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Reshuffle in the air
Empowering women
through education
Panchayats as power franchises popular
Vikas Parishad councillors to abstain
Getting FIR lodged an ordeal
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FCI official held for graft
14 get 5-year imprisonment
3 dead, 2 hurt in mishaps
Technical education board reconstitued
Govt for community radio stations
Z security for dera chief
Junior football player dies
Sanitation issues miff colony residents
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Hooda may also change some portfolios
Yoginder Gupta Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 6 According to informed sources, Chief Minister Hooda is planning a major political and administrative, not necessarily in the same order, reshuffle. After keeping his MLAs waiting for several months, Hooda is believed to have made up his mind to fill the two vacancies in his Cabinet. Of course, he will seek a formal approval from the party high command before inducting new ministers, something which is mandatory in the Congress. Hooda is also likely to reshuffle the portfolios of some of his ministers, while expanding his Cabinet. The Chief Minister will soon order a major administrative reshuffle at the level of financial commissioners and administrative secretaries, particularly in the departments dealing with the infrastructure sector, sources said. Senior IAS officer K.K. Jalan, who has come back to Haryana after the completion of his deputation with the Centre, is likely to be given a challenging department. There may be an addition or two in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) also. However, no officer presently posted in the CMO will be shifted. Hooda is determined to make the bureaucracy responsive to the popular aspirations. The day he was sworn in as the Chief Minister, Hooda had declared that he would watch the performance of each officer for a reasonable time before reshuffling them. Sources said Hooda felt that the time had now come to reshuffle the senior bureaucrats because they had been given enough time to show their mettle. When his well-wishers pointed out that an impression was gaining ground that he was lenient towards the bureaucracy unlike his predecessor, his said being an educated person and coming from a family which has high traditions, he cannot use abusive language against anyone. However, as Chief Minister he has the power to penalise any officer who is found ‘incurable’. In the past few months, Haryana’s performance under Hooda’s leadership has won kudos from three persons - AICC president Sonia Gandhi, who patted Hooda in Sirsa for launching various welfare schemes, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh appreciated Haryana’s efforts in the infrastructure sector during his visit to Hisar and President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who mentioned the fast development made by Haryana during his visit to Kurukshetra last month. A former senior bureaucrat, who had been the principal secretary to Chief Minister, said since right from its inception in Haryana the power had been centralised in the CMO. The practice had been that no senior or junior officer could take any decision of his own. Everything had to be vetted, officially or unofficially, in the CMO, before it was made public. Therefore, the people and the bureaucracy in the state feel more comfortable with the centralisation of power. He said Hooda made a complete break from the past and gave freedom to the officers to take initiative, giving the bureaucracy an opportunity as well as posing a challenge to it. It is now up to the officers whether they want to use the new-found freedom to serve the public or they want to revert back to the old undemocratic centralisation of power.
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Empowering women
through education
Khanpur Kalan (Sonepat), June 6 Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishvavidyalaya, established as an institute of higher learning in November 2006, has sprung hopes in the hearts of many who recognise the role of women as being pivotal in accelerating development in the 21st century. Parents of girls, who were earlier unwilling to send their children to school are now flocking the university campus to secure a place for their wards. Launched as the first women university in the region, the university is virtually run by women for women. Vice-Chancellor Ms Anuradha Gupta’s mission is clear, “we are guided by the vision of making a profound difference in the lives of women by empowering them to attain their full potential through pursuit of knowledge, acquisition of skills, development of character and self esteem, and recognition of their rights and responsibilities”. This women university was established at Khanpur Kalan, Sonepat, as the government’s commitment to women empowerment and aims to facilitate and promote women in the field of higher education with special emphasis in emerging areas of Information Technology, Computer Education, Medical Sciences studies and also to achieve excellence in these connected fields. What is now the university was originally started as Gurukul Vidyapeeth for boys at Bhainswal Kalan, way back in 1919 by a patwari-turned-social reformer by the name of Bhagat Phool Chand. He was greatly influenced by Arya Samaj and the idealism of the freedom fighters of the times, particularly