H A R Y A N A

Fake arms licences case: CBI files reply
Ambala, May 2
The CBI filed its reply in the fake arms licences case in the court of Special Judge for the CBI cases, Dr B.B. Prasoon, here today praying that the bail application of City Magistrate, Fatehabad, and the former SDM of Gurgaon, Mr R.C. Powaria, might be dismissed.

Forest Dept to set up nurseries in schools
Chandigarh, May 2
The Haryana Government has directed the Forest Department to adopt five schools per district for setting up qualitative plant nurseries to promote environment-friendly attitude and behaviour.

Vajpayee govt has lost face: LJP
Chandigarh, May 2
The general secretary of the Haryana unit of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) of Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, Mr Surinder Singh Hooda, has said that though the Vajpayee government had won the vote on the motion on the Gujarat issue in the Lok Sabha, it had lost face on moral grounds.

Two boys drowned in pond
Hisar, May 2
Two boys, Sanjay Kumar and Rinku, drowned in a pond at Sindhar village, near here, last evening they had gone to their fields yesterday afternoon. When they did not return home, their family members searched for them. They saw their clothes near the pond. Later, their bodies were fished out.

Fake arms licences case: CBI files reply
Our Correspondent

Ambala, May 2
The CBI filed its reply in the fake arms licences case in the court of Special Judge for the CBI cases, Dr B.B. Prasoon, here today praying that the bail application of City Magistrate, Fatehabad, and the former SDM of Gurgaon, Mr R.C. Powaria, might be dismissed.

The CBI had registered a case against Mr Powaria in July last under the Prevention of Corruption Act and 29 of the Arms Act, 1959, for allegedly issuing arms licences by misusing his official position. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted him anticipatory bail till May 5, 2002.

The Judge has fixed May 4 for hearing on the regular bail application. Dr Sushil Gupta, DSP, appeared on behalf of the CBI while Mr Davender Bansal represented Mr Powaria in the court.

The CBI stated in his reply, “This case involves a large-scale racket regarding the issuance of illegal arms licences from the office of the District Magistrate, Jammu, to most of the persons who were not residents of Jammu and Kashmir. Prima facie scrutiny of the record in the office of the DM has shown that thousands of such illegal licences have been issued. This racket has huge dimensions covering 10 states and has inter-state ramifications. Some of the licences have also landed into the hands of anti-social elements and it has posed a threat to the national security at large.”

The CBI said in his reply that in the anticipatory bail application filed by the petitioner in the high court, no notice was ever served to the CBI and the order was passed by the high court without hearing the plea. The accused had also moved bail application based on similar grounds in another case in which CBI was heard and the application was dismissed.

The CBI alleged that on the direction of Mr Powaria, employees of the SDM office, Gurgaon, placed the records of licences for his signature without any police verification and without obtaining no objection certificate from Jammu. The plea taken by him that he was overburdened and because of this, applicants’ signatures were obtained by the clerk concerned was not based on substantial grounds.

Forest Dept to set up nurseries in schools
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 2
The Haryana Government has directed the Forest Department to adopt five schools per district for setting up qualitative plant nurseries to promote environment-friendly attitude and behaviour.

A decision to this effect was taken at the second meeting of the State Steering Committee held here today under the chairmanship of Commissioner and Secretary, Environment, Mr D.S. Dhesi. The government had constituted the committee for monitoring the raising of the National Green Corps by setting up eco clubs in 1900 selected schools of the state.

Mr Dhesi directed the Forest Department to prepare a scheme for creating small nurseries in the selected schools and ensure that these nurseries received special attention and extra inputs.

In another significant decision, Mr Dhesi said all 38 master trainers selected for training in charges of eco-clubs would be provided with a refresher course in May. The District Education Officers of all districts would also be provided with the course.

He suggested that a scheme be devised under which a nearly park should be assigned to students for its maintenance and development.

The Director, Environment, Mr Sarban Singh, who is also nodal officer for the corps and member secretary of the committee, apprised members of the activities being undertaken in various eco clubs as prescribed in the “Saturday school environment day” manual which had been brought out by the Children’s Alliance for Protection of the Environment.

Vajpayee govt has lost face: LJP
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 2
The general secretary of the Haryana unit of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) of Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, Mr Surinder Singh Hooda, has said that though the Vajpayee government had won the vote on the motion on the Gujarat issue in the Lok Sabha, it had lost face on moral grounds.

In a statement issued here today Mr Hooda said the resignation of Mr Paswan from the Union Cabinet and the parting of ways between the LJP and the NDA were signs of the complete failure of the Vajpayee government on the Gujarat issue.

Mr Hooda said a party delegation met Mr Paswan in Delhi yesterday and congratulated him on his bold decision to quit the Cabinet. He said the Haryana unit of the party had been urging Mr Paswan to dissociate himself from the NDA in view of the “fundamentalist policies” of the BJP. He said Mr Paswan had quit the ministership for principles while in the past others had been resigning from the Union Cabinet for personal reasons.

Two boys drowned in pond
Our Correspondent

Hisar, May 2
Two boys, Sanjay Kumar and Rinku, drowned in a pond at Sindhar village, near here, last evening they had gone to their fields yesterday afternoon. When they did not return home, their family members searched for them. They saw their clothes near the pond. Later, their bodies were fished out.

Meanwhile, a person was killed and two others were injured in a road accident at Nangthala village, near here, last night. The injured were admitted to Maharaj Aggarsain Medical College, Agroha.

According to the police, Kapil Taneja, a resident of Agroha, along with his friends Mukesh and Mannu, residents of the same town, was returning from Barwala in his car after attending a marriage party when the vehicle rammed into a tree. Kapil died on the spot, the police said.