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| Monday, August 6, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Committee
on road safety set up Rewari
crime graph up Literature
awards revived Hooda seeks white paper
on foreign jaunts |
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Sinha’s
resignation not required: Samata Phone
waiting list to be exhausted by 2001-end 4000-line
telephone exchange for Sonepat Plan to set up new phone exchanges Murder of
Principal, lecturer condemned Cong men
divided over Nuh rally Welfare
camp for disabled begins 
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Committee on road safety set up Chandigarh, August 3 This decision was taken at the first high-level meeting convened to ensure inter-departmental coordination on road safety held here last evening under the chairmanship of the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Mr
S.Y. Quraishi. So far no other state in the country has a single department or authority responsible for handling the growing problem of unsafe travel on roads. Through Haryana 11 national highways pass and about 2,500 deaths occur in road accidents in the state every year. The committee, headed by the Chief Secretary, would coordinate the efforts of various departments for reducing accidents. The committee would meet at least once every three months to review the implementation of various decisions. The Public Works Department has been directed to identify the spots on the national highways where traffic lights needed to be installed. It has also been directed to clear vegetation on the joining points of village roads with the national highways for better visibility of coming traffic. Reflectors would be installed at vulnerable points. Iron grills would also be put up along the national highway at each village. The Transport Department would act as the secretariat of the committee. It would also set up a road safety fund with contributions from insurance companies, the private sector and the state and Central governments. It would also appoint experts for conducting studies on each important road in the state for the necessary corrective actions. It would also impart training to the drivers of private buses and other commercial vehicles. A senior police officer in each district would be designated to deal with all traffic-related affairs. The SPs would prepare traffic regulation plans for roads falling in their districts. The Excise Department would conduct raids on dhabas to ensure that they did not sell liquor to drivers. |
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Rewari crime graph up Rewari, August 5 It started with the custodial death of a Dalit youth, Amar Nath of Gokalgarh village, in the sadar police station here on Tuesday. Following public protests and road blockade a case of murder was registered against the erring police officials. Congress legislator, Capt Ajay Singh Yadav and a party activist Vijay Saini vent out the ire of public. On Thursday , the principal and a lecturer of Government Senior Secondary School,
Kund, were shot dead and a sum of Rs 3.14 lakh were looted from them by three armed youths. An irate mob damaged the official jeep of the SDM. Over 1000 police personnel from Rewari, Mahendragarh, Gurgaon and Faridabad launched combing operations in the Kund region to nab the culprits. On Friday , an accountant of a local factory was beaten up and his body was thrown into the furnace of the factory here. Capt Ajay Singh Yadav led a delegation of the villagers to the Deputy Commissioner and the SP here on Saturday. Irate residents blocked road at Narainpur village led by Congress activist Vijay Saini who was injured in the lathi charge by the police. A case on charges of rioting, assaulting public servant and causing damage to government property was registered against him and he was sent to the lockup. Decrying the “politics of vendetta” against the Congress , Mr Ajay Singh Yadav has alleged that the law and order situation had completely collapsed in the district and the police has failed in its duty to check crime and instead targeted Congress activists. He said the party would organise a protest meeting at Gopalgarh village on August 10. |
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Literature
awards revived Kurukshetra, August 5 The Chief Minister made this announcement in the state level-”Sanskrit Divas” function organised by the Haryana Sahitya Academy in collaboration with the Haryana Cultural Affairs Department in the Senate Hall of Kurukshetra University. The Minister of State for Education, Mr Bahadur Singh, presided over the function. These prizes include ‘Soor Puruskar’, “Ved Vyas Puraskar”, ‘Babu Bal Mukand Puraskar’. Dr Lohia Puraskar’ and “Pandit Laxmi Chand Puraskar”. Stressing upon the need to promote Sanskrit, Mr Chautala said Sanskrit could play a vital role in national integration. Repeating the State Government earlier decision to make Sanskrit compulsory up to 10th standard, he said that efforts would be made to implement this language up to BA level. Mr Chautala said Sanskrit had contributed significantly in the field of Mathematics, science, astronomy, economics, politics, philosophy and art since its literature encompassed the knowledge of all these subjects. The Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Mr R.S. Chaudhry, maintained that ancient Indian culture and its traditions led the whole world in building character and great personalities. The Haryana State Education Minister, Mr Bahadur Singh, presided over the function. Prof Kailasho Devi, MP appealed to the Chief Minister to put more in this direction. Dr Sansar Chand, while presenting his research paper disclosed that Sanskrit language has about 10 lakh words in its vocabulary. He hailed the present Union Government for taking keen interest in promoting this language and the Haryana Chief Minister who took oath in Sanskrit language. While presiding over the Sanskrit Day celebrations on the premises of Swami Shankar Chaitanya Bhartiya Sanskrit Mahavidyala, here the former Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Banarsi Das Gupta, called upon the people to check the influence of western culture. Mr Gupta said to secure freedom from the manual salvery was easier than to get freedom from the cultural slavery. Mr Gupta also gave away prizes to the winners while the Shri Krishan Dham Trustee, Mr Umesh Goel donated a refrigerator and books for the college library. |
