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Why can’t India, Pak join hands: Chautala
Western culture ‘affecting’ Indians, Pakistanis
HAU staff, Director (Research) on warpath |
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Bonanza for Haryana education sector
People will serve charge
sheet on Chautala: Selja
Gain behind advancing panchayat poll, admits INLD legislator
CM appoints panel to study HUDA’s land acquisition
Cong to probe bunglings in job panels: Surjewala
Retrenched staff may get Group D jobs
Finance proposals okayed
Remuneration for
paper setting raised
Railway official booked on charge of causing death
4 killed in mishaps
5 get 10-year jail for robbery
Red Cross secy dies in accident
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Why can’t India, Pak join hands: Chautala
Kurukshetra, December 11 These views were expressed by eminent personalities from Pakistan, who had come here to take part in a three-day international seminar on ‘India-Pakistan Relations — Emerging Cooperation’ that began here today. It was the first-ever delegation from Pakistan to visit Haryana. The Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, hoped that the peace process initiated by the people of both countries would get a further impetus in days to come, irrespective of the initiatives taken by the leaders and governments of both countries. He said the peace process would change the ‘fate’ of both nations by bringing about peace, prosperity and all-around progress in the region. Taking a dig at the global changes that had taken place in the recent past, he said multinational companies were looking at both India and Pakistan as lucrative markets to gain profits. “Our conflict is helping them in fulfilling their interests”, he said. Mr Chautala said by enhancing mutual trade and cooperation in socio-economic and cultural sectors, both nations could become a formidable force. He said, “If European countries can unite and have a common currency even after fighting for centuries, why can India and Pakistan not do so?”. Adding that both countries had common language, common eating habits, common culture and common abuses, why could the barriers not be removed, he questioned. The Pakistani Deputy High Commissioner in New Delhi, Mr Munawar Syed, said his country was fully committed to the ongoing peace process. “Our policy is to resolve all conflicts through comprehensive dialogues between the political leadership of both nations”, he said. The message brought by the delegation from Pakistan would reflect that we were determined and we would have to look for ways and means to resolve differences, he added. The Chairman of the World Punjabi Conference, Mr Fakhar Zaman, called for easing visa restrictions between the two countries, hoping that it would end the ‘bitterness’ and pave the way for understanding, resulting into peace. “Let there be no visa restrictions between the two nations”, he said. The Chairman of the Minorities Commission of India, Mr Tarlochan Singh, appreciated the decision of the Central Government to grant dual citizenship and stressed that Mr Fakhar Zaman and noted journalist Kuldip Nayyar should be granted dual citizenship, keeping in view the contribution made by them to strengthen relations between India and Pakistan. He complimented the people of Pakistan for opening a new border to enter this part of undivided Punjab (Haryana) and hoped that this process would continue in the future. Lashing out at hardliners of both nations, he said the peace process had now reached out to the common people and no one could suppress the fragrance of love beyond geographical barriers. Earlier, the Chief Minister released a souvenir, comprising abstracts of papers that were presented by eminent scholars during the seminar, and honoured the visiting dignitaries by presenting turbans. The Secretary of the Haryana Urdu Academy, K.L. Zakir, recited few Urdu couplets to express his views on Indo-Pak relations. Later, during the technical session, Prof S.S. Bindra from Guru Nanak Dev University presented a paper on ‘Indo-Pak Relations: Continuity and Change’ and Prof Kulwant Kaur on ‘Kashmir Issue: The Need for a New Vision’ Prof Chintamani Mahapatra from Jawaharlal University presented a paper on ‘External Dimensions of Peacemaking in South Asia’ and Prof Raghvendra Tanwar from Kurukshetra University on ‘Unnatural Division of India and Pakistan’. |
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Western culture ‘affecting’ Indians, Pakistanis
Kurukshetra, December 11 He had come here along with a delegation of 120 Pakistanis comprising intellectuals, journalists, artistes, poets and businessmen to attend a three-day international seminar on ‘India-Pakistan Relations: Emerging Cooperation’ that began here, today. Giving a brief sketch of his career Shaukat Ali Khan said he started singing during his college days (1960s) but got recognised as a folk singer in 1970. Since then, he has continuously been singing ghazals and Punjabi folk songs. He said “Keon door door rehende oh mere
kolon, mainu dass deo hoea ki kassor mere kolon” was his first Punjabi song that had recognised him as a folk singer in the Pakistani society. Hailing from a family of artistes, his elder brother Inayat Ali Khan, also a great singer, was his
ustaad. Keeping the family tradition alive, his son Imran Shaukat Ali, who had accompanied him to India, has also gained name and fame in the recent past. Apart from ghazals, the famous Punjabi folk song of Shaukat Ali is: “challa and kadi te hass kebol ve naan saadi jind rol
