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Power bill waiver endears Hooda to farmers
Pataudi case: Get serious, activists tell Haryana Govt
Haryana Budget passed
Insurance for Hajis decried
No takers for 2000 driving licences
HSISF: panel’s terms of reference finalised
11 acre allotted to Devi Lal varsity may be cancelled
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Sarpanch averts 4 child marriages
Illegal colony demolished
Hooch toll rises to 7
2 nabbed for assaulting train passenger
HSEB workers decry secy’s transfer
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Power bill waiver endears Hooda to farmers
Rohtak, June 17 The waiver has not only provided a welcome relief to the farmers reeling under mounting arrears of power bills, on the political front it has in one go raised Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s stature to that of an undisputed leader of the farming community in Haryana. For the farmers, this is the most path-breaking decision after the late Devi Lal waived farm loans about two decades ago. In announcing the waiver, Mr Hooda has even outdone his bete noire Devi Lal who partially waived loans amidst fierce opposition from the bureaucracy and financial experts who spelt doom for the banks. In this case Mr Hooda, however, chose not to do partial justice and preferred to go the whole hog and waive the arrears of 10 years. Mr Hooda’s predecessor Om Parkash Chautala had steadfastly refused to even consider a waiver after he was swept to power in February 2000. He antagonised the farmers, especially in the Jind and adjoining districts, on this issue which led to several deaths in police firing. It was during the height of these Bhartiya Kisan Union-led struggles that Hooda stepped in and promised to waive the bills if he came to power. This was despite the fact that farmers had stopped paying bills after the Indian National Lok Dal and its earlier avatars promised to waive the arrears and give power free of cost to farmers if it came to power. The party, however, did an about turn after it came to power and the pending bills because a major irritant in its relations with the farming community. The waiver has taken the INLD by surprise since Mr Chautala’s insistence on recovering the arrears had convinced its leadership that no government could waive the power bills and still save the power utilities. A former senior minister in the Chautala cabinet said, “Frankly, I am surprised. It’s not that I anytime believed the bills could not be waived but I was expecting that at the most the government would waive penalties and recover the original arrears in long-term instalments. I must admit the Chief Minister has lived up to his promise and shown remarkable political will.” Sources close to the Chief Minister said he delayed the waiver because of initial opposition from the bureaucracy which believed that this would worsen the power scenario in the state. However, Mr Hooda clinched the issue, pleading that they had a choice — either waive the arrears, start collecting current bills and win over the farmers or keep the arrears pending, lose future revenue and betray the peasantry. They said the Chief Minister even remarked at the last meeting that he was prepared to “lose face” if the bureaucracy insisted on its stand but added that there was no way they could recover the arrears because the farmers were in position to pay these. Thereafter the bureaucracy relented. The waiver is a major setback to the INLD which is still groping in the dark looking for ways to come out of the dumps it is at present in. A senior INLD leader of this district said he would find it hard to explain to fellow villagers why Mr Chautala always pleaded this could not be done. BJP leaders too expressed similar sentiments but added that their party had always favoured the waiver but the INLD supremo was not even prepared to listen to them. A quick tour of nearby villages showed visible signs of relief on farmers’ faces. “I can at least sleep peacefully now. All these years whenever I heard a vehicle whiz past my house, I woke up fearing recovery officials had swooped down on the village,” said Baljit Singh of Bohar village. Another ageing farmer Daryao Singh chipped in promising that it was now his turn to ensure that he paid his bills in future. |
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Pataudi case: Get serious, activists tell Haryana Govt
