had also set up similar centres in Haryana and neighbouring states.

He said the MDU study centres in computer courses only and traditional courses had been allotted only to its affiliated colleges. He said a complaint would be lodged with the government against Kurukshetra University for trespassing into territorial jurisdiction of the MDU.

Meanwhile, the state government has advised colleges in Haryana to admit students strictly on merit. The admission process will be completed by June 30 and no application received after this date will be considered. The government has regulated admissions in government colleges with a view to avoiding excessive and indiscriminate admissions.

The government has also fixed college-wise and subject-wise seats so that students’ intake commensurates with the availability of staff and infrastructure. No course or class with less than 30 students will be run.

Thefts on rise in Rohtak
Our Correspondent

Rohtak, June 8
The incidence of theft in the town appears to be on the rise. At least 12 vehicles have been stolen and 5 incidents of chain or purse snatching reported in the town in the past six days. Besides, several incidents of theft and chain snatching went unnoticed as the affected persons did not report the matter to the police.

The wife of Mr Ashok Malhotra of Quilla Mohalla locality was going to attend a marriage on June 1 when two scooter-borne youths snatched her purse containing around Rs 5,000. Mr Jagdish Rai Saini, chairman, Rashtriya Saini Panchayat, was returning to his house in a rickshaw the same day when two motor cycle-borne youths snatched his bag containing money.

Mr Sanjay Goel, an employee of Sudhir Automotive, was replacing the punctured tyre of his scooter. When he went for washing his hands, some persons stole Rs 6,300 by breaking open the boot of his scooter. The motor cycle of Mr Ashok Girdhar, owner of the local Hotel Prince, was stolen from his house. The motor cycle of Dr Anil was stolen from Civil Hospital. Mr Vinod lost his motor cycle from the Chunnipura locality while the car of Mr O.P. Poonia, a lawyer, was stolen from in front of the sessions court complex.

Another lawyer, Mr Shamsher Singh, lost his car from the mini-secretariat on Monday. The motor cycle of Mr Om Prakash was stolen from Model Town. Some persons made away with the motor cycle of Mr Devendra of Bhail Anandpur village.

The three-wheeler of Mr Shyam Sunder of Chinyot Colony and the three-wheeler of Mr Surender of Sainik colony were stolen from their respective houses.

Two youths snatched the chain and purse of a woman near Mahavir Park on June 2. Two scooter-borne youths snatched the purse of Mrs Jyoti Dewra of Jagdish Colony. The purse reportedly contained 70 grams of gold and Rs 700. Two youths snatched a woman’s chain near the Canal rest-house.

The rise in such incidents has created a feeling of insecurity among residents.

Web reunites them after 27 years
Rahul Das
Tribune News Service

Ambala, June 8
It looked like any other reunion of friends with the usual exchanging of old memories and light banter, except that the friends were meeting after 27 years and the Internet had brought them together.

Sushil, Ashim, Indu and Vikas studied together in the Convent of Jesus and Mary at Ambala Cantt from 1969 to 1976. After this, they gradually lost touch with each other as their fathers were posted out.

Sushil Kansal started teaching in SD College at Ambala Cantt, Ashim joined Sahara India, Indu Sharma began working in Methodex Systems and Vikas Verma became the President of Cafe Network Limited. They got married, became parents and were leading a busy life when, one day, they received e-mails that eventually brought them here together after 27 years.

It all began with Dr Sushil Kansal wanting to get in touch with his schoolmates. At the reunion, Dr Kansal said he had taken the help of an Internet search engine to find out about Ashim Gandhi.

Search engine helped me trace the e-mail address of Ashim, after which, I sent him an e-mail, telling him about me. The response from Ashim was prompt, he said.

Dr Kansal said he used two other search engines to contact Indu. As Indu was already in contact with Vikas, the four friends used the cyberspace to communicate.

Ashim Gandhi said the friends were not going to lose contact now. “We are trying to find out other schoolmates. “We have already tracked down two of them — Sanjeev Kapoor who is in Mumbai and Devesh who is in London,” he said.

Three more of their old friends — Rajeev Mittal, Sanjeev Jain and Dalip Soni — are residing in Ambala.

