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Sunday, January 20, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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‘SYL repair after Punjab begins construction’ Case against ADC kicks up row Experts to mull over fall in vultures SHO suspension ordered Cong legal cell to hold convention |
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Trauma centres to be set up along highways Murder case: CBI probe sought IN FOCUS
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‘SYL repair after Punjab begins construction’ Panchkula, January 19 This was stated by the state Finance Minister, Mr Sampat Singh, while addressing a press conference here today. He said the canal, which would serve as the lifeline of Haryana, has suffered some damage during the past two decades that it had been lying unused. He said the state government had begun an exercise to assess the damage to the state's portion of the canal and that its repair would be given top priority. He said the canal would benefit the farmers in the southern parts of the state. He claimed that the financial condition of the state was better than most other states in the country. He said perhaps Haryana was the only state where salaries to all government employees besides pending arrears, had been disbursed. Even the government-aided schools and colleges had been sanctioned their pending grants. Haryana was the financially most well-managed state in the country, he claimed. Talking about delay in construction of a 100-bed hospital here, the minister refuted charges that the delay was a result of paucity of funds. The hospital would be ready by the end of this financial year, he assured. He, however, refused to comment on the INLD prospects in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Mr Singh had earlier presided over the District Grievances Committee meeting. He exhorted officers to redress public complaints at the earliest. In a complaint regarding an electronic meter installed at the house of a resident of Hangola, he directed the HVPN official to inspect the spot with the non-government member of the committee. In another complaint regarding the poor condition of roads in Sector 4, the minister directed HUDA officials to visit the spot within two days. Several other complaints related to loan disbursement by a bank, charging transportation charges by gas agencies in Kalka, air pollution by an industrial unit in Sector 19 etc. were also taken up. Ms Jyoti Arora, Deputy Commissioner, assured the minister that the administration was sensitive to public grievances and these were being given prime importance.
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Case against ADC kicks up row Kaithal, January 19 The police had registered the case against Mr Kasni, an HCS officer, last week after the present ADC wrote to the SP that eight computer CDs and some software manuals were missing since the day the official relinquished the charge. However, Mr Kasni denied any knowledge about the missing articles when he was contacted at his Chandigarh office by the staff of the Kaithal ADC office. The SP, Mr A.S. Chawla, confirmed the receipt of a letter from Dr Suprabha Dahiya which requested the cancellation of the FIR lodged against Mr Kasni on the basis of her first letter. The SP, however, said that he was seeking legal opinion on this matter. Some legal experts were of the view that the ADC could not get an FIR cancelled. Only the police was competent to cancel an FIR if it found that there was no substance in the complaint which formed the basis of lodging the FIR. Similarly, only the state government was competent to withdraw a criminal case, the experts added.
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Experts to mull over fall in vultures Panchkula Avian experts from all over the world are meeting here for a five day workshop, beginning January 21 , to discuss ways and means to monitor the population of these severely endangered species. This workshop on “Vulture Monitoring and Bird Survey Techniques” is being organised by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and the Haryana Wildlife Department here and will involve officials concerned with the conservation of forests and wild life. The main issue for discussion between experts from the BNHS, the Royal Society for Protection of Birds, and the London Zoological Society, will be the decline in population, despite regular breeding. “There has been more than 95 per cent decline in India’s population of the two vulture species during the past 10 years in India,” says Mr R.D. Jagatri, Chief Wildlife Warden, Haryana. Colonies of vultures have been sighted in Ferozepore district of Punjab, Morni Hills (Badisher and Samlesan Devi) and Pinjore, near Uchana village in Jind district and at the Kalesar sanctuary (Yamunanagar), during the past couple of months. This had been hailed by a section of wildlife experts and they felt that the bird was no longer endangered. However, avian experts have observed that the vulture, after it has laid the eggs and the young ones come out, die following extreme exhaustion in rearing the young ones. The young vultures, too, die