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Friday,
August 1, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Chautalas
‘committed’ contempt of court
Bury hatchet, Haryana Cong leaders told Government
keeps two CEs idle Haryana to
launch crop insurance Additional
charge for Chief Secy |
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Rampant
power theft in Haryana Rules
simplified for power reconnections 70
diarrhoea cases in Yamunanagar village Hooda has miraculous escape Faridabad
jail to have gallows Affiliation
of colleges changed Depositors
gherao company office Show-cause
notice to 2 nursing homes HIGH COURT
Jail term for
two in dowry death case Man gets judicial remand in fake ISO papers case
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Chautalas ‘committed’ contempt of court Chandigarh, July 31 In a statement issued here today a spokesman of the party, Mr Krishan Murti Hooda, said by threatening the petitioner and members of his family, the Chautalas had interfered in the judicial process and were thus guilty of gross contempt of court. He said the Chief Minister and his son had not only grossly misused their power but also tried to snatch the fundamental right of the minority community, the religious sentiments of which had also been hurt. Mr Hooda said Mr Abhey Singh’s reaction to Mr Jatana’s writ petition clearly showed that something was wrong with the selection of the Sub-Inspectors. The fact that Mr Abhey Singh made an offer to the petitioner in the presence of the Chief Minister and the Chairman of the Staff Selection Commission that he would be appointed as a Food and Supplies Inspector if he withdrew the petition, clearly proved that the commission was not an independent body. Under these circumstance, Mr Hooda said, it would be foolish to expect the commission to select candidates for various posts on merit. He urged the Prime Minister to intervene and come to the rescue of Mr Dalwara Singh and end the “reign of terror” in Haryana. |
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Bury hatchet, Haryana Cong leaders told Chandigarh, July 31 Mr Nawal Kishore Sharma, AICC General Secretary, talked about the ideal code of conduct for party members at a meeting of the general body of the Haryana Congress here today. The meeting was called primarily to explain the issues discussed in the recent Congress conclave at Shimla. Mr Mani Shankar Aiyer, a senior Congress leader, who was the other guest speaker, confined his speech to various issues which emerged at the Shimla conclave. Mr Sharma, who is also in charge of the party affairs in Haryana, however, used the opportunity to take some swipes at the faction leaders of the state Congress. The meeting, which was shifted from the original venue(HPCC office) to the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee office here owing to inclement weather, was attended by major leaders of the Haryana Congress, including Mr Bhajan Lal (HPCC chief), Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda (CLP leader), Ms Selja, (a former union minister) and Mr Birender Singh. Mr Nawal Kishore Sharma said nobody should project himself or herself as the next Chief Minister of Haryana, Congress President Sonia Gandhi would decide the next Chief Minister, Mr Sharma said. Congress members should also refrain from gathering around certain important leaders of the state in the hope that these leaders would get them the party ticket in the assembly elections. The responsibility of distributing the ticket would be upon the party’s Parliamentary Board. Talking to reporters, Mr Sharma said factionalism was common in any democratic outfit, adding that this existed in the Congress even when the party was leading the struggle for independence. He, however, admitted that the existing factionalism in the Haryana Congress was being fuelled by personal ambitions. Mr Sharma, who addressed the press conference in the company of Mr Bhajan Lal, Mr Hooda and Ms Kartari Devi, HPCC General Secretary, said disciplinary action against any rebel leader would be taken only as the last resort. On the issue of rallies organised by rival Congress factions of Haryana, Mr Sharma said rallies must be held after obtaining permission from the PCC chief. The local Congress MLA as well as other functionaries of the Congress from the locality in which the rally was being held must be invited to it. He, however, added if the PCC chief refused permission for a rally, the AICC could be approached.
