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Tuesday,
February 25, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Cabinet okays draft amendment bill BJP-parishad rift deepens Sampat seeks support on SYL
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Meenaxi Chaudhry transferred ...But they were left high and dry Religious procession taken out 
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Cabinet okays draft
amendment bill Chandigarh, February 24 The Cabinet, which met here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala also approved the draft of the Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa Bill, 2003, to establish a teaching-cum-affiliating university at Sirsa to promote higher education with special emphasis on information technology, computer education, bio-technology, environmental studies, technological and management studies and related disciplines. It was decided that the university would be made functional from 2003-04 as a residential university by adding three or four departments to the existing courses run at Ch Devi Lal Postgraduate Regional Centre, Sirsa. The essential infrastructure required for making it a fullfledged university shall be created before the 2004-05 academic session. Government and non-government colleges located in the districts of Sirsa, Hisar, Fatehabad, Jind, Mahendragarh and Bhiwani will be affiliated to the university. The Cabinet also approved a draft Bill to amend the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975. According to the amendment, the minimum area of the colony will be reduced to 500 sq mtrs from 1000 sq mtrs for residential purpose and 100 sq mtrs for commercial and industrial purposes. This was done to check the growth of unauthorised colonies, an official release stated. The definition of colony was also amended by including the provision of cyber city or cyber park and construction of flats in the form of group housing or construction of integrated commercial complexes. The Cabinet also decided to amend Rule 11.1 of the Punjab Civil Service Rules, Volume II, to restore the commuted portion of pension after 15 years, bringing it at par with the central government employees. Therefore, the restoration of commuted portion of pension would be after 15 years from the date of superannuation or retirement or 15 years from the actual receipt of commuted value, whichever is later. The Cabinet also amended the Haryana Primary Education (Group C) District Cadre Service Rules, 1994, by approving the draft of the Haryana Primary Education (Group C) District Cadre Service (Amendment) Rules, 2003. It was also decided to transfer 4.9 hectares of land of the Fish Seed Farm, Tohana, to the Revenue Department for construction of an administrative and judicial complex. The Cabinet decided to enhance the block guarantee from Rs 1,800 crore to Rs 2,500 crore to float debentures by the Haryana State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank up to March 31, 2007. The Cabinet approved a draft Bill called the Revenue Recovery (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2003, to amend Section 5 of the Revenue Recovery Act, 1890, to simplify the procedure to recover the outstanding dues from former ministers under the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887. |
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BJP-parishad rift deepens Ambala, February 24 According to information the matter has also been reported to the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala. But the confrontation has been continuing as neither party is ready to reach a compromise. The Urban Development Department and the Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, are also avoiding intervention in the matter. The Vikas Parishad, in a meeting held here yesterday, decided to fight the issue on public and as well as on administration front. The parishad decided to launch a public agitation to press upon the chairman to quit. The MLA, Mr Anil Vij, who chaired the meeting, said on February 27 members of the central committee of the parishad would submit a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner in which they would request the administration to suspend the chairman of the council under Section 14A of the Municipal Act, as a corruption case had already been registered against the chairman by the Vigilance Bureau. He said there was a provision in the Act that a chairman of the council could not retain his seat if a case under the Corruption Act was registered against him. Mr Vij said on March 3 a dharna would also be staged in front of the Municipal Council. Mr Vij asked Mr Shankar Dass to tender his resignation on moral grounds as he had been found guilty in a corruption case during the investigation made by the then Additional Deputy Commissioner and the Vigilance Bureau. The State Vigilance Bureau, Ambala, on the direction of Chief Secretary, Haryana, had registered a corruption case against the Chairman, Mr Shankar Dass, three councillors, two former employees of the council and four shopkeepers. |
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Sampat seeks support on SYL Ambala, February 24 The Finance Minister said that it would be a balanced Budget, which would take care of rural as well as urban people. He said on March 2 three years of the present government would be completed. He claimed that record development works had been done during the period in the state. Mr Sampat Singh said the Congress had been trying to politicise the SYL issue. The Congress should persuade the Punjab Chief Minister, who was the main hindrance in the construction of the SYL canal. He urged all Opposition parties of the state to support the government on this issue, as it was the lifeline of the state. |