ve”. Among ghazals, “jab bahaar aae to sehra ki tarf chal para”, is on the lips of every Pakistani and Indians. Recalling his first meeting with Mohammad Rafi in 1979 in London he said, “I was surprised to hear my cassette in the car stereo of Rafi
sahab. It was a great honour for me. Later, he supported me a lot. Shaukat Ali Khan, who is better known as the ‘Voice of Punjab’, has also been honoured with the highest Pakistani civilian Presidential award. He first gave live performance
during 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi. Since then, he has performed a number of times in India and many other countries. A great fan of Gurdass Mann, Harbhajan Mann, Surinder
Shinda, Hans Raj Hans and many other Indian Punjabi singers he said the cultural exchange, including live performances of artistes, would help in strengthening the bond of friendship between the two nations. |
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HAU staff, Director (Research) on warpath Hisar, December 11 The association has alleged that Dr Dahiya misbehaved with three of its office-bearers who had gone to meet him to discuss the promotion policy of a section of employees. “He refused to listen to us and plainly told us to get out of his office,” said Mr
Surajbhan, president of the association. Talking to The Tribune, Mr Surajbhan alleged that the Director (Research) had been exploiting the employees of the university. He even thrashed an Animal Attendant when he was posted as Regional Director at Bawal, the employee leader alleged. Shockingly, Dr Dahiya, when contacted, admitted to having beaten up employees in the past. He even asserted that had he not been on this position, he would have beaten up the members of the employees’ delegation as well. He, however, maintained that he was following the guidelines laid down by the university authorities as far as the promotion policy was concerned. Dr Dahiya even levelled allegations of misbehaviour against the employee leaders. On the other hand, the employee leaders assert that there was no provision to conduct an interview for the promotion of non-teaching employees. “The promotions have been made on the basis of seniority and merit of the employees and no interview was ever held in this regard,” Mr Surajbhan said. Taking a serious note of the matter, the HAUNTEA has given the authorities an ultimatum to take action in this regard till December 15. Mr Ashok Verma, senior vice-president of the association, said if the authorities failed to take action till the given deadline, the employees would launch a stir against Dr Dahiya. The association has also submitted memorandums to the university Chancellor and Haryana Governor, Dr A.R.Kidwai, and the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, in which it has sought strict disciplinary action against the Director (Research). Several sections of the university, including the teachers’ association
(HAUTA), have been trying to resolve the issue, but to no avail. The HAUTA chief, Dr M.S.
Narwal, said a general body meeting of the association had condemned the alleged misbehaviour with the Director (Research). The Vice-Chancellor, Mr M.K.Miglani, said he had referred the matter to the Registrar as it fell under his domain. On being asked whether the episode had brought a bad name to the university, he said it was unfortunate. The HAU Registrar, Dr M.S.Kuhad, told this correspondent that the matter had come to his notice. He said if a mutually acceptable solution of the matter was not reached, he would institute an inquiry in this regard. As of now, an uneasy calm prevails on the HAU campus and whether the university authorities are able to contain the volatile situation remains to be seen.
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Bonanza for Haryana education sector
Chandigarh, December 11 It was learnt that the state government was giving finishing touches to a proposal to give DA with the pension that was being received by the teachers of government-aided private colleges. The teachers of government-aided private colleges are already getting pensions but not receiving DA. Sources said the decision to give DA also to such teachers was expected to be put up before a meeting of the Haryana Council of Ministers here tomorrow. “The government funds 95 per cent of the expense of aided private colleges. As far as the issue of enhancing the pension by providing DA is concerned, the state government is yet to make up its mind about whether it should bear 95 per cent of the additional expenditure or cent per cent,” a source here said. He said officers of the Education Department were working on the matter and the final proposal was expected to be put up during the meeting of the Council of Ministers tomorrow. The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, had earlier announced at a rally at Kaithal on November 1 that pensioners of private colleges would be provided DA as well. Also, in tomorrow’s meeting of the Council of Ministers a proposal regarding upgradation of lecturers of higher secondary schools as class II government employees would be put up, sources here said. They said while college lecturers were accorded the status of class II employees, the lecturers teaching the higher secondary classes are class III employees. The meeting would consider a proposal so that parity between school and college lecturers could be brought about. The sources added that the Chief Minister had earlier announced that school lecturers would be accorded the status of class II employees. |
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People will serve charge
sheet on Chautala: Selja
