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Cong bags Ambala City MC
Ambala poll clash leaves 9 hurt
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Bogus voting allegations mark MC poll
Over 75 pc polling in civic poll
Sunday Special
Haryana to expand privatisation of market fee collection
Haryana diverts rural road connectivity funds
Stress on south districts, says Hooda
Bathinda best railway station under Ambala division
Man ‘beaten to death’ by son, daughter-in-law
806 ticketless travellers fined
Undertrial prisoner dies in hospital
Coaching for govt school students Robbery at petrol station
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Cong bags Ambala City MC
Ambala, April 16 Congress candidate from ward No. 3 in Ambala Sadar Ajay Walia’s mother died soon after she was informed about her daughter’s victory at the hustings. In ward No. 2 in Ambala Sadar, members of the victory procession of winning Vikas Parishad candidate Suresh Garg were pelted with stones in Balmiki Basti. Three parishad activists were injured in the incident. The Congress secured a majority in Municipal Council Ambala City with 20 candidates winning the election, while it emerged as the single largest party in the Ambala Sadar poll, with 13 seats. Ambala Sadar results: ward No.1 — Subhash (BJP); ward No. 2 — Suresh Garg (Vikas Parishad); ward No. 3 — Ajay Walia (Congress), ward No. 4 — Pushpa Vaish (BJP); ward No. 5 — Dr Ved (Congress); ward No. 6 — Rajesh (Sangharsh Vahini); ward No. 7 — Dr Vikas Bhateja (Congress); ward No. 8 — Nisha Parmar (Congress); ward No. 9 — Baljinder Kaur (BJP); ward No. 10 — Neelam Sharma (Congress); ward No. 11 — Omkar (Congress); ward No. 12 — Shakti (BJP); ward No. 13 — Riya Ratra (Congress); ward No. 14 — Bhupesh (BJP); ward No. 15 — Naresh Sharma (Vikas Parishad); ward No. 16 — Mahesh Goel (Congress); ward No.17 — Anju Bindra (BJP); ward No. 18 — B.R. Bindra (BJP); ward No. 19 — Hira Lal Yadav (Sangharsh Vahini); ward No. 20 — Dimple Mittal (Congress); ward No. 21— Suresh Trehan (Congress); ward No. 22 — Nisha Goel (Congress); ward No. 23 — Sudhir Jaiswal (Congress); ward No. 24 — Narendra Bangali (Vikas Parishad); ward No. 25 — Vinod Yadav (Sangharsh Vahini); ward No. 26 — Usha Devi (Vikas Parishad); ward No. 27 — Bimla Nagar (Independent); ward No. 28 — Roop Chand (Congress); ward No. 29 — Gagan Dang (Independent); ward No. 30 — Kamal Kishore Jain; and ward No. 31 — Naveen Yadav (Sangharsh Vahini). Ambala City results: ward No.1 — Vineeta Sharma (Congress); ward No. 2 — Kripal Singh (BJP); ward No. 3 — Harish Sasan (Congress); ward No. 4 — Ganpat Bali (Congress); ward No. 5 — Gurdial Singh (Independent); ward No. 6 — Kavita Marwah (Congress); ward No. 7 — Chander Gupt (Congress); ward No. 8 — Bimla Sharma (Independent); ward No. 9 — Bhupinder Singh (Congress); ward No. 10 — Nirmala Gulati (Congress); ward No. 11 — Pawan Aggarwal (Congress); ward No. 12 — Ajay Saini; ward No. 13 — Narinder Singh (Independent); No.14 — Surinder Kaur (Independent); ward No. 15 — Prakash Kaur (Independent); ward No.16 — Satish Saini (Congress); ward No. 17 — Brij Lal (Congress); ward No. 18 — Daljit Singh (Congress); ward No. 19 — Vinod Bala (Congress); ward No. 20 — Vijay Bhasin (Congress); ward No. 21 — Inder Pal Pammi (Congress); ward No. 22 — Jagdish (Congress); ward No. 23 — Dalip Kaur (Congress); ward No. 24 — Raj Kumar (Independent); ward No. 25 — Rupam Guglani (Congress); ward No. 26 — Dev Raj (Independent); ward No. 27 — Gulshan (Congress); ward No. 28 — Harvinder Pal Singh (BJP); ward No. 29 — Gurpreet Kaur (BJP); ward No. 30 — Lajwanti Dhiman (Congress); and ward No. 31 — Sudarshana Mehta (Independent). |
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Ambala poll clash leaves 9 hurt