Chandigarh, June 17 While the two accused-applicant — former Indian cricket captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and industrialist Shashi Singh —had fielded legal eagles like Mr R.S. Cheema and Mr Dinesh Mathur to argue their case, Haryana was represented by a sole Assistant Advocate-General. This remark of a lawyer not connected with the case immediately after the pronouncement of the judgement says it all: "God helped them". Though all praise must go to the young Assistant AG for keeping his nerves in a jam-packed courtroom, the government seemed to have given up even before the hearing began. "Couldn't they (Haryana Government) have deputed at least an Additional AG, if not the AG himself, for the case?" was the question on everybody's mind, including almost two dozen reporters covering the hearing. And, not one to hold himself, animal rights activist Naresh Kumar Kadyan, who was instrumental in exposing police laxity in booking the accused, demanded the transfer of Jhajjar Superintendent of Police Hanif Qureshi. "The government and the police were going all-out to allow Mr Pataudi and Mr Shashi Singh remain out of the lock-up. In such a high-profile case, shouldn't they have fielded some senior lawyer? Even now, I am not sure what turn the investigation will take," he told The Tribune. Another person sore with the government attitude was Mr Darshan Singh
Bishnoi, spokesperson of All India Bishnoi Mahasabha. The mahasabha was among the parties opposing the bail applications in the court. "We are happy with the High Court order. But, it is for the government and the police to ensure that the investigations are not derailed. The public will be keeping a close watch on their actions," he said. |
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Haryana Budget passed
Chandigarh, June 17 The Appropriation Bill for over Rs 17,620 crore for 2005-06 was passed by voice vote after a long discussion. The Hooda government had sought a vote on account in March. A sum of Rs 1,180 crore has been earmarked for the development of infrastructure during the current financial year, which is about Rs 300 crore more as compared to the allocation last year. More than Rs 1,700 crore has been earmarked for the power sector this year. Similarly, Rs 2,180 crore has been allocated for the promotion of education. The Budget has also earmarked Rs 640 crore for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes and Rs 168 crore for municipal bodies. While replying to the debate on the Appropriation Bill, the Finance Minister, Mr Birender Singh, said that those politicians who betrayed people by making false promises should be debarred from contesting elections in future and those political parties which said one thing in their manifesto and did just the opposite should be derecognised. Launching an attack on the previous INLD regime, Mr Birender Singh said its leaders had always believed in vote-bank politics and misled the people by talking about providing free power to them and also played with their sentiments on the SYL canal issue. While replying to the demands and various points raised by the 18 MLAs who spoke on the Appropriation Bill, Mr Birender Singh announced that the government would soon constitute a minimum wage board. This would look into the issue of raising the minimum wages, which at present were a little over Rs 2,200 in the state. He also said that the state government had not discontinued the unemployment allowance. He said the INLD had misled the people of Haryana by asking them to stop paying electricity bills on the promise that once it attained power it would waive the arrears. He said the former Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, was not present in the House today because “the lies which he had been telling to people all
these years were to be exposed” by the Congress government. |
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Insurance for Hajis decried
Panipat, June 17 In his fatwa number 5367 issued on the other day, chief Mufti of Deoband Maulana Habibur Rehman has stated, “Life insurance ki policy sood aur juae sat mein aati hai, jis ko Koran ne mana kiyan hai. Yeh kanoon Muslim Personal Law ke bhi khilaf hai.” (Life insurance policy is a part of gambling and satta that has been forbidden in Koran. This decision is also against the Muslim Personal Law). Maulana Habibur Rehman has directed the Muslims in the fatwa, a copy of which is with The Tribune, to protest against the decision of insurance for the Hajis. Besides Maulana Habibur Rehman, the fatwa was also signed by Maulana Kafil Ahmed, Maulana Mahmood Hasan and chief Mufti of Jalalabad in Muzaffarnagar, Mufti Abdul Satar. Maulana Mohammad Ramzan, a member of the Haryana Haj Committee, told The Tribune that the chief Mufti of Deoband issued the fatwa when he along with other Muslim religious leaders of the state, including Maulana Noor Mohammad, Maulana Abdul Mabood and Hafiz Khaleel, met him on June 14 and brought the new decision of the MEA to his notice. Mulana Ramzan said the director of the Haj Cell of the MEA, Mr Vinod Kumar Sachdeva had written about the decision regarding insurance of Hajis in his letter to the Mumbai-based Chairman of the All India Haji Umrah Tour Organisers Association, Mr Alhaj Saidudein. In his letter, a copy of which is with The Tribune, to Mr Saidudein on June 7, Mr Sachdeva stated, “It will also be advisable that the pilgrims are provided with the accident compensation cover on the lines of such facilities that are made available to the Haj committee pilgrims.” Following the issuance of fatwa, an emergent meeting of Muslim leaders of Haryana was