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Tuesday,
August 5, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Truck falls on van, 5 students killed No pre-election alliance, says
Bansi Lal
Youth Congress chief submits memo to Governor Water project brings
in major social change |
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Important HC
verdict on students’ poll No modification in jurisdiction of varsity High Court 331 acres cleared for Army In service of wounded soldier Nigam told to refund consumer 
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Truck falls on van, 5 students killed Sonepat, August 4 The police said the victims, all girls, were identified as Anjali Kuchhal (18), Monika (18), Yamini (17), Aradhana (18) and Akhankhya (18). The condition of the sixth girl, Pragya, is stated to be serious. The driver of the van, who was replacing the wheel, was also injured. The victims were studying in Class XII and were going to New Delhi for attending a coaching class.
— PTI |
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No pre-election alliance, says Bansi Lal Ambala, August 4 Talking to mediapersons here, Mr Bansi Lal said no house tax would be levied if the person stayed in the house built by him. “The Rs 10,000 tax on halwais will be removed and there will be no entry tax,” he said. Mr Bansi Lal said VAT would be withdrawn and it would be introduced only when it had been introduced all over the country. His government would give an unemployment grant of Rs 200 to Classes X and XII pass persons and Rs 250 to BA pass persons. He said they were not going to enter into any pre-poll alliance. The HVP was going to contest the Lok Sabha as well as the Assembly elections independently. “When we go to the villages, there is an overwhelming response from the people,” he said. To a query on the second-line leadership, Mr Bansi Lal said no person was indispensable. “After Pandit Nehru, the question of leadership arose but things continued to move smoothly,” he said. Mr Bansi Lal said he was against strike by labourers. “I am against retrenchment and such cases will be examined on a case-to-case basis,” he said. “I want to continue with the slab system for tubewells.” He said the claim by Mr Chautala of government coffers being full was hollow since the government was planning to sell land. “The government is planning to sell shops at the agriculture university,” he stated. He said he neither supported nor opposed the move for 33 per cent reservation for women. Regarding the power sector, Mr Bansi Lal said old lines needed to be changed and new plants had to be set up. On Ghasi Ram Nain, he said it was wrong to label him as a traitor, though blocking roads was wrong step. He said the flight undertaken by Mr George Fernandes in a MiG-21 was a “drama”. “The accident rate during my time was 0.10 per cent and today it stands at nearly three per cent”. He said all statues, busts and names of Chaudhary Devi Lal would be removed when his party came to power and, in their place, freedom fighters would be honoured as they had made the supreme sacrifice. |
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Youth Congress chief submits memo to Governor Chandigarh, August 4 The memorandum, handed over to the Governor by a Youth Congress delegation led by Mr Surjewala, said Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala had at first granted remission to 12 persons convicted of most heinous offences. The crimes committed by the released convicts were of a serious nature, including murders. On July 18, the Cabinet recommended the premature release of four prisoners, all of whom were sentenced to life imprisonment for committing murders. While initially nine persons, involved in four cases of murder, were to be recommended for release, the final recommendation was made for only four of them, the memorandum said, adding that the cases of the five remaining convicts were expected to be taken up later. The Youth Congress leader said the release of such hardcore criminals by taking recourse to Article 161 of the Constitution would amount to gross misuse of power. It also added the Cabinet recommendation was in violation of the state government’s own policy on life convicts announced in April, 2002. While the policy laid down that lifers must spend minimum 14 years jail, none of the convicts, whose cases figured in the Cabinet meeting, had done so. The INLD Government, the memorandum added, had also withdrawn prosecution against 275 persons for extraneous reasons. Later, addressing a press conference at the HPCC office here, Mr Surjewala said he was not opposed to the withdrawal of cases against BKU and Beopar Mandal members whose names also figured in the list of 275 persons. Mr Om Prakash Chautala, who was also the Home Minister, was releasing such prisoners to use them at the time of elections, the IYC chief alleged. Eleven of the 12 convicts released by the government earlier were either from the Rori constituency, represented by Mr Chautala’s son, Mr Abhay Singh, or from the Narwana constituency, represented by the Chief Minister himself, the IYC President said. Regarding the “politico-criminal nexus”, Mr Surjewala cited the instance of Mr Mewa Singh, allegedly a proclaimed offender, who went to China with the CM’s entourage. The assault on Master Hari Singh, a former INLD functionary, at Hisar in broad daylight and the allegations of intimidation levelled by two residents of the Rori constituency against Mr Abhay Singh were also mentioned by Mr Surjewala in the memorandum. According to the memorandum, Mr Hari Singh has filed a petition accusing Mr Chautala, his elder son, Mr Ajay Singh and the state government of making an attempt to murder him. The IYC President claimed the Governor had assured to delegation of looking into the issues raised in the memorandum. |