Mahatma Gandhi. “It was a revolutionary idea to educate women in the early 20th century when an educated woman was looked down upon as a social outcast. Unrelenting, the Kanya Gurukul that Bhagatji started with just three women students in the dusty rural heartland of Haryana, against fierce opposition from the same committee that supported a boys Gurukul, is today a full-fledged modern university for women”, says university registrar Sumedha Kataria. Padmashri Subhashini Devi, the daughter of Bhagatji - as Phool Singh was popularly called, inherited the responsibility of running the Gurukul after him amid fierce constraints, financial as well as social. But she helped the Gurukul grow, establishing a number of professional colleges for women. After she passed away in March, 2003, the management of the Gurukul was handed over to a mahasabha, last year a legislative notification turned this institution into the first university of its kind in the region. Contrary to the belief that Haryanavis don’t want to educate the women, villagers from surrounding areas are making a bee line for admission here. “I don’t want my daughter to miss the June 25 admission deadline, so I came to get a prospectus for her on the very first day”, Raghbir of neighbouring Purkhas told The Tribune. Kaushaliya, who is in charge for the sale of admission forms, said, “this year on the very first day of sale of application forms-cum-prospectuses I sold 45, mainly to people from neighbouring villages. The previous years never saw more than two or three forms sold in a day”.
To be continued |
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Panchayats as power franchises popular
Hisar, June 6 Under the scheme, village panchayat as a franchisee will be responsible for meter reading, bill distribution, cash collection, maintenance of distribution network, new connection facilitation and recovery of arrears from connected as well as disconnected consumers. The nigam will pay Rs 4500 per month to each panchayat for hiring the services of a GVP. For up to 500 consumers in a village, the panchayat can appoint one GVP. For more than 500 but less than 1000 consumers, it can engage two GVPs and three GVPs will be appointed for villages with above 1000 consumers. The GVPs will wear orange coloured uniforms for which the DHBVN will pay Rs 1000 per year. The panchayats will provide office accommodation for the GVP, while tools, ladder and other equipment required for managing faults on low tension network will be provided by the DHBVN. Panchayats will be given incentives for higher energy billing, demand side management and collection efficiency. At a later stage, bulk tariff model can come into effect for the franchisee. The franchisee will have to account for at least 70 per cent of the electricity provided at the entry level. The nigam will provide attractive incentives to panchayats if their bill collections exceed the minimum level of 70 per cent. The nigam has introduced incentives to the panchayats for energy conservation also. If a village shifts to Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) and efficient tube lights in all households, the nigam will pay a monthly incentive of Rs 1000 for a year, out of which Rs 200 will go to the GVP. If tubewell owners of a village install energy efficient motors and pump-sets, a further incentive of Rs 500 for 50 tubewell connections, Rs 1000 for 51 to 150 connections and Rs 2000 for more than 150 tubewells will be given to the panchayat.
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Vikas Parishad councillors to abstain
Ambala, June 6 The special meeting for the no-confidence motion is going to be held tomorrow. A series of meetings had been held in which the Municipal Councillors from different groups, for as well as against the motion, had tried to muster support. Vikas Parishad chief Anil Vij today stated that their four municipal councillors will abstain from the meeting. "We want to distance ourselves from the infighting going on within the Congress. Also, we will not support any move which has been backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party," he said. He stated that the no-confidence motion is being jointly brought by Congress municipal councillors alongwith BJP MCs. "BJP had not extended support to us in the past and we have no intention of extending support to them now. Another important factor for staying away from the meeting is that allegations of irregularites have been levelled against MC president Neelam Sharma and we do not want to support her," he said. The four Vikas Parishad MCs who are going to abstain from the meeting include Narendra Bangali, Naresh Sharma, Usha Devi and Bimla Nagar. MC president Neelam Sharma said that she was ready to face the no-confidence motion. "I have done nothing wrong," she said. The no-confidence motion against MC president Neelam Sharma is being spearheaded by a group of Congress Municipal Councillors who are considered close to Ambala Cantt MLA Devender Bansal. A section of the Congress MCs have levelled allegations of irregularities in carrying out work under the Emergency provisions. The move was not taken to kindly by the District Congress Committee Ambala Cantt president Narinder Pal Singh Shera. Shera had asked the Congress MCs to take back the application seeking no- confidence motion. However, the Congress MCs are determined to unseat Neelam Sharma, who is herself from the Congress.
