Chandigarh, January 31
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notices to the Union Government and the Haryana Government on a PIL filed by two Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MLAs. The MLAs have challenged the appointment of a Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) and seven Parliamentary Secretaries (PS) in the state on January 14.

In their petition, Mr Sushil Indora and Mr Sita Ram, while seeking directions to declare the appointments as illegal and unconstitutional, have urged the court to set aside the Haryana Government's order creating the posts.

The petitioners alleged that these appointments were part of personal political motives and objectives of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and were in utter violation of the law, especially the 91st amendment to the Constitution.

This amendment, it has been pointed out, pegs the maximum number of ministers in a government at not more than 15 per cent of the total strength of the legislature. Therefore, in Haryana, only 13 MLAs could have been appointed ministers.

But, the petition alleges, by appointing eight MLAs to the posts of CPS and PS, the government has only tried to circumvent the Constitutional provision.

The petitioners have also challenged the legality of the recent amendment in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business by the Rules Committee of the Haryana Assembly. The new rules exclude the CPS and PSs from ministerial status.

Another PIL challenging the appointments is still pending before the High Court.

Today, the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Mr Justice D.K. Jain and Mr Justice Surya Kant also directed the Centre and the Haryana Government to file their replies to the writ within six weeks.

Hearing will resume on March 16.

Panipat, January 31
To prevent developers from purchasing land in bulk, the state authorities have proposed to acquire 1,600 acres in the district.

The move is aimed at checking the growth of mushrooming illegal residential colonies in the district that falls under the National Capital Region (NCR).

Sources said the authorities had made plans to develop new sectors. With a number of big and small developers purchasing landholdings, the planned growth of towns has been hit, they added. According to the reports, numerous developers were busy in making bulk purchases of land, either in their names of through different small-time companies allegedly raised by them.

Owing to the involvement of certain big players, prices of the land have skyrocketed in the district. The sources said reported bulk purchase of land had caused tremendous imbalance in the town planning. Once the land was acquired it would put a check on unauthorised construction and ensure a planned development of the sectors.

Confirming this to The Tribune, Ms Gurmeet Kaur, District Town Planner (DTP), said the land would be acquired once approval from the top authorities was granted. She admitted that the illegal residential colonies had done a tremendous damage to town planning.

Though the authorities are well aware of the haphazard growth of the towns, a plan to take strict action against the defaulters has been mooted. According the departmental reports, there are 1,145 illegal residential colonies and 3,464 unauthorised structures that fall within the jurisdiction of the DTP.

The officials concerned said nothing much had been done to check the growth of illegal colonies. Despite many complaints to the police, the sources said only 355 FIRs had been registered. Similarly, the police had registered FIRs against 628 defaulters whereas the district authorities had complained against 3,478 individuals.

The officials cited the nexus between property dealers and government official as a reason for no action against the defaulters either by the police or the authorities.

Ms Gurmeet Kaur said the department was in the process in registering cases against those who had violated building norms. She said the DTP had initiated a demolition drive in 80 acres in the past two days. The illegal colonies and structures had been raised near the places selected by HUDA to be developed in sectors.

Faridabad, January 31
The stage is set for the 20th Surajkund Crafts Mela beginning here tomorrow, till February 15. To be organised jointly by the Union Ministry of Tourism, Haryana Tourism and the Textiles Department of the Central Government, this fortnightly extravaganza will be showcasing the traditional art and craft of various parts of the country through about 300 craftsmen selected by the organisers. Over 200 artistes and craftsmen from Maharashtra, the theme state this time, will be the attraction.

The Secretary, Tourism, Government of India, who is the chairman of the Surajkund mela authority, said here today that besides the traditional Indian crafts, the mela for the first time will have artistes from SAARC nations — Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Burma and Bangladesh — displaying crafts. Their participation had been facilitated by the Indian Council For Cultural Relations.