Ambala, April 16 An Independent candidate, Navdeep Singh, along with his supporters allegedly came to blows with policemen manning the polling station. While the supporters of the candidate assaulted the policemen on duty, the latter retaliated with a mild cane-charge. The trouble began when Navdeep Singh arrived at the polling booth along with his supporters. He claimed that there were irregularities in the casting of ballot. He along with his supporters then tried to enter the polling booth but was prevented by the policemen on duty. Thereafter, while the policemen claimed they were assaulted by the candidate and his supporters, Navdeep Singh said he and his family members were beaten up by the policemen on duty. Navdeep Singh, who was taken to the Civil Hospital, Ambala City, said they had objected to the presence of some persons in the polling booth. “Instead of listening to our grievance, a policeman assaulted me. The police asked me to leave the polling booth,” he said. The policemen then started beating up his brother Ravinder Singh, father Pritam Singh and mother Prithpal Kaur. “We were forcibly taken to the police station where I was again assaulted by some policemen,” he alleged. However, the policemen who were on duty at the polling booth claimed that Navdeep Singh was only questioned when he tried to enter the polling booth. “But, he began to assault us. His family members and supporters also joined the assault on the police,” said a policeman. “The injured policemen were Sub-Inspector Ram Kumar, constable Krishan Kumar, constable Ramesh, constable Kashmir Singh and constable Kanwar Singh. Constable Krishan Kumar and constable Kanwar Singh sustained injuries on the head,” he said. Soon after the incident, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Satbir Saini and DSP Anil Dhawan reached the spot. The polling continued at the polling booth. A case has been registered against Navdeep Singh, his family members and 20 others in this regard. Kalka:
Many old faces have been re-elected to the local Interestingly, the poll saw the resurgence of the Congress, with councillors owing allegiance to the party winning at the hustings. A couple — Mohini Nanda and her husband S.S. Nanda — also won their elections from ward No. 14 and 15, respectively. A faction-ridden Congress (there are two groups in the party, one led by old guard S.S. Nanda and the other by Devinder Jain) was pitted against ruling Indian National Lok Dal. The BJP, however, failed to make its presence felt in the poll. The maximum winning margin of over 500 votes was recorded in Ward no. 17 with Ujala Bakshi winning, and the minimum margin was recorded in ward No. 11 with Kamlesh winning by just 41 votes. Real issues rather than election rhetoric had dominated the campaigning for elections to one of the oldest municipal committees here. The candidates in fray had promised to change the “ugly” face of the township, and issues like sanitation, streetlighting, an improvised sewerage disposal system, and good roads dominated the election. The one issue that was highlighted prominently for elderly voters was improving the only recreational facilities — Rabindra Nath Tagore Palika Udyan and Municipal Library. As many as 56 candidates were in the fray, including 19 women candidates and a eunuch, from 17 wards in the township. In the elections, two new wards were added to the earlier 15 wards. Interestingly, the post of MC president had been reserved for women. The results: ward No. 1 — Gurnam Das; ward No. 2 — Harbhajan Singh; ward No. 3 — Satish Kumar Bhatt; ward No. 4 — Ashok Kumar Kalu; ward No. 5 — Ashok Kumar Kuku; ward No. 6 — Joginder Kaur; ward No. 7 — Anil Kumar Jain; ward No. 8 — Pawan Kumar Sareen; ward No. 9 — Sukhwant Kaur Sukhi; ward No. 10 — Ramesh Kumar; ward No. 11 — Kamlesh Kumari; ward No. 12 — Kulwinder Singh; ward No. 13 — Sushil Kumar; ward No. 14 — Mohini Nanda; ward No. 15 — S.S. Nanda; ward No. 16 — Santosh Rana; and ward No. 17 — Ujala Bakshi. |
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Bogus voting allegations mark MC poll
