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Fate of 718 students hangs in balance
Officers find selection of poll observers unfair
DCC to field Jindal’s wife for Hisar byelection
Neelam chief of MC Ambala Sadar
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HUDA to offer 4,000 residential plots
Former Lok Pal donates
compensation to charity
Corruption case against four dismissed
Spate of burglaries in vicinity of police post
Jail escapee arrested
Meningitis cases in Delhi: red alert in Haryana
Pvt blood bank’s working to be probed
Mizoram Governor moves court over damage to farmhouse
HC Judge bereaved
60 HCS posts to be abolished
Chirag tops in Ambala
district
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Fate of 718 students hangs in balance
Panipat, May 5 While no written information regarding the school’s closure was given to students and their parents either by the Principal of the school or by the NFL management, the students were verbally told by the Principal on Monday not to come to school from the forthcoming day. When contacted, the Principal, Mr B. K. Bahuguna, said the NFL had written to the KV Sangthan, New Delhi, in January this year to close the school as it had expressed its inability to bear the expenditure required for running the school. The sangthan had just accepted their request, he added. According to information available with The Tribune, KV was opened in the township in 1980 on the request of the NFL. While KV provided the staff, the NFL had been bearing all expenses since then. At present, nearly Rs 80 lakh was being spent annually on the school. The NFL Chief General Manager (CGM), Mr K. S. Gill, told The Tribune the decision of closing the school had been taken as part of several economy measures adopted by NFL to make the unit more profitable. In response to a question, he claimed the future of the students would not be spoiled as NFL had asked a private organisation, the Central Academy Education Progressive Society of India (CAEPSI), to run the school at the same site where KV Sangthan was running the school. The students and their parents are against the decision of closing down KV and opening a school by a private organisation. A class X student, Neeraj, expressed fear that if a private organisation was allowed to run the school the standard of education would not be as high as it was in KV. Children of employees of different central government departments, including NFL, were studying in KV. Apart from the fear of sub-standard and costly education, the closure would create admission problems for students in case of transfers of their parents in the future, said Mr Narendra Dubey, an RPF inspector whose sons are studying in KV. If the children of employees of government departments are studying in KV at a particular place they get admission to the KV of the area where their parents are transferred, Mr Dubey said, adding that if the KV here was closed down they would have to suffer a lot in getting their children admitted at the time of transfer. The president of the NFL Workers’ Union, Mr Harpal Singh, and the general secretary, Mr Fauran Singh, said they would not allow the private organisation to open its school in the township and would force the NFL management to reverse its decision of closing down the school. They held if the management wanted to make the unit more profitable it should curb unnecessary expenses made by officials on various grounds instead of closing down the KV. |
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Officers find selection of poll observers unfair
Chandigarh, May 5 The Haryana Chief Secretary, in a communication dated April 27, informed these officers that their names had been “sponsored” to the Government of India for appointment as General Observers during the byelections in the four states. Sixteen IAS officers who have been chosen for this purpose are Mr R.R. Jowel, Mr M Kithan, Mr S.N. Roy, Mr Anil Kumar, Ms Sumita Misra, Mr Anurag Rastogi, Mr Balraj Singh, Mr Vineet Garg, Mr A.K. Singh, Mr M.R. Anand, Mr Ashok Kumar Yadav, Mr Balwan Singh, Mr R.S. Doon, Mr Chander Prakash, Mr Rajbir Singh and Mr Subhash Chandra. It is learnt that at least two of the officers had met the Chief Secretary and sought exemption from being deputed as Election Observers. Talking to TNS today, an IAS officer, whose name too finds a place in the list, said while he did not mind doing the job of General Observer, what put him off was that almost invariably officers with little or no clout in the state government are selected for such assignments. Mr M. Kithan, Special Secretary in the Industy Department, is a classic example of “stepmotherly” treatment by successive governments. Since 1998, he is being sent on election duty outside the state on each and every occasion. He was even sent to Kashmir on election duty after two other bureaucrats refused to go to the terrorist-hit state. Evidently, since Mr Kithan comes from a far-off area and does not have sufficient “contacts” with the high and mighty in Haryana, his name is always recommended for deputation as an Election Observer. This time there were reportedly express instructions from the Election Commission that only those officers who had been exempted from doing election duty on previous occasions should be recommended for being deployed as Election Observers. But Mr Kithan was selected by the state government all the same. The government justifies the list saying that it is natural that only those officers who do not have any significant responsibility in Haryana can be spared for remaining outside the state for a substantial period. Thus, Mr S.N. Roy, who has been recommended for appointment as Election Observer, is the most suitable person for the assignment. Mr Roy was removed from the post of Special Secretary, Home Department, on April 26 and till date he has not been offered a new posting for reasons best known to the government. However, the list includes the names of four directors, Ms Sumita Misra, Mr Anurag Rastogi, Mr A.K. Singh and Mr Rajbir Singh. The absence of these officers will hamper work in their respective directorates.
