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Friday,
August 30, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Farmers’
power bills may be waived: CM 8 crore
earmarked for water to drought-hit Haryana may revive Lokayukta 3-day monsoon session not enough: Hooda Bhajan’s plan to win over INLD MLAs |
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Inclusion of 6 leaders into Cong opposed Scam-tainted ministers must quit: Cong Chautala promoting ‘Punjabiat’? ‘Operation Agni’
from Sept 1 Dismissed
staff reinstated 8 polytechnic staff members suspended Governor, Chautala greet people ‘Kidnapped’ infant’s body found 2 killed in road mishaps Man held on charge of killing wife, daughter
Cop’s death: constable arrested 5 held for selling adulterated ghee
Judicial remand for Shasan
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Farmers’ power bills may be waived: CM Fatehabad, August 29 Mr Chautala said out of 7.5 lakh villages of the country only 3.5 lakh had drinking water schemes. But in Haryana, he said, potable water was being provided in all villages. He said the government, if need be, waive power bills of the farmers whose crops had been damaged due to drought. He said out of 241 villages of the state, 70 litres of water per head was being provided in 128 villages and Rs 7.67 crore had been spent on water schemes. The government planned to increase water supply in 33 more villages this year and Rs 6.20 crore would be spent on it. He said work on 40 water schemes in this district was in progress. He called upon villagers to go for self-employment schemes of the government as it was not possible to provide jobs to all. Mr Chautala also inaugurated in the evening Sulikhera minor irrigation project on the Bhattu Kirdan road, 16 km from here. The project has been completed at a cost of Rs 1.40 crore and it will provide irrigation facilities to 3484 acres of land of five villages. SIRSA: Haryana would spend Rs 407 crore on health services in this year. Mr Chautala announced this on Wednesday after inaugurating a primary health centre at Rori village in the district. He claimed that all hospitals had medical staff. He announced that Rori would be made sub-tehsil this year, with facilities of a tehsil headquarters. He also announced to develop a park in memory of late Devi Lal and pave all roads of the village. |
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8 crore
earmarked for water to drought-hit Chandigarh, August 29 Official sources said Rs 8 crore, out of the total Rs 16 crore released from the CRF by the state government for drought relief so far, has been earmarked for the Public Health Department for taking steps to ensure adequate supply of drinking water to drought-affected people. While stating that the problem of shortage of drinking water was most acute in the southern districts of the state, the sources here said that Rs 8 crore released from the CRF would be used in three parts. The money would be spent for enhancing depths of tubewells in areas where the groundwater level had gone down and for the installation of new tubewells in place old tubewells. In a number of villages in the southern districts water sources had long dried up and the fund released from the CRF would be used for transportation of water by water tankers and tractors to the water-deficit villages. A sum of Rs 3 crore was released from the CRF to the Animal Husbandry Department to provide relief to the cattle which had been hit by the dry conditions. The department, it is learnt, would use the money primarily for procuring medicines for ailments which attacked the cattles during the dry weather. Mr K.C. Sharma, Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry Department, told TNS that over 700 camps would be set up all over the state for treating animals affected by ailments resulting from the dry condition. The supply of such medicines was also being made to the government veterinary dispensaries, he said. The
sources added that Rs 2 crore had been given to the Health Department
from the CRF in view of the drought situation. The Health Department
would set up “health melas” and treat people who had been
suffering from dehydration and diseases resulting from drinking of
stagnant water. The Agriculture Department had been earlier given Rs 3 crore from the CRF for the distribution of seeds among the farmers at reduced rates and for the reclamation operation of saline lands. While the special girdawari being carried out in the districts of Haryana is yet to be over, the latest estimate prepared by the state government has projected the total fund required for drought relief operations at over Rs 1,800 crore. Haryana, however, could draw only Rs 250 crore from the CRF and it would have to request the Centre for some special arrangement to make available the cash needed by it for the relief operations. |