held at the Jama Masjid in Nooh of Mewat district yesterday. Among others, a member of Haryana Waqf Board Maulana Mohammad Sayeed and Shek-Ul-Hadis Maulana Mohammad Siddiq were also present. It was decided in the meeting to oppose the decision of the MEA with full strength. The participants also requested the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), Ms Sonia Gandhi, to withdraw the decision. Maulana Ramzan told The Tribune that if the decision was not withdrawn, the Muslims would boycott the Haj and no Muslim from India would go for Haj next year. Similarly, Molvi Bilal Ahmad Bijrolvi of Panipat said if the decision was not withdrawn within next few days, they would start an agitation. According to information, nearly 1,20,000 Indian Muslims go on Haj every year. While 80,000 of them prefer to go through the Haj Committee, the others go through private tour operators. Of these, nearly 1,000 Muslims of Haryana go on Haj every year. While the process of filling forms is likely to start in the last week of July, the pilgrimage will be held in January next year. Maulana Ramzan said no Muslim leader was consulted by the government before taking the decision. However, the Minister of State, (External Affairs), Mr E. Ahamed, the AO (Haj Cell), Mr Raina and the Director (Haj Cell), Mr Vinod Sachdeva, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. |
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No takers for 2000 driving licences
Jagadhri, June 17 Sources said in the past few years the department had earned a “reputation” that applicants of driving licences and vehicle registrations had to wait for several months before they were issued the documents. “Aware” of the system, the applicants too used to enquire about the status of their applications after a few months, said sources. As on today the department has cleared of all pending applications till June 12. Some of the applications were seven month old, said sources. SDM Dr Satyender Duhan today at a press conference said applications till June 12 had been cleared. About 2,000 driving licences and registration certificates (RC) are with the department but applicants are not coming to collect these. For distribution of documents the department has planned a three-day mela from June 20 at Panchayat Bhawan here. Applicants can collect their documents during the mela, informed the SDM. The department would also hold another mela on June 23, 24 and 25 on departments counter to clear objections in 500 more pending files and the documents would be delivered on June 27. During the six day mela the department would not entertain any new applications. The department receives 100 applications. More than 1,200 applications were pending with the department most of them several months old. Former Deputy Commissioner R.K. Rao before he joined at Chandigarh had ordered the SDM to clear all pending application on priority. He had also ordered an applicant should get documents within 10-days. |
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HSISF: panel’s terms of reference finalised
Chandigarh, June 17 Announcing this at a press conference here today the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said the commission would see whether the Vidhan Sabha was misled on the issue of demand and necessity for the creation of the HSISF. The Hooda government has decided to disband the force for which there was no demand in the state. The commission would also look into the circumstances that made the then government to hurriedly go through the recruitment of the HSISF even without notifying the commencement of the Haryana State Industrial Security Force Act, 2003. The commission, Mr Hooda said, would also see whether any financial loss had been caused to the state exchequer due to acts of omission and commission with regard to the HSISF. In the case of such a loss, the persons responsible for it would also be identified. It would also
ascertain whether any extraneous factors had played a role in the selection or recruitment of candidates in the HSISF. The commission, to be headed by a sitting or retired Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, would submit its report within six months from the date of its inception. |
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11 acre allotted to Devi Lal varsity may be cancelled
Sirsa, June 17 Former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala had allotted 11 acre to the university in his hometown early this year. Sources said Mr Chautala wanted direct access to the university campus from the Sirsa-Barnala road and thus had directed to allot additional land. The then Principal Secretary to Mr Chautala, Mr
