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| Tuesday, July 31, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Appointment row in PGIMS
Fair price shops play unfair Strengthen railway police: Haryana Manch seeks ticket for Punjabis |
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Cong councillors unhappy over
new house tax policy Lok Sangharsh Manch
demonstration Campaign to oust Chautala: Ajit More seats allowed in technical institutions Elections to
student bodies postponed KU PMT results declared
HSIDC announces 17.5 lakh for roads Rival group attacks students, 1 dead Rs 55,000 looted at pistol-point Man jumps before train, dies
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Appointment row in PGIMS Rohtak, July 30 Dr Yadav was appointed Dean in a hurry on July 24, the day an MCI team arrived for inspection of the PGIMS before taking a decision on the government’s request to increase the MBBS seats from 115 to 150 to adjust 35 students of Agroha Medical College. The appointment has been made in order to circumvent the MCI objection that a bureaucrat cannot hold the post of Director, PGIMS. Sensing the mood of the MCI team comprising Dr V.P. Mishra (Nagpur), Prof R.P. Mittal (Delhi) and Prof J.K. Tandon (Delhi) the officiating Director, Ms Anita Chaudhary, reportedly faxed a message to the government that unless an alternative arrangement was made to sign the MCI documents by a person holding medical qualifications, the observations of the team might not be favourable. The government issued orders giving additional charge of Dean to Dr D.R. Yadav, ignoring the fact that its high-powered selection committee had on December 2, selected Dr S.S. Sangwan, Professor and Head of the Orthopaedic Department, as Dean. Dr Yadav was a student of the PGIMS, which was earlier known as Medical College. Though he joined the HCMS, he later became a lecturer in Medical College. He did his postgraduation in forensic medicine from the PGIMS but the institute did not get his degree recognised from the MCI. The PGIMS postgraduate degrees in pharmacology and anatomy, too, have not been recognised by the MCI so far. Dr Yadav had reportedly taken his degree in forensic medicine in the eighties. Since then, he has been working in the Forensic Department and has become Professor and Head of the Department. The post of Dean was created in September 1997 and Dr S.B. Siwach, Professor and Head of the Department of Medicine, was the first to occupy it. The post fell vacant after his elevation to Director of the PGIMS. After defining the essential qualifications and experience and mode of filling, the post was advertised and the selection committee selected Dr Sangwan on December 2, 2000. By giving the additional charge to Dr Yadav, the government has nullified the selection of Dr Sangwan. Interestingly, Dr Yadav had not applied for the post of Dean when it was advertised in December. The government had earlier selected Dr Anand as Principal of Dental College though he had not applied for the post. The selection committee had on June 29, selected Dr S.P. Kaushik for the post of Director but his appointment order has not been issued. The government has appointed more than 50 persons as lecturers, senior residents and demonstrators barely two or three days before the MCI inspection. Several appointments have been made hurriedly on a contract basis in violation of rules. The MCI inspection was postponed twice on the plea that vacant posts were being filled. Initially, it was fixed for March 14 and March 15 but the government got it postponed to June 6 and June 7. It again got it postponed to July 24 and July 25. |
Bio-fertiliser case may open Pandora’s box Chandigarh, July 30 Mr Dalal was the Forest Minister in the Bansi Lal Cabinet. The Vigilance Bureau registered a case against him for allegedly directing officers of the department to buy bio-fertiliser from a Panipat-based firm, Messrs Bharat Bio-Fertiliser. The bureau alleged this was done to favour a particular person and the firm was non-existent. The bureau also alleged that bio-fertiliser was purchased from the Panipat firm at higher rates while it was available with the Regional Bio Fertiliser, Hisar, at cheaper rates. Mr Dalal moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court for anticipatory bail, alleging that he was being harassed by the bureau because of his political rivalry with the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala. The court has granted him interim bail. The proprietor of the Panipat firm also moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court and placed certain documents before it to show that firm had been in existence since 1993 and the Haryana Government had been purchasing bio-fertiliser from it since then. When the case came up before Mr Justice Nirmal Singh on July 25 last, Mr Dalal’s counsel, Mr Baldev Singh, pointed out the prosecution had not collected any evidence to prove that Mr Dalal had approved the purchase of bio-fertiliser from the Panipat firm or that he had directed the officers to purchase bio-fertiliser from this firm. The petitioner’s counsel also pointed out that no action had been taken against the officers who