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Hooda seeks white paper
on foreign jaunts Ambala, August 5 Talking to mediapersons here today, Mr Hooda said Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala had earlier undertaken a foreign tour and till date no more foreign investments had been made in the state. Public money is being wasted on foreign tours and the state is not gaining in anyway, he claimed. Mr Hooda, who had come to Ambala, with regard to a women’s empowerment function, said the Congress had been steadily working towards empowering women under the leadership of Mrs Sonia Gandhi. “It is a matter of concern for us that the sex ratio in Haryana shows fewer girls compared to boys,” he said. He said the party was encouraging reservation for women and had given the ticket to many of them during the elections. Former minister, Selja said that Congress had raised the issue of women’s reservation under the leadership of Rajiv Gandhi. It is on record that last time when the women reservation Bill came up, the Congress had issued a whip. Mr Hooda said that the issue of law and order was being regularly raised by the party. “I have already demanded that a special session on law and order should be held. If things do not improve we are going to call for a Haryana bandh,” he said. He stated that Mr Chautala was taking interest in UP instead of Haryana. The first priority of a Chief Minister should be the state but this is not happening in the case of the Chautala Government. They have been camping in UP for the past three months,” he said. Former Haryana Minister Mr Nirmal Singh claimed that casteism was also seeping into society. District Congress women’s cell president, Amarjeet Kaur Sodhi said the party would hold a dharna in the rape case involving a minor girl. We will approach the Human Rights Commission and Women’s Commission with regard to rape cases,” she said. |
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CBI ex-chief for steps against corruption Ambala, August 5 Addressing a function organised by the Sarv Hitkari Manch in Ambala City on corruption-free society here today, Mr Joginder Singh said a beginning had been made but it would take time to bring about a change. Mr Joginder Singh said no improvement was possible till a change was brought in criminal justice system. “In 70 per cent of the cases, the government is the litigating party. There is a backlog of 3.25 crore cases and it will take about 160 years to clear it, provided no more cases are filed,” he said. He said according to a Berlin-based organisation, Transparency International, 92 nations were surveyed on the basis of several parameters and India figured at the lowest end of the list. “Incidentally, there is less corruption in the Scandivanian countries, but even the USA was not free of corruption, he said. “Thirty years ago, Greece had high corruption level. There was a major debate among intellectuals and political parties following which the country passed a law making 100 per cent voting compulsory. If a person in Greece wants to avail any government service, he needs to produce his voting card. This has brought about some improvement in their system, he said. In some posh constituencies, there is less than 50 per cent voting which is very unfortunate, he said. Mr Joginder Singh said we all were responsible for the evil. “If somebody is ready to give bribe, somebody will always be there to receive it, he said. He pointed out that according to a Reserve Bank of India report, there were about Rs 73,000 crore of non-performing assets. “The reason for the high non-performing assets is because of our lackadaisical attitude,” he said. He said there was no point in passing laws if these were not implemented. The JMM bribery case had waited four years for verdict, he said. Resorting to the CBI investigation was not a solution to all problems. “Even if people are prosecuted, we must ensure that the embezzled money comes back,” he said. There is a need for extensive police reforms. Citing an example, he said a Sub-inspector in his 28 years of service was transferred 132 times. “Transfer is a big weapon in the hands of politicians,” he said. Mr Joginder Singh said all issues must be raised in writing and it would definitely have an impact. “There is a need to start public audit, including putting up a board which gives all information. It will bring about transparency,” he added. |
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Sinha’s resignation
not required: Samata Rohtak, August 5 Talking to newspersons here today, the national President of the Samata Party, Mr V.V. Krishna Rao, said the UTI Chairman had been removed from his post and the CBI was investigating the case. No useful purpose would be served by the resignation of Mr Sinha from the Union Cabinet over this issue, he said. He said coalition politics was the need of the hour in view of the multiple political parties, which represented the aspirations of the people of various regions in the country. Mr Rao, addressing a meeting of party workers, said his party unit in Haryana would raise social and economic issues confronting the people of the state. He further said Samata Party units had been constituted in 29 states of the country. An ad hoc committee had been formed in Haryana and party units in Chandigarh, Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh would be constituted soon, he added. |
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Phone waiting
list to be exhausted by 2001-end Rohtak, August 5 Addressing a press conference after assuming charge here on July 3, Mr Bhargava said except Sheetal Nagar, Ambedkar Colony, Preet Vihar, Sunarian Chowk, Azad Nagar and Sunarian and Kanheli villages, the phone seekers were not required to wait for telephone connections. He said the number of applicants in the waiting list was 17,721 on March 31 and the district telecom authorities had planned to provide nearly 25,000 new connections by the end of current year. He said there was move to increase the capacity of the telephone exchanges by more than 35,000 lines. He informed that 10 new telephone exchanges in rural areas and two exchanges in urban areas were planned to be opened in this year. Besides, he said the facilities of mobile telephone service and wireless in local loop (WLL) system were proposed to be introduced during the period. Mr Bhargava said there had been net increase of 22,280 lines in working connections registering a growth rate of 32 per cent in 2000-2001. He said 75 optical fiber systems were commissioned during the year registering a growth of 156 per cent in the transmission network and 16 new telephone exchanges had been opened in the year on reliable media (without optical fibre). He informed the Telecom District had earned revenue of Rs 46.5 crore last financial year registering 28 per cent growth in revenue. |