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Government
keeps two CEs idle Chandigarh, July 31 Its Public Works Department (Buildings and Roads) is a classic example. The department has four cadre posts of Chief Engineer, one each for buildings, roads, national highways and the Haryana Highways Upgradation Project (HHUP). It has four Chief Engineers in Mr K.K. Singal, Mr M.K. Aggarwal, Mr R.C. Mehndiratta and Mr R.S. Rana. While Mr Aggarwal and Mr Mehndiratta are looking after the work of two posts, Mr Singal and Mr Rana have been without work. Mr Aggarwal is the Chief Engineer, Roads and HHUP, while Mr Mehndiratta is the Chief Engineer, National Highways and Buildings. Mr Rana was the Chief Engineer, World Bank, till last year. However, after the Karnal-Ambala stretch of the G.T. Road was four-laned last year, the post was abolished. Mr Rana continues without work. Mr Singal’s case is a reflection on the government’s functioning. He was working as the Chief Engineer, Haryana Housing Board. He was reverted to his parent department of Public Works in July, 2002, where he was not given any work. He was promoted as a Chief Engineer in October, 2001, while his junior, Mr P.C. Sharma, was promoted as a Chief Engineer in April, 1999. Mr Singal represented against his supersession. The government accepted his representation and promoted him from the date Mr Sharma was promoted. Though the order was issued on June 13 last, he was not given any posting. He retires tomorrow as a “Chief Engineer without work”. |
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Haryana
to launch crop insurance Hisar, July 31 Inaugurating a seminar on contract farming, organised by HAFED, here he said that economy of the country depended mainly on agriculture and agricultural produce was the major source of raw material to industrial sector. Marketing of agricultural produce was one of the major problems facing the farming community. In case they get assured marketing facilities for selling produce at remunerative prices, they would adopt unconventional and progressive farming. Mr Chautala said that contract farming could be beneficial for promoting production and ensuring marketing of non-traditional farm produce at remunerative prices. He said a framework should be formulated to safeguard the interests of the farmers and involve private sector’s participation in the agricultural sector. He informed that the government had also decided to set up an agricultural export zone for basmati rice due to its export potential. He emphasized the use of organic fertilisers instead of chemical fertilisers and cultivation of medicinal plants. Mr Gook Patnayak, Chairman of Agro Tech India, said that under the contract farming the farmers were required to sow contractor’s crops on their land and harvest and deliver to the contractor anticipated yield and contracted acreage. He said that Haryana could promote contract farming in basmati, barley, mustard, guar, maize and vegetable crops. Mr Chautala also released a booklet “The Emerging Challenges to Haryana agricultural economy vis-à-vis diversification in agriculture”. |
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Additional
charge for Chief Secy Chandigarh, July 31 Mr Balbir Singh, SP, Telecommunication, and SP Crime (CID), has been relieved of the latter charge. Mr Pirthi Singh, SP, State Vigilance Bureau, Hisar, has been given additional charge as the Commandant, 3rd Bn, HAP, Hisar. Mr Satbir Singh, DSP, CID has been posted as a DSP in the 2nd Bn at Madhuban against a vacant post. Mr Ram Kumar Aggarwal, DSP, CID, has been posted as a DSP in the State Vigilance Bureau. Mr Manbir Singh, DSP, Flying Squad, Faridabad, has been posted as a DSP, 5th BN, HAP,
Madhuban. |
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Rampant
power theft in Haryana Panchkula, July 31 Highly placed sources in the Vigilance Department of HVPN say that almost 50 per cent of the power is lost each year to transmission losses and power theft, with the power theft losses being over 50 per cent of the total losses. For every 1 per cent of power loss each year, the Nigam loses Rs 5 crore a year or Rs. 250 crore, with more than Rs 125 crore losses by power theft. Sources reveal that 50 to 60 per cent of the agricultural and domestic consumers in 150 villages of Hisar, Rohtak, Bhiwani and Jind were stealing power through kundi connections. Power theft by commercial consumers like colleges and other educational institutions has also been detected in Bhiwani and Jind. Kundi connections by hundreds of illegal slum and labour colonies in Faridabad , Gurgaon, Panipat, Yamunanagar and Panchkula , too, contribute to