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Case registered but child bride
80 pc cast votes in panchayat poll
Violence during panchayat poll
11 hurt in first phase
of panchayat poll
Stone crushers continue stir despite major cut from lease-holders
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Haryana may set up Gurgaon Development Authority
Haryana mourns Pope’s death
Do not run schools for profit: Mullana
Varsity students for affiliation with MDU
Awareness Forum office-bearers installed
Demand to slash VAT rate on medicines
Villagers gherao counting centre
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Case registered but child bride awaits rescue
Assandh (Karnal), April 3 It was learnt the minor girl was married as a ‘pay off’ or ‘exchange’ to the boy whose sister was married to the young bride’s uncle on Friday. Lakhpat, father of Neelam (name changed), the girl who had become the victim of child marriage, had still not been arrested. The father had already sent his daughter along with the groom to her in-laws house at Aher village in Panipat district. Unfortunately, the district administration has taken little interest into this incident of child marriage that was undoubtedly of grave concern for the social as well as political scientists. Neither, District Magistrate Shyamal Mishra nor Superintendent of Police Bharti Arora had made efforts to get the girl back from her in-laws’ house. The heartless attitude of the district administration could well be judged from the fact that the parents of the boy, the mediators, the religious priest who performed the illegal marriage ceremony and the relatives (eye witnesses) present on the occasion had not been booked in the FIR (no. 130) lodged at the Assandh police station, late last night. When contacted, the investigating officer, Assistant Sub-Inspector Satbir Singh, nonchalantly replied the police force had been deployed on election duty. We will arrest the culprit if required after preliminary investigations in a day or two”, he said. When asked whether the girl had been rescued, he admitted nothing had been done in this regard. “The present location of the girl is in Panipat district. Therefore, the Karnal police has no role to play at the moment”, he added. He went on to say the girl would be rescued only after preliminary investigations. On the other hand, this correspondent also visited Jollikhera village on the Jind road, about 23 km from Assandh. No villager was ready to say anything on the issue. After persistent requests, a child pointed towards the girl’s house and ran away. The house had been locked from outside and no one had any clue about the girl’s family. |
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80 pc cast votes in panchayat poll
Chandigarh, April 3 The Haryana State Election Commissioner, Mr Chander Singh, said here today that the polling was by and large peaceful, except a few stray incidents. He said the commission had set up 8,045 polling stations and appointed 32,176 polling personnel to conduct the elections. About 20,000 police personnel were deployed to maintain law and order. To keep an overall check on the polling process the commission had also appointed 985 returning officers. The presiding officer of Booth No. 790 of Balkara gram panchayat, Dadri block, district Bhiwani district died due to heart attack at the polling station. The counting of votes for members of panchayat samitis and zila parishad would be held on April 10, he added. GURGAON: The first phase of panchayat elections in four revenue blocks of Sohna, Taoru, Farukhnagar and Pataudi in this district passed off peacefully with scattered incidents of violence. According to the official version, the four blocks registered 75 per cent of voting on the whole. Repolling will take place tomorrow in Bhodakhurd and Baruda in Pataudi block. Some miscreants poured acid in the ballot boxes on account of which the polling could not take place. There were reports of some persons looting ballot boxes in Baluda, Buraka in Pataudi block and at Bawali village in Taoru. Also, ballot boxes were reported to be looted in Bhodakalan. Some of the boxes were, however, recovered when the last report came in. Supporters of a group fired gun shots in the air at Shilrakhi in Pataudi block. Two groups clashed in Bhadangpur in Taoru. Polling had to be stopped for a brief period in Pathdedi and Badshahur on account of tension in the villages.