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Farmers take control
of canal water Fatehabad, August 29 The farmers were so annoyed that no official of the department concerned dared to desist them from stealing water. The villagers alleged that their share of water was being supplied to farmers of Sirsa district for political considerations. They said they had been left with no alternative, but to act on their own. Residents of Dadupur, Nagpur, Hukamawali, Haroli, Musa Dhani, Manakpur, Khunan, Bharolawali, Hanspur Therhi villages said they had been waiting for their turn to get water supply for the past two days, but department officials were adopting a partisan attitude. The farmers have said they are ready to go to any extent to get their share of water. |
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Haryana may revive Lokayukta Chandigarh, August 29 The State Assembly had first enacted the Haryana Lokayukta Act, 1997, when Mr Bansi Lal was in the saddle. Mr Justice I.P. Vashisht of the Allahabad High Court was appointed the first Lokayukta of the State. However, when the Chautala Government came into power in 1999, it showed the door to Justice Vashisht by repealing the Act on the pretext that it wanted to provide more teeth to the Act. A committee of experts under the chairmanship of Justice (retd) G.S. Chahal of the Punjab and Haryana High Court was constituted to draft the new Bill. On the recommendations of the committee, the Government presented the Haryana Lokayukta Bill, 1999, to the Vidhan Sabha. Though the Bill was passed by a majority vote, the Opposition said under the new Bill, which was supposed to give more powers to the Lokayukta, the institution of the Lokayukta had been reduced to the status of a puppet in the hands of the ruling party. The 1999 Bill was sent to the President for his consent, but it was withheld by him as Clause 16 was not found to be in consistent with the Contempt of Court Act, 1971. Now this clause has been dropped. The draft Bill provides that a Lokayukta would be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister, who would consult the Speaker, the Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India or the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, as the case may be. Only a sitting or retired Judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court can become the Lokayukta for five years. He will not be eligible for the second term. He would not be removed from his office, except by an order of the Governor passed after an address by the State Assembly, supported by a majority of the total membership, which shall not be less than two-third of the members present and voting. The removal can be only on the grounds of proven misconduct or incapacity. The Lokayukta will have to complete an inquiry into a complaint within one year. The proceedings will be held in camera. He will present to the Governor a consolidated annual report, a copy of which would be laid on the table of the State Legislature within six months of its receipt alongwith an explanatory memorandum indicating the action taken thereon and the reasons for not taking the action. The Cabinet also approved a proposal of the Town and Country Planning Department to increase the permissible floor area ratio(FAR) for the licenced commercial colonies from 150 to 175 to bring it at par with the FAR permitted for group housing. The increase would also be applicable to 1 per cent
commercial component of the residential plotted colonies, subject to the payment of proposed increased licence fee, proportionate increase in conversion charges and external development charges. The licence fee has been increased from Rs 25 lakh per acre to Rs 50 lakh per acre. The increased FAR would also be applicable to three and five star hotel sites. The Cabinet approved a scheme for transfer of evacuee land and property to religious and charitable institutions. It also approved a draft Ordinance to amend sub-section(1) of Section 6 of the Haryana Murrah and Other Milch Animal Breed(Preservation and Development of Animal Husbandry and Dairy
Development Section) Act, 2001. As per the approved amendment, a cess not exceeding 15 paise per litre would be imposed on the licenced capacity of a milk plant provided that during the lien period, the cess at this rate would be imposed on the 75 per cent capacity of the plant. The Haryana Veterinary (Group-A) Service Rules, 1995, were amended to provide that no veterinary surgeon would be promoted as Subdivisional
