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Mahendra, Kiran again trade charges
Teachers oppose private varsities
Hooda blames INLD for delay in SYL construction
‘Improper’ complaint lands SDO in soup
Rs 29 crore for development of slum areas
GRP plans drive about unidentified bodies
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Doctor gets jail for negligence in duty
State for change in definition of ‘poor’
Peace rally reaches Ambala
30,000 farmers visit ‘farm darshan’ fair
Fears about private varsities allayed
Power official gets RTI rap
Probe into recovery of medicines
Illegally sold wheat of FCI recovered
Aged father done to death
Youths beat up RPF man
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Mahendra, Kiran again trade charges
Chandigarh, September 20 Mr Mahendra, who is involved in a dispute with Mrs Kiran Chaudhry, widow of his younger brother, Surender Singh, over the family property, was talking to newsmen here. He, however, admitted that he had not invited his father to his daughter’s marriage “due to certain circumstances prevailing at that time and into which I do not want to go now. But I know that ‘kanya
daan’ of a daughter is performed by her father.” Mr Mahendra reiterated what he had said in the Assembly on September 18, when the House was paying tributes to his father. He had said that the police had been posted outside the Bhiwani house of his father and his mother was under house arrest there. “The situation remains the same as it was on September 18,” he added. When asked about the response of the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, to his complaint, Mr Mahendra said Mr Hooda had promised to enquire from the district administration. He blamed Mrs Chaudhry and her daughter, Shruti, for taking family matters to court. He said it was on the complaint of Ms Shruti that a Delhi Magistrate had sealed the Sarv Priya house, in which Mr Bansi Lal used to stay. Mr Mahendra said Ms Shruti was like his daughter and if she agreed to his proposal to convert the Bhiwani house into a memorial to Bansi Lal, the Bansi Lal Memorial Trust would construct a house for her and her mother. He said in that case Ms Shruti could be also made a trustee of the trust. Meanwhile, Mrs Choudhry has said that Mr Mahendra is taking out his “enmity” towards Bansi Lal and Surender Singh “on us.” She said instead of constructing a new house for her and Ms Shruti, it would be enough if they were allowed to retain the houses already with them. She and her daughter were not interested in any other property of Bansi Lal. She said it was regrettable that when the entire House was paying tributes to Bansi Lal, Mr Mahendra marred the solemnity of the occasion by raising an issue which was patently false. |
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Teachers oppose private varsities
Karnal, September 20 Terming the decision as anti-education, the supreme body of Haryana college and university teachers has called an urgent meeting next week at Kurukshetra to decide on next step to oppose the government decision. Talking to The Tribune today, Dr S.C. Misra, coordinator of AHFUCTA, has condemned the decision of the government to invite private parties in the field of the higher education. Terming the decision as anti-education and anti-people, he stated the government was keen to make education “luxury”, as only those who had money to pay high fees the private institutions would be able to study. Coming heavily upon the government, he questioned if there was any requirement of any more universities in the state. At present four full-time universities, including Kurukshetra University, Mahrishi Dayanand University, Guru Jambeshwar University and Ch Devi Lal University and an Agriculture University in Haryana, were functional in Haryana. Alleging a lobby, comprising several influential “investors”, behind the decision, he said the state government was keen to start private institutions while completely ignoring the state universities. Moreover, the past experience showed that there was no control of the government over private institutions when it came to several issues, including maintaining quality of education and fees, as these were being run by influential people. Dr Bhagwan Singh, general secretary of the Kurukshetra University Teachers Association (KUTA), also lamented the decision. He said instead of inviting suggestions from academicians, the government worked in an “autocratic” manner to take the decision. He said the government should strengthen the existing five universities by recruiting experienced faculty members instead of allowing opening of “education shops” in every nook and corner of the state. |
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Hooda blames INLD for delay in SYL construction
Chandigarh, September 20 Responding to the criticism by the Deputy Leader of the INLD Legislature Party, Dr Sushil Indora, that despite the Congress being in power in Punjab, Haryana and at the Centre, the construction of the SYL canal was lingering on, the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said the former INLD leader, the late Mr Devi Lal, and the former BJP leader, the late Dr Mangal
Sein, were solely responsible for the delay in the construction of the canal. Mr Hooda said if the two had not opposed the Rajiv-Longowal accord on inter-state disputes, the canal would have been constructed years ago. The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, said share in the river waters had been decided on several occasions. Even the Eradi Tribunal had allotted 3.85 MAF water to Haryana, but Mr Devi Lal showed black flags to the tribunal. Replying to the debate, the Finance Minister, Mr Birender Singh, said the state government was seriously considering steps to provide relief to farmers. A national debate was on that the agriculture loans, like the industrial loans, should also be discharged through the one-time settlement policy. Earlier, participating in the debate, Mr Shamsher Singh