placed the order for purchasing the fertiliser from the Panipat firm. The bureau, he said, had proceeded only against his client. In view of the submission of Mr Baldev Singh, Mr Justice Nirmal Singh directed the Advocate-General of Haryana, Mr Surya Kant Sharma, to produce the entire record of the department concerning the purchase of bio-fertiliser since 1993 before the court on August 21 when the case would be heard again. Informed sources say the Forest Department had purchased bio-fertiliser from the Panipat firm at different times when the department had been headed by various ministers. The sources say some these former ministers are now with the ruling INLD. Even Mr Chautala at one stage himself held the Forest Department. The fertiliser was purchased that time also.  |
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Fair price shops play unfair Sonepat, July 30 According to informed sources, nearly half of the total amount of subsidised rationed commodities, including levy sugar and kerosene, supplied to more than 400 fair price shops in Sonepat district finds its way into the black market instead of reaching the beneficiaries. It is alleged that as many as 30 per cent of the ration cards in the district are bogus while another 20 per cent card-holders do not draw their rations regularly. Thus, the supplies issued for these 50 per cent are at the disposal of the fair price shop owners who sell these off in the open market. Informed sources revealed that most of the ration shops in the urban and rural areas were owned benami by the ruling party supporters. This was the reason why the thriving racket had been manipulated to perfection. The charge was vehemently denied by an official who maintained that such allegations were unfounded and no aspersions should be cast on the ruling party bosses unless there was substantial proof in this regard. He, however, admitted that there were a large number of invalid ration cards in circulation. Meanwhile, representatives of various consumer organisations today demanded a high-level probe into the recket and stern action against the erring officials. They also threatened to launch an agitation if the authorities failed to check the malpractices and irregularities committed by officials and unscrupulous depot holders. The Haryana Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Uthan Sabha and the Haryana CITU on Monday urged the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to appoint a senior officer to investigate the matter and punish the erring officials. In a joint press release, leaders of the two organisations alleged that most of the poor people living below the poverty line as well as workers of industrial units had been denied their monthly ration of levy sugar and kerosene by the depot holders and this had caused resentment among them. |
Strengthen railway police: Haryana Chandigarh, July 30 It is learnt that last year (January 1 to December 31), 1,871 crimes were registered by the GRP at various places in the state. Up to June this year, more than 1,100 crimes have been recorded by the railway police. The authorities are reportedly particularly alarmed by the increasing number of murder cases being registered by the GRP. Fourteen bodies were recovered from railway tracks, platforms of various stations and from railway coaches during the first six months of this year. Significantly, the bodies recovered in the current year show a more than twofold increase in such incidents as compared to the corresponding period last year. All 14 murders registered in the current year are believed to have taken place elsewhere and the bodies dumped in the railway establishments. The police, however, successfully prevented the number of cases of theft as well as incidents of drugging and then looting of passengers from going up. While 111 incidents of theft of passengers’ belongings were reported in the first six months of last year, only 89 cases of theft were recorded by the GRP till June this year. Cases of drugging and looting of passengers have come down to only one case from seven registered in the first six months of last year. Those involved in such crimes are reportedly are UP and Bihar origin. They befriend labourers of the same region returning from Punjab, give them food laced with drugs which makes them unconscious, following which the criminals decamp with the cash carried by the victims. The police has been able to prevent such crimes by arresting some of these gangs and by the imposition of stringent bail conditions on them. However, the number of cases of dacoity registered by the GRP has gone up to three from only one case recorded in the corresponding period last year. One dacoity case was registered at Sonepat, one at Rohtak and one at Karnal. Two of these cases were reportedly of armed robbery taking place inside running trains, while one related to the looting of a video camera from a photographer near the railway overbridge at Panipat station. The culprits in the dacoity cases were arrested and they were found to be local criminals. The number of cases registered under the NDPS Act was 34 in the first six months of this year. The recovered drugs were primarily poppy husk, opium and charas, originating from Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Sources said that crimes taking place in railway establishments could be reduced if the Railway Board agreed to make available funds for increasing the strength of the GRP. The state government was ready to bear 50 per cent of the expenditure and it had already conveyed its willingness to the board. The state government has reportedly also asked the board to take steps to prevent accidents at unmanned level-crossings. Up to June this year, 159 accidents have taken place at unmanned crossings, leading to deaths in some cases. |
