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Attack on Dera Chief’s Convoy
Kidney Scam
Infrastructure priority: Hooda
Power Generation |
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Pupil teachers for out-of-school kids
Work on terminal fruit market project on track
SC-dominated villages to be developed
State revenue collection up
Check illegal commercial activities, HUDA told
Move to strengthen panchayati raj bodies
Army recruitment drive from Feb 6
‘Conversion Bid’
‘Honour killings’
9 arrested
Sugarfed employee dismissed
Water course to be built in village
4 youths killed as car rams into jeep
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Attack on Dera Chief’s Convoy
Karnal, February 3 The question continues to haunt the investigators as the two accused, the truck driver and cleaner, were reportedly in constant touch with the main conspirator over mobile phone. Karnal SSP A.S. Chawala today said Singh had recently cut his beard and hair to conceal his identity. So far, only three names had been surfaced during the investigations of the attack. Sources said the accused had claimed that the truck was parked near Pipli town on the GT Road and the driver and cleaner were following the instructions from Bakhsheesh. The truck started moving towards Karnal after they received a message to target the convoy. Forensic experts said the explosive material was set in the rear stepney of a truck. The design and placement of the bomb was such that it could target any vehicle overtaking from the right side. Meanwhile, sources confirmed that it was a well-conceived attack but failed due to certain ‘technical reasons’. The accused had removed the tube and placed RDX in packets in the cavity between the tyre and rim of the wheel. Preliminary investigations by the FSL, Madhuban, found no traces of shrapnel at the blast site. Had the attackers used some lightweight vehicle, it could have caused a major disaster, commented a forensic expert engaged in the investigations. The stepney was handed over to the duo somewhere near Patiala. Sources said one of the accused had claimed that he had provided a cell phone to Bakhsheesh Singh. It is learnt that after nabbing the duo, the dera followers snatched a diary and two mobile phones from their possession. The police would soon approach the dera management in this regard as it could provide certain concrete clues from the phone memory of the cell phones. The accused reportedly got in touch with Bakhsheesh after the sectarian riots over the controversy of robes of the dera chief. Influenced by certain religious sentiments, the duo was roped into the conspiracy. |
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Kidney Scam
Gurgaon, February 3 Talking to The Tribune, Gurgaon police commissioner Mohinder Lal said documents seized by the police from different places of Dr Amit helped them trace these patients. One of the senior police officials claimed that three Turkish patients - Mehmet Bayzit (55), Ahmet Yalediram (65) and Ishmat Gurmer (62) - who died during kidney transplant by Dr Amit at the Gurgaon hospital in the recent past, were shown to have died due to heart attack at Sadbhawana Hospital of Ballabgarh to save themselves from adverse publicity. The police said only three cases of death had so far came to light, but more such cases could be revealed. A senior police official of Gurgaon refuted the allegation of the Moradabad police that both Dr Amit and Dr Jeevan fled the country because of information leaked by the Gurgaon police. He said on January 25, the Moradabad police called Dr Upender through a tout and fixed a meeting with him at 7 pm near Bristol Hotel at Gurgaon. The Moradabad police team reached there as per plan and arrested Dr Upender. The Moradabad police did not arrest Dr Jeevan and driver Harpal who also accompanied Dr Upender to that place. The official said it was strange why the team of Moradabad police did not arrest Dr Jeevan and driver Harpal. He said when the police team enquired from Dr Upender about the hospital from where he was performing the operations, he misguided the Moradabad team and took it to his Faridabad hospital. The police official said during this span of time, Dr Jeevan informed Dr Amit who was in Chandigarh about this development and also alerted the staff of two of the hospitals in Gurgaon about this happening. He said when the team raided the Palam Vihar hospital, the staff had already fled and even two foreign patients who were in DLF guesthouse had left. Blaming the Delhi police for “its role in the kidney racket in Gurgaon”, he said Harpal, driver of Dr Upender, told the police during investigation that on January 5 two ACP-rank officers of the Delhi police took Dr Upender to a police station near the railway station in Delhi and later Dr Amit also joined them there. Harpal told that Rs 19 lakh was given to them to “suppress” the case. |
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Infrastructure priority: Hooda