Officer (Animal Husbandry) or equivalent unless he had a five-year experience of working in a rural area. The Cabinet also approved amendments in the Shri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Act, 1991; the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973; and the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994. |
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3-day monsoon session not enough: Hooda Chandigarh, August 29 According to the tentative schedule, the monsoon session will start on September 2 and continue till September 5. The first sitting of the Assembly on September 2 will start at 2 pm, while the business listed for the day includes obituary references and laying and re-laying of various papers on the table of the House. There will be two sittings of the House on September 3. Presentation and voting on supplementary grants etc have been listed as the business of the House for September 3. Next day, the House will meet for the morning sitting only. The agenda for September 4 includes legislative business and any other business. Talking to newspersons here last evening, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the newly elected Leader of the main Opposition party Congress in the House, however, said the duration of the session for three days only would be too short a time. “A large number of MLAs would be interested to speak on issues such as the effect of the drought condition on the farming community of Haryana. All interested MLAs will never be able to speak if the House meets for three days only”, Mr Hooda said. “All those who want to participate in the discussions must be given a chance to speak and the duration of the session should be decided accordingly”, Mr Hooda said. Asked about how he was planning to perform in his new role as the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Hooda said as the chief of the HPCC he had led agitations against the state government at various areas of the state and now it would be his endeavour to make the ruling party feel the heat of the Opposition inside the Assembly. In the characteristic style of an Opposition leader, Mr Hooda alleged that all sections of the society were dissatisfied with the Chautala-led state government owing to the policies being followed by it. He claimed that steps taken by the state government for drought relief operations were not adequate, and added that the recent rains were helpful to the extent of better availability of cattle feed. Sugar mills were yet to make payment to the farmers to the tune of over Rs 40 crore, Mr Hooda claimed. He also claimed that townfolks were upset with the state government for the various taxes imposed on them. The state government had already retrenched a large number of employees, he said and alleged that plan was afoot to retrench school teachers in the name of rationalisation of the teaching staff. On the issue of the SYL canal, Mr Hooda claimed that there was no difference between the Punjab and Haryana units of the party as both units were in favour of the implementation of the Rajiv-Longwal Accord. He said Haryana should not object to the handing over of Chandigarh to Punjab, if Punjab agreed to complete the SYL canal and give Haryana its share of water through the canal. |
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Bhajan’s plan to win over INLD MLAs New Delhi, August 29 Mr Bhajan Lal, it is learnt, has assured the high command of some “results” in the next two months. Sources said Mr Bhajan Lal has planned a meeting with some INLD and BJP MLAs in Dehra Dun and a close confidant of the PCC chief had quietly been to Dehra Dun recently to make arrangements for the stay of some MLAs. Dehra Dun has been selected as the venue for the closely gaurded meeting as it is near Chandigarh and Uttaranchal has a Congress government. The sources said Mr Bhajan Lal was in touch with at least six MLAs of the INLD and the BJP, mainly from Sonepat and Gurgaon districts. Before he became PCC chief about a month as, Mr Bhajan Lal had assured the high command that he would make the Chautala government uncomfortable in a short span. Having a reputation of winning over rival MLAs, Mr Bhajan Lal has seemingly set about the task in the right earnest. He on Tuesday met party general secretary Ms Mohsina Kidwai, who is incharge of Haryana, and Ms Ambika Soni, political secretary to Congress president, to brief them about the political situation in the state. |
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Inclusion of 6 leaders into Cong opposed New Delhi, August 29 The announcement of the inclusion of six leaders into the Congress was made at the rally. Sources said the high-command has asked Mr Bhajan Lal to send cases of inclusion of these leaders. The high-command may approve inclusion of Mr Hukum Singh and former minister Rao Nihal Singh into the Congress but there were reservations over names of Krishan Moorthi Hooda, Mr Subhash Batra, Mr Bachan Ram Arya and Mr Amir Chand Makkad. Sources said supporters of CLP leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda had complained to the high-command about the announcement of inclusion of some leaders who had been removed from the party for disciplinary reasons. |
