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HCS exam results in the eye of storm
Polling process to continue till Feb 27, says SC
order
Tewatia to be sworn in today
11 schoolchildren hurt in
mishap
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DSP sent to jail for contempt of
court
3 shot at, injured
Three held for killing mill
worker
Committee to evaluate bids for highway project
No schools to be allowed in houses
Spate of robberies worries
shopkeepers
Ex-IG Sharma brought to Ambala jail
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A Tribune Investigation Many UGC, JRF scholars fail to get even 20 per cent in subjects of specialisation Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 24 In some cases, candidates with brilliant past records have scored poorly in their optionals, casting aspersions on the process of marking for HCS exams, held at a record speed last year. The most glaring case is that of candidate Vishal Chauhan who missed a top slot by a few marks. He would have been an HCS top ranker had he not failed in Hindi (compulsory) and that too by three marks! A candidate who cleared UPSC main exams three times with Hindi as a language paper has strangely failed to clear the same paper in HCS exam. With such discrepancies coming to light, candidates are already calling for an independent probe to clear the suspicion that shrouds the marking process. They are also planning to seek judicial recourse. Further, it needs to be explained how UGC/JRF scholars with brilliant academic/ service records have fared “poorly” in their subjects of specialization. Investigations have revealed cases which make an objective observer sit up and question the marking procedure. One candidate who is a UGC/JRF scholar and has been taking PG classes in public administration for three years at a reputed Haryana university has scored just 19 % marks in the said optional. Another MA, MPhil from JNU Delhi has scored less than 24 % in a subject with which he earlier cleared UPSC’s Civil Services (Main) exam. There are two cases in which brilliant students have failed in Hindi compulsory despite scoring well in other papers. Hemant Gupta, one of the potential candidates, has failed in Hindi. He scored just 24 out of 100. He has already applied for rechecking. Jagdeep Singh, who cleared UPSC main exams with Law thrice and with Public Administration once, has scored 20 % in Public administration this time. Several other rejected but “potential” candidates have been crying foul blaming HPSC’s system of directed marking for their fate. The system involves setting up of examiners’ panels. The unprecedented speed at which the HPSC went about declaring the HCS mains results and conducting interviews last year has also raised doubts about the efficacy of the selection procedure. For the first time, two separate boards were set up to interview 350 candidates between December 13 and 17 last year. Further, while main exam results were declared on December 9, physical test was scheduled for December 11. Many candidates received the said intimation after the interviews were held. Also under the scanner has been the role of former HPSC chairman who was reportedly managing INLD’s election rallies in UP while holding a constitutional post. After relinquishing his charge, he was election in charge for the Chief Minister at Narwana. His wife is presently a member, HPSC.
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Polling process to continue till Feb 27, says SC
order
Chandigarh, February 24 The commission’s decision was challenged by the INLD candidate from Sahlawas, Mr Zile Singh, before the Supreme Court. While the ruling INLD is gloating over the commission’s “defeat”, it has ignored that the court’s directions mean that the polling process has now been extended to 8 a.m. of February 27, when the deadline for receiving postal ballots would expire. The election process, which includes counting, would come to an end on March 5 when the notification regarding successful candidates would be issued. The model code of conduct remains in force till then. Earlier the Punjab and Haryana High Court had held in the Renuka Wadhwa case on February 14 that after the polling concluded on February 3, the ban imposed on appointments by the Election Commission “must be deemed to have outlived its operative effect”. The High Court, however, stayed its order when Mr Manmohan Lal Sarin, Senior Advocate representing the commission, brought to its notice a factual error. The Bench was informed by Mr Sarin that repolling in six booths was still to be held on February 23. It was presumed that the polling process could come to an end with the conclusion of the repolling. The Chief Minister and INLD supremo, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, in his tirade against the Election Commission, had been saying that after the polling had been held on February 3, the restrictions imposed by the commission must go for the sake of “development” in the state. His argument is based on the plea that once the polling had been concluded, any developmental activities by the government could not influence the voters. However, the Supreme Court’s directions mean that the polling process would continue till the deadline for the receipt of postal ballots expired. This defeats the argument of Mr Chautala because during the polling process the voters can be influenced by concessions announced by the government. Mr Shanti Bhushan, who represented Mr Zile Singh in the apex court, had argued that if the commission counted votes on February 23 and there was a difference of say two votes between the winner and his nearest rival, it would lead to “sale and purchase” of postal ballots, which were to be counted on February 27. Going by the same argument, any concessions given or appointments made by the government before 8 a.m. of February 27, when the deadline for receiving the postal ballots would expire, would amount to “purchase” of the postal ballots. This argument gains weight because this time about 6,000 postal ballots have been issued to the polling staff. One may argue that it is not possible to “influence” members of the defence forces whom the postal ballots have been issued as these must be in transit now. But in case of members of the polling parties, who are based in Haryana itself, the possibility of undue influence cannot be ruled out. Many of them might not have yet returned the ballots. |
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Tewatia to be sworn in today
Chandigarh, February 24 Mr Tewatia could have become a member of the HERC in December when his selection was made by a three-member committee. But when the matter was forwarded to Raj Bhavan on December 18 for swearing in Mr Tewatia as a member, Mr
A.R. Kidwai, Governor, felt that the appointment must be cleared by the Election
Commission(EC) in view of the model code of conduct that came into force in the state with the announcement of the assembly elections on December 17. The EC took its own time to decide the issue. The proposal was finally cleared and the Chief Secretary of Haryana was accordingly intimated by the EC this week giving the green light to Mr Tewatia’s appointment. However, it was learnt that instead of the Governor administering the oath, it would be the Chief Minister, in his capacity as Power Minister, who would swear him in. An official in Raj Bhavan said the Governor declined to administer the oath to Mr Tewatia since a Governor was supposed to administer the oath only to constitutional authorities. “The HERC Act does not specify anywhere that the oath to members will have to be administered by the Governor”, added the official. He said in other states, members of the electricity regulatory commissions were sworn in by the Power Minister of the state
concerned. Mr Tewatia will replace Mr Subhash Katiyal, who resigned from the HERC on November 9 to fight the assembly elections from Palwal as a candidate of Haryana’s ruling Indian National Lok Dal. |
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11 schoolchildren hurt in
mishap
Yamunanagar, February 24 There were more than 30 children in the trailer when the accident took place. The children were sitting on make-shift wooden seats put up on the trailer. The school has no bus of its own and the children were being ferried on the tractor-trailer. The driver of the tractor-trailer, Sanju, was trying to park the vehicle in a garage when it collided with the house and the roof collapsed on the trailer. The villagers had a tough time to take out the children from under the debris. The injured were rushed to a hospital at Radaour. Later, the critically injured Rohit and Alka were referred to the Jagadhri Civil Hospital. The children who have been injured are Jatin, Rahul, Harish, Tarun, Rohit, Alka, Ankit, Rohit, Ankush, Alka and Neeru. Ankush and Alka, and Rohit and Alka are brother and sister. Managers of the school Narinder Kumar and Satish Kumar admitted that the school does not have a bus of its own and the children were being ferried in the tractor-trailer with make-shift wooden seats. |
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DSP sent to jail for contempt of
court
Bhiwani, February 24 According to information, DSP Jagat Singh had been ordered through summons to appear before the court in a case pending since 1977. When the DSP failed to appear, Mr Khanduja found the case as contempt of court. The cop pleaded that he could not appear before the court due to health problem, but the court did not accept his plea. Information disclosed that a case had been registered against the DSP at Badhra police station in 1977 allegedly for tampering with official documents at Loharu. The writ was filed by Sub-Inspector Dharmbir Rathi, who is presently posted at Jind. The court had summond repeatedly to Mr Jagat Singh to appear before the case, but he showed no respect. |
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3 shot at, injured
Sonepat, February 24 Krishan along with his brother-in-law Dinesh and brother’s son, Sonu, was approaching the G.T. Road from Chauhan Joshi village and the car was being driven by Sonu. When the car reached the G.T. Road near Bahalgarh Chowk, the miscreants sitting in the car, fired shots on them. Some eyewitnesses noted the car number and informed the police about it. |
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Three held for killing mill
worker
Kaithal February 24 SSP Ranbir Sharma said today that Romesh along with his brother Jaiveer delivered a truck of oil cakes to M\s Grover Agro Industries, Kurukshetra, on Tuesday and collected a payment of Rs 99,396. When Romesh and his brother left for Hissar in the same truck yesterday, the driver of the truck, Vikram Singh and his helpers Vicky and Jeeta of Siwan village allegedly strangulated Romesh and threw Jaiveer out of the truck. |
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Committee to evaluate bids for highway project
Chandigarh, February 24 Official sources said that in accordance with a court directive, the technical bids were opened on February 19 and analysed by state government officials. The purpose of the meeting of the high-powered committee was to check the suitability of the applicant companies for the project in the context of the guidelines specified by the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC). The HSIDC is the nodal government agency for executing the project. The Election Commission had earlier issued a directive to the state government saying that while it could go ahead with processing the proposals received for the mega project, a final decision regarding the awarding of the project to a company could be taken only after the Model Code of Conduct in force in the state till March 5 was lifted. |
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No schools to be allowed in houses
Chandigarh, February 24 He said that the managements of such schools had been directed not to admit students to any class for the academic session 2005-06 onwards. Sufficient seats were available in government schools to accommodate such students as a result of the closure of the private schools. The parents of the students were advised not to admit their wards to such schools in the next academic session. |
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Spate of robberies worries
shopkeepers
Ambala, February 24 The Ambala Cantt Traders Federation chairman, Dr N.C. Jain, said, “We demand that the police beef up the security, particularly in the market area,” he said. He suggested that the police must ensure that the private watchmen are discharging their duty. “We have noticed that sometimes, the watchman hired by the shopkeepers can be found sitting somewhere else. If the police patrolling parties ensure that the watchman is doing his duty, then it could bring down such incidents,” he said. Till date, 15 establishments, including a post office have been targeted by thieves in Ambala City and Ambala Cantt. The robbers decamped with cash and some other general merchandise items. In two medicine shops, the medicines were left untouched. The modus operandi of the thieves was to target shops which had shutters. Instead of breaking the locks, the shutters were pulled up creating enough space for a person to enter the shop. The thieves have struck at more than one shop in the same market. In Ambala City, the thieves broke into 11 shops located close to each other near Manav Chowk. |
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Ex-IG Sharma brought to Ambala jail
Ambala, February 24 According to information Mr Sharma has to attend a departmental inquiry at Panchkula on Friday. He was brought to Ambala under the tight security by the Haryana police. Two years back Mr Sharma had surrendered in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ambala when the Delhi police had registered a case against him in Shivani murder case. At that time too he was kept in Ambala jail for one
day. Later he was shifted to Tihar jail at Delhi. |
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