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Violence during panchayat poll
Sirsa, April 3 Though instances of minor violence were reported from different villages, the election process completed without any major incident. According to the reports, two rival groups clashed in Amritsar Kalan village, Ellenabad subdivision. Talking to the Tribune, the SP, Mr K. K. Rao, confirmed the incident of firing in the village. Meanwhile, sources said violence erupted in the village, placed in the hypersensitive category, when alleged armed supporters of a candidate opened fire in air at around 1.30 pm. The police opened fire in retaliation that forced the armed supporters to flee from the spot. Voters hurled stones at the miscreants and raised slogans against them. In the clash eight persons sustained injuries and they were admitted to the hospital. No arrest was made. The polling process remained halted for more than an hour and the
police took control over the entire area. There were reports of ballot papers going missing in Kuttabad village in the district. Sources said officials concerned were apprised of the matter. In poll-related violence reported last night from Panniwala Morika village in Dabwali, at least three persons received injuries. Incidents of minor violence were also reported from other parts of the district. |
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11 hurt in first phase
of panchayat poll
Ambala, April 3 Except for a stray incident of violence, the elections were peaceful. There were incidents of altercations in some villages. Eleven persons were injured in an altercation which took place at Burj village in the Shahzadpur block. The incident took place at about 9.30 am. Two families of a community were standing in the queue to cast votes in the village when a verbal altercation took place between them and some youths of another community. Thereafter, a fight broke out in which 11 persons were injured. The police rushed to the spot. But the polling continued in the village in the police presence. In the first phase, elections were held in eight wards of Zila Parishad of Saha and Shahzadpur, 21 wards of the Ambala block samiti, 14 wards of the Saha block samiti, 17 wards of the Shahzadpur block samiti and 223 gram panchayats. As many as 438 polling booths had been set up. For the convenience of voters, ballot papers in four different colours had been printed.
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Stone crushers continue stir despite major cut from lease-holders
Chandigarh, April 3 According to informed sources, members of the Faridabad District Stone Crushers Association have been on strike for the past about one month to demand reduction in the prices of raw material charged from them by the lease-holders. After the Hooda government was formed in the state, representatives of the association met the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, at least on two occasions under the leadership of the Congress MP from Faridabad, Mr Avtar Singh Bhadana, and the MLA from Mewla Maharajpur, Mr Mahendra Pratap, respectively. They reportedly told him that the lease-holders were charging “goonda tax” from them. “Goonda tax” had become a popular term for the unauthorised collection of money from stone crushers or any other user by persons close to the powers that be during the INLD government. Mr Hooda, who had declared on a number of times that if the Congress came to power in the state, no one would be allowed to collect “goonda tax”. Keeping in view his public commitment in this regard, the sources say, he directed the district administration to ensure that no such money was collected by anyone. The DC and the SP of Faridabad held a series of meetings with the lease-holders at which it was found that they were charging Rs 100 per tonne of stones plus 12 per cent sales tax. The lease-holders were able to satisfy the administration that in Faridabad no “goonda tax” was being charged as was the practice in certain other districts. They
also convinced the officers that they were selling the raw material only against the bills. However, the administration prevailed upon the lease-holders two days ago to supply 2.5 tonne of raw material free to the crushers on the purchase of 16 tonne. An understanding was reached between the representatives of the crushers and the lease-holders, who have already implemented their part of the understanding. However, when the representatives of the crushers met their president, Mr Kartar Singh Bhadana, former Haryana minister, who quit the Chautala government to join the BJP, he reportedly told them to continue the strike as the lease-holders should give 5 tonne of raw material free. Incidentally, Mr Bhadana, who contested the last Lok Sabha and Assembly elections on the BJP ticket, is a brother of Mr Avtar Singh. The sources say Mr Kartar Singh advised the crusher owners to wait
till the completion of the panchayat elections, after which a “panchayat” of the crusher owners would be held to press their demand for a free supply of 5 tonne of raw material by the lease-holders.
He reportedly told them that if the lease-holders did not agree to the demand, the crusher owners would resort to “chakka jam” strike in Faridabad district. |
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Haryana may set up Gurgaon Development Authority
Chandigarh, April 3 According to informed sources, the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has directed officers in the Town and Country Planning Department to prepare a blue-print of the GDA to give it a legal shape. The sources say so far the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is looking after the development of Gurgaon. Since HUDA is also responsible for the development of urban estates in other towns, people of Gurgaon often find that HUDA’s response to their problems is slow. Otherwise also, over the years HUDA has become a monolithic organisation, having no concern for the welfare of the common man. The sources say that the Chief Minister sincerely believes that an organisation like the DDA can serve the people of Gurgaon better and redress their problems speedily. The GDA will be headed by a Vice-Chairman, with the Chief Minister as its ex-officio Chairman. Mr Hooda believes that almost all decisions can be taken at the level of the Vice-Chairman, with no necessity to send the files to the Chief Minister, which will cut the delay in decision-making. Mr Hooda, the sources say, has also directed the officers to explore the possibility of providing more links between Delhi and Gurgaon so that the vehicular traffic on the Delhi-Jaipur road can be reduced.