power theft. Even the methods of stealing power are getting more blatant. Officers in Vigilance Department reveal that a number of industrial power theft cases were detected, where modus operandi was by tapping the supply directly. On the night of July 18, the Vigilance team at Ambala detected power theft by a cold store in Ismailabad by directly tapping from the 11KV high tension line. The defaulter had installed a transformer at his unit to step down the voltage and then use the power by passing his metered supply. Inspite of HVPN having the most well organised Vigilance system for power theft detection, comprising officials from the power department and the police, on an average 1200 complaints of power theft are received and 300 cases are detected. Each month, Rs. 1.25 crore to Rs 1.5 crore is recovered as penalty for stealing power. HVPN authorities inform that they have set up seven teams at Karnal, Ambala, Rohtak and Panchkula under the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) and at Faridabad, Gurgaon and Hisar under the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam. A senior official in the Vigilance Department informed TNS that 3000 cases of power theft were detected last year (2002) and a penalty of Rs. 15 crore was realised. During the first six months this year, penalty of Rs 8 crore has been realised from about 2000 cases that have been detected.” Penalty realized from defaulters is only for the six months prior to the detection, which means theft for the period before these six months is not penalised. This year, eight cases in which more than Rs. 5 lakh penalty was imposed and 30 cases where more than Rs 1 lakh penalty was imposed, have been detected, “ informed a top official in the Vigilance Department. |
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Rules simplified for power reconnections Panchkula, July 31 This was stated by the Chairperson of Power Transmission and Distribution
Utilties, Major-Gen Bhoop Singh Rathi (retd.), while talking to the mediapersons here today. He said those consumers, whose tubewell connections were disconnected six months ago, would be reconnected on payment of Rs 3000 instead of Rs 20,000 earlier. Similarly, those whose connections were disconnected for more than six months ago and remained as such up to two years, would have to pay Rs 7000 instead of Rs 20,000 to again get the connection. He said that about 6000 new technical officials would be recruited during next one and a half year and they would include sub-divisional officers, junior engineers, assistant lineman, substation attendants and cashiers. He pointed out that some consumers in Jind, Rohtak, Bhiwani and Mahendergarh districts were deliberately not paying their power bills. As a result of the non-payment of the power bills, the arrears had shot up to Rs 1460 crore. This includes Rs 900 crore due from the consumers in rural areas. He said although it would be a little difficult for the defaulters to pay the huge amount of arrears, they could now pay the current bills in time. He directed the officers to accept even part payment of the bills. In a reply to a question, he said that the number of cases of power theft was high in rural areas. Talking about the expansion plans he said that 74 new sub stations were being set up in the state and augmentation of 55 substations was being planned. |
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70 diarrhoea cases in Yamunanagar village Yamunanagar, July 31 Dr Sharma said he received information on July 29 night that in Daulatpur village near here, a few persons were suffering from diarrhoea. A team of doctors of the Community Health Centre, Mustafabad, visited the village and gave first-aid to all patients. He said chlorine tablets were distributed to every house hold and villagers told to use boiled water. Dr Sharma said he also visited the village yesterday and found that the situation was under control. He said doctors had been posted there and the samples of water had been sent to the Karnal Laboratory for test. Chlorine tablets had been put into the water tank. Leakage in a water pipe had reportedly spread disease in the Daulatpur village. |
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Hooda has miraculous
escape Chandigarh, July 31 Ms Asha Hooda, wife of Mr Hooda, said that the District Magistrate of Hardwar had told her on telephone that Mr Hooda had received only minor injuries and was being given first-aid in hospital. She said Mr Hooda and eight other persons were travelling in two cars on the
Hardwar-Moradabad road when their vehicles got caught in the current of a river that was flowing through the road.
