Chandigarh, May 10
It will be an examination of a different kind. This time it is not the students but the teachers who will take exam to prove their credentials as a teacher and administrator.

Keeping in view the large number of applicants who have applied for the 266 vacancies for headmasters and headmistresses, the State has decided to put all candidates through a written test to ascertain their capability, both in terms of their academic knowledge and their teaching skills.

The move that has literally sent jitters among the applicants is being viewed as a very positive development by officials of the Education Department.

“Putting these candidates through a written test should ascertain where each candidate stands both in terms of knowledge and aptitude”, an official of the department said.

The examination will be held on May 27 at Ambala Cantt and Ambala City.

Talking to The Tribune, the official said that the test would be conducted by the Haryana Staff Selection Commission and would judge each candidate on general knowledge, general studies and English language skills.

The teachers will be tested as per postgraduate standards on their skills and knowledge of teaching methodology and ability to teach Hindi at the matriculation level, the official said.

“It will be multiple choice test with 200 questions, each of two marks each. Each candidate belonging to the general category will have to secure at least 50 per cent marks, while for those belonging to the SC and BC category, physically handicapped, etc the qualifying marks would be 45 per cent. However for some special categories the pass percentage will be 40”, according to sources in the education departments.

The Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) will shortlist 800 candidates who will then be put through a viva-voce-cum-interview.

According to sources in the HSSC roll numbers are being sent to eligible candidates, those who do not receive their roll numbers by May 23 should contact the commission office at Panchkula on May 24.

HSSC officials said that the commission was doing away with the practice of recruiting on the basis of interviews only for all advertised posts.

All vacancies like those of Mandi Supervisors and Assistant Secretaries for the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board will be filled on the basis of written tests followed by interviews.

Chandigarh, May 10
A major petrochemical hub being developed by the Haryana government,in collaboration the with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) at Panipat has hit a roadblock, with the union ministry of chemicals and fertilisers declining to include it in the petroleum, chemical and petrochemical investment regions (PCPIR) scheme.

Union minister of chemicals and fertilisers Ram Vilas Paswan had yesterday announced that the ministry was planning to create five PCPIRs to attract investment of Rs 70,000 crore under the scheme.

He said these would be located along the coastal areas of the country to facilitate exports.

The government has identified a PCPIR each to be set up in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh while the other three are likely to come up in Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

With the union ministry declining to include the petrochemical hub in the scheme, Haryana has decided to go on its own in creating one.

Top officials in the state industries department informed TNS that the state government would set up the project on its own and was now looking for another joint venture partner.

A meeting of the board of directors of the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructural Development Corporation (HSIIDC) will be held tomorrow to discuss the issue.

It may be noted that Haryana proposes to set up the hub over an area of 5000 acres near the Panipat IOC Refinery.

The project is to be set up through a special purpose vehicle (SPV), to be created jointly by the HSIIDC and IOC.

Senior officials informed TNS that an area of 2000 acres was already under acquisition for the project near Baholi village.

This hub is being developed as part of the IOC’s plans for diversification. This will be based on naphtha as feedstock and comprising naphtha cracker/associated units and downstream polymer/chemical units is being commissioned at an estimated investment of Rs 11,000 crore.

The state government hopes that the potential investment in the downstream industries would be around Rs 15,000 crore (apart from the investment of Rs 11,000 crore being made by the IOCL for mega-petrochemical complexes).

The state government has also announced major incentives for setting up units in this hub—interest-free loan quantified at 50 per cent of the tax paid on the sale of goods produced by industrial units under the Haryana Value-Added Tax (VAT) for seven years; exemption from Local Area Development Tax and exemption from electricity duty.

The recruitment had been done on the basis of merit, the spokesman added.

Pundri (Karnal), May 10
Parents and widow of Subhash, whose body was found on a railway track after detention in a murder case, have demanded a probe into his death.

The Karnal police had allegedly detained him for interrogation in a murder case last month. Later, his body was found on the railway track.

Apprehending foul play in Subhash’s death, the members of his family have alleged that the authorities concerned, including the state police and GRP officials, had refused to lodge an FIR into the case.

Subhash was allegedly taken to the Gharaunda police station on the night of April 23 for questioning. His body was found on the railway track near the GT Road next day.