He said while Mrs Renuka Chaudhary, Union Minister of State, will be the chief guest at the inauguration, the Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, will preside over the function. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, and the Tourism Minister of the theme state, Mr Vijay Singh Mohite Patil, will the guests of honour on the occasion.

Regarding security, he said close circuit TVs had been installed and the police and security personnel would be on round-the-clock duty. However, the authorities which had earlier proposed to hike entry fee had now decided only to charge Rs 25 per ticket on all days of the week.

However, the entry of schoolchildren coming in groups and sponsored by their schools will be free. It was claimed that the number of the visitors to the mela this time were likely to increase due to its popularity, though a statement of a senior official of the Haryana Government created a type of ‘flutter’ when he commented that entry tickets had been there to check the class of the visitors to the mela.

The organisers claimed that special publicity had been done through hotels in Delhi to attract tourists besides the arrangement for special bus service from various spots in Delhi and a small package by Haryana Tourism for the visitors during the mela period.

While cultural events will be held during the day, visitors can also enjoy special programmes in the evening at the open theatre.

Meanwhile, a leader of a cultural team from Maharastra claimed that the lodging arrangements for the artistes had been poor as a small room had been allotted to as many as eight to 10 persons with poor supply of power and water.

Karnal, January 31
As many as 25 families of various martyrs, including those who had sacrificed their lives during Kargil war, will be honoured at a function here tomorrow.

The function will be organised to remember Mr M.L. Verma, the then Additional Principal Secretary of Haryana, who along with his wife, two children and security men was killed by terrorists on February 1 in 1992.

State Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Power, R.N. Prashar will be the chief guest at the function being organised under the aegis of the National Integrated Forum of Artists and Activists (NIFAA). Karnal ADC Sanjiv Verma, younger brother of late Mr M.L. Verma, will specially remain present during the function.

Besides the families of martyrs, the representatives of different social organisations active in the district would also be honoured, said a spokesman of NIFAA.

Mr M.L. Verma was shot dead in his running car at Kakkar Majra village when he was going to Lalhani Kalan, his native village in Yamunanagar from Chandigarh.

Yamunanagar, January 31
More than 115 students from 28 colleges of Haryana participated in a five-day literary competition-cum-workshop of the Department of Youth and Cultural Affairs, Kurukshetra University, which concluded at DAV College for Girls here today.

The following were adjudged the best in different categories: Sudesh Choudhary of FC College, Hisar, Garim Dabra of MLN College, Yamunanagar, Gurpreet Kaur of MDSD College for Girls, Ambala city, Akashdeep of Kurukshetra University and Girish Sharma of SD College, Ambala cantonment in Haryanvi, English, Punjabi, Hindi and Sanskrit poetical symposium, respectively.

Mahendra Kumar of Government College, Panchkula, Atul Goel of Government PG College, Jind, Mahima of University College, Kurukshetra, Manjit Kumar Tiwari of SD College, Ambala city, Nandini of DAV College for Girls, Yamunanagar, Jaspreet of FC College, Preeti Sharma of the host college and Navneet Kaur of RKSD College, Kaithal, were awarded in Urdu, Haryanvi, English, Punjabi, Hindi symposium categories, respectively. DAV Dental College, Yamunanagar, and Government PG College, Karnal, were adjudged best in the debate section.

Mamata of FC College, Hisar, and Deepika of the host college were adjudged best in the Sanskrit poetical symposium. Deepak Ravish of RLSD College, Kaithal, and Lanu Gagnli of the local college were the choice of the judges in the Hindi and English symposium, respectively, while Shruti of Government PG College, Karnal, was commended for Hindi symposium.

Hisar, January 31
Three youths, who were fleeing after looting Rs 45,000 from a cashier, were nabbed by the police along with the cash in the Mandi Adampur area of the district here yesterday. The cashier and a labourer, who were shot at by the looters, have been hospitalised.

Shrichand, a cashier with Subhash Chand Sandeep Kumar of Grain Market, Mandi Adampur, had withdrawn some cash from a local branch of the State Bank of Patiala. The youths, who were on a motor cycle, tried to snatch the cash from him.