The four friends visited their old school and also met two of their teachers. “When we met Ms O. Purewal and Ms Meena Sharma, all old memories were refreshed. They, too, were thrilled, Ms Indu Sharma said.

Mr Vikas Verma, an Internet expert, said receiving an e-mail from an old friend was a thrilling experience,” he said.

The habits of the friends have not changed, though their hair are now grey and all have gained weight. We used to go to Capital and Nigar Cinemas and have soft drink that used to cost barely 25 paise. Now, times have changed,” they said.

They are now looking for more old friends on the Internet.

Bharat Ratna for Devi Lal sought
Our Correspondent

Kaithal, June 8
The former Governor of Tripura and chairman of Devi Lal Yadgar Samiti, Mr Sultan Singh, called the late former Deputy Prime Minister, Devi Lal, as a “messiah” of farmers, poor and down-trodden, and said his death was a great loss to the nation.

Speaking as a chief guest at a function organised by the district unit of the Haryana Union of Journalists in memory of Devi Lal at a function here today, Mr Sultan Singh said the farmers would always remain indebted to Devi Lal, because he always fought for their cause.

Mr Parma Nand Goel, president of the union, Kaithal, put up a resolution in the meeting demanding Bharat Ratna award for Devi Lal. It was passed unanimously.

Mr Ram Pal Mazra, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Haryana, said Devi Lal had always promoted Haryana as a separate state.

Mr Mazra said Devi Lal would be remembered for his magnimity and love for all. He recalled that during his morning walk Devi Lal talked to people from all walks of life and he had special regards for panchayat deputations calling on him.

Mr Amar Singh Dhandey, Mr Leela Ram, Mr Dina Ram, all MLAs, Mr Naranjan Lal Bansal, Chairman, Haryana Warehousing Corporation, Mr Phateh Singh Dagar, Deputy Commissioner, Mr A.S. Chawla, SP, also addressed the meeting.

The HUJ unit honoured number of persons for their devotion to duty. Mr Sultan Singh, chief guest, was presented a shawl by Satish Seth, Journalist.

Chapter sought on Devi Lal in school syllabi
Our Correspondent

Hisar, June 8
Members of the local Zila Parishad have passed a resolution to include a chapter on the life of former Prime Minister Devi Lal in the syllabus of primary classes.

This resolution was passed at a meeting of the parishad members here last evening. The resolution said Devi Lal had played an important role in the formation of Haryana. He had struggled for the welfare of people of the state and students should know about his life. The resolution will be sent to the state government for approval.

The members also decided to name the Surewala Chowk situated on the Hisar-Chandigarh Road, about 45 km from here, after Devi Lal. They decided to install a statue of Devi Lal at the campus of the parishad office. The members approved the annual budget of block samitis of the district. The members in another resolution decided to give an aid of Rs 3.84 lakh from the PRI scheme to the proposed women’s college in the town.

The members expressed concern over the “partial” attitude of officials of government departments. They said under the Panchayati Raj Act, the state government had allotted 16 departments, including education to the parishad five months ago. The parishad had consequently constituted sub-committees to look after the working of these departments.

But the officials had not convened any meeting of these committees. They alleged that the officials of these departments were not cooperating with committee members as no information about these departments was being provided to the committee members.

Development works reviewed
Our Correspondent

Narnaul, June 8
Mr Bhagwati Prasad, Secretary and Commissioner, Department of Social Welfare, Haryana, today reviewed various development works in the district and listened to the problems being faced by the officers concerned.

After discussions, Mr Prasad stressed the need for completing various projects for which funds had been received without any delay. Mr Prasad exhorted the officers to ensure that children completing six years should go to school in the district. To identify the children, numberdars and members of panchayats should be involved, he said. He instructed the DEO to ensure that children attended school.

Mr Prasad instructed the head of the Irrigation Department in the district to get the canals desilted and energize the water pumps so that canal water could be supplied up to the tail-end of the area.

Mr R.B. Langyan, Deputy Commissioner, Narnaul, assured Mr Prasad that the schemes would be implemented in a big way. 

