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Battle lines drawn for bypoll
MDU registrar selected as reader; what about others?
KU council restores rights, full salary of teacher
Obituary
Tubewells along Yamuna dry up
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Karnal shooting: Probe team set up
Tension in village over passage
First Cong rebel shows up
Women join Janhit Cong
Bishnoi may contest from Adampur
Poll code to remain in force till May 27
Winners of story writing contest honoured
68 pvt schools provide fee details
Drive to clean Brahm Sarovar
Another all-women PCR launched
Woman stabbed to death
Man gets 10-yr jail for raping daughter
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Battle lines drawn for bypoll
Chandigarh, April 24 As reported earlier, the BJP has fielded Pradeep, son of its lone MP from the state Kishan Singh Sangwan, from Gohana. Gohana is part of the Lok Sabha constituency of the elder Sangwan. From Indri, the BJP has decided to field Ram Kumar Arya, a former president of the Karnal district unit of the party. Arya belongs to the Ror community and is an arhtiya by profession. He belongs to Jhanjhari village in Karnal district. The party has chosen Swami Raghavanand, vice-president of the Haryana BJP, as its candidate from Adampur, which promises a keen contest among former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, who is likely to contest on his son’s party, Haryana Janhit Congress(HJC); Ranjit Singh, younger son of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, of the Congress; and veteran INLD leader Sampat Singh. However, there are reports that instead of Bhajan Lal, his younger son Kuldeep Bishnoi may contest from Adampur. Bishnoi himself gave credence to these reports when he told newsmen in Gurgaon today that he would like to contest the assembly byelection so that he could corner Hooda on the floor of the House. But he added that the final decision would be taken at a meeting of senior leaders of his party soon. Similarly, there are reports that HJC leader Dharam Pal Malik, whose disqualification from the assembly caused byelection in Gohana, may not contest the election himself. In that case, his wife, who was a member of the Haryana Public Service Commission when Bhajan Lal was the Chief Minister, is expected to contest the Gohana seat on the HJC ticket. Raghavanand had contested the Hisar Lok Sabha seat on the BJP ticket in 2004 but had lost to Jai Prakash Barwala of the Congress. Adampur, though in Hisar district, was not a part of the Hisar Lok Sabha seat then. Haryana Congress president Phool Chand Mullana today announced that while Ranjit Singh would file his nomination papers on May 1, the party candidates from Indri and Gohana, Bhim Sen Mehta and Jagbir Singh, respectively, would file the papers on May 2. He said for all the three constituencies, campaign committees were being constituted and these would comprise state-level leaders and local party men. The BSP is keeping its opponents guessing about its plans for the byelections. The party is believed to be divided into two camps. One camp is advocating that the BSP should not waste its energy in the byelections, particularly when the Lok Sabha elections, its main priority, are just one year away. The other camp, however, wants to contest the elections to keep the party vote bank intact. The final decision would be taken by the party supremo Mayawati.
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MDU registrar selected as reader; what about others?
Rohtak, April 24 Now other faculty members, who had appeared in the interview along with Vats, have started demanding that their cases should also be considered by the university authorities. Interviews for different faculty and administrative positions at MDU teaching departments and directorate of distance education had been conducted by the university authorities in 1998. However, a little later, the then state government imposed a blanket ban on recruitments, due to which the interview results remained sealed. On this, some faculty members approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The case continued for several years and several other aspects and dimensions continued to be added to it in due course. Meanwhile, in 2000, the MDU EC refused to consider the selections on the grounds that these had become quite old. However, the “affected” teachers continued to pursue the court case and eventually, in 2008, the MDU counsel stated before the high court that the university was ready to consider the case of Vats, who had, by then, become MDU registrar. On this, the court asked the MDU authorities to consider the case. After a few days, the EC of the university approved the selection of Vats as reader at the MDU department of defence and strategic studies. However, in the process, the fate(s) of other faculty members of the university, who had been interviewed for various positions along with Vats, remained sealed and unconsidered. A senior faculty member of the department of psychology even submitted a representation to the EC, asserting that her case should also have been considered, as it was exactly similar to that of Vats. However, the university authorities chose to ignore her appeal. Now, the said faculty member is learnt to have moved the court once again. Meanwhile, certain other teachers, who were denied a selection chance despite their case(s) being the same as that of the registrar, are also planning to take the legal recourse if the university authorities fail to give them their due. On going through the matