 |
|
|
Bishnoi blasts Hooda as most corrupt CM
Slums to get civic
amenities, says Selja
Selja must quit for Agrofed scam: Chautala
Demand to drop Venod Sharma from Cabinet
Plan to relocate slums in Haryana districts on cards
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Authorities
indifferent to town’s beautification
Dept gives in to teachers’ demand on seminars
Health Dept keeping
watch on dengue
|
|
Bishnoi blasts Hooda as most corrupt CM
Fatehabad, October 2 Mr Bishnoi announced that he along with his father, Mr Bhajan Lal, would organise a mammoth rally in Rohtak, probably in January, once their worker meetings in all districts of the state were over. Talking to mediapersons at his ancestral village, Mohamadpur Rohi, he demanded that an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) be set up in Haryana too. Mr Bishnoi, who has been critical of the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government ever since it came to power, alleged that it spoke volumes of Chief Minister’s apathy that he had not raised this demand even after eight days of the publication of M.Veerappa Moily’s report. The report had recommended that the Centre should open more IIMs and IITs to pave the way for 27 per cent reservation in such premier institutes. He said had Mr Hooda been concerned about the interests of the state, he would have raised this demand at appropriate level immediately after the publication of the Moily report. The Congress MP said when he first raised his voice against the special economic zones (SEZs), some people accused him of needlessly criticising the government. But now his stand had been vindicated by none other than the Congress president, Ms Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. He said he had been maintaining throughout that there should be some check on the opening of SEZs in some specific states only otherwise it would be very difficult to correct regional disparities. Mr Bishnoi asserted that metro cities, which were already well-developed, were attracting many SEZs but not a single SEZ was coming up in states like Bihar. He said the trend, if allowed to continue, would make poor states poorer and suggested that the government should not allow more than five SEZs in a state. He also advocated a complete ban on the acquisition of fertile land for the SEZs. Without naming anyone but with a clear pointer towards the AICC general secretary, Mr Janardhan Dwivedi, Mr Bishloi said a person at the Centre had served a showcause notice on him for his utterances on the SEZ. But now, when the party president, Ms Sonia Gandhi had herself vindicated his stand on the issue, the person serving show-cause notice on him should resign from his post. He said his stand on the SEZ was based on some issues concerning the people of the state and he would take this to logical conclusion. Mr Bishnoi denied that he had ever praised the Meham rally organised by the former Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala on September 25. He said he still considered Mr Chautala as the most corrupt leader of the state till Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda took over the reins of the state. |
|
Slums to get civic
amenities, says Selja
Ambala, October 2 She said the Government of India had earmarked Rs 109.30 lakh for Ambala and Panchkula districts. In the initial stage, the facilities would be provided to the slum areas of Ambala City, Ambala Cantonment, Naraingarh, Panchkula, Pinjore and Kalka municipalities. While presiding over the function, Ms Selja advocated that another model project for Municipal Council, Ambala Cantonment, had been approved by the Government of India under which a full- fledged new slum colony would be constructed with all modern facilities near Dasehra Ground, Ambala Cantonment. Under this scheme, 192 houses would be constructed at a cost of Rs 3.17 crore and 192 families would be benefited. Mr Venod Sharma, Power, PWD and Environment Minister, said special attention was being given to raise the living standard of those living in the slum areas of Haryana. Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International Social Service, New Delhi, also spoke on the occasion. |
|
|
Selja must quit for Agrofed scam: Chautala
Ambala, October 2 Talking to mediapersons here today, Mr Chautala alleged that Kumari Selja as well as Mr Bansal were involved in the Agrofed scam and that both of them should resign on moral grounds. He demanded to know the monetary sources from which property were bought by Kumari Selja in the past two years. “The multi-crore scam should be investigated by a sitting judge of the High Court,” he said. “When former Union minister Mr Natwar Singh was forced to resign on the Volcker report issue, then why is Kumari Selja not being made to tender her resignation?” he said. Mr Chautala said Haryana power minister Venod Sharma must resign from the ministership after it has come to light that he attempted to influence witnesses through money and muscle power in the Jessica Lal murder case. He said that Bina Ramani had been arrested for destroying evidence. Similarly, the police should not spare Mr Sharma and stringent action must be taken. On the SEZ issue, Mr Chautala said that acquiring land of the farmers were causing harm to the agricultural sector. He said the Indian National Lok Dal would start a state-wide agitation over the SEZ issue. “We demand that the government must immediately withdraw acquiring of land for SEZ,” he said. He stated that big builders were benefiting from the SEZ and the farmers are suffering. He said efforts were on for the formation of the third front at the national level. “Regional parties are going to form the third Front. It will be a suitable alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress,” he said. Among others, Mr Risal Singh, Mr Jasbir Mallour, Mr Balwant Singh, Mr Surjeet Sonda, Mr Anil Vij and Mr Amit Sharma, were present. |