thereafter. They say that postmortem of the dead vultures has consistently revealed symptoms of viral disease. Earlier theories behind the decline in vulture population because of accumulation of pesticide or excessive protein intake leading to gout have been more or less ruled out. The workshop will also discuss ways and means to thwart the spread of this viral disease in vultures in Europe and in sanctuaries and safaris of Africa. It is believed that the viral disease that has spread among vultures of India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and reached Europe, is likely to spread Africa. The workshop is a part of a project, “Conservation of Critically Endangered Gyps Species of Vultures in India”, which is funded by UK’s Darwin Initiative Fund for Survival of Species. The three-year project was initiated in September 2001 and involves disease diagnosis of vultures and their captive breeding and rehabilitation. It is as part of this project that a vulture breeding and research centre is also being set up in Jodhpur village in Pinjore with Dr Vibhu Prakash of BNHS as Principal Project Investigator. |
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SHO suspension ordered Panipat, January 19 The orders were passed by the minister during the meeting of the District Public Relations and Grievances Redressal Committee here. While Ahlawat has been suspended for allegedly not registering case against Kamla Jain and her driver, who had seriously injured Bimla, a resident of Raj Nagar, last year. Havaldar Tara Chand, posted at the Israna police station, had been placed under suspension for allegedly beating up Mr Satbir, a resident of Lohari village. It may be realled that Mr Sujan Singh, husband of Bimla, had lodged a complaint alleging police inaction in the case. Bimla was seriously injured when she was hit by the car belonging of Kamla Jain near the railway crossing of the Gohana road on February 13 last year. The minister also ordered that the car driver be arrested and expenditure incurred by Bimla be reimbursed from the District Red Cross Society. In the other case, Jaikishan of Lohari village fraudulently sold off plot belonging to Om Parkash of the same village of Dhan Singh. When the son of Om Parkash, Satbir, approached the Israna police for registration of case, wife of Jaikishan alleged that Satbir had tried to outrage her modesty. Later, when Satbir went to the police station for follow-up action in the case, he was allegedly beaten, made to sign the compromise and Rs 400 were also snatched from him. |
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Cong legal cell to hold convention Kaithal, January 19 Mr Thakur said committees of advocates were being constituted in all districts to represent Congress leaders and workers, implicated in false cases at the behest of the state government. He told mediapersons that to expose anti-people policies of the Chautala government the state legal cell had decided to organise a state-level convention on January 27 at Kurukshetra, which would be presided over by Mr H.R. Bharadwaj, former Union Law Minister and Chairman, AICC legal cell. Mr Arjun Singh senior Congress leader, Mr Satyajit Gaikwad, Secretary, AICC, Mr Bhupinder Hooda, President, HPCC, and other senior leaders would address the convention. He also stated that the legal cell would organise camps in villages of each Assembly constituency to create awareness among the masses about their legal rights. Ms Daya Chaudhary, former president, Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association and Vice-Chairman, legal cell, criticised the state government’s decision to impose professional tax on advocates and called it arbitrary and unjustified. She said it would put a heavy burden on advocates and added that if needed this cell would fight it legally at all platforms. She also gave a call to the legal fraternity to come forward and join the politics to get rid of the corrupt politicians. Mr Randhir Rana, Secretary, HPCC, Mr Dalbir Singh, Mr Sudhir Mehta and a number of other advocates and Congressmen were present on the occasion. |
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Trauma centres to be set up along highways Faridabad, January 19 Speaking after inaugurating a Primary Health Centre (PHC) at nearby Dhauj village today, Mr Chautala said his government was determined to provide basic amenities and infrastructure to its urban and rural population. Claiming that the pace of growth in various areas, including agriculture, industry, education, sports, business and public health, was satisfactory, he said the measures taken by his government had been able to make a good impact so far. The Chief Minister claimed that a favourable industrial policy had given good results as nearly 70 large and 2,843 medium and small units had started functioning in Haryana during his government’s tenure so far. He said the state had contributed 45 lakh tonnes of wheat to the Central pool last year. The contribution in the past season had gone up 65 lakh tonnes, which, he said, was a record. Mr Chautala said 27 buildings for health centres and eight dispensaries had been built during the past two years. |