Surjewala (Cong) pleaded for the one-time settlement of the agriculture loans. Mr Karan Singh
Dalal (Cong) said interest on agriculture loans should not exceed the principal amount. He urged the government not to reduce the number of mini banks in the state. Dr Indora blamed the UPA government for inflation. The House also passed the Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology Murthal Bill, upgrading the Chhotu Ram Engineering College,
Murthal, to the level of a university. Mr Birender Singh, grandson of Sir Chhotu Ram, had a dig at the INLD leader, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, when he said that just before the last elections certain persons suddenly remembered the great farmer leader and set up a museum in his memory at a cost of Rs 36 crore. But when the present government came to power, it was found that no such orders were issued. Now, Mr Hooda had decided to give Rs 75 crore to the proposed university in the next three years for its development. Mr Surjewala said it was the real tribute to the late leader. The Haryana Value Added
Tax (Amendment) Bill, also passed by the House, replaces Ordinances exempting dhabas from VAT, reduction in tax on petroleum and certain other products. It also lays down qualifications for members and Chairman of the VAT Tribunal. The House passed two other Bills, raising the pension of its former members from Rs 3,000 per month to Rs 5,000 per month, besides increasing the limit of house building loan for the MLAs from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 25 lakh. Now encroachers can be evicted from the waqf property also like other public premises, following an amendment to the Haryana Public Premises and
Land (Eviction and Rend Recovery) Act passed by the House today. It also passed the Haryana
Municipal (Second Amendment) Bill, which removes the condition of not having more than two children by municipal counselors. The House adjourned sine die. |
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‘Improper’ complaint lands SDO in soup
Hisar, September 20 A meeting of the grievances committee was held under the chairmanship of the Haryana Education Minister, Mr Phool Chand Mulana, on September 9. A complaint pertaining to alleged embezzlement of government funds by the SDO was taken up for hearing at the meeting. Later, the district administration issued an official press statement regarding the proceedings of the meeting. In the statement, it was mentioned that the minister had directed the authorities concerned to get a police case registered and initiate departmental action against the SDO. Following the issuance of the official statement, a news report was carried in several newspapers. However, SDO Surender Kaushik, against whom the complaint was lodged, has alleged that the complaint was totally false, fabricated and had been manipulated to tarnish his image by misleading the department and people in general. In a representation submitted with the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Kaushik has maintained that the complainant, who is working as a Junior Engineer with the Irrigation Department, had made similar complaints against him to the state authorities. Initially, the department authorities had decided to get an FIR registered against Mr Kaushik, who submitted a representation to the state Financial Commissioner-cum-Principal Secretary (Irrigation) against the move. In his representation, Mr Kaushik pointed out that he took over the charge of the Petwar Water Service Subdivision on August 11, 2000, whereas the shortage of pipes (for which he was blamed) was established on August 1, 1998, i.e nearly two years before his appointment. He also asserted that the Superintendent of Police, Hisar, and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Hansi, had got the allegations against him investigated and found those to be untrue. On the basis of his representation, the higher authorities got the matter re-examined and reached the conclusion that there was no base for getting an FIR lodged against him. Hence, the order for registration of police case against him was withdrawn. It was also decided to get an FIR lodged against a Junior Engineer, who later deposited the short amount with the department. However, a fresh complaint was lodged at the recent meeting of the District Grievances Committee, much to the dismay of Mr Kaushik. He alleged that the complainant had furnished only those facts which suited him and deliberately concealed information which went in his (Kaushik’s) favour. In view of the aforesaid facts, Mr Kaushik has urged the district authorities that the actual situation be brought to the knowledge of the minister and no action be taken against him on the basis of the “false and misleading” complaint. |
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Rs 29 crore for development of slum areas
Bhiwani, September 20 Addressing a press conference here today, Deputy Commissioner Mohinder Kumar said only two districts of Haryana had been selected for this project by the Union Ministry and Bhiwani was one of them and this could had been possible by the direction of Ms Selja. Ambala was the other district selected by the ministry, he said. Detailing about the project, Mr Kumar said that development work on sewerage, water supply, street, drainage, street lights and community centres would be undertaken with this amount in the slum areas and Balmiki bastis during the next three years. The entire project would be accomplished through the Municipal Council. He said Rs 1.52 crore would be spent on drinking water supply, while Rs 2.49 crore on sewerage lines. Under the Balmiki Ambedkar Housing Scheme, loan facility would be provided to those BPL (below poverty line) families holding their own piece of land to construct houses, he said, adding that they would have to contribute only 10 per cent of the construction expenses and the rest would be borne under this scheme. In the case of non-BPL families, the contribution would be 12.5 per cent, he said. Mr Kumar said Rs 1.72 crore would be spent on drains and Rs 30.65 lakh on street lights. He said the administration was working out on replacing electric street lights with solar lights and since the District Rural Development Authority (DRDA) gave three-times subsidy on setting up solar lights, the entire lighting system could be replaced at Rs 1 crore or so. Explaining about the financial position of the local Municipal Council, Mr Kumar said to make the council self-sufficient a shopping complex would be constructed on the existing council office site. |