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4000-line telephone exchange for Sonepat Sonepat, August 5 Giving this information, Mr R.C. Hooda, General Manager of Telecommunications, told mediapersons here today that this new technology exchange would provide the latest services like caller international dialling, ISDN and video conferencing etc. He disclosed that after successfully launching the internet services of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the internet connections were increasing day by day and the total connections had gone up to 110 during a short span. To promote information technology (IT) awareness in rural areas of the district, a campaign had been launched to open internet dhabas. Out of the seven blocks in Sonepat district, the blocks of Sonepat, Ganaur and Rai had already been covered and applications invited for the remaining blocks namely Gohana, Kathura, Mundlana, and Kharkhauda from aspiring candidates, Mr Hooda added. Mr Hooda disclosed that the expansion of the Sonepat main exchange had been done by 2000 lines and the switching capacity of this exchange had now become 17,000 lines. Now the waiting list of the Sonepat main exchange would be released up to January 2 next year in a phased manner and as per priority. He also said a total of 985 new connections had been provided during the past month alone in Sonepat telecom district. On the Kharkhauda-Sonepat route, as many as 30 additional lines had been added to avoid traffic congestion. Computerised fault repair service through the IVRS had been started in Palri, Rai and Mehlana village exchanges. |
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Plan to set up new phone exchanges Ambala, August 5 He said Wireless in Local Loop
(WLL) for limited mobility field trial had been held in Panipat and 1,000 line equipment had been installed. “We are also replacing the paper cables in Ambala with jelly filled cable so that the incident of water damaging the cable does not take place,” he said. Mr Jethwani said the Haryana Telecom circle had planned to provide customer service centres in all short distance charging areas by September. He said recently the tariffs for ISDN services had been reduced. The monthly rental had been reduced to Rs 500 per month and no rental will be charged from the subscribers already having two telephones with a minimum average billing of Rs 10,000 per month. The General Manager, Ambala, Mr G.S. Daria, said an inquiry had been ordered into the incident of cables being damaged during the flood like situation in Ambala. The inquiry would be completed within one week. “Our cable joints were destroyed which led to 2700 cables being affected. About 350 phone lines are still affected and within the next four days we are going to rectify the fault. We will give rebate to the consumer whose phone line was affected for more than seven days,” he said. He said during 2001-2002 four new telephone exchanges at
Badhaur, Chamrauli, Khurdban and Sambhalka would be opened in rural areas and 13 exchanges would be commissioned for augmentation of capacity at the existing stations. |
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Murder of Principal, lecturer condemned Jind, August 5 The Committee demanded immediate arrest of the culprits. The committee also demanded that Rs 10 lakh be given to the families of the deceased as compensation and government service to one member of the family of the deceased. It also demanded that Rs 1 lakh be given to the teacher who was injured in the incident. Principal Mahabir Singh and lecturer Ram Kishan were shot dead at Kund while they were reportedly going to school after withdrawing salary of teachers from a bank. Mr Lal Singh, another lecturer, was injured in the incident. The committee also urged upon the government to provide protection to the teachers. The meeting was presided over by Mr Kartar Singh Malik, state president of the sangh. |
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Cong men divided over Nuh rally Faridabad, August 5 Former Haryana Congress president Birender Singh and his supporters are touring every village of the district and making all-out efforts to make this rally as successful as the one held by Mr Bhajan Lal at Bhiwani and Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda at Rohtak. None of other senior state party leaders like Mr Bhajan Lal, Mr Avtar Singh Bhadana, Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, Mr Lachman Dass Arora and Mr A.C. Chaudhry or their supporters in this district, like Mr J.P. Nagar, Mr Amarjeet Singh, Mr Vasudev Saluja, Mr Tek Chand Sharma etc have toured the area to garner the support of the people to make the rally successful. Certain senior district Congress
leaders are openly propagating that the Mewat rally is not a Congress rally but only a Birender Singh rally. They say he has unsuccessfully been trying to regain his lost prestige by holding this rally. |
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Welfare
camp for disabled begins Panipat, August 5 A blood donation camp was held on the occasion in which about 70 volunteers donated blood. Also, 50 destitute women and 50 disabled persons were given sewing machines and tricycles, respectively by the Deputy Commissioner. Speaking on the occasion, the Deputy Commissioner said each block of the district had been given two days at the camp so that the disabled from every village could be helped. |
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Dacoit Khurshid arrested Faridabad, August 5 According to the police, Naina dacoit gang has been operating in many cities of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and wanted by the police in several dacoity cases. The arrested dacoit is being interrogated. |
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