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Water project brings
in major social change Panchkula, August 4 This is not just her story. It is the story of all 14 households in this remote hamlet , and over 500 other hamlets/villages in the districts of Panchkula, Ambala and Yamunanagar located on the lower Shivaliks. Because of increased moisture stressed condition, the poor in these areas were left with little option but to utilise cattle as the sole source for livelihood. Since cattle offered the only security against vagaries of nature, that has reduced the once fertile tracts in the Shivaliks into dusty hills, residents had to move to the green spaces — the mand area near the Sutlej, the Beas and the Ghaggar, for continuous supply of fodder. Thus for the female population in this area, also referred to as Kandi area, drudgery became a way of life. With men being away, women shouldered the family responsibilities like fetching water from streambeds, collecting fire wood etc. Though education was never important here, the girl child was the first to be withdrawn from schools for help at home and because of social insecurity away from home. But all this is the past. The successful implementation of Integrated Watershed Development Project (IWDP) — Hills has changed the social milieu of over 500 villages in the lower Shivaliks. The project has already brought almost 365 hectares in the Kandi region under irrigation, 2973 hectares under cultivation, and saved 9500 hectares from water erosion during the past 12 years, since this World Bank-aided project was started. This has thus helped in reversing the ecological degradation through social engineering of land and water management techniques. Informs Mr H.S. Lohan, Project Director of IWDP — Hills, “Improving water infrastructure became the logical entry point for bringing about change — both in transforming the means of livelihood from cattle rearing to cultivation, and, impacting the daily ordeal of women.” The Department of Agriculture, which acts as the nodal agency, has recently conducted a study to assess the shift in migration. It is learnt that the migration in the area has reduced between 16 per cent to 75 per cent — which ultimately has had a positive effect on the female population. |
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Important HC
verdict on students’ poll Chandigarh, August 4 Dismissing a bunch of appeals filed by two Gurgaon district students convicted for murdering a supporter of a rival political party candidate, the Bench, comprising Mr Justice S.S. Nijjar and Mr Justice S.S. Grewal, further ruled: “It is well-known that many state and national leaders of the past and the present have cut their political teeth during the elections to students’ union of colleges and universities when they were students”. The Judges added: “Success in the students’ union politics is an important feather in the cap of budding political leaders. Therefore, the elections to the students’ union are very seriously contested. The violence that accompanies these elections is also not an unknown phenomena. As such it is not possible to brush aside the motive attributed by the prosecution witnesses to the appeallants for attacking the victim”. The two, Rajesh Kumar and Sanjay Kumar, were booked by the police on March 29, 1995, for murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code after victim Udey Yadav succumbed to his injuries in Gurgaon’s civil hospital. According to the prosecution, the duo was nursing a grudge against Udhey and his friend as the two had supported the rival party candidate during the elections held the previous year. The prosecution witnesses had claimed that Rajesh had held the victim, while Sunil had stabbed him”. Arguing before the trial court, the two had denied the allegations. When confronted with the incriminating evidence against them, they had pleaded innocence and had asked for a trial. The trial court had, however, convicted them before sentencing them to imprisonment for life, besides imposing a fine of Rs 2,000 each. Challenging the orders before the Bench, counsel for the petitioners had asserted that the two were being implicated in the case. After going through the record and hearing arguments in the case, the Bench ruled: “We are of the opinion that the prosecution has proved the guilt of the appellants beyond reasonable doubt. The conviction and sentence of the both the appellants are maintained.... The appeals are dismissed”. |
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No modification in jurisdiction of varsity Chandigarh, August 4 The state government had initially planned that the new university would have jurisdiction over all colleges of Mahendragarh, Hisar, Sirsa, Jind, Fatehabad and Bhiwani districts. However, following strong protests in Mahendragarh district, it was decided that the colleges of Mahendragarh would retain their affiliation to Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak. Subsequently, a notification was issued last month, de-affiliating colleges of Hisar, Sirsa, Jind and Fatehabad from Kurukshetra University and colleges of Bhiwani district from the MDU, and affiliating these colleges to the new university at Sirsa. Apparently, this decision has not gone down well with the public and sporadic protests by students against the state government’s step are reportedly taking place virtually in all affected districts. The protests are said to be particularly strong in Bhiwani and Jind districts. It is learnt that students of Bhiwani district are unhappy because the new university is situated at a greater distance from Bhiwani than the MDU, Rohtak, which is bordering Bhiwani. Similarly, for the students of Jind also, Kurukshetra is more accessible than Sirsa. |