Hisar, April 16 As soon as polling began this morning, a clash broke out among supporters of rival candidates in the Patel Nagar area, which forms part of Ward No. 28 of the council. The altercation began following allegations of bogus votes being polled. The police personnel deployed there allegedly resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the mob, in which two candidates sustained minor injuries. Following this, Returning Officer and Sub-Divisional Magistrate Pradeep Kumar Dagar, along with DSP Om Prakash, reached the scene. Thirteen candidates from the ward submitted a memorandum to Mr Dagar, alleging that the poll officials on duty were favouring a candidate. Accusing the polling staff of bias, they demanded that the election be cancelled. Barring a few incidents of skirmishes, the polling was on the whole peaceful in the other wards. On the other hand, hundreds of voters of the Krishna Nagar locality, which falls under Ward No.21, could not cast votes as their names were not on the voters’ list. SIRSA:
Polling in the district ended peacefully amid the heavy security deployed everywhere. Voters on Saturday exercised their franchisee in the four zones of Sirsa, Kalanwali, Ellenebad and Rania to form new municipal council. The district, one of the important and sensitive areas in the state, had witnessed heavy deployment of police personnel to avoid any violence during the polling process. There was a considerable rush at the polling booths which saw a good response since the morning. Sources in the police said there were incidents of attempts to create disturbance in certain pockets, which were controlled by the voters themselves. But no case of violence was reported anywhere in the district. GURGAON: The election to the Municipal Council of Gurgaon and the Municipal Committees of Sohna, Ferozepur Jhirka and Nuh in this district passed off peacefully. The administration heaved a sigh of relief after the smooth conduct of the poll following a large-scale violence in the just-concluded elections for gram panchayats, block samitis and zilla parishad. The district adminstration had put in place an elaborate security
arrangement ,especially in Ferozepur Jhirka and Nuh falling in the Mewat area of this district. The police force was equally visible in Gurgaon city. The administration had identified 45 out 132 booths as sensitive for the election to the local Municipal Council. According to Mr V.K.Singh, Executive Officer of the council, the sensitive booths were divided between two DSPs to ensure peace and fair polling. ROHTAK: A repoll has been recommended in booth Nos. 13 and 15 of Ward No. 3 of the local Municipal Council following minor incidents during polling on Saturday. In these booths the ballot boxes were removed by some persons, but these were snatched from them by security personnel. Official sources said the Returning Officer had sent his recommendations to the State Election Commission which would take a final decision in the matter. Polling was otherwise peaceful throughout the town and the neighbouring town of Meham. Polling began on a very brisk note and queues could be seen outside most of the booths even before polling began at 8 a.m. It slowed down to a certain extent in the late afternoon due to the hot weather. |
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Over 75 pc polling in civic poll
Chandigarh, April 16
He said 2,416 polling stations were set up and a total of 14,232 polling personnel appointed.
Polling was peaceful by and large except a few stray incidents. One incident of booth capturing and another of tampering with ballot boxes at booth numbers 13 and 15, respectively of ward no. 3 of the Municipal Council, Rohtak, were reported. Repolling would be held on April 18.
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111 voters in a five-room house!