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Faridabad
jail to have gallows Chandigarh, July 31 This will be the state’s third prison after the ones at Ambala and Hisar to have the gallows. As the award of the death penalty by courts is increasingly becoming rare, knowledgeable circles here are slightly puzzled over the state government’s step to set up the gallows at yet another prison. Though at one point of time the Ambala jail alone had 32 solitary cells for condemned prisoners, there are only three such prisoners lodged in the Ambala and Hisar jails. Two of the three condemned prisoners have exhausted all legal avenues and awaiting the President’s decision on their mercy petitions. An official said no actual execution had taken place in any Haryana jail for many years. Vijay Singh, the official executioner based at the Ambala jail, had not undertaken any execution in the past over 14 years. Justifying the government’s step to have the gallows at the proposed jail, the official said a big jail would not be considered complete without the necessary infrastructure for execution. “As long as capital punishment continues to exist, big jails will continue to have the gallows”, he added. |
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Affiliation
of colleges changed Kurukshetra, July 31 Confirming this during a chat with mediapersons at the University Guest House here late last evening, the Kurukshetra University Vice-Chancellor, Dr A.K. Chawla, said a copy of the notification to this effect, issued by the Haryana Government, was received by the university yesterday. Dr Chawla said all administrative work, including the conduct of examinations, would now be controlled by Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, in these newly affiliated colleges in Hisar, Sirsa, Fatehabad and Jind districts from the current academic session. However, the colleges in six districts of Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Karnal, Panipat, Ambala and Yamunanagar would remain affiliated to Kurukshetra University. Dr Chawla said a new girls hostel with a capacity to accommodate 300 students and having modern facilities would be constructed at the campus during the current financial year. The tenders in this regard had already been invited, he added. |
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Depositors
gherao company office Ambala, July 31 Around 100 depositors ghearoed the office of the company and demanded the amount. In the meantime the police was informed and the proprietor of the finance company was taken to a police post. The vice-sarpanch of Lalana village, Karam Singh, alleged that he had been depositing Rs 50 for 30 months with the chit fund company and in return he was to get domestic items by the company of the equal amount of the deposit. However, the company was neither giving them the items nor returning the amount. The proprietor of the company, J.P. Singh, said out of 10,000 members, the payment of 9,200 had already been made. He agreed to give the items or make the payments within a month. |
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Show-cause notice to 2 nursing homes Hisar, July 31 According to official sources one of the hospitals had no radiologist on its staff although it was running an ultrasound test centre. The hospital officials pleaded that they had employed a part-time radiologist as the number of patients undergoing ultrasound tests were limited and the timings for such tests were fixed. The raiding party also discovered that the forms required to be filled for ultrasound tests were only partially filled leaving out important required information. In another case irregularities were found in the record of patients. Official sources said stern action would be taken against the two hospitals if these failed to explain the irregularities. |
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HIGH COURT Chandigarh, July 31 In his petition, taken up a Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Mr Justice B.K. Roy, Haryana’s former minister, Dr Dharamvir Yadav, claimed that the land acquired in the revenue estate of Silokhra village from 1986 to 1990 was released to private builders and other influential persons. Giving an example, he stated that 37 kanals and 17 marlas was released in June, 1999, by former Chief Minister Bansi Lal and another person even though all development work had been carried. Taking up the petition, the Bench fixed August 27 as the next date of hearing.
Writ against Chautala In a brother versus brother case, Partap Singh Chautala of Sirsa district today filed a petition against brother Chief Minister O.P. Chautala and other respondents seeking action against officials responsible for a laying road on his land without acquiring it. In his petition, Partap Singh also sought directions to the state of Haryana and other respondents to pay compensation for encroaching his land on which road was being laid. The petition will come up for hearing on Friday. |
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Jail term for
two in dowry death case Ambala, July 31 According to the prosecution, Shushma married Mehar Chand of Mangloi village in 1999 and was found dead in mysterious circumstances on February 22, 2002. Some injury marks were found on her neck. The police had registered a case under Sections 304-B, 34 and 498-A, IPC, against her husband, mother-in-law and two other relatives on the complaint of the brother of the deceased. The judge in his order sentenced the accused to rigorous imprisonment for seven years and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the
accused. |
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Man gets judicial remand in fake ISO papers case Ambala, July 31 The police produced Katyal in the court today. After hearing the arguments, the court remanded him in judicial custody. On July 29, the court had remanded him in police custody for three days. The issue came to light when an ISO certificate issued to an electronics company was found to be fake. The owner of the company said he had approached an Ambala city-based consultant in this regard. The certificate was sent for the accreditation headquarters in England a month ago for verification and it was found that ISO certificates bearing 2503 series had not been issued from the headquarters. |
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Netaji
park to go to Panchkula Housing Board Ambala, July 31 |
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2,000 saplings planted Ambala, July 31 |
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