Cong protest against house tax
Our Correspondent

Rewari, June 8
Congress activists led by Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, deputy leader of the Haryana Congress Legislature Party, organised a dharna at the Moti Chowk here today in protest against the “anti-people” policies of the Chautala government. Several municipal councillors also joined in.

Flaying the new house-tax policy Captain Yadav said its enforcement would put burden on the house-owners. He demanded its immediate withdrawal.

He also lambasted the state government for its apathy towards people facing shortage of water in various parts of Ahirwal.

He also demanded withdrawal of the professional tax levied on privately managed schools as well as halwais in the state.

Later, they submitted memorandum to the district administration.

47 cr for police modernisation
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 8
The Haryana Government will spend Rs 47.88 crore to modernise its police force during the current financial year, according to Mr M.S. Malik, Director-General of Police. He said Rs 8.63 crore would be spent on the construction of offices, police stations, police posts, etc.

A sum of Rs 21.88 crore would be spent on flats for NGOs or ORs. Over Rs 11.79 crore would be spent on the purchase of vehicles, Rs 1.80 crore on weapons, Rs 86 lakh on strengthening the communication network, Rs 36.35 lakh on the upgradation of training facilities and over Rs 2.50 crore on various kinds of equipment.

Licences of 14 dealers cancelled
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 8
The Haryana Food and Supplies Department cancelled the licences of 14 dealers in April during an intensive campaign launched to improve the functioning of fair price shops in the state.

An official press release said here today that the security amounts of 249 dealers totalling Rs 1.27 lakh were also forfeited under the campaign. Cases were registered with the police against three dealers for indulging in malpractices in the distribution of essential commodities.

Dhosi hill being ‘exploited’
Our Correspondent

Narnaul June 8
Stones are being extracted illegally from the historic Dhosi hill Jhunjnu district in Rajasthan.

In a letter to the Collector Jhunjnu, Mr Om Prakash Arya, today Director of the Gramin Vikas and Anusandhan Kendra, Bocharia in Mahendragarh district, alleged that Dhosi was a place of pilgrimage and tourist place but half of the hill in Haryana was being exploited by certain persons.

He urged the government to intervene and register a case in this regard.

Bail plea of murder suspect rejected
Our Correspondent

Sirsa, June 8
Additional District and Sessions Judge C.B. Jaglan turned down the bail application of the main suspect in the case of the murder of Ellenabad municipal corporator and sent him again into judicial custody.

According to information received today, Rajbir Singh was arrested in the Shyam Lal Gigorani murder case. He was allegedly murdered by Rajbir Singh last year when the former was getting into his car after withdrawing Rs 6 lakh from a bank.

Meanwhile, Sanjay Sharma of Ellenabad subdivision allegedly committed suicide in a restaurant here on Wednesday. A case has been registered against the in-laws of the deceased under Section 306, IPC, on a basis of the suicide note left by him and the complaint of his brother, Neeraj Sharma.

Residents hold demonstration
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, June 8
Hundreds of residents of Akbarpur Barota village staged a demonstration in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner here yesterday in support of their demand for an independent and impartial inquiry into the alleged murder of a youth, Satish, of the village whose body was found on the track between Rathdhanna and Narela railway stations on June 2.

The residents alleged that the Government Railway Police claimed it to be a case of suicide, but the fact was that it was a case of murder as the body was found naked and bore injuries.

The Deputy Commissioner assured the residents that he would look into their complaints and take action.

MA classes discontinued
Our Correspondent

Kalka, June 8
MA classes in three subjects — political science, Hindi and economics — have been discontinued from the next academic session in the local Government College. Classes in honours subject have also been stopped.

MLA Chander Mohan and ex-chairman Legal Cell, Vijay Bansal in a statement said here today that the government is discriminating against the Kalka constituency. Mr Bansal said that this decision of the government will affect the career of students.

Admn to fix auto rates
Our Correspondent

Kalka, June 8
The Kalka and Pinjore administration have decided to fix the per passenger rate for three-wheelers.

Sandeep Singh, SDM, Kalka, said that information to fix the rates was being collected, and shortly route-wise rates, according to the distance covered, would be displayed at public places and auto-rickshaw stands.