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Scam-tainted ministers must quit: Cong Bhiwani, August 29 The party demanded the resignations of Union Minister George Fernandes, Information and Technology Minister Pramod Mahajan and Petroleum Minister Ram Naik for the Tehelka episode, Shivani murder case, UTI and petrol pump and gas agency distribution scams, respectively. The memorandum also demanded a White Paper on the allotment of land on low rates to relatives of Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, Human Resource Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and BJP president Venkaiah Naidu. In the memorandum given against the state government, the party demanded the removal of the local development fee, Form 38, trade tax, fire tax, besides immediate compensation to the farmers by conducting an impartial
girdawari. |
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Chautala promoting ‘Punjabiat’? Chandigarh, August 29 This feeling must have prevailed upon leaders of the World Punjabi Conference when they decided to invite Mr Chautala to be the chief guest at their function to be held on September 5 in London. And the Haryana Chief Minister did not disappoint them. He has accepted the invitation. With this the hopes of the Leader of Opposition, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, of persuading the government to have a longer monsoon session of the State Vidhan Sabha, starting from September 2, have also been dashed to the ground. Mr Chautala will fly out of the country on the night of September 4 to be in London on time for the conference the next day. A wag quipped that Mr Chautala had the right to consider himself a part-Punjabi. This right had been conferred upon him by the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, under which Haryana came into existence. All assets and liabilities of the joint Punjab were divided between the two states in the ratio of 60:40. “Therefore, Mr Chautala is at least 40 per cent Punjabi,” the wag added. To promote the spirit of “Punjabiat”, Mr Chautala has decided to take four MLAs with him, of whom three are Punjabis. The MLAs to accompany the Chief Minister on his foreign visit are Mr Anil Vij, Independent MLA from Ambala Cantonment, Mr Chander Bhatia, BJP MLA from Faridabad, Mr Nishan Singh, INLD MLA from Tohana, and Mr Bhagi Ram, INLD MLA from Ellenabad. Those entrusted with the task of industrialisation of the Haryana have decided to take advantage of Mr Chautala’s presence in London for “marketing the state amidst foreign investors”. Informed sources say the (in) famous Hinduja brothers have evinced interest in investing in Haryana in districts around Delhi. After the World Punjabi Conference function, Mr Chautala will spend three days in the UK, meeting, among others, various prospective foreign investors. He will fly to Tunisia via France to explore the possibilities of alluring “entertainment-related industry” in these two countries to the backwaters of Haryana. He will also visit Belgium to have a meeting with gem and jewellery businessmen of Indian origin. His visit to Frankfurt in Germany is still under the planning stage. Mr Chautala, who is likely to return to the country on September 12, will be accompanied, among others, by Mr M.K. Miglani; Principal Secretary, Mr Prem Singh, Vice-Chairman of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board; and Dr Harbaksh Singh, Managing Director of the Haryana Industries Development Corporation. |
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‘Operation Agni’
from Sept 1 Chandigarh, August 29 He said all District Superintendents of Police had been directed to launch a special drive to unearth units, if any, engaged in the manufacture of illicit firearms in their respective areas. He said all unclaimed illegal firearms, not required to be produced in any court and lying in Police Malkhana, would be deposited in the state armoury, Ambala. He said to check re-circulation and misuse of countrymade weaponry, formalities would be completed to destroy such illegal firearms. During the campaign, the records of the police station would also be updated by bringing on record the fresh arms licences issued to armsholders in their jurisdiction. The recently expired licences would also be regularised. He said licences issued by other states but renewed in Haryana, would be verified. Steps would also be taken to detect fake arms licences.