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Manch seeks ticket for Punjabis Kurukshetra, July 30 Talking to mediapersons, Mr Arora said committee members would meet head of each party and demand representation to Punjabis and allotment of ticket to them. The members warned that if they did not get ticket they would contest as Independent from Punjabi-dominated Assembly constituencies. They also asked the Haryana Government to issue a white paper on the employment given to Punjabis during the past 10 years. In another resolution, they asked the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to make available a piece of land at concessional rates in all district headquarters for the construction of a Punjabi dharamshala. The death of 10 persons who were electrocuted at Diwana was condoled. They sought a grant of Rs 10 lakh for kin of the deceased and Rs 2 lakh for the injured. The manch General Secretary, Mr Madan Lal Dua, alleged that although Punjabis’ history was full of sacrifices, they were being treated indifferently. The manch Vice-President, Mr Charanjeet Gaba, said the Punjabi community was a combination of 36 “biraadaries” and leaders of all parties should come forward, setting aside their selfish motives. The district president of the manch Mr Didaar Singh Kamboj, said a quarterly magazine would be published by the manch in which problems of Punjabis would be highlighted. |
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Cong councillors unhappy over
new house tax policy Ambala, July 30 Talking to mediapersons here today, Congress councillors of Ambala City claimed that the new house tax policy was going to have an adverse impact on most households. “Contrary to the government’s claim that the impact of the new house tax policy will be only on few households, our analysis shows that most people will be affected with substantial hike in the house tax,” they said. Throwing an open challenge to the Haryana minister, Mr Subhash Goyal, a Congress MC, Mr Bharat Ratan Sharma and other Congress MCs, said “Let Mr Goyal come to the Municipal Council Ambala City and show that according to his claim only 10 per cent people will be affected. He said we will resign if he can prove his point or he must resign if he fails to prove his point.” Among others, Congress MCs, including Mr Dharam Pal Chadha, Mrs Amisha Chawla, Mr Harish Sasan and Mr Vijay Bhasin were present. Mr Sharma pointed out that in Ambala City there were 30,725 units paying house tax, 33 per cent house tax was from internal city areas and the rest from outer areas, including ward No. 1 to 15, 17, 30 and 31. While the municipal revenue collection was 90 per cent from the outer areas, the rest was from the internal city. Sadly, the MP and MLA have been spending 90 per cent in the internal city and barely 10 per cent in the outer areas,” he claimed. The district Congress president, Mr Balwant Gupta, said that Ambala had been neglected in the recently announced schemes. “Out of the three schemes, only one for moving out the dairies have been for Ambala while the other two more important schemes of solid waste management and strengthening the fire brigade have not been given to Ambala,” he said. Mr Gupta said that the fire brigade needed to be strengthened since Ambala had several important establishments, including the Indian Air Force base and the DRM office. “Regarding dairies to be moved out, they should be moved to the rural areas so that they can save on taxes,” he said. “The only reason Ambala has been ignored is due to the lackadaisical attitude of the MP and MLA,” he added. Another Congress MC, Mr Dharam Pal Chadha, said despite the fact that people were being heavily taxed, citizens were not being accorded different civic amenities, “There is no information available regarding the exact usage of the money spent on ‘development’ by the government,” he said. The Congress councillors suggested that instead of having different taxes which burdened the people, the government should levy only one tax on alcohol and other items like pan masala. “The municipal council earlier used to earn about Rs 8 lakh to Rs 9 lakh in a month from tax on alcohol. Even today, if only Rs 10 is taxed on each alcohol bottle sold, then in a month the Municipal Council will be earning about a crore of rupees,” they suggested.” The councillors also demanded that a party-level sub committee must be formed over the house tax issue. Also, the government must issue a white paper on the developments in each ward since they claimed that favouritism had been shown regarding development in the wards of Congress MCs. |