Jind, February 3 Besides, the Rs 3,000-crore Rajiv Gandhi Bridges and Roads Infrastructure Development Programme has been launched to further improve the infrastructure in the state. This was disclosed by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda after laying the foundation stone of a bypass on the Jind-Gohana road to be constructed at a cost of Rs 25 crore here today. The Chief Minister expressed his gratitude for UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi for launching the Rs 3000-crore project in the state. This programme would be completed in three phases and projects amounting to Rs 1000 crore would be on ground
by March end. He said under the scheme, Rs 1,000 crore per year would be incurred during the next two years. The Chief Minister said the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCPRB) had also sanctioned a project of road and bridges amounting to Rs 350 crore. He said under the Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sarak Yojana, Rs 450 crore had been received from the central government, which was the highest ever and this amount would be incurred on widening and strengthening 1,085 km-long roads falling
in 20 districts. Hooda said the NCRPB had sanctioned a project costing Rs 427 crore in the state and it was expected that the amount during the current financial year would cross over Rs 1,000 crore. He revealed that six-lane Badarpur flyover had been sanctioned by the National Highway Authority of India and the work on the project would be starting by August. Earlier, the Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of the postgraduate regional centre of Kurukshetra University, which would be constructed over an area of 75 acres. He also laid the foundation stone of Indira Priyadarshani Government College on the premises of Government Postgraduate College, to be constructed over an area of 4.5 acres at a cost of Rs 12 crore and it would be completed by December next year. Later, the Chief Minister distributed 943 sewing machines to the women belonging to the families living below the poverty line in Jind block.
— UNI |
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Power Generation
Faridabad, February 3 The minister informed this while addressing the mediapersons after presiding over the monthly meeting of the district public relations and grievances committee at Faridabad Nagar Nigam auditorium today. Replying to a question, he said the problem of the scarcity of power prevailed in most states of the country. Besides scarcity of rains and excessive cold, there are some natural and geographical reasons of this problem, he added. He said due to these reasons the quantity of water decreased in the hydel power projects, which affected the generation in the power plants. Surjewala said the government was committed to set up power plants for generating about 5,000 MW of additional power by spending Rs 24,000 crore. The state is getting 2,800 MW through its thermal and hydel power projects while the existing demand and consumption of power is about 5,000 MW. The government had taken a decision today to purchase 150 MW of power at a costly rate of Rs 8.25 per unit from the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Uttar Pradesh Power Plant at Dadri. — UNI
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Pupil teachers for out-of-school kids
Chandigarh, February 3 For, as yet another initiative in addition to the ongoing Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan and the alternative innovative education
centres, the education department has introduced pupil teachers (PT) in districts. Themselves students of the two-year diploma in education, these PTs are supposed to get hand-on teachers’ training in government schools during the course of their study. However, departing from convention and adopting a novel
programme, the education department decided to use the services of the PTs to teach out-of-school children instead of letting them taken the much-trodden path of posting them to government schools. “Each of these students was first given the task of carrying out a survey to identify non-school-going children in their respective areas. This done, they were asked to hold classes for these children. This process has begun and we have had very positive feedback from most district especially Bhiwani and Gurgaon where classes at these centres are in full swing. By the end of this month, these PTs will complete nearly two months of teaching the out-of-school children,” an official of the education department maintained. At present, 400-odd teachers all over Haryana are taking these informal classes, which began in January on the completion to identify the out-of-school children. Each teacher has been asked to take responsibility of 15-20 children in the area assigned to them. Since, technically, they are all students, they are given an honorarium for holding these classes. However, their job does not end with holding these classes. The main aim of this entire exercise is to facilitate the entry of these children into regular schools by providing them basic lessons before the session gets underway. “We want these out-of-school children to come into the fold of regular schooling. These two-month capsules just before the new session is a way of getting the children interested in learning before they can seek regular admission,” the official stated. While such centres serve the department’s purpose of tracking down such out-of-school children and furthering the cause of reaching out to every child, for the