Though the post-mortem report claims the death as a “railway accident”, the family has rubbished the police version.

The post-mortem examination was conducted at the Panipat civil hospital on April 24, within 24 hours of the recovery of the body, sources said.

Talking to The Tribune at Pundri village, about 35 km from Karnal, this morning, Lachhmi Devi, widow of Subhash, said a team of police officials from Gharaunda took Subhash in a vehicle.

He, along with four other persons, was summoned to the Gharaunda police station in connection with the alleged murder of an old man.

“Our family elders contacted the police station next morning. We were informed by the police that the case was being investigated. No specific answer about Subhash was given to them”, the family alleged.

“Ever since we contacted the Chief Minister and the local MP demanding a probe into the death, certain police officials have been pressurising us for a compromise,” alleged Rakesh, younger brother of the deceased.

Hisar, May 10
Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology has directed all its distance education study centres in the country to give a copy of prospectus to all students wanting to register for its courses to ensure that they are not overcharged.

The direction was given by Vice-Chancellor Dr R. P. Bajpai while addressing directors of all 61 study centres all over the country who had come to the varsity campus for daylong meeting here today with officials to streamline the functioning of study centres.

Ambala, May 10
Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee president Avtar Singh Makkar today strongly opposed a separate SGPC for Haryana even as ad hoc Haryana SGPC activists waved black flags in Ambala City.

A posse of police personnel stood guard at the Manji Sahib gurdwara in Ambala City where Makkar and senior SAD leaders addressed a gathering. The police contingent was present to ensure that there were no untoward incidents.

Activists of the ad hoc Haryana SGPC protested against the meeting by waving black flags outside the gurdwara.

The activists wanted to burn the effigies of Makkar and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal outside the gurdwara, but were dissuaded and later burnt the effigies on Railway Road.

Ad hoc Haryana SGPC president Jagdish Singh Jhinda said they were demanding a separate SGPC for Haryana as the state had been ignored. “This is a religious matter and the Shiromani Akali Dal should not politicise the issue,” he said.

He said the SGPC had always dominated Haryana and the rights of the state were denied to it. He added that they would continue their struggle till a separate SGPC for Haryana did not come into existence.

Later, talking to media persons, Makkar said, “We will try our best to ensure that a separate SGPC for Haryana does not come into being.”

Makkar claimed that the Congress had always let down the Sikh community and the move for a separate SGPC was an attempt to divide the Sikhs. “We are making efforts to bring the community together, whereas the Congress is attempting to divide it,” he said.

Makkar stated that incidents against Sikhs in Kashipur, Jaipur and Saudi Arabia, have been handled by the SGPC. “We are also carrying out works in Haryana. Our accounts are audited by the government,” he said.

He added that while they had received about Rs 7 crore from gurdwaras in Haryana, about Rs 16 crore had been spent in the state.

Ambala, May 10
The city police has arrested three women, hailing from Rajpura, for snatching the chain of another woman, a resident of Ambala City.

According to information, the snatching took place when Aarti Trehan, a teacher, was about to board a bus at the Kalka chowk bus stop. The three women snatched the chain and fled in a car.

Meanwhile, Aarti informed a traffic police constable who was on duty nearby. The constable informed the police control room.

The car in which the women were travelling was intercepted near the Aggarsen chowk on the Ambala-Hisar road by the local police and arrested.

The driver of the car, however, gave the police the slip.

The police has registered a case against the women.

The police said it was interrogating the women to ascertain their involvement in other related incidents.

Ambala, May 10
A function was held today at Jain Dharamshala by the Vikas Parishad to mark 150 years of the revolt of 1857.

Markanda National College principal Dr Vinay Malhotra said the revolt of 1857 was the turning point and it helped in giving fresh thought of freedom which ultimately led to India gaining Independence. He said British managed to quell the rebellion.

There was support to the rebellion in North India, he said, adding that Ambala and other areas were witness to the freedom struggle.

Former Ambala Cantt MLA Anil Vij said though Meerut was given the credit for the 1857 revolt, the revolt actually began at Ambala Cantonment.

He said documents in the archives proved that the revolt began about 10 hours before the Meerut rebellion.