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Lok Sangharsh Manch
demonstration Ambala, July 30 The activists of the manch took out a rally today morning from Old Aloo Godam through the different areas before culminating at the office of Municipal Council, Ambala Cantonment. Many activists then went into the office of MC president for submission of memorandum where they criticised the inaction of the municipal council regarding cleanliness in different areas. Pandit Shankar Dass alleged that the activists of the manch forcibly entered his office and raised slogans against him. The memorandum prepared by the manch stated, “With total inaction on the part of the authorities concerned, the city has become a garbage dump. Cows and pigs loiter in the city and there is no arrangement for waste water disposal. A little rainfall turns the whole city into a waterlogged area which forces the dirty water in the low-level areas to enter the houses of the residents.” |
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Campaign to oust Chautala: Ajit Faridabad, July 30 Talking to newspersons during his brief halt at Palwal, 35 km from here, this morning, he gave the slogan of “harit pradesh banao” and “Haryana bachao”. He said the campaign to create a new state would continue. He said his party would soon launch a mass movement to “liberate” people from the alleged misrule of the Chautala government. Charging the state government with failure on various fronts, he alleged no body was safe in Haryana due to the worsening law and order situation. He said farmers had been affected with the “anti-people” policies of the governments. |
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More seats allowed in technical institutions Chandigarh, July 30 A spokesman for the department said 15 per cent supernumerary seats over and above the sanctioned intake would be allowed in self-financing institutions, subject to the availability of adequate infrastructure facilities in the respective institutions to be verified by a joint committee of the department and university or board representatives which would be constituted after the receipt of requests of self-financing institutions for allowing 15 per cent supernumerary seats. He said admission for supernumerary seats in government, government-aided or self-financing institutions and the NRI seats in government or government-aided institutions would be made by already notified central agencies. For NRI seats in self-financing institutions, the NRI seats would be filled by their respective managements as per previous practice. However, in case of AICTE-approved technical courses in universities, 15 per cent supernumerary seats as well as NRI seats would be filled by the respective, universities on their own level. He said the admission for supernumerary seats as well as for NRI seats would be made on merit from the applicants. Admission notice in this regard would be issued in national or regional papers giving ample time to the perspective candidate to apply for the vacancies. he clarified that tuition and other fees for supernumerary seats would be same as for NRI seats. He said under no circumstances, a seat remained unfilled out of the 15 per cent supernumerary seats would be allocated to any other person than a foreign student or person of Indian origin. He said foreign nationals or persons of Indian origin admitted in AICTE-approved institutions through the Indian Council for Cultural Relations or as the Government of India nominee would be included within 15 per cent ceiling. |
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Elections to
student bodies postponed Kurukshetra, July 30 An indication to this effect come at a press conference today at Sirsla village, 5 km from here, addressed by the MP from Bhiwani and INLD Youth Wing President, Mr Ajay Chautala after he inaugurated a district level tree plantation camp. Talking to reporters, Mr Ajay Chautala said, “Earlier we were in favour of holding elections to student bodies, but after consulting with student leaders, we reached at the conclusion that elections to students bodies, besides leading to wastage of large amounts of money, also lead to riots.” Citing the example of Kurukshetra University Students Union election, Mr Ajay Chautala said the ban on such elections had led to a peaceful and conducive atmosphere for studies on the university campus, adding that not a single case of apprehension of breach of peace had been registered during the past two years. Mr Ajay Chautala claimed that all genuine demands of the students throughout the state had already been met by the state government. He said while the state and district level INLD units had already been reorganised, various units of the student wing would be reorganised within a month. Earlier, while inaugurating the tree plantation camp, Mr Ajay Chautala appealed to the people to help the state government in controlling population by planting more trees. |
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KU PMT results