PTs, there can be no better way of imparting hands-on training. At these
centres, they are their own bosses, run a one-class school while the project tests their skills of motivating students, adopting innovative teaching ways to get the attention of the children and get a reality check on the ground situation in education. With 17 District Institutes for Educational Training
(DIETs) all over the state and plenty of students enrolled for the course, at least the out-of-school children will not face any staff crunch in times to come while such centres do a world of good to the teachers in the making. |
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Work on terminal fruit market project on track
Chandigarh, February 3 Official sources informed TNS that Llyod and Jindal Mc Techno have been engaged to raise the structures for the commodity hubs while Blue Star has been engaged for setting up refrigeration plants in these hubs. While commodity-specific hubs are coming up at Shahabad (for potato), Abubshahar (kinnow), Jhajjar (onion), Yamunanagar (mango), Karnal (tomato) and Sonepat (mushroom), multi-commodity hubs will be built at Faridabad, Hisar, Jind, Pehowa, Gurgaon, Rohtak, Panipat, Panchkula and Narnaul. Other than Narnaul, construction work has started at all other places. Ram Niwas, managing director, Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (HSAMB), said the board was in the process of getting 525 acres of land transferred for setting up the terminal fruit and vegetable market at Gannaur. “While over 200 acres has already been transferred to the board by the panchayats of five villages, 300 acres is yet to be transferred. Once this is done, we will initiate the construction work, which will include air-conditioned auction houses, cold storages, grading and sorting centres, packaging centres and refrigerated vans for the transportation of the fruits and vegetables,” he said. To be designed on the pattern of European markets, this terminal market will offer a clean and hygienic market environment to various components of the market system. This will include establishing a wholesale market, backward linkages with the farmers and forward linkages with the retailers, exporters and consumers. This market, when ready, will annually handle 7.5 million tonne of fruits and vegetables, milk and dairy products, 100 million eggs and poultry, one million tonne of meat and fish and 0.5 million tonne of flowers. This market is located at a distance of just 45 km from Delhi, which is the biggest consuming market. The managing director said the market, along with the 15 above mentioned commodity hubs, would be fed by 100 collection centers spread throughout the state. Besides, the fruit and vegetable markets at Rohtak, Hisar, Narnaul, Karnal, Ambala, Sonepat and Panipat would be upgraded, he added. |
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SC-dominated villages to be developed
Chandigarh, February 3 Haryana chief parliamentary secretary Dharambir Singh said here today that under this scheme, Rs 50 lakh would be spent on speedy developmental works in the next two years in every village having a population of more than 50 per cent SCs. He said there were 391 villages in the state where the SC population was more than 50 per cent. Dharambir said the functioning of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) was being computerised so that they could discharge their constitutional and legislative responsibilities more dedicatedly. In the first phase, computers had been provided to executive engineers of zila parishads, panchayat samitis, PRIs as well as district development and panchayat officers which would be linked with the headquarters or the directorate level. He said for empowering the PRIs, as per the recommendations of 12th Finance Commission, grants were being directly deposited in the panchayats’ bank accounts. The first instalment of grant amounting to Rs.38.80 crore was deposited during the current financial year. For improving the financial position of the PRIs, the Third State Finance Commission had also been constituted. To ensure participation of the PRIs in women and child development projects, sub-committees had been formed at the village level headed by women sarpanches. In those villages where no woman sarpanches were there, these committees were being headed by woman panches, whose names would be recommended by the respective gram
panchayats. |
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State revenue collection up