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Getting FIR lodged an ordeal
Rohtak, June 6 Let alone the question of recovering stolen/lost goods, an ordinary person heaves a sigh of relief merely on getting an FIR lodged. Amit Sharma, a resident of Sector 1 Housing Board Colony, lost his wallet containing cash and some important documents and cards on the morning of June 4. He has been trying to get an FIR lodged at the Urban Estate police station for the past three days, but to no avail. Sharma said soon after he discovered that he had lost his wallet, he went to the Sector 1 police post to lodge an FIR. “I was told to go to the Urban Estate police station with an affidavit, which I did. The officials present made me sit there for about an hour, but did not lodge the FIR. After I met the SHO and apprised him of the matter, the official concerned took my affidavit and told me to come after two hours,” he maintained. Sharma, who works as a sales representative with a leading pharmaceutical company, said he had been making rounds of and calling up the police station since then, but the FIR had not been registered till now. Since the lost documents included his driving licence, ATM card and vehicle registration certificate, he requires a copy of the FIR to get duplicate cards issued. “I can be fined for driving without the mandatory documents, but what can I do in the given circumstances,” he said. The superintendent of police, Dr C.S. Rao, could not be contacted for comments despite repeated attempts. All in all, this is not an isolated case of its kind. According to informed sources, one has to take along some prominent figure of his locality to the police station or grease the palms of the official concerned to get an FIR registered. Many a time, the police personnel on duty refuse to lodge an FIR on some pretext just to avoid botheration. |
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FCI official held for graft
Sirsa, June 6 The sleuths of the CBI headed by DSP Dr Arman Deep Singh also recovered Rs 7 lakh cash, jewellery and registry of 7 plots during the search of Garg’s house. The CBI laid trap acting on the complaint of a local contractor, Puran Chand, who along with the two decoyed officials of the Central Excise Department went to the house of Garg. Puran had yesterday met the CBI officials at Chandigarh complaining that Garg had been demanding a bribe for releasing his dues. The FCI had signed a contract of more than 4 lakh with Puran Chand and his other associates for transporting food grains from the Grain Market to other places. However, the FCI had paid a partial amount but to release the rest of the payment, Garg had been asking for bribe, the CBI officials added. The CBI has registered an FIR against Garg under Section 7 of the Prevention of the Corruption Act. The CBI team comprising of 15 sleuths initially faced problems as Laxmi Narayan, brother of Garg, reportedly prevented the CBI officials from carrying out the search operation and allegedly assaulted the officials. Later, the local police arrested Laxmi Naryana, who is working with the railways, and registered an FIR against him under Sections 332, 353 and 506 of the IPC. The complainant, while talking to The Tribune, said initially he and his associate went to the State Vigilance Bureau to lodge a complaint against Garg, but the bureau guided them to approach the CBI as the case involved the Central government official.