Bipin Bhardwaj
Panchkula, April 16 The department had prepared this list for the panchayat elections held on March 9. The list says there are 111 voters residing in house No 4 in Ward No 1. The house is owned by Mr Dharam Pal. The family has nine adult members and children. The family has been living here for the past many years. Similarly, the list shows 90, 54 and 29 voters residing in house Nos 383, 375 and 384, respectively, in Ward No 10. The actual number varies from four to six. Scores of residents of the village are up in arms against the district administration as well as the district electoral officials for not considering their objections filed prior to the panchayat elections. The villagers have been protesting against making of ‘bogus’ votes on a large-scale by candidates of the Congress. They also alleged that the authorities concerned had turned a deaf year to their complaints and conducted the elections under pressure from some influential political leaders. While talking to Chandigarh Tribune, a section of villagers complained that they had been complaining to the authorities against bogus votes in the village since October, 2004, but to no avail. They also complained that 75 objections were filed by the residents with the office of the District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO), Pinjore. “When the complaints and the objections failed to yield results, a delegation of the villagers met the Panchkula Deputy Commissioner and submitted a representation. The Deputy Commissioner marked an inquiry to the DDPO, but that too did not yield anything,” alleged Mr Shaketi Kumar, a village elder. Mr Dharam Pal, owner of house No 4 in Ward No. 1, claimed he was shocked when he came to know that the voters’ list showed 111 votes against him house number. He complained that some unscrupulous political leaders had helped the panchayat election officer in preparing fake voters’ list. “Since we are illiterate, some political leaders took benefit of it and included fake names in the list,” he said. Mr Ravi Nandan, another villager, complained that over 400 bogus votes have been prepared by including names of migrant labourers in the list. After facing disappointment at every step, the villagers have submitted a representation to the Haryana Chief Minister. They have demanded the cancellation of the previous panchayat elections . Mr Brijendra Singh, District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner, Panchkula, said the villagers filed objection when the election process had already started.
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Haryana to expand privatisation of market fee collection Gurgaon, April 16 The Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, made it clear to the
athtiyas, who met him at his residence in Delhi today, that the government would go ahead with the public auctions from private parties on April 18 for the collection of the market fees in Gurgaon and Faridabad. A delegation of arhtiyas met Mr Hooda to plead for doing away with the privatisation and for the restoration of the earlier practice in which the market committees collected the fees. Members of the concerned fruit and vegetable wholesalers’ associations from Gurgaon and Faridabad had also met Mr Hooda during his visit here yesterday evening. Mr Hooda told them that the government would expand the privatisation in all remaining districts of the state. The privatisation was started in Gurgaon and Faridabad last year by the then INLD government. The highest and successful bid for Gurgaon fruit and vegetable market was Rs 1.39 crore. But the annual collection by the market committee in the earlier years was about Rs 70 lakh annually. The highest bid for the market in Faridabad was about Rs 1.60 crore. The grouse of the arhtiyas is that the private parties use strong arm tactics and misbehave with them during collection of the fees. Also, that they are whimsical about the fee amount. The Chief Minister said the government was willing to allow the arhtiyas to take this year’s bids at the increase of 18 per cent on the final bid registered last year. Also he added that as the government was ready to get the fees collected by the staff of the concerned market committees. He stressed that the government could not comprise on the revenue of the state. According to the president of the Fruit Dealers Association, Gurgaon, Mr Sanjay Sapra, and the president of the Faridabad Fruit and Vegetable Dealers
Assocation, Mr Raju, the Chief Minister also wanted that the arhtiyas to give bank guarantees to the government if they were in agreement with the government’s proposal for keeping the auction with them at an enhanced rate of 18 per cent. This, they said, was not acceptable. Mr Sapra said the call for strike was given in Gurgaon only after the government failed to heed to the ultimatum given by the
Aadhtees. However, Mr Sapra said talks with the government were on to resolve the issue. He maintained there was no question of calling off the indefinite strike till a satisfactory formula was worked out by the government. Mr Raju said although the arhtiyas of Faridabad had not gone on strike, but the possibility for the same could not be ruled out. Although the strike has not affected the public so far, the general feeling is that its pinch will be felt after a couple of days if it continues. Meanwhile, the government’s stand appears to have found favour with the public, including the president of the Gurgaon Vayapaar Sangh, Mr Kanhaiya Lal
Pahwa. Mr Pahwa said the arhtiyas should accept the proposal of the government.
