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Wednesday,
August 14, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Haryana can draw 200 cr from CRF Bhajan Lal
wants Punjab to complete SYL canal Plans to
mark 100 years of Shimla rail section IYC sets
up panel to probe HPSC selections Dalal
case: another witness turns hostile |
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Search on
for HERC member Red
Cross to bear cost of student’s studies 2
crushed to death under train Two killed as Canter hits truck
Woman
poisons sons to death; self
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Haryana
can draw 200 cr from CRF Chandigarh, August 13 As the CRF was split in the ratio of 75:25 between the Union Government and the state government, drawing of Rs 200 crore, accumulated in the name of Haryana in the
CRF, would entail expenditure of Rs 50 crore by the state on account of drought relief. However, the total of Rs 250 crore would be short of the money stated to be required by the state. According to an estimate made by the state government recently, the amount needed was put at Rs 1100 crore. The amount needed for relief was likely to go up after the state government completed the special girdwari in districts. Asked how the state government would mobilise the additional cash, official sources here said they might ask the Centre to release funds from the National Calamity Control Fund
(NCCF). Relief under the NCCF would entail visit by a Central team to Haryana to determine the extent of damage in the state. Only after a scrutiny was carried out could funds be released from the
NCCF, it was learnt. The sources said farmers would be given cash compensation for loss of crops and financial support for purchase of seeds. He said compensation for loss of crops would be to the tune of Rs 2500 to Rs 1000 per hectare, depending on the extent of damage. The sources added that the Financial Commissioner, Revenue Department, had called a meeting here tomorrow to review the contingency plans of various departments concerned. Representatives of Irrigation, Agriculture, Health, Public Health, Women and Child Development and Animal Husbandry Departments would attend the meeting. Importantly, drought relief had also become a political issue in Haryana as Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, President of the All-India Youth Congress and former MLA from
Narwana, today alleged that the state government was callous to the plight of farmers. “Rajasthan has demanded Rs 4966 crore for drought relief, Chattisgarh Rs 2300 crore, Madhya Pradesh Rs 1700 crore and Karnataka Rs 1200 crore. Haryana has moved a proposal to the Centre for Rs 250 crore only from the
CRF”, he alleged. He alleged that the ego hassle between Mr Om Prakash Chautala and Union Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh was preventing Mr Chautala from seeking cooperation from the Centre with regard to drought relief. He also added that so far, Haryana had not given any interim relief to the farmers and claimed that interim relief had been offered by the state government to farmers in Congress-ruled states. The AIYC President also demanded Rs 10,000 per acre as compensation for farmers who had been affected by drought. Mr Surjewala also sought reconstitution of the Special Task Force for agriculture created by the Centre. He said it should be reconstituted with the Leader of the Opposition as its Chairperson or Co-Chairperson. |
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Bhajan Lal wants
Punjab to complete SYL canal Chandigarh, August 13 The former Chief Minister was speaking at a “Meet the Press” programme organised at Chandigarh Press Club here today. He said that since a Congress government was in power in Punjab, he would request the party President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, to urge the Punjab Chief Minister to expedite the work on the canal, which would bring a new lease of life for Haryana. Accusing the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, of wrongly taking credit for the verdict on the SYL in the Supreme Court, Mr Bhajan Lal said that it was during his tenure as Chief Minister that 95 per cent of the work on the canal had been completed. “In fact, we had filed the case in the Supreme Court. Mr Chautala had never even raised the issue of sharing of river waters with the Punjab because of his proximity with then Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal,” he alleged. He said Mr Chautala had called an all party meeting on the SYL issue and the Congress would support his demand for expediting the link canal. Answering queries on his next step as President of the state Congress, he said that he hoped to rejuvenate the rank and file of the party in the state. He said the party was riddled with casteism and he hoped to do away with this and also end criminalisation of politics. “People who want to work for the welfare of masses will be given responsibility within the party. ” The Congress leader said that his priority would be to strengthen the party and any differences between the leaders should be removed. He said he had spoken to Mr Bhupinder
Singh Hooda, Chaudhary Varinder Singh and Ms Shelja Kumari to help him in strengthening the party. This would help create a conducive atmosphere for a Congress victory at the hustings. He said that all sections of society were dissatisfied with the Chautala regime and that the government would not last for long. In answer to a question regarding their agenda for toppling the INLD government, he said that there was no such agenda but the resentment against the present government was widespread. When asked if he were in favour of giving free power to farmers, Mr Bhajan Lal said that farmers needed assured water and power supply and not free power. |