When Shrichand resisted, the armed youths shot at him near his shop. A labourer, Surja Ram, who tried to save the cashier and the cash, was also shot at. He sustained bullet injuries.

After looting the cash, the youths fled. However, some policemen and local residents chased the looters.

The looters also fired at the chasing party, but nobody was hurt. Following this, they abandoned their motor cycle and ran in separate directions. All three of them were eventually nabbed in the “dhaanis” of Kishangarh village along with two pistols and the looted amount. A case has been registered in this regard.

Rajbir, alias Raju of Sisai village, who was the leader of the gang, was also wanted by the police in several cases of looting, dacoity and car-snatching. His arrest is likely to give important leads to the police in solving many other criminal cases as well.

Sonepat, January 31
The Union Home Ministry has alerted the Haryana police about the disappearance of as many as 342 Pakistani nationals who have not returned to Pakistan after the expiry of their visa.

According to official sources, it has also sent the list of those Pakistani nationals who had been issued visa for visiting different parts of Haryana. The Union Home Ministry, it is stated, has taken this action following reports by the intelligence and security agencies about the disappearance of more than 5,000 Pakistani nationals who had entered India in the past five years.

Official sources revealed that the Director General of Police, Haryana, Mr Nirmal Singh, had issued a directive to all the Superintendents of Police in the state to launch a drive to apprehend them and send their reports to the state headquarters by February 16.

Kurukshetra, January 31
A recent study carried out at the ancient town of Kalayat in Kaithal district by Dr A.R. Chaudhri, Reader, Department of Geology, Kurukshetra University, has established that fresh underground water incursion has been taking place at the sarovar of the Kapil Muni temple.

The underground water, which is oozing out in the sarovar, is sweet to taste and has a lower total dissolved solids, but has slightly higher fluoride contents compared to the brackish water of the pond and the surrounding region of Kalayat and Narwana. The sediments that are coming out along with the water are rich in minerals. This was revealed by Dr Chaudhri at a national conference on “scientific analysis of Kalayat paleo channel and archaeological excavation at Aadi Badri” at Kurukshetra Panorama and Science Centre recently.

Dr Chaudhri said in fact, the Saraswati was a perennial glacier-fed river and all the present day rivers debouching the region represent the active and not so active channels through which this mighty river drained and developed this part of the fertile alluvial plains.

The rivers Sutlej, Ghaggar, Markanda, Tangri and Yamuna were most likely tributaries/channels of the Saraswati. A study of satellite imageries of the region has revealed the presence of numerous paleo channels in Haryana. Yamuna tear fault, Bata water divide and some other tectonic movements in the near geological past appear to have altered the drainage in the region and rendered Saraswati to its present dwindling position.

According to the study of Dr V.M.K. Puri, Director (retd), Geological Survey of India, and Dr I.D. Dwivedi, from the ASI, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, the residuals of glacier, boulders and river terraces at the Aadi Badri certify the ancient flow of the Sarsawati here. Dr Dwivedi said the establishment of 16 cultural centres from Aadi Badri to Dholavira (Gujrat) was being planned. Two such centres had already been set up. Dr B.K. Bhadra and A.K. Gupta, both from ISRO, Jodhpur, pointed out that the source of the Saraswati could be a glacier of near Naitwar in the Garhwal Himalayas. In the plains the sub-surface paleo channels at Aadi Badri, Mustafabad, Thanesar, Bhagwanpur, Kalayat and Sirsa in Haryana and in some places of Rajasthan and Gujarat are the strong evidences of the existence of the Saraswati, they added.

Deputy Commissioner T.K. Sharma also addressed the conference. 

Karnal, January 31
A court here remanded two persons in police custody for five days in a case of robberies.

The accused, Ranjit of Gularpur village in Nissing and Raman Kumar of Salwan village here, were produced before the court here from Jind on production warrant, a police spokesman said.

The Jind police had arrested the accused.