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GRP plans drive about unidentified bodies
Ambala, September 20 During the campaign, information about clothes, photograph and description, along with other details, will be put on display at the office of Superintendent of Police, Railways, Haryana, in Ambala Cantonment. An official said there had been 2,149 unidentified bodies in the area under the jurisdiction of the GRP Ambala in the past five years. He added that 260 bodies had not been identified in 2006, of which 242 were male. These included 11 bodies of persons under 18 years of age, 81 bodies of persons aged between 18 and 30 years, 90 bodies of persons aged between 30 and 50 years and 50 bodies of persons aged more than 50 years. The break-up of the 18 women whose bodies were unidentified was given as three aged between 18 and 30
years, seven aged between 30 and 50 years and eight aged more than 50 years. |
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Doctor gets jail for negligence in duty
Rewari, September 20 The judge also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on the doctor. The judge, however, acquitted the other accused, Dr B.K. Sharma. He was also a medical officer at the hospital at that time. The judge said he could not be held criminally liable as he was not a specialist in gynaecology and had taken care of the patient as per his competence. Complainant Mukesh Kumar Sharma, a resident of Company Bagh Colony and a railway employee here, got his wife Sushma Sharma admitted to the Civil Hospital at 7 am on April 27, 1992. She was examined by Dr Manju Lata and Dr B.K. Sharma. She gave birth to a dead child at 1.50 pm and then started bleeding profusely. Leaving Sushma in a critical condition, both doctors left the hospital saying their duty was over. In the evening, Dr B.K. Sharma came to the hospital and found the patient sinking. He referred her to the Central Railway Hospital, Delhi. However, while she was being taken to Delhi, she died on her way near Pachgaon village, about 35 km from Rewari. Later, her husband filed a petition in the court seeking action against the erring doctors. |
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State for change in definition of ‘poor’
Chandigarh, September 20 Mr Surjewala made the disclosure while supplementing an answer given by the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Chander Mohan, to a question asked by an INLD legislator, Dr Sita Ram, during question hour in the Assembly here today. The written answer to the question said the definition of BPL families for the 9th Five Year Plan survey was per-capita, per-month expenditure upto Rs 289.31 in the rural areas. This was modified for the 10th plan survey and 13 socio-economic indicators were laid down for identifying BPL families in the rural areas. For identifying the urban poor, the per capita per month expenditure limit was Rs 337.42. Later, some non-economic parameters — such as roof, water, floor, sanitation, educational level, type of employment and status of children in the families — were also introduced for the urban poor. At present over eight lakh (8,24,005) persons in Haryana had BPL ration cards, Mr Surjewala said and added that the state government had urged the Centre to relax the criteria so that more persons in the state could get the ration cards. The written answer to the question showed Bhiwani district as having the maximum number of BPL card holders (70,961). The number of BPL card holders in the district, however, is the same as in 2004. Only in four Haryana districts new ration cards were issued in 2005. The districts were Jhajjar (80), Kurukshetra (690), Panipat (5) and Sirsa (1,706). In 2006, new ration cards were issued in 11 out of 20 Haryana districts. The maximum number of new cards in 2006 have been issued in Fatehabad (2,537), followed by Mewat (2,126). Concern over the disappearance of agricultural land due to the advent of real estate giants also surfaced in the Assembly again during question hour. In reply to a question asked by the Congress MLA, Mr Dharam Pal Malik, the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said in his written answer that TDI, Parswanath, Ansal, the Sahara Group, etc, had purchased agricultural land for building residential colonies on NH 1 at Sonepat. “What will then happen to the landless people who depended on the agricultural activities on this lands?” Mr Malik asked. |
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Peace rally reaches Ambala
Ambala, September 20 Deputy Commissioner O.P. Langyan, along with officials of the district administration, received them. Fifty cadets were part of the rally. At a function organised at the DAV Public School, Mr Langyan said if the money spent on wars was spent on development work the world over, all problems related to education, health and infrastructure would be solved. He said such rallies helped in spreading the message of peace and brotherhood. He observed that peace rallies enabled better understanding between regions and nations. Mr Langyan said peace had been preached by learned saints of India thousands of years back. He said peace was important in the modern tense