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Murder case: CBI probe sought Panipat, January 19 Talking to reporters on the occasion of the first death anniversary of their parents yesterday, they said they would file a writ in the Punjab and Haryana High Court to press for a CBI probe into the matter as the police and the CID had failed to work out the case even after one year. It may be recalled that the couple was murdered on January 18 last year on the premises of Aggarsain Spinners Limited. Since the local police had failed to make any headway in the murder case, Mr M.S. Malik, DGP had handed over the case to the crime branch on May 11 last year on the persistent demand of industrialists. They said the atmosphere of insecurity had forced them to migrate from the state and they were even contemplating selling their unit. Meanwhile, a charitable trust has been formed in memory of the deceased couple. |
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IN FOCUS Ambala, January 19 A fire official said that a fire engine with a capacity of 4,500 litres has already arrived. “The other fire engine is comparatively smaller. It has a capacity of 2,200 litres”, he said. “These two fire engines are going to be a shot in the arm for the fire brigade of Ambala Sadar”, he added. Currently, the Fire Brigade here has three fire engines to which the fourth has been added. Besides the expected small fire engine, it is believed that yet another small fire engine may come to the fire brigade which will eventually take the number of fire engines to six. However, mere increase in the present fleet would not help much as the present fire engines are ageing. These need to be phased out. The old fire engines may be gradually phased out in the near future. According to a fire official, the small fire engine is particularly welcome since the roads in the colonies in Ambala Sadar are narrow and haphazard. “It is extremely difficult to take a large fire engine within the colonies since the roads are narrow. We would find it easier to reach a spot promptly with the help of the smaller fire engine”, he said. He says that the large fire engines are effective in controlling fire spread over large areas such as village fields. “The only problem in fires which break out in villages is of accessibility. There are times when the fields are not close to the road. We have to take the heavy vehicles somehow as close to the fire as possible”, he said. A civil defence volunteer pointed out that there was definitely a need to improve the existing Fire Brigade, particularly keeping in view the importance and sensitivity of Ambala which is dotted with defence, railways and oil depots. “I would like to stress that further strengthening is required so that in case of any untoward incident, prompt and effective action can be initiated”, he said. Deputy Commissioner D.D. Gautam said the new fire engines are going to improve the services of the Ambala Sadar Fire Brigade. “We are considering one of the new fire engines for Mullana so that the area is also effectively covered”, he said. Naggal MLA, Mr Jasbir Mallour, said that the arrival of new fire engines will be of great help in his area. “There are 165 villages in Naggal Assembly constituency and the fire engines come either from Ambala Sadar or Ambala City”, he said. He suggested that farmers should not burn the stock after the combine is used. “The fire can spread to the fields of other villagers. It also leads to air pollution. My suggestion is that farmers should turn the stock into cattlefeed”, he said. Mr Mallour said that Naggal area, which does not have a fire station, is being effectively serviced by Ambala Sadar and Ambala City fire stations. The acquisition of new fire engines to the existing fleet is definitely a welcome step, he said.
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Action recommended in 157 cases Panchkula, January 19 While stating this, the spokesperson of the State Vigilance Bureau said that they had detected 26 cases involving a revenue leakage amounting to Rs 51.18
lakh. Departmental action against 32 GOs and nine NGOs, besides recovery of over Rs 5.48 lakh of lease and cultivation charges from concerned officers of Irrigation Department, has been recommended.
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Panun Kashmir observes Ouster Day Ambala January 19 The zonal coordinator, Mr J.L. Kaul, while addressing the gathering said that Kashmiri Hindus had to leave the Valley during Aurangzeb’s time, and again in 1947 when Pakistan invaded Kashmir. “In 1990, we had to leave the Valley at gunpoint. About 4 lakh Kashmiri Hindus became refugees in their own country.” He added that Kashmiri Hindu families are residing in camps where no proper facilities are available. The meeting came to an end after observing a two-minute silence for those who had sacrificed their lives for the country.
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Haryana may move SC Sirsa, January 19
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242 cases settled Karnal, January 19 About 520 cases were presented in the Lok Adalat for settlement. |
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