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Plans to mark 100 years of Shimla rail section Ambala, August 13 While the Kalka-Shimla section will be completing its first century next year, the start of the 100th year later this year has led to officials in the division to plan programmes which will reflect the old world charm and the pristine beauty of the section built in 1903. The Divisional Railway Manager, here, Mr Deepak Krishan, said the 100th year of the Kalka-Shimla section was going to start in November this year. “Our stress will be to promote tourism. A number of functions will be organised at different stations and we will seek the participation of the people,” he said. Mr Deepak Krishan said we were keen that lesser known stations like Kanoh and Jabli gain prominence. “Incidentally, Barog is a heritage station,” he said. He pointed out that the entire track had been rehabilitated. “A stretch of 2 km is left which will be completed before November. We have strengthened the rail track, steel sleepers have been used and the track has been improved,” he said. He added that the entire narrow
gauge track had been protected against rock fall and the tunnels on the section had also been rehabilitated. The DRM stated that modifications had been carried out on the old engines which were now more fuel-efficient. There are currently 14 diesel engines, one steam engine and four rail cars. The rail cars can be chartered and a full train can also be run chartered for enjoying picnics at picturesque stations. “Two extra diesel engines have been requisitioned from the South Eastern Railway which were in operation on the Nagpur-Chandaport line,” he said. Mr Deepak Krishan said retiring rooms were available at Kalka, Barog, Dharampur, Summer Hill, Kandaghat and Solan. A backgrounder on the Kalka-Shimla states that the 96.5 km section traversed by the Kalka-Shimla route of the Northern Railway is considered to be one of the most spectacular narrow gauge lines in the world. Built in 1903 by the DLI-UMB-KLK Railway company and commissioned for service on January 1, 1906 by the former North-Western Railway, this section cost the railway to the tune of Rs 1.75 crore. The narrow gauge line connects Kalka at an altitude of 656 meters with Shimla at an altitude of 2075 metre. There are 20 stations on this section, important among them being Dharampur, Solan, Kandaghat, Taradevi and Summer Hill. There are a mind-boggling 919 curves on the route with the sharpest curve being of 48 degrees. Also, there are a large number of bridges which fall enroute with the longest bridge No 226, a length of 112.14 metre. And there are more than a 100 tunnels with the longest tunnel being 1143 metre long. This tunnel and the station are named after Col S. Barog, Railway Engineer who reportedly committed suicide after the initial failure in meeting the tunnels dug up from both sides at a common point. Built in Gothic architecture, the station building at Barog evokes a vision of a by-gone era. |
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IYC sets up panel to probe HPSC selections Chandigarh, August 13 Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, President of the IYC, said Mr Randhir Singh Rana, secretary of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC), would be the Chairman of the commission. Mr Pradeep Chauhan, president of the Kurukshetra University Teachers’ Association; would be the secretary while Mr Naseer Hussain, a former president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union, New Delhi; Mr Partap Singh, a former president of the Kurukshetra University Students Union; and Mr Bhupinder Singh, a former president of the Panjab University Students Union, Chandigarh; would be the members. Mr Surjewala, who was accompanied by Mr Satwinder Singh Sandhu, President of the Haryana Youth Congress, said the commission would hold its hearings at all district headquarters in the state. The IYC President said the terms of reference for the commission would be to find out whether the appointment to the constitutional offices of the HPSC were made to supporters and members of the ruling INLD. The commission would also probe whether the HPSC had been subjugated and manipulated to select favourites for extraneous considerations. The commission would also see whether the system of examination and allocation of marks at the time of interview was designed and manipulated to select particular candidates. The commission would also probe whether nepotism and political affiliation had become the sole criteria for the selection to various posts. It would also find out whether the selections to various senior positions made by the HPSC were reflective of personal gains and personal malice on the part of the Chairman and members of the HPSC. Mr Surjewala said the commission would commence its work on August 25 and complete the assignment within a month. The report of the commission would be placed before the President of India and the Governor of Haryana. Mr Surjewala also claimed that they had already received about 600 documents from various quarters suggesting malpractices by the Chairman and members of the HPSC. Instances of stringpulling by Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and his Cabinet colleagues to influence the selection process had also come to light, he alleged. |
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Dalal case: another witness turns hostile Faridabad, August 13 The witness, a resident of Amarpur village, where the alleged murder took place in September 2000, told the court that his earlier statements were made under ‘pressure’ and threats. The police investigating the case was still pressurising him to depose in its favour. The ‘witness’, identified as Virender, is reported to be a kin of the victim and had earlier stated before investigating officials that he had overheard the accused conspiring to eliminate the victim. According to counsel for the accused, a woman ‘witness’ produced by the prosecution a few months ago had also turned hostile. It may be recalled that while Mr Mehar Chand, elder brother of Mr Karan Singh Dalal, Mr Ved Pal, nephew of Mr Mehar Chand, and his wife were booked under Section 302 of the IPC on September 6, 2002. Mr Dalal was booked under Section 120-B for involvement in the conspiracy to murder. Mr Mehar Chand and Mr Dalal were given ‘bail’ by the High Court, but Mr Ved Pal and his wife are in judicial custody. The victim, Mrs Sunmitra Devi, was found dead under mysterious circumstances on September 5, 2000. The police booked a case on a complaint by the step-daughters of the victim. The next date of fearing in August 23. |
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Search on for HERC member Chandigarh, August 13 The state government has constituted a search committee for inducting a new member. The committee, headed by Mr Vinay Kumar, Vice-Chancellor of Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar, will meet here tomorrow to finalise the list of names. It will recommend two names to the state government out of which one will be finally chosen as a member. The new member is expected to be sworn in on August 16 itself when Mr Chandra retires. Mr K.S. Chaube, the seniormost member after Mr Chandra, will be automatically elevated as HERC Chairman after the latter’s exit. So far members inducted during the Bansi Lal regime have always called the shots in the HERC as they have been in a majority. Both Mr Chandra and Mr Chaube became members when the Haryana Vikas Party was at the helm of affairs in the state. The HERC, during the stewardship of Mr Chandra, had also made some scathing observations about the functioning of power sector corporations from time to time. With the induction of a new member, there will be two members chosen by the present INLD Government while Mr Chaube will remain as the only member picked up by the Bhajan Lal regime. Since Mr Chandra is an expert in accounting, it is expected that the new member too may be an expert in the same field. However, official sources here said that while the Act had made it mandatory that one of the members must be an electrical engineer, the two other members could be either engineers, accountants or administrators. So far one of the members had been an engineer, another an accountant and the third an administrator. However, it was not
necessary to maintain this format and the new member might be from any of the three categories despite the presence of Mr Chaube (an engineer) and Col Raghbir Singh (retd), who was inducted from the administrators’ category. |
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Red Cross to bear cost
of student’s studies Fatehabad, August 13 Mr Langyaan addressed most of the 74 grievances brought before him and referred the rest to various departmental heads asking them to address these within seven days. He also asked the authorities to get in touch with the complainants after the redressal of their complaints so that they did not have to come to their offices time and again. Residents of Daryapur village complained to the Deputy Commissioner that potable water supply to the village was very poor. Residents of Kharakhedi village complained that as there were no speed-breakers on the national highway near their village, the road had become an accident-prone area. |
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2 crushed to death under train Yamunanagar, August 13 After taking a bath in the Yamuna when the family was crossing the railway track they failed to notice the Akal Takht Express train which was coming from Saharanpur. Isham Singh (35) and Som Lal (65) were crushed to death. A 10-year-old girl had a miraculous escape. After a post-mortem examination today the bodies were handed over to their relatives. In another incident the body of an 80-year-old man was found near the railway track yesterday. Vikram Mehta was crushed to death by a truck yesterday at Dhamla village near here. The police has seized the truck while the driver has absconded. |
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Two killed as
Canter hits truck Ambala, August 13 A truck turned turtle near Kali Paltan when a
Canter hit the vehicle. The Canter driver, Netra Singh, was killed on the spot while co-passenger Leela Dhar is said to have died later. Another occupant of the
Canter is in a serious condition and has been referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. Soon thereafter three buses and two trucks collided with one another on the same stretch of road. As many as 15 passengers sustained injuries in the accident. The injured persons were rushed to the Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantonment. They were discharged after first aid. Following the accident, the traffic was diverted through the Air Force road. Even during the day, the traffic was not allowed on the accident-prone stretch of the road. |
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Woman poisons sons to death; self Jind, August 13 According to the reports received here, she gave poison to Ankit (7) and Manjit (5) and also consumed it herself. They were rushed to the General Hospital where Ankit and Manjit were declared dead before admission. After sometime Sunita also died. A post-mortem examination of the bodies will be conducted tomorrow. |
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3 HCS officers shuffled Chandigarh, August 13 Mr Virender Kumar Dahiya, District Transport Officer, Panipat; has been appointed SDO (Civil), Safidon; vice Mr R.C. Sharma, who goes as Deputy Secretary, Health
Department in place of Mr Parkash Chand, HSS, whose posting orders will be issued later. Mr Dharmender Singh, District Transport Officer (DTO), Karnal, will also hold charge as DTO, Panipat. |
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