Ambala, December 11 Addressing a SC/BC rally held at Gandhi Maidan in Ambala Cantt, Kumari Selja stated that the charge sheet submitted by the Congress leaders against Mr Chautala to Haryana Governor was just a tip of the iceberg. “There are many more aspects which cannot be seen but the people of Haryana will serve the real charge sheet by routing Mr Chautala,” she said. She stated that after taking over as the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, had sought reports from different states on the welfare measures for the backward classes, women and youth. She stated that the Chautala government had failed to work for the people. “Farmers are feeling neglected, traders are in a sorry state and the law and order situation in the state is critical,” she added. Mr Sachin Pilot, MP from Dausa observed that a wave against Mr Chautala, which has started from Ambala, would spread all over Haryana. “Congress will have a historic win in Haryana,” he said. Mr Pilot, who came to Ambala for the first time after becoming an MP, stressed that the vote of the people was valuable. “It is shocking that people are afraid of the Chautala government. The government has caused unhappiness to the common people. People must choose the Congress candidate so that the Chautala government could be routed out,” he stated. Mr Pilot said that Congress has always kept promises. “Congress has encouraged the youth. We are not an opportunist party. While parties become active in elections, Congress activists continue to serve the people all the time. We should tread on the path shown by Mahatma Gandhi and Indra Gandhi,” he said. Former Haryana minister Nirmal Singh, who was the main organiser of the rally, said the backward classes were the top priority of the Congress. “Congress has always given priority to workers, farmers and the common people. Under the UPA government there is a major budget allocation for the rural areas,” he said. Criticising the Chautala government, Mr Nirmal Singh said Haryana was under “goonda raj”. “The forthcoming Assembly election will be the last election of INLD as the people will badly rout them. Mr Chautala has failed to fulfil his electoral promises and his promise to give free power in the state, which he did not fulfil is known to the people,” he said. Mr Nirmal Singh said the Opposition parties do not have any real issues and they try to target leaders like Mrs Sonia Gandhi at the national level and Kumari Selja at the state level. Among others, Mr
D.R. Musafir from Himachal Pradesh, Mr Jagjeet Singh and Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo from Punjab, Mr Ashok Jain, Kartar Devi, Mr Phool Chand
Mullana, Prasanni Devi, Mr Ram Prakash, Mr Shera, Mr Ram Singh, Ms Kiran Bala Jain and Mr Laxman Singh addressed the gathering.
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Gain behind advancing panchayat poll, admits INLD legislator
Hisar, December 11 “We are not saints. Every move of politicians and political parties is aimed at political gains,” Mr Dabra said on being asked about the motive behind the move to advance the panchayat and municipal elections. Interestingly, the INLD MLA stated this while addressing a news conference here today. Initially, Mr Dabra tried to parry the rather inconvenient question in this regard by offering some vague reply. However, on being pressed for a proper statement, he lost his cool and made the said remark. The press conference had been called to announce the holding of election training camps for INLD workers. Mr Dabra maintained that the INLD would not contest the panchayat or municipal elections on party symbol. When questioned on the Congress chargesheet against the INLD leadership, the MLA said all allegations were false and unfounded. He said Mr Abhey and Ajay Chautala had submitted affidavits while filing their nominations for the Lok Sabha poll. He remarked that the Congress should have got the affidavits verified rather than submitting the memorandum to the Governor. |
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CM appoints panel to study HUDA’s land acquisition
Rohtak, December 11 Responding to a demand made by the residents of the colonies at a Sarkar Aapke Dwar programme he said the committee would submit its report within a week. The affected colonies are: Vishal nagar, Harki Devi Colony, Jasbir Colony, Basant Vihar, Rishi Nagar, Inder Vihar, Ladhot Road Colony and Gohana Road Colony. HUDA had initiated the acquisition proceedings sometime ago. After the first notices were served, the residents met the Chief Minister with a plea to release the colonies where a large number of houses had been built already. The Chief Minister appointed a panel headed by the Deputy Commissioner to survey the area. However, even before this committee could finalise the report of the survey, HUDA issued final acquisition notices. It was in this connection that the representatives of residents of those colonies met the Chief Minister yesterday. Most of the colonies form part of the Kiloi Assembly segment. HUDA plans to develop these as Sector 5 and 6 under a housing scheme. Mr Chautala directed the officials to ensure adequate supply of drinking water in all villages covered by the piped water scheme. He also sanctioned funds for the renovation of several chaupals, phirnis, health centres and other government buildings of the area. |
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Cong to probe bunglings in job panels: Surjewala
Rohtak, December 11 Talking to mediapersons on his arrival here from Delhi he said the Congress had received numerous of complaints about the large-scale bungling in appointments. Most of these indicated that both commissions had been treated as agencies for selling government jobs. He said the Congress would change the entire spectrum of appointment to government jobs by devising mechanism that would ensure that selections were based on merit alone. Mr Surjewala accused the Chief Minister of defrauding jobless youth in the state by waiving the fee of Rs 500 for applying for the government jobs. |