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Haryana diverts rural road connectivity funds
Panchkula, April 16 Rural road connectivity is a key component of rural development in promoting access to economic and social services, thus increasing agricultural income and productive employment opportunities. The scheme was launched by the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, and for once, even the present UPA government has been appreciative of the scheme. However, in Haryana, the sole purpose of the scheme was defeated when the Public Works Department (Building and Roads branch) failed to construct roads to the two unconnected habitations in rural areas from 2000-04 — when the sole focus of the scheme was on new connectivity. The entire funds received by Haryana under this scheme, were spent by the government on upgradation of existing roads — though only 20 per cent of the grant could be spent on upgradation of existing roads. Even in the roads that were taken up for upgradation , there was a shortfall in achievement of targets as only 41 of the 67 roads taken up were upgraded. No plan was made to identify the rural roads for their upgradation and coverage in a specified timeframe. All these flaws in proper implementation of the scheme have been pointed out in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, Haryana. The report mentions that non achievement of targets in upgradation of roads was mainly because the state government failed to utilize the grants. About 24 per cent of the funds received from Government of India remained unspent, although works on one- third the length of roads targeted for completion were not taken up. From year 2000-04, a sum of Rs 109.22 crore was released by the government (interest earned on this was Rs 4.36 crore) , but only Rs 80.74 crore was spent. The report also points out how works were executed without getting adequate specifications. In Panchkula district, the widening and strengthening of Chandimandir- Jallah road was completed in May 2002 at a cost of Rs 45.03 lakh. However, the road developed major defects within six months of its completion. Not only was the road damaged at several places, but the road was even found to be non -existent in certain patches. It was later found that the crust thickness of the road was five times less than required. |
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Stress on south districts, says Hooda Gurgaon, April 16 Mr Hooda,who had a hectic schedule here last evening with his programmes stretching well past midnight,responded to queries from newsmen saying that the INLD government neglected south Haryana,which mainly comprise of Gurgaon,Rewari,Mahendergarh and Faridabad districtr.However,Jhajhar district and part of Rohtak district is also considered to be part of south Haryana. According to him,his government’s priority was to strengthen the academic infrastructure in south Haryana and raise the economic status of the people of the area.To this effect,the governent has decided to set up a national law college in Rewari,considered to be hub of cultural and social activities of the Ahirwal belt in south Haryana. He stressed that his government will make all efforts to bring Haryana’s share of Ravi-Beas water from Punjab through the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal project.The water is meant for the areas of south Haryana and it is the lifeline of the farming community of this region. He said the state police force would be soon modernised.Ample logistics and infrastructure would be provided to the police force,he added. He said that the government was working on a plan for the holistic development of the state Regarding the unauthorised colonies in the state,he said his government was studying the feasibility of a pro-active policy on their possible regularisation. In response to another question on the likely loss of revenue in the wake of his government scrapping the halwai tax and stopping lottery,he quipped that the revenue of the state on account of excise tax alone had increased by Rs 130 crore.However,it was not a bad idea if the government sufferes some revenue in the larger interest of the public, he added.