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Move to jack up cane price boomerangs Chandigarh, February 24 Farmers of 1,151 villages belonging to Yamunanagar, Karnal and nearby areas, who are attached to the Naraingarh Sugar Mill, the Piccadilly Sugar Mill (Bhadson, Karnal) and the Saraswati Sugar Mill (Yamunanagar), have been compelled to sell their produce at the statutory minimum price (SMP) fixed by the central government. In selling at the SMP, the farmers are getting about Rs 87 per quintal of cane, while their counterparts in other areas, who are attached to the cooperative sugar mills, are selling their produce at Rs 110, Rs 106 or Rs 104 per quintal, depending upon the quality. Importantly, the Naraingarh Sugar Mill has been shut down for failing to pay the arrears due to the farmers. The villages (298), bonded to the mill, have been distributed among the two remaining private mills at Bhadson and Yamunanagar. On February 3, an official team inspected the Naraingarh mill to examine whether its operations could be taken over by the state government. The idea of running the mill by the state government was, however, abandoned when it was found that the mill's liability was over Rs 60 crore while its assets were mostly mortgaged to financial institutions. Moreover, the mill has to settle Rs 15 crore as arrears payable to the farmers. Farmers at Yamunanagar as well as at Karnal have been agitating against disparity in the price of cane in the state. At Yamunanagar where the farmers had burnt trucks carrying canes to the mills, the agitation was withdrawn on Saturday even as the farmers threatened that the next phase of the programme would be soon launched. Agitating farmers, led by the Ganna Action Committee, had also put up a blockade in front of the sugar mill at Bhadson. The protests are likely to gather momentum once the Himachal Pradesh elections are over where the leaders of the Congress of Haryana are currently busy campaigning. The issue can be resolved if the state government compensates the farmers who are selling their produce to private mills. But this is apparently not possible as the financial health of the state is not particularly good at this juncture. It was learnt that last year Rs 68 crore was spent toward payment to the sugarcane farmers. Initially Rs 20 crore was paid to the farmers while payment worth Rs 48 crore was kept pending. The pending amount was hurriedly cleared in October fearing criticism by the Opposition in the special session of the House held that month to discuss problems of the farm sector. The money was advanced to the cooperative mills as loan even though it was not quite certain whether the loans would be ever paid back. This year the total expenditure by the cooperative mills for paying the farmers is expected to be in the region of Rs 80 crore to Rs 100 crore. "The slump in the sugar trade has created problems for Mr Chautala's populist move of enhancing the price to Rs 110 per quintal of cane," a source here said and added that when the last regime headed by Mr Bansi Lal had fixed the SAP of cane at Rs 94 per quintal even that was found to be on the higher side and objected to by the Sugarfed MD in view of the market price of sugar. It is also anticipated that the state government may have to further increase the SAP of cane next year in view of the assembly elections due in the following year. |
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Meenaxi
Chaudhry transferred Chandigarh, February 24 Mrs Chaudhry had proceeded on leave on February 19 after she did not relish certain remarks reportedly made by Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala at a meeting of the high-powered purchase committee held here on February 18. Mrs Chaudhry, who was not only the chairperson of the power utilities but was also looking after the Power Department in her capacity as Financial Commissioner and Secretary, has been given the Department of Cultural Affairs, which Mr Chatterjee was holding as additional charge. |
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...But
they were left high and dry
Panchkula, February 24 The occasion was the inauguration of a Primary Health Centre at the village. This health centre has been constructed by the Shivalik Development Board at a cost of Rs 65 lakh. Mr Chautala said the state government would organise health check-up camps for women. The Chief Minister said it had been decided to set up trauma centres at all four National Highways passing through the state and one such centre had already been set up at Karnal. He said steps were being taken to provide safe drinking water to the people. He said swasthay aapke dwar programme had been launched in the state and 66 health camps had been organised under this programme. The Minister of State for Health, Dr M.L. Ranga, was also present. Later, the Chief Minister and Dr Ranga planted a sapling each in the complex. |
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Religious
procession taken out Pehowa, February 24 The procession was led by Mahant Gangapuri, general secretary of the akhara, Sikh sarpanches of adjoining villages accompanied the procession, which started from the Pashupati Nath Temple situated on the banks of the Saraswati. The procession while passing through bazars of Pehowa culminated at the historic Arunai village. A large number of women devotees from Khanna, Gobindgarh, Samrala, Dhuri, Nabha, Sirhind and Patiala also participated. Tableaux depicting various facets of Lord Shiva formed part of the procession. The town wore a festive look as residents have erected dozens of gates to welcome the procession. Flower petals were thrown on the procession as it passed through bazars. Devotees sang devotional songs and raised slogans like ‘Har Har Mahadev’. |
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Two HCS officers shifted Chandigarh, February 24 Mr Vivek Padam Singh, Managing Director of the Sirsa Cooperative Sugar Mills has been given the additional charge of SDO (Civil), Dabwali, vice Mr Satbir Singh who goes as City Magistrate, Bhiwani, against a vacant post. |
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