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Retrenched staff may get Group D jobs
Chandigarh, December 11 The Cabinet decided that the state public sector and cooperative sector undertakings where group D vacancies exist may consider filling of the vacancies by appointing the retrenched employees as a one time measure. The Cabinet also decided to grant dearness allowance to the pensioners of privately managed government aided colleges and schools. The Cabinet also approved granting gazetted status (HES-II) to lecturers of school cadre. At present, there are 10,169 school lecturers of different subjects in the state. The upper age limit for providing employment under ex gratia scheme will also be raised from 25 to 30 years. It also decided to reduce the rate of Value Added Tax (VAT) on flaps from 10 to 8 per cent to bring it on a par with the tax rate on tyres and tubes. The Cabinet also approved the rate of external development charges for licensed colonies and change of land use cases with municipal limits and classification of towns in five categories as per the development potential. In the high potential zone, the rates for the commercial and group housing colonies would be Rs 46,45,000 per acre and for residential plotted colonies Rs 9,22,000 per acre. In the medium potential zone, the rates to be charged for commercial and group housing use would be Rs 29,03,000 per acre and for residential plotted Rs 6,14,000 per acre. In the low potential zone-I, the charges for commercial and group housing would be Rs 15,48,000 per acre and for residential plotted colonies it would be, Rs 4,60,000 per acre. In the low potential zone-II, the rates would be Rs 11,61,000 per acre and Rs 3,07,000 per acre, respectively. Charges for low potential zone-III would be Rs 9,68,000 and Rs 3,07,000 per acre for the commercial, group housing and residential plotted colonies, respectively. The Cabinet also decided to confer the powers and functions of Director, Town and Country Planning exercisable under the Haryana Development Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975, in the urban area situated within municipal limits for an area up to 10 acres on the Director, Urban Development. The Cabinet has decided to confer the powers and functions of Director, Town and Country Planning exercisable under the Punjab Scheduled Roads and the Controlled Areas Restriction of Unregulated Development Act, 1963, and the Haryana Development Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975, for the controlled area and urban area falling within the limits of Municipal Corporation for the area upto five acres on the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Faridabad. The Cabinet also decided to regularise 1,054 unauthorised colonies of the state which were carved out after 1975 and which fulfill the criteria of 50 per cent construction and had roads wide enough for the movement of vehicles particularly of fire tenders. It also decided to regularise unauthorised colonies in Meham which fulfilled the above criteria. The colonies which fulfill the above criteria on Nov 30, 2004 would also be regularised. The rate of development charges will be at the rate of Rs 120 per square yard for the Municipal Councils and Rs 80 per square yard for the Municipal Committees. An amount of Rs 318.79 crore would be spent on the development works in these colonies. The Cabinet has also approved the proposal of amendment of the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973 to enable the preparation of rules for regulating the service of the primary education services by the municipalities. The Cabinet, approved that the Haryana Staff Selection Commission and the Haryana Public Service Commission would control the selection of sportspersons for vacancies reserved for them in boards, corporations and government departments. It also approved the proposal of the Revenue Department to upgrade Sub-Tehsil, Farukh Nagar, as tehsil in Gurgaon district and Sub-Tehsil, Sampla, as tehsil in Rohtak district. The Cabinet approved the 'Haryana General Provident Fund Rules, 2004' replacing the 'Punjab Provident Fund Rules, 1936'. According to these rules, every government employee on joining service would be required to submit an application for admission to the General Provident Fund (GPF), which would be forwarded by the head of office alongwith a nomination form to the Accountant General for the allotment of GPF account number and acceptance of nomination. Under this, the amount of subscription shall be fixed each year by the subscriber and it should not be less than 8 per cent of the pay. |
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Finance proposals okayed
Chandigarh, December 11 Under the new rules, the Administrative Department had been given full powers to sanction non-recurring expenditure. The heads of departments have also been given power up to Rs 1 lakh in each case, Controlling Officer Rs 40,000 in each case and heads of offices up to Rs10,000 in each case. Similarly, in the sanction of recurring expenditure not provided in the
PFR, the Administrative Department had been provided full powers, heads of departments Rs 50,000 in each case, controlling officers up to Rs 20,000 in each case and heads of offices up to Rs 5,000 in each case. The administrative departments had been given powers up to Rs 50,000 for the purchase of computers, including personal computers, and full powers for hire and maintenance of computers of all kinds. The heads of offices had been given full powers to sanction charges of electricity, gas, water, telephone, postage stamps and taxes levied by statutory body or any other authority. The heads of departments had been given full powers to sanction purchase and repairs of fixtures and furniture and heads of offices up to Rs 1,000 in each case for this purpose. |