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14 get 5-year imprisonment
Hisar, June 6 Poonia and seven members of his family were murdered by his daughter and son-in-law on August 23, 2001. The rasam pagri was held on September 3. During the ceremony one of the convicts, Ved Parkash, had incited the gathering to block the Hisar-Narwana highway at Surewala Chowk. The crowd burnt down 15 vehicles and also attacked a police post and liquor vend causing heavy damage. The fast track court headed by ADJ Vimlesh Tanwar also sentenced the 14 convicts to pay a fine of Rs 5000 each. Ranvir of Hasangarh, Dharampal, Kuldeep, Ramesh, Baljit, Balwant, Virender and Gulab of Litani, Rajinder and Jagannath of Buddha Khera and Ved Parkash and Balbir of Rakhikhas were convicted. Poonia’s daughter and son-in-law were subsequently sentenced to death. They have now filed a final appeal before an apex court bench. |
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3 dead, 2 hurt in mishaps
Karnal, June 6 Two persons from a nearby village died on the spot when a speeding bus hit a three-wheeler on the GT Road at Barsat turn in Gharaunda, near here. Auto driver Kanwar Bhan and Kuldeep, a resident of Furlak village died on the spot. Tejbir and Satpal received serious injuries and were admitted to the hospital. The impact of the accidents was so powerful that the Haryana Roadways bus had crushed the auto rickshaw. According to the police, the bus was of Jhajjar depot. The driver of the bus sped away from the spot leaving behind the bus. A case has been registered but no arrest has been made so far. In another accident, an unknown vehicle mowed down an unidentified person near Meerut Chowk. The deceased was stated to be mentally challenged and his body had been kept at the Civil Hospital. |
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Technical education board reconstitued
Chandigarh, June 6 Naveen Jindal, Congress MP and MD of Jindal Steels and Power Limited, who has been made a member of the reconstituted State Board of Technical Education under the industry/commerce category, finds himself mentioned as “MP, Hisar” in the notification issued by the technical education department with regard to the setting up of the board. Jindal represents the Kurukshetra constituency in the Lok Sabha while his mother Savitri Jindal, Haryana minister of state for urban local bodies, represents the Hisar assembly segment in Haryana assembly. Jai Prakash, from the Congress, represents the Hisar Lok Sabha seat in the parliament. It appears that Naveen Jindal’s place of residence has been confused with his Lok Sabha constituency. The mistake, though, may not go down well with the industrialist-cum-politician who is among the four members of the industry/commerce category. Reconstitution of the board has also given opportunity to two MLAs of the Congress party to become members of the board. They are, Nirpender Sangwan, MLA from the Dadri constituency in Bhiwani district, and Chattar Pal, MLA from the Ghirai constituency in Hisar. The board will be headed by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in his capacity as the minister for technical education. Constituted with effect from November, 2006, the board will be in office for a period of two years. The director, technical education, Haryana, will be member- secretary of the board.
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Govt for community radio stations
Chandigarh, June 6 An official spokesman said this was decided in view of the recent policy of the union government to grant permission for setting up community radio stations all across the country by non-profit organisations, state agriculture universities, krishi vigyan kendras, registered societies and autonomous bodies and public trusts registered under societies act and educational institutions. The new policy was aimed at allowing greater participation by the civil society on issues relating to development and social change, he said. He said community radio, as distinct from private FM broadcasting, would serve to bring small communities together, would focus on the common man’s day-to-day concerns. Community radio would mainly focus on issues relating to education, health, environment, agriculture, rural and community development and thus the advantage of the medium as an effective tool for empowerment of weaker sections would be manifold. |
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Z security for dera chief
Chandigarh, June 6 The security of the suspended Congress MP Kuldeep Bishnoi also came up for review. The Haryana officers did not have any objection to the level of security cover provided to Bishnoi. But they pointed out that Bishnoi had been given security both by the Centre as well as the state. They said since he stayed mostly in Delhi, he should get security from the Centre or the Delhi police. The state police can provide him sufficient security cover, whenever he will visit Haryana. Officers of the Central intelligence agencies said there were a number of similar cases. Before taking a final decision in this regard, they would like to seek instructions from their seniors. The matter was deferred to the next meeting. |
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Junior football player dies
Ambala, June 6 According to information, Neha Rani (17), a resident of Ambala City, was going towards the DAV College ground in Ambala City for the game practice on her bicycle. A speedy truck hit her bicycle and when the truck driver applied sudden brakes, it overturned there. Neha sustained head injuries and died on the spot. Ambala municipal council president Harish Sashan, who was passing by, took her to Mission hospital where she was declared brought dead. Father of the deceased said her daughter wanted to represent the country in the world football championship. A Class XII student at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Ambala City, Neha was a meritorious student. Local MLA Venod Sharma and Ambala deputy commissioner R.P. Bhardwaj expressed grief over the sudden demise of the player. |
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Sanitation issues miff colony residents
Ambala, June 6
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