Chandigarh, February 3 An official spokesman said here today that the flow of investment into the state in view of congenial and industry-friendly approach of the state government had also contributed a lot to the increase in the revenue generation. He said the overall revenue collection went up to Rs 19,186 crore during 2007-08 against Rs 17,952 crore in 2006-07. The revenue collection in the state, in fact, had been increasing from 2003-04, when the total revenue was Rs 9,843 crore. It went up to Rs 11,149 crore in 2004-05 and Rs 13, 853 crore in 2005-06. In 2007-08 the revenue collection would be almost the double of that in 2003-04. The major contributor to revenue had been VAT. The state collected Rs 6,708 crore VAT in 2007-08 as against Rs 5,312 crore in 2006-07, which worked out to about 25 per cent. Revenue collection from other sources also went up all these years. In 2003-04, revenue from excise duty collection was Rs 923 crore which went up to Rs 1,013 crore in 2004-05, Rs 1,107 crore in 2005-06 and Rs 1,350 crore in 2007-08. The new excise policy was also a major factor of this increase in the revenue generation. He said similarly in stamp duty collection the state saw a big push as revenue went up from Rs 696 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 727 crore in 2004-05, Rs 1,340 crore in 2005-06, Rs 1,765 crore in 2006-07 and Rs 2,000 crore in 2007-08 while non-tax revenue saw a surge from Rs 144 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 318 crore in 2004-05, Rs 714 crore in 2005-06, Rs 2,562 crore in 2006-07 and Rs 1,900 crore in 2007-08. The 11th Finance Commission had suggested the Medium Terms Fiscal Reforms Plan and by adopting the same, the state received an incentive grant of Rs 55.17 crore and debt relief of Rs 74.48 crore in March 2005. Again on the recommendation of the 12th Finance Commission, the state enacted the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act in 2005. In pursuance of the FRBM Act, 2005, the scheme of rescheduling central loans and reducing interest rate to 7.5 per cent would provide a financial benefit to the state to the extent of Rs 645.96 crore during the five years from 2005-10, comprising less repayment by Rs 258.30 crore and interest relief of Rs.387.66 crore. The spokesman said the state would also be eligible to receive the benefit of Rs 581.43 crore on account of the Debt Waiver Scheme under which all the repayment of the central government loans for 2005-10. A resources mobilisation committee to increase the resources of the state had also been constituted. The state was targeting 12 per cent growth in the gross state domestic product (GSDP) in 2007-08 which would be above the national growth rate pegged at about 9 per cent. According to advance estimates, the GSDP of Haryana at constant (1999-2000) prices for 2007-08 was estimated at Rs 1,01,319.42
crore. |
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Check illegal commercial activities, HUDA told
Gurgaon, February 3 He said this while presiding over the monthly meeting of the District Grievances Committee here today, where he disposed of 13 out of 20 complaints on the spot. A complainant drew the attention of the finance minister regarding commercial activities going on in Sector 39-B. He alleged that the house owners living in HUDA sector had opened the doors of their basement towards the Housing Board Colony and they were running commercial activities in these basements, which caused inconvenience to the residents of the area. Birender Singh immediately ordered officers of HUDA to restrict the commercial activities in residential areas. Similarly, in yet another complaint related to HUDA, the finance minister directed the HUDA authorities to provide alternative plot to the allottee who was allotted plot no 254 in Sector 55, which had already been alloted to
someone else. A complaint about encroachment on public path in Kasan village was also brought before the minister. He directed SDM I.J.S Sangwan to get the encroachment removed immediately for the convenience of the people. This complaint was kept in the last month’s meeting also and it was told that the encroachers had got a stay order from the high court in 1988. After this discloser, the finance minister handed over the matter to ADC Abhay Singh Yadav
for inquiry. Yadav told the FM that the writ petition of the encroachers was dismissed by the high court in 2004 so the stay order automatically stood vacated. He also directed the additional deputy commissioner to inquire into the embezzlement of funds by the president of the Aryant Group Housing Society of Sector 56. He passed this order after the members of the society had levelled serious allegations of embezzlement and corruption against the president of the society. The deputy registrar of co-operative societies informed the minister that after finding irregularities, the society was dissolved and an administrative board had been constituted. While redressing a complaint regarding bad condition of the road between Kherkiduala and Darbaripur, the finance minister directed officials of the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board to get the road repaired within three months.