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Remuneration for
paper setting raised
Bhiwani, December 11 Giving this information, Mr Rakesh Gupta, Secretary of the board, said here today that the board had decided to put a stop the deduction of 2 per cent from the remuneration of supervisory staff and examiners for Teacher’s Home situated on the board campus. He further said that for the middle examinations, (written and practical) the remuneration had been increased from Rs 3 to Rs 4 per candidate whereas for matric examination (written and practical), the remuneration had been increased from Rs 3.50 to Rs 5 per candidate. For the senior secondary examinations, (written and practical) the remuneration had been increased from Rs 4 per candidate to Rs 6 per candidate. These enhanced rates for theory examinations would be effective from annual examinations-2005 and for practical examinations, the enhanced rates would be effective from supplementary examinations August/ September - 2005. He said the coordination fee given to the head examiners had been doubled. For the middle and matric examinations, the remuneration had been increased from Rs 20 to Rs 40 per sub-examiner and for senior secondary examinations, the remuneration had been increased from Rs 25 to Rs 50 per sub-examiner given to the head examiner. The Chairman said the board had also decided to enhance the remuneration of paper setters of the middle, the matric and the senior Secondary (academic and vocational) examinations of Open School. He said for maths, physics, chemistry, life science, accountancy, economics and commerce subjects, of senior secondary (academic) and for maths of middle and matric, the remuneration had been enhanced to Rs 400 per paper per option and Rs 400 per marking instruction would be given in these subjects. He said for other subjects, Rs 300 per paper per option would be given as remuneration. |
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Railway official booked on charge of causing death
Bahadurgarh (Jhajjar), December 11 The body of victim, Sanjay, was brought here today amid tension. Hundreds of people arrived at the railway station to register their protest and gharoed the railway police post. They demanded monetary compensation, job to one of the family member of the victim in the Railways and action against the guilty TTE. The DSP, Railways, Mr Manbir Singh, and the SDM, Mr Suraj Bhan, who reached the railway station to pacify the agitated persons, assured appropriate compensation to the family of the victim and registration of a case against the guilty
TTE. |
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4 killed in mishaps
Yamunanagar, December 11 In another accident, Kulwant Singh of Dhanora village died after he fell from a tractor-trolley this evening. A truck driver killed two persons on the Chhacchrouli — Ponta Sahib road yesterday after he lost control over his vehicle. As per the reports, the driver, Subhash, first hit a cycle then an animal driven cart before turning turtle. The cyclist, Naushad (18) of Khari village of Uttar Pradesh died on the spot. A cleaner of the truck, Sonu, 17, was also killed in the accident. The truck driver and the man on the cart, Rakam Singh, sustained serious injuries. Meanwhile, the body of Jaspal (21) of Mehalmali village, who had reportedly gone to wash his hands in a pond got drowned last evening. His body was fished out today. |
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5 get 10-year jail for robbery
Bhiwani, December 11 The accused would have to be in jail for a subsequent six months if they failed to pay the fine. According to the prosecution, Mahavir and one more employee working at Tosham in the office of the Dakshin Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam were returning with Rs 1.5 lakh, collected from the Baliali centre, on February 18, 2002, when five persons attacked them near Baliali village and looted the cash. The victims had lodged a report with the police, identifying Rajbir, Bhim Singh of Sangwan, Ramesh of Kharad, Kamaljit of Bagri mohalla of Tosham and notorious criminal Pradeep Jamawdi as robbers in this connection. The police had registered a case under Sections 392 and 397 of the Indian Penal Code. |
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Red Cross secy dies in accident
Bhiwani, December 11 The driver, Krishan, lost control over the vehicle near Igrah village in Jind district and the vehicle rammed into a sugarcane-loaded truck. Jogender Singh died on the spot whereas driver and Ms Sangwan and the union leader suffered injuries. |
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New voters
Kaithal, December 11 |
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One dies in mishap
Panipat, December 11 He died on the spot. |
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Woman commits suicide
Sonepat, December 11 |
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Newly wed man dies in train Ambala, December 11
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Boy killed as train hits bicycle
Sonepat, December 11 According to a report, Mohit was removed to a private hospital at Ganaur. The GRP has registered a case and sent the body for a post-mortem examination. |
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