life. He observed that people would understand that they should not be narrow-minded soon. He stated that the Prime Minister had also been spreading the message of peace. Bharat Scouts and Guides Punjab chief commissioner S.S. Randhawa said the rally was started in Afghanistan on September 11 and had travelled through Pakistan before reaching the Wagah border on September 15. Bharat Scouts and Guides Haryana commissioner V.K. Bansal said the rally would reach Kurukshetra on September 21 and pass through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Nepal before reaching Manila in May 2007. |
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30,000 farmers visit ‘farm darshan’ fair
Hisar, September 20 Nearly 30,000 farmers from Haryana and the adjoining states attended the fair and purchased seeds of recommended varieties of different rabi crops, including wheat, gram, barley, maize and
toria, besides vegetables crops. Elaborate arrangements had been made by the university authorities in collaboration with the government seed agencies, including the National Seed Corporation, the Haryana Seed Development Corporation, Kribhco and the Central State Farm, for the event. The farmers also purchased farm literature worth about Rs 51,000 published by the university. The visiting farmers evinced keen interest in the new farming techniques evolved by university scientists. The farmers were apprised of the techniques to increase productivity of the wheat crop. The scientists advised them to advance the sowing of wheat by at least 10 days, apart from application
of zero-tillage technology and balanced use of fertilisers. |
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Fears about private varsities allayed
Rohtak, September 20 Addressing a Press conference here, he said the new Act would boost higher education in the state. The world-over the best universities were in the private sector. There was no harm in establishing institutions of higher learning in the private sector when the State was unable to fund such institutions, he said. The MP said that Saheed Phool Singh Mahila Vishv Vidyalaya would be set up at Khanpur Kalan. It would be first university for women in North India and would provide avenues of higher education to girls. He said even today people in rural areas hesitated to send their daughters to far-off places for higher education. He said he had recently a World Bank meet on agriculture in Kenya organised. As many as 150 MPs from 150 countries participated in it. He said he had learnt there that the scientists of the World Bank would study the changing environmental conditions in India and help develop early ripening . He said the people in Kenya earned three times more from livestock than any other country. Therefore, he requested the International Livestock Research Institute to set up a branch in India and that too in Haryana to help our farmers earn more from livestock. |
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Power official gets RTI rap
Yamunanagar, September 20 The commission has also asked the UHBVN to display names of the appellate authorities in its offices. Mr Naresh Uppal, a resident of Model Town here, had filed application before the PIO-cum- Executive Engineer for information regarding rules governing over-loading and the subsequent penalties. Mr Uppal also wanted to know who would be the appellate authority in case a consumer wanted to appeal against the vigilance officials of the Electricity Department. The PIO, instead of providing the requisite information, only handed him over some circulars of the department. The commission has asked the PIO to provide information to Mr Uppal within seven days without the payment of any new charges. The commission has also asked UHBVN to display names of the APIO, the PIO and the appellate authorities in its
offices. — TNS |
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Probe into recovery of medicines
Chandigarh, September 20 The Health Minister said this while replying to a call-attention motion moved by Mr Radhey Shyam Sharma, Independent MLA from Narnaul, in the Assembly. She said medicines were found dumped on the river bed in a raid conducted by the Subdivisional Magistrate, Narnaul, on September 8, after receiving an anonymous complaint. Ms Kartar Devi said in an earlier raid conducted by the City Magistrate, Narnaul, on August 6 some unlabelled vials, ampules of injections, magnesium
sulphate, 26 vials of triple vaccine, tetanus toxoid and oral polio vaccine,
I.V. Mannitol and some burnt wrappers of anti-tubercular medicine were found dumped on the premises of the Community Health Centre. The Approximate cost of these medicines was Rs 3,000, she said. |
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Illegally sold wheat of FCI recovered
Fatehabad, September 20 According to reports, a Mansa Mandi-based driver of a truck, who was entrusted with the task of transporting 596 bags of wheat of the FCI from Rama Mandi (Punjab) to Rajasthan, went missing. It was later revealed that the driver sold the wheat to a Fatehabad trader. The Punjab police nabbed the truck driver Himmat Singh, who had sold the wheat to the Fatehabad trader. The driver said the Punjab police that he had sold the wheat. |
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Rewari, September 20 It is stated that the old man’s stubbornness in the matter of division of his agricultural land among his four sons, infuriated Murari Singh so much that he brutally ended the life of his septuagenarian father. A case of Murder has been registered. — OC
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Youths beat up RPF man
Ambala, September 20 The RPF constable was beaten up by the youths following a verbal altercation. The constable, along with other RPF personnel, disembarked at the Barara railway station this morning. They began searching for the youths who assaulted the RPF constable. One of the youths was found and rounded up while the RPF personnel were searching for the other youths. |
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