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High Court Chandigarh, August 4 Pronouncing the orders, the Bench, comprising Mr Justice S.S. Nijjar and Mr Justice S.S. Grewal, also issued notice of motion for August 19. Notice regarding stay was also issued. In their petitions, Ramita Sardana and other petitioners had earlier contended that as per an advertisement, there were 24 seats under the management quota in Rohtak college. For the seats, Rs 25 lakhs were to be paid and there was no condition of domicile. Arguing before the court, counsel asserted that the institute at Rohtak was run by the government and as such seats could not be reserved under the management quota. |
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331 acres cleared for Army Ambala, August 4 The District Revenue Officer, Mr O.P. Ranga, the DSP, Mr Ashok Kumar and the Executive Officer, Ambala Sadar Municipal Council, Mr K.K. Jain, led the demolition squad. The Sub Area Commander Brig D.C. Katoch, the Defence Estate Officer, Ms Shobha Kapoor, and a large number of the police personnel were also present on the occasion. The civil authorities handed over 150 acres of land to the Army authorities. According to information the land was handed over to the Army to comply with an agreement reached on February 2, 1977 between the Ministry of Defence and the Haryana Government. It was decided in the agreement that the civil authorities would give 150 acres to the Army in lieu of the land given to Municipal Council to develop civil area. The matter had been pending for the past 20 years. The High Court in an order had also directed the Ambala civil administration to hand over the 150 acres of the Army. The civil administration also handed over another 181 acres to the Army today in exchange of 66 acres of Army land at Panipat which would be handed over to the civil administration by the Army authorities for the construction of a judicial complex and a few other offices. Meanwhile, farmers of these villages — Rulda Ram, Pratap Singh, Shyam Singh, Hari Mohan and Joginder Pal — alleged that the compensation rate fixed by the revenue authority was quite less in comparison with the market rate. They also demanded compensation for their crops. The state government had already sent Rs 9.5 crore to the Ambala Revenue Department to grant the compensation money to the occupants of the land. |
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In service of wounded soldier Chandigarh, August 4 This is not the only success story where a recently set up non-government organisation, the War Wounded Foundation (WWF), has formulated a unique concept to forge lasting ties with the corporate sector with a view to extending help for rehabilitation of battle casualties. The foundation, the first of its kind in India, was formally launched by the Governor of Punjab, Justice O.P. Verma, here today. Paratrooper Baldev Raj, who came from Kurukshetra to attend the ceremony, was seriously injured when bullets hit him during a combing operation while serving with the IPKF in Jaffna. His left arm had to be amputed. He opted for setting up a retail outlet for lubricants in his home town. He is now in the process of establishing a wholesale agency. It is not just a matter of rehabilitation but also giving a direction to the movement and encouraging battle casualties to come forward to begin a new chapter in their life. To this end, Col Sanjeev Kumar, who lost his eyesight in an incident, has been appointed as the foundation’s co-ordinator for the Ambala region he belongs to. Outlining the charter of the foundation, Lieut-Gen Vijay Oberoi, a former Vice-Chief of the Army, and president of the foundation, said even though battle casualties got disability pension, it was grossly inadequate. The bulk of disabled soldiers were in their 30s and 40s with a whole life ahead of them. It was unfortunate but true that the wounded were soon forgotten. Since Independence, over 40,000 military personnel had been killed in various operations. In the past decade alone, 13,000 soldiers had been wounded. General Oberoi said the foundation planned to reach out to all such personnel in the country and make their life productive and useful. Recounting the activities of the foundation, the foundation’s Executive Director, Mr Mukul Anand, said over 10 soldiers had already become entrepreneurs while the cases of 25 others were being processed. Earlier, the Governor said that since Independence, the government had taken many steps for the welfare and rehabilitation of war wounded personnel but such measures were woefully inadequate. |
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Nigam told to refund consumer Fatehabad, August 4 A cinema house owner from Rattia town in this district had lodged a complaint with the forum here on January 8. The cinema owner averred that the cinema house had an electricity connection for a cooler on which they had been receiving off-season waiver benefits for the past 20 years. However, the nigam started charging Rs 3750 per month from November 2001. |
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Search on for Rajinder
Hooda Chandigarh, August 4 Family sources said Army jawans in motorboats looking for the body in the Ganges fished out 10 other bodies. Rajdan is Haryana power corpn chief Chandigarh, August 4 |
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