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Bathinda best railway station under Ambala division
Ambala, April 16 Ambala Railway Division has been awarded seven shields by the General Manager, Northern Railway, at a function held in New Delhi. The shields include civil engineering shield, C&W efficiency, electrical deptt general services, personnel branch, security shield, division cleanliness award and terminal management shield. The Bathinda station has been selected as the best station of the division and overall best working station shield was given to that station. The Ambala Cantt station was given the commercial as well as operating shield while sanitation shield was given to the Saharanpur station. Five staffers of the Ambala division were awarded by the Railway Board at a function held in Kolkata. The five staff members were Mr Pala, Mr Fakira, Mr D.K. Garg, Mr Harish Chander and Mr Jiwan Ram. At the General Manager, Northern-Railway level, one officer and 10 staff members were awarded. The personnel include Mr Ashish Bansal, Mr Bhoga Ram, Mr Teja Singh, Mr Rohitash Singh, Mr Rajeev Chaudhary, Mr Ramesh Chander, Mr Ashok Kumar Gupta, Mr Prem Nath, Mr Jiya Lal, Ms Surinder Kaur
and Mr Jagdish Chander Sharma. During the year 2004-05, Ambala Division earned Rs 954 crores and expenditure was Rs 348 crore. Ambala division has also got ISO certification. “The wagon turn around of the division is 0.91, which indicates that wagon which enters the division from other
division is turned out of division in less than one day,” a press statement said. “Division is able to maintain punctuality of 98.41 per cent and
division has rehabilitated six distress bridges,” the press statement adds. |
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Man ‘beaten to death’ by son, daughter-in-law Yamunanagar, April 16 According to sources, Jhandu Ram, a retired Class IV employee of the PWD was beaten up by his son, Molu Ram, and daughter-in-law, Sona, when he expressed helplessness to fulfil the financial demands of his son. An altercation started which turned violent later on. Molu Ram allegedly stuffed a piece of cloth in his father’s mouth and started beating him up. Molu’s wife Sona also beat him up. Jhandu Ram, somehow, managed to run out in the streets and fell near a liquor vend with blood oozing out of his nose and mouth. Villagers, however, did not interfere, as it was a ‘family matter’. After sometime Jhandu Ram died in the street. Later, the police was informed and a case under Sections 304 and 34 of the IPC was registered. However, Molu Ram, and his wife escaped on a motor cycle. In the second incident, Praveen of Dhorang village was found dead on the Sharnapur-Kurukshetra national highway this morning. There were injuries marks all over his body. On the complaint of Mukhtyar Ram, father of the victim, a case of murder has been registered against unidentified persons. Mr Mukhtyar Ram found his son Praveen missing in the morning. After sometime a villager came to his house and informed that Praveen body was lying on the roadside. Initial investigations have revealed that Praveen’s was having an ‘affair’ with a girl of a nearby village and the killers might be some persons related to the girl. Meanwhile, the body of the youth who had jumped into the Western Yamuna Canal on April 7 along with his ‘girl friend’ was fished out today. He has been identified as Davinder, a resident of Old Hamida Colony.
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806 ticketless travellers fined
Sonepat, April 16 According to a report, the special checking staff was headed by the Railway Magistrate of the Ambala Division. Senior officials of the Northern Railway were included in the raiding staff. As many as 20 policemen accompanied the special checking staff during the checking at these railway stations. At the Sonepat railway station, the trains checked included 4732 Bathinda Express, 4660 Amritsar Super Express, 4522 Bathinda Intercity Express, 5708 Barauni Express, 4673 UP Shaheed Express, 4659 UP, Amritsar Super Express, 3 EDP, 4731 UP Bathinda Express, and 2715 UP Sachkhand Express. Of the 806 ticketless passengers, 111 passengers were found travelling with unbooked goods. As many as 377 passengers were let off after they paid the fare and the penalty. At least 318 were produced before the Railway Magistrate who imposed a fine on them. Forty passengers who failed to pay the fare and the penalty were sent to the district jail at Ambala after being sentenced by the Railway Magistrate. |
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Undertrial prisoner dies in hospital
Sonepat, April 16 His wife had died under mysterious circumstances a few months ago and the police had arrested him in connection with this case. He had been sent to the District Jail, Sonepat, by the court. He had been suffering from TB and when his condition worsened in the jail, he was rushed to the local Civil Hospital for treatment, from where he was referred to the PGIMS at Rohtak. |
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Coaching
for govt school students Yamunanagar, April 16 The coaching classes will be free of cost. This was stated by Mr Parmod Kumar, Project Convener, Sarv Siksha Abhiyan (SSA). A significant number of schools in the district are without mathematics, science and English teachers. A survey will also be conducted to check if girls who were given bicycles were actually attending schools or not. The bicycles will be confiscated if the girls do not attend school.
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Robbery at petrol station Sonepat, April 16 The petrol station is owned by Mr Ramesh Khatak, a former MLA of the district. The miscreants, who came in a car, also took away a mobile phone. A case has been registered.
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Ex-servicemen ‘barakhana’
Ambala, April 16 |
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