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DCC to field Jindal’s wife for Hisar byelection
Hisar, May 5 A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the committee organised at Congress Bhavan here today. The DCC (Urban) president, Mr Pankaj Mehta, chaired the meeting. Talking to The Tribune, Mr Mehta said the resolution would soon be sent to the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) and the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) for approval. The DCC meeting had been convened to discuss the preparations and arrangements for the state-level Congress rally to be held at Jind on May 14. The Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, will be the chief guest at the Dhanyavad rally. Addressing the Congress members present at the meeting, Mr Mehta claimed that this would be the biggest-ever rally in the state. Nearly 10,000 persons from the Hisar Assembly segment would participate in the rally, he added. Meanwhile, on being contacted, a spokesperson for Jindal House maintained that to decide the Congress candidate for the byelection was the prerogative of the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and the state leadership of the party. |
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Neelam chief of MC Ambala Sadar
Ambala, May 5 Congress councillor Neelam Sharma was elected president of the Municipal Council Ambala Sadar, while Mr Sudhir Jaiswal of the Congress was elected vice- president. Ms Sharma was pitted against Mr Hira Lal Yadav of the Sangharsh Vahini. Ms Sharma got 19 votes while Mr Hira Lal Yadav got 13 votes. The total votes polled was 32. Hectic parleys continued among the political parties till the last minute. Mr Yadav, who is the president of the Sangharsh Vahini, had emerged as the consensus candidate for the non-Congress parties, the name of Ms Sharma was apparently given the green light by the party high command. In today’s meeting, the name of Ms Sharma was proposed by Dr Ved and it was seconded by Mr Sudhir Jaiswal. The name of Mr Yadav was proposed by Mr Kamal Kishore Jain and it was seconded by Mr Gagan Dang. In the case of vice-president, the name of Mr Jaiswal was proposed by Dr Vikas Bhateja and the name of Mr Bangali was proposed by Mr Yadav. The election was conducted by the SDM, Mr Mukesh Ahuja. As soon as the counting of votes was over, there was jubilation among Congress councillors. Congress workers who had gathered outside the voting hall were ecstatic on hearing the news. Ms Sharma said she was delighted with her victory. “I will work for the overall development of Ambala cantt. There will be no bias in carrying out development,” she said. The Ambala cantt MLA, Mr Devender Bansal, who had also cast his vote, said he was confident of the victory from the beginning. “People have reposed faith in the Congress for carrying out development projects,” he said.
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HUDA to offer 4,000 residential plots
Panchkula, May 5 Officials in HUDA inform that residential plots in Panchkula, Hisar, Faridabad, Bhiwani, Panipat, Ellenabad and Kalanwali will be offered through various housing schemes. Most of these housing schemes are being floated from residual plots (plots left over from previous housing schemes) in the above mentioned urban estates. Of these housing schemes, about 1000 residential plots are being offered in Panchkula Extension (HUDA sectors across the Ghaggar river). The prestigious Golf Villa plots in Sector 22, providing a view of the massive greens of Panchkula Golf Course and the river Ghaggar, are going to be floated, besides plots in Sectors 23, 25, 26, 27, 28 and Sector 31. Sources say that a meeting of the price fixation committee for these housing schemes was held on May 3. After the committee approved the reserved price for all housing schemes, the case has been forwarded to the state government for final approval. “After we get a sanction from the state government, the housing schemes will be announced,” said a senior official. |
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Former Lok Pal donates
compensation to charity
Chandigarh, May 5 The Haryana Government today paid him about Rs 5.5 lakh. Justice Vasishth, a former Judge of the Allahabad High Court, was appointed Lok Pal in Haryana when Mr Bansi Lal was the Chief Minister. However, after Mr Om Prakash Chautala became the Chief Minister in 1999, the Lok Pal Act was repealed and Justice Vasishth was removed from the post without paying him salary for the unexpired period of his tenure as per the contract with him. The judge moved the Allahabad High Court demanding compensation. However, the court refused to entertain his petition on the grounds of jurisdiction. The Chautala government engaged private counsel from Delhi to contest the case in the Allahabad High Court and spent over three times the amount due to Justice Vasishth in paying legal fee and on travel expenditure of its officials to Lucknow as it was the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court which was hearing the case. Justice Vasishth later moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court through Mr Sanjay Bansal. The high court upheld his plea and directed the state government to pay him the salary for the unexpired period of his tenure. The state handed over a demand draft of about Rs 5.5 lakh to Mr Bansal in the court today. Justice Vasishth told TNS on the phone that he would donate 50 per cent of the compensation amount to Jai Ram Sanskrit Vidyapeetham, Kurukshetra, and the rest to Ved Pathshala, Doodhadhari Ashram, Hardwar. He said since in Hindu mythology, no “daan” was considered to be complete unless it was accompanied with “dakshina”, he would give Rs 11,000 to each institution from his own pocket as “dakshina”.