— UNI |
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Move to strengthen panchayati raj bodies
Panipat, February 3 The committee, comprising of eminent social scientists and bureaucrats, was formed by HARC chairman Karan Singh Dalal, which would submit its report on the reforms at various levels to strengthen the functioning of the local self-government institutions by March 29. The six-member team includes Prof Ranbir Singh of Haryana Institute of Rural Development, Karnal, and Sunder Lal, director, Social Centre for Rural Initiative & Advancement (SCRIA), Rewari. In this committee, Dr Avtar Singh, director-general, HIPA, will be the convener whereas Rajesh Khular, commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Faridabad, and Birjender Singh, Faridabad DC, would be members. Sources said though the Haryana government had enacted the PRI Act in 1994, and amended the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973, for implementing the 74th amendment, but the PRIs and municipalities could not be empowered in the state. According to experts, the HARC has now constituted a panel asking for firm suggestions for empowering the PRIs and municipalities with certain powers and functions. |
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Army recruitment drive from Feb 6
Kurukshetra, February 3 Stating this here yesterday, a spokesman for the Army said the aspirants and their parents had been cautioned not to fall prey to touts and not to waste their hard earned money. The recruitment for soldier technical and soldier nursing assistant categories for the candidates of Haryana (excluding
Gurgaon, Faridabad and Mewat districts) and Union Territory of Chandigarh would be conducted on February 6. The recruitment for soldier general duty category would be held on February 7 for Sikh
(Majhabi/Ramdasia) candidates only covering the entire state (excluding
Gurgaon, Faridabad and Mewat districts), Union Territory of Chandigarh and only Sirmaur district of Himachal
Pradesh. On the same day, the recruitment for soldier general duty for Indian domicile Gorkha would also be conducted. A written test for those candidates who clear medical examination will be held on February 24. The candidates should bring original mark sheets of classes X and XII along with two copies each, caste and character certificate. They should bring residential certificate, signed by
tehsildar/SDM and 10 passport size photographs attested by sarpanch. The wards of ex-servicemen or servicemen would bring relationship certificate issued by concerned records for availing benefits. |
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‘Conversion Bid’
Kaithal, February 3 According to the report, the trouble started when activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishsad, the Bajrang Dal and the RSS got information that missionaries providing tuition to students were making efforts to convert them to Christianity. Meanwhile, the Democratic Writers Forum, Haryana, has condemned the attack on a Christian missionary school in Ram Nagar allegedly by representatives of Hindu organisations here yesterday. |
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‘Honour killings’
9 arrested
Yamunanagar, February 3 The two were allegedly beaten on Tuesday night after the girl’s family saw them in a compromising position. While Neelam died after a few hours, Praveen lost the battle of life in Gabba Hospital here. The bodies of the deceased were cremated without informing the police and postmortem examination. Later, the police came to know about it and a case
was registered in this connection. — PTI |
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Sugarfed employee dismissed
Chandigarh, February 3 According to Sugarfed sources, Nanda violated the provisions of rules 13(3) (accepting gifts without permission), 15(2) (not disclosing the business of his dependent relatives), 18(2) (acquiring immovable property without informing the office) and 18(4) (not disclosing information about the genuine sources of acquiring property). He did not supply the necessary information even after repeated directions from the MD. Sources said vigilance inquiry against Nanda had been also initiated on the same charges. |
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Water course to be built in village
Fatehabad, February 3 The water course will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 55 lakh and be completed by March 31. This will help provide
irrigation facilities to 1,250 acres. Dura Ram said the government had planned to give top priority to the strengthening of irrigation facilities in the state. He said he had sent a proposal on four projects to conserve rainwater and that from the Ghaggar river during the monsoon. He said the state government had planned to start a bio-drainage project to
save lower areas from waterlogging. The parliamentary secretary announced a grant of Rs 10 lakh for the construction of concrete streets in the village. He also announced the construction of a new road from Chablamori to Begumori village. |
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4 youths killed as car rams into jeep
Sonepat, February 3 The deceased, who has been identified as Bijender, son of Om Prakash, Subhash, son of Tara Chand, Ajit, son of Inder Singh, and Ajit, son of Ram Chander, were returning to their village after attending a marriage
ceremony. The mishap happened when a tyre of the car burst and Bijender, who was driving the vehicle, lost control over it, following which it rammed into a jeep. Bijender and Subhash died on the spot while the two others succumbed to their injuries on the way to a hospital. The injured has been identified as Hosiar Singh, Pal Singh, Naresh and Narender. |
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