B.D. Dhalia, had visited the university and discussed the issue with the university authorities and district officials in this regard. The intention was to connect the main entrance of the campus with the main road. According to reliable sources, the district administration was delaying any communication as a part of the camp office of the Deputy Commissioner falls in the land proposed to be handed over to the university. Besides, residences of a number of senior district officials, including the SP and the Additional Deputy Commissioner may fall in the proposed land. The sources said though the colleges in five districts had been disaffiliated from the university and it had to return budget money to the tune of Rs 14 crore to Kurukshetra University and Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak. Now the officials feel that the government might reverse these orders. When the district administration has failed to take up the issue, the university plans to approach the Hooda government to transfer the land to it to continue development work on the campus. It is worth mentioning that the Chautala government had allotted around 340 acre to the university in installments. A chunk of 50 acre had become controversial as the Central Government staked claim over it. |
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Sarpanch averts 4 child marriages
Bibipur Halwana (Karnal), June 17 He said he has decided to constitute a social reforms committee of the villagers under the provisions of the Panchayati Raj Act to take up the task of removing social evils from the society. The matter will come up for approval at the gram sabha meeting in July. Gian Singh said there was a lot of pressure on him from the villagers on the issue of child marriages but he was in no mood to relent. He said some people had even threatened him of dire consequences for imposing a ban on child marriages. Bibipur Halwana is one of the biggest villages of the district having a population of over 5000 situated on the banks of Yamuna river in Indri block. More than 90 per cent of its population is illiterate and over 95 per cent of the people live below the poverty line. Answering a question, he said the gram sabha would also pass a resolution to get the village adopted by the Union or the state government for making it a model village. |
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Illegal colony demolished
Gurgaon, June 17 The Tribune had reported the matter about a month back on the illegal colonisation in the village. A strong posse of policemen, accompanied personnel of the DTP, Enforcement, led by its Chief Mr B.K. Saini, to the site for the operation. The demolition operation was smooth. The mafia, said to be from Delhi, is behind the mischief. The colony was being set up on nine acres of land. Not only had the miscreants set up a road around the colony, they had also sold some of plots. The land was in the category of “agriculture” land and purchased from residents of the village at a very low rate. According to the norm, one can get license and approval for setting up a colony on land not less than 100 acres. Besides, other formalities are to be undergone. In this case every thing was illegal. According to the department, four houses were already constructed in the colony, some of were under construction. All of them have been demolished. |
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Hooch toll rises to 7
Rewari, June 17 Besides one more patient, Arun (40) of Dhamlaka village, who had reportedly lost his eye-sight and who was battling for life in a private hospital here, was referred to Delhi this afternoon. There were reports that a few other patients belonging to adjoining villages were also getting treatment at private hospitals here indicating that the toll could rise further. Meanwhile the Model Town police here has registered a case of murder and causing hurt by poison under Sections 302, 328 and 34 of the IPC against the alleged bootleggers — Raju , Bijender, Rajpal and Manju. Dr C.S. Rao, SP, informed that the police today conducted raids at various places in Rajasthan and Gurgaon to nab the absconding culprits but achieved little success. Besides, the Rewari district police also launched combing operations today to nab such elements who were indulged in
bootlegging. |
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2 nabbed for assaulting train passenger
Ambala, June 17 The duo, alongwith another person, were involved in a shooting incident on train number 312 Down Passenger. A passenger, Tony, sustained serious injury after he was shot at. Tony was travelling from Yamuna Nagar to his home in Barara. Due to lack of space he sat on the footboard of the compartment. Apparently, a verbal altercation took place between him and some other youths. One of the youths allegedly took out a country made pistol and shot at Tony. Thereafter, the youths jumped off the train when the train slowed down.
TNS |
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HSEB workers decry secy’s transfer
Ambala, June 17 The HSEB workers said they were not correcting faults to protest against the transfer of Ravi Kumar, who was Circle Secretary of the HSEB workers union to
Kurukshetra. The areas where faults had not been rectified include Kacha Bazar, Krishna Nagar and Vashisht Nagar.
TNS |
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