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Corruption case against four dismissed
Rohtak, May 5 The prosecution had on April 12 submitted an application in the court saying it had not found any substance in the allegations and that it did not want to proceed as there was no evidence to merit prosecution. The arguments in the case concluded on April 28 and the decision was pronounced today. It had been alleged in the FIR that as Minister of Town and Country Planning, Mr Das had ordered acquisition of a piece of land near his own land to derive personal benefit and that the Haryana Urban Development Authority had executed certain development works in the municipal area under his directions against the rules. Notably in nearly six years after the case was registered the prosecution could not even frame a charge sheet. |
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Spate of burglaries in vicinity of police post
Jagadhri, May 5 The thieves did not break into the office of M\s Hind Property Dealers, situated between the dairy and the gas agency, where Rs 2 lakh were lying in a desk drawer. The thieves cut a windowpane of Lakshmi petrol station and took away Rs 98,000 lying in it. They also pulled out the shutter of Sachidanad Gas Agency and stole Rs 2,500. They broke the locks of Haryana Dairy and took away a few ghee tins and Rs 400. They also cut the windowpane of Vita milk bar and pocketed Rs 1,400 lying there. The thefts took place after 11 pm as the petrol station closes around this time. The burglaries took place right across the road from the residence of the DSP, Mr Ashok Kumar. The Rakshak Vihar police post is situated near the crime scene. A permanent checkpost is also located within 100 meters from the petrol station. Two employees of the petrol station, Kuldeep and Mohan, noticed the theft around 5 am and reported the matter to the owner. |
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Jail escapee arrested
Sonepat, May 5 According to police sources, Anil had been involved in the murder of the sarpanch of the village and some other criminal cases. Giving details of the arrest, a spokesman of the police department said the police received a secret information about the suspect who was hiding in the fields between Barwasni and Kilorad villages and planning to commit a crime. The police conducted a surprise raid and arrested him. One of his associates who managed to flee from the district jail, had also been re-arrested along with Anil. According to another report, the Kundli police has detained three youths for interrogation in connection with a case of stealing a gun from the Central Bank of India branch at Nathupur village in the district. The police is interrogating the youths. None of them had confessed to his involvement in this case yet. |
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Meningitis cases in Delhi: red alert in Haryana
Chandigarh, May 5 An official spokesman said here today that no case had been reported from Haryana so far. Instructions had been issued to all civil surgeons in the state to be extra vigilant. In the case of detection of any such case within their jurisdiction, they should immediately inform the office of the Director-General, Health Services, so that action could be taken. The civil surgeons had also been directed to keep isolation wards ready and equipped with all-life saving drugs and other medicines. They had also been directed to create awareness among the people regarding the symptoms and treatment of the disease. He said general mass surveys were being conducted to detect any person suffering from any of the symptoms of meningitis. He said the cause of meningitis was a bacteria known as grame negative diplococcic maningo
coccus. The patient could suffer from high-grade fever, body ache, body rashes, vomiting and sore throat. The signs of the disease included rigidity of neck, rashes, and shock. |
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Pvt blood bank’s working to be probed
Sirsa, May 5 Dr S.K. Chaudhary, officiating Chief Medical Officer (CMO), said he would ask the authorities to look into the matter. “I have asked the District Drug Inspector to conduct an inquiry into the functioning of the privately managed blood bank even though they were supposed to hold any blood donation camp,” said Dr Chaudhary. The Tribune had highlighted the fact as to how the blood bank had ignored rules while collecting blood. As per the rules a private blood bank cannot hold camp out of its premises. But here the bank was doing so. Pointing a finger at the state drug authority, officials in the Health Department stated that how the bank managed to avoid action even when the Drug Department was aware of the exercise.
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Mizoram Governor moves court over damage to farmhouse
Chandigarh, May 5 The petitioner has stated that on February 5, 2005, some goons allegedly acting at the behest of R.C. Sood Private Company, International Trade Tower, New Delhi, razed the boundary wall of his farmhouse in Anangpur village in Faridabad district. A case was got registered by him at the Police Station, NIT, Faridabad, on February 9, but so far no action has been taken against the accused. He also alleges that some miscreants again tried to damage the farmhouse on February 15. Mr Kohli has also prayed for compensation for the damages suffered by him and also sought that the report of the investigation conducted so far be presented in the court. The Bench of Mr Justice S.K. Mittal issued notice of motion to the Haryana Government for May 20.
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HC Judge bereaved
Chandigarh, May 5 Mrs Garewal was among the two persons who had died in a road accident at Salogra in Solan district yesterday. Judges of the High Court and lower courts, both serving and retired, Mr B.S. Hooda, Chief Minister, Haryana, Mr Venod Sharma, Excise and Taxation Minister, Haryana, Advocate General of Punjab and Haryana. Punjab Advocate-General Harbhagwan Singh laid a wreath on the body of Mrs Garewal on behalf of the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh.
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60 HCS posts to be abolished
Chandigarh, May 5 According to informed sources, the decision to abolish the posts was taken while reviewing the HCS cadre, which initially had a strength of 240. However, the previous Chautala government increased the cadre strength to 300. The Hooda government feels that the state does not require so many HCS officers as many of them have to be given “superfluous” assignments. |
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Chirag tops in Ambala
district Ambala, May 5 Chirag gives the credit of his success to his parents and the teachers of the school. Earlier he had achieved 10th position in the middle standard examination in the state. This time also he was expecting some top position in the state. He said he had devoted five to six hours in the study which was sufficient to achieve better result. “I want to be an Army officer,” Chirag said.
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