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Haryana mourns Pope’s death
Chandigarh, April 3 During the state mourning the National Flag will be flown at half mast on all buildings in the state. There will be no official entertainment during the period of state mourning, according to a notification issued by the Chief
Secretary. Meanwhile, the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has expressed shock and grief over the death of the Pope. In a condolence message, Mr Hooda said the Pope belonged to the entire humanity. He would be long remembered for services to the mankind. |
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Do not run schools for profit: Mullana
Ambala, April 3 He said that the private schools should not be run merely for commercial purpose but to educate children of poor and weaker sections too. He asked the managements of the schools to review their fees structure so that the child of a common man could able to get the admission there. He said that under the leadership of the Chief Minister the Education department was planning to make some major changes in the education policy of the state to lift standard of the education . He said that the former government had fixed the ratio of teacher and student to 1- 60 which would now be reduced to 1- 40 . He said that there would be no shortage of teachers in the government schools. Referring the contribution of DAV , Sanatan Dharm and Jain institutions he said that those schools had been providing quality education to their students. President of the school management committee, Bharat Bhushan Jain and the principal, Ms Uma Sharma also spoke on this occasion . The school children presented a cultural show . Prominent persons of Jain Samaj including Ashok Jain , Mohinder Jain , Arun Jain , Vijay Kumar Jain were also present on the occasion. |
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Varsity students for affiliation with MDU
Sirsa, April 3 A number of students told this reporter yesterday that they were eager to go to other institutions of academic excellence in the state. The state government recently attached colleges of Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani and Jind to MDU and KU. As a result of it, the students now feel having been ``cheated’’ as they have been denied a chance to study in reputed universities. “ It is unfair that we have been left out of the two universities whereas the students in other districts will get degrees from the institutions with the best infrastructure,’’ said an M.Sc student. Criticising the authorities for not conducting practical works in labs, she said their fate was uncertain as they had to take the final tests without actually entering the labs. Angry students of other departments also echoed the demand for retaining the status of a regional centre for the university rather than a residential university. |
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Awareness Forum office-bearers installed
Ambala, April 3 A seminar on “Pollution — a curse” was also organised on this occasion. Mr Dave, while addressing the seminar, said that the country was facing not only air , water or noise pollution but also political pollution. He said the Ganga , Yamuna and Narmada were polluted these days . He said the government and people should join hands to make the country pollution free. He said an awareness campaign should be launched on a war-footing. The president of Haryana unit of the forum Mr H K Gulati, said the pollution was the biggest problem being faced even by the developed countries. He said the forum had decided to start a nationwide campaign especially in the slum areas, to check this problem. Mr B D Thapar , secretary. general of the forum, said they would promote awareness among people against the influence of obscenity and extravagance in art and culture in the name of freedom , modernity and progress. |
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Demand to slash VAT rate on medicines
Ambala, April 3 In a memorandum addressed to Mr Asim Dass Gupta, Chairman, Empowerment Committee, the association president, Mr R.K. Khera, stated that there was a difference in VAT in Haryana. He said although 4 per cent VAT was being charged on medicines at the national level, Haryana Government was charging 10 per cent VAT on medicines. “We have already requested Mr Birender Singh, Finance Minister, on March 24 to bring down the rate of VAT on medicines to 4 per cent as per the Empowerment Committee’s decision, yet the same is not being implemented in Haryana,” he said. |
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Villagers gherao counting centre
Ambala, April 3 The agitated villagers gheraoed the counting centre located in a local school. Police had to resort to a lathicharge to disperse the crowd. Unconfirmed information stated that the police had fired into the air. The trouble began after the counting of votes was completed. A section of villagers claimed that favouritism had been shown in the counting of votes. Eventhough the local officials agreed to carry out re-counting of the votes, the villagers were adamant and demanded re-election in the village. In the meantime, the police personnel began to take the ballot boxes away from the school compound to a safer place and that led to stone pelting. |
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