|
|
Demand to drop Venod Sharma from Cabinet
Chandigarh, October 2 Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Chautala said Mr Sharma should be removed from the Cabinet in the wake of media reports accusing him of influencing witnesses in the Jesicca Lal murder case in which the Minister’s son, Manu, was the prime accused. The former MLA said if Mr Hooda intended to carry on with Mr Sharma irrespective of the media revelations, the Congress chief, Ms Sonia Gandhi, should ensure that Mr Sharma was removed from the Cabinet. He said he had written to Ms Gandhi earlier urging her to drop Mr Sharma from the Ministry in Haryana. He would write to Ms Gandhi again reiterating his plea. Mr Chautala also expressed concern about the SEZ being set up by the Reliance group in Haryana. He said the state government must issue a White Paper on its agreement with Reliance regarding the project. |
|
Plan to relocate slums in Haryana districts on cards
Panchkula, October 2 Thirteen colonies with a population of nearly 50,000 here have been identified for the rehabilitation of slums under the Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme of the ministry. Occupying prime locations, most of these slums are an eyesore in the otherwise fast developing city. Speaking to The Tribune after her public meetings in different blocks of the district, Ms Selja, Union State Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation,
said: "There is no dearth of money with our ministry. We are open to projects by state governments aimed at uplifting the standard of the poor. We have begun with Panchkula and will move into the state gradually." The ministry has cleared similar projects for Ambala city and cantonment and Naraingarh to the tune of Rs 40 crore. Also, fund-allocation to change the way slums in Bhiwani look, is on the cards. "The projects cleared by us are now with the state government. The moment we get a nod from them, we will give them 25 percent of the amount. The rest would follow as they projects keep crossing milestones," she stated. However, the money for rehabilitation of slums comes with only one rider to the state government----the ministry is of the opinion that the relocation of slums should not be impractical for the jhuggi-dwellers. "Allotting land to these slums is the prerogative of the state government. We don't want to interfere with the decision of where the land should be allotted. However, we do expect that the land chosen for the reallocation of slums will not be too far off from the city or their place of work, something that the slum-dwellers are likely to reject. Ideally, it would be best to give their places a facelift at their present place of residence though there is no binding on that," she opined. |
|
Authorities
indifferent to town’s beautification Karnal, October 2 The Municipal Council here had failed to take any action against those involved in the defacement of public property. According to sources, sticking posters or any other publicity material at a public place is an offence under Defacement of Public Property Act. But one can find innumerable posters glued on the walls of various government offices of the district. A visit by this correspondent to the town revealed that persons from the different walks of the society were involved in the disfigurement of the public property. Posters of birthday wishes to a Congress MP, invitation to a political rally organised last week in Rohtak district besides several religious functions held elsewhere in the district and the nearby areas were found stuck at several parts of the town. Also posters of various coaching institutes, booksellers and movies donned the walls at several areas. Mini Secretariat, the MC office, the Civil Hospital, bus stand, railway station and other places are examples of the sheer neglect by the local authorities. Though the MC is directly responsible for taking an action against the violators one may find scores of posters pasted on the main gate of its own office. Similarly, the scene is no different at the mini secretariat that houses the offices of the DC, the ADC, SDM and district judges. Sources said that only notices were given to two individuals in the last one year with no further action. Officials cited the reason of short strengthened MC staff. |
|
|
Dept gives in to teachers’ demand on seminars
Yamunanagar, October 2 As per sources in the Prathmik Siksha Vibhag the order regarding the same has been issued. Mr Pradeep Sarin, district president of the sangh while welcoming the order, said it was long desired. He said the decision to boycott the seminars had been withdrawn and now all teachers would be attending the seminar. He informed that as per the orders, all teachers would get earned leave as per rules for participating in seminars on holidays or vacations. |
|
Health Dept keeping
watch on dengue Ambala, October 2 The Civil Surgeon Ambala, Dr D. P. Lochan, said no case of dengue had been reported in the district so far. He said the staff of various civil hospitals and primary health centres of the district had been directed to keep a close watch if any suspected patient of dengue was brought to their notice. He said medicines of dengue, diagnostic kits and blood platelets were available in hospital. Meanwhile, in Civil Hospital, Ambala City, around 25 cases of gastroenteritis were reported during the past three days. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Ambala, October 2