declared Chandigarh, July 30 A press note issued by the Haryana Government said a copy of the result notification was available in the university’s colleges branch and also in the office of the Director of Pandit B.D.Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak. According to the Dean of Colleges of the university, no separate information of this result would be sent to the candidates, except to the candidates to be called for counselling. He said a merit list of limited number of candidates in each category who might be called for counselling would be displayed at the said places and would also be published in newspapers. |
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Nitin is Summer King, Jasmine Summer Queen Ambala, July 30 The show began with Saraswati vandana by Simran Gujral. Songs and dances were presented in between the four rounds of the contest. Nine males and nine females participated in the contest, a released said. Among the men, Uby Sharma was the first runners-up, while Akshay Vats was the second runners-up. Among the women. Neha Sharma was the first runners-up, while Amita Chaudhary was the second runners-up. |
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Dharna by teachers Ambala, July 30 On the first day, the activists, who went on fast, included Mr Baldev Raj, Mr Sudarshan, Mr Subhash Chand, Mr Hari Krishan Sethi and Mr Krishan Pal Vashisht. The sangh is holding the relay fast to press for the acceptance of their various demands. The demands of the teachers include taking back an order putting the primary school under the local body, regularisation of ad hoc teachers, promotion of block education officers and removal of irregularities in pay fixation. Activists of the Haryana Roadways and Electricity Department associations have reportedly extended their support to the teachers. |
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HCS exams from Aug 23 Chandigarh, July 30 A press note issued by the government said English composition examination would be held on August 23, civil law I and Hindi (Devnagri script) on August 24 and civil law II and criminal law on August 25. |
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Admission
dates for diploma courses Chandigarh, July 30 |
Shivalik board holds meeting Chandigarh, July 30 The Haryana Government has submitted an externally aided project of Rs 100.62 crore to the Union Government for arranging financial assistance from the International Fund for Agriculture Development, Rome, for integrated development of the Shivalik area. |
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HSIDC announces 17.5 lakh for roads Yamunanagar, July 30 Dr Harbaksh Singh announced Rs 17.50 lakh for the reconstruction of roads and the improvement of sewerage in Phase I and II of the HSIDC estate here. He appealed to all entrepreneurs to deposit the maintenance charge of Rs 4 per sqm. He announced that the HSIDC was maintaining a renewal fund. Dr Harbaksh Singh urged the industrialists of Yamunanagar and Jagadhri to establish units at the Manakpur industrial estate situated on the Yamunanagar-Chhachhrauli highway. The president of the association, Mr Gursharan Singh Chawla, assured the HSIDC officials that they would deposit the maintenance charge. |
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Rival
group attacks students, 1 dead Kaithal, July 30 In a complaint lodged with the police, a student, Krishan Lal, said Dayanand of Kurar village was sitting at a tea shop alongwith his friends Krishan Lal, Ved Pal and Surender at about 11 a.m. when some students armed with swords, lathis and iron rods arrived there in a Tata Sumo. They accused Dayanand and his friends of attacking members of their group two years ago and swooped down on them. They left the victims bleeding profusely and fled. Dayanand succumbed to injuries on way to hospital and the injured Ved Pal of Khurana and Surender of Chausala, were admitted to the Civil Hospital. The police has registered a case under Sections 302, 323, 325, 148 and 149 of the IPC against Kuldip, Naresh and Dheera of Deolian, J.P. of Kutalipur, Bhoop Singh Malkhe, Rajesh of Patti Afgan, Amar Singh of Jakholli Adda and Gulab. |
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Rs 55,000 looted at pistol-point Panipat, July 30 According to information, Debu Mishra and Kanta Prasad Datta of Yoga Gawa Blue Star Company were returning in a rickshaw after withdrawing Rs 55,000 from the industrial area branch of the State Bank of India around noon to make payment to the labour. When their rickshaw reached near Bhatia Nursing Home on Court Road, a car without a numberplate stopped in front of rickshaw. Three armed miscreants came out of the car and snatched the cash bag at pistol-point from the supervisors. After looting the cash, they sped away in the car. The police has registered a case. |
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Man jumps before train, dies Faridabad, July 30 Kalyan Singh, a resident of NH-II of the NIT area, committed suicide by jumping before a train near Bata crossing in the early hours today. In another mishap Ashok Kumar, who was riding a moped, was crushed to death by a Tata Sumo near Ajronda crossing on the National Highway last night. |
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