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Dismissed
staff reinstated Chandigarh, August 29 According to a source, Ram Niwas, clerk in the Industrial Training and Vocational Education Department, who was dismissed from service, was reinstated after the hearing of his appeal by the authority concerned. Similarly, Iswarnath Sharma, peon in the PW(B&R) Department, was also reinstated. The source added that the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, today heard the appeals of seven dismissed Class III employees in the presence of senior officials. The decision taken regarding these employees would be announced later, he said. Altogether 57 employees were dismissed from service by the state government for taking part in the agitation spearheaded by the General and Backward Classes Employees Organisation. The agitation, which started in November, 2000, had continued for close to two months. |
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8 polytechnic staff members suspended Chandigarh, August 29 While stating this here today, the Financial Commissioner, Technical Education, Mr Dharam Vir, said strict disciplinary action would be taken against them to curb indiscipline. He said he had asked the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Mohinder Kumar, to conduct the inspection of the institute on Monday last. The staff members who were placed under suspension are Mr Jitender Singh, Mrs Saroj Bala, Mr Jagdish Arya, and Mr Shyal Lal, all lecturers, and among the non-teaching staff members are Mr Hari Ram and Mr Raj Singh, both lab attendants, and Mr
Laxman, peon. |
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Governor, Chautala greet people Chandigarh, August 29 In his message, the Governor said the festival reminded us of the main episodes of Lord Krishna’s life and activities which taught the eternal lessons of love, truth, justice, spiritualism and karamayoga. Mr Chautala urged the people to follow the philosophy of karma (action) as propagated by Lord Krishna. |
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‘Kidnapped’ infant’s body found Kaithal, August 29 The DSP, Kaithal, Mr Amir Singh Sabharwal, rushed to the spot along with the father of the infant, Mr Pala Ram, an advocate of the town. The parents of the infant reportedly confirmed that the body was of their kidnapped daughter. The SP, Mr A.S. Chawla, said the body had been sent to the PGI, Rohtak, for a post-mortem examination. However, the police on its part could confirm about the parentage of the baby only after getting reports of DNA tests of the body, Mr Pala Ram and his wife. The body was reportedly handed over to parents after the post-mortem examination. Meanwhile, advocates, as per decision of the District Bar Association, boycotted the courts paralysing the functioning there. They have been abstaining from work in protest against the kidnapping of the baby a few hours after her birth allegedly by a woman of the maternity ward of the hospital. |
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2 killed in road mishaps Hisar, August 29 According to the police, Suresh Chander, a resident of the local Urban Estate, and his driver Rohtash were returning from Mundhal in a Maruti car last night when a truck, coming from the opposite side, hit their vehicle. Suresh Chander succumbed to his injuries on way to the Civil Hospital, Hansi. The police has registered a case against the truck driver for negligent driving. In another incident, an unidentified rickshawpuller was run over and killed by a heavy vehicle in front of the power grid station near Hansi last evening. |
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Man held on charge of killing wife, daughter Bhiwani, August 29 The police recovered the half-burnt bodies from the fields on Tuesday. Mr Fateh Singh, an uncle of the woman, reported the matter to the police, stating that his niece and her daughter was burnt alive by her in-laws. The woman has been identified as Sushma (25) and her daughter Pragati. He has blamed her husband and her mother-in-law for this heinous act. Suresh, the husband of the deceased and his mother Dhan Kaur have been arrested by the police. The deceased belonged to Jodada Kalan village near Natafgarh and was married six years ago. The police said both mother and daughter were first killed in the house and later burnt in the fields.
PTI |
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Cop’s death: constable arrested Ambala, August 29 The Superintendent of Police, Ambala, Mr Manoj Yadav, said the deceased had been an active union worker and had been put under suspension a few months back. On a complaint of Inspector, Jalam Singh , Police Line, Ambala City, a case under sections 304/34 has been registered against the two constables of Ambala. The police also arrested one of the constables Mohinder Singh in this regard. The police said that there was a quarrel among those police constables on Tuesday late night which resulted the death of Desa Singh. The police said that the cause of death could be asphyxia. |
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5 held for selling adulterated ghee Kurukshetra, August 29 The ghee was allegedly procured from Muzzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh and was being supplied to Kurukshetra district and other areas of the state.
PTI |
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Judicial remand for Shasan Ambala, August 29 He was produced in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ms Sarita Gupta, today who earlier had remanded him in police custody for one day. Mr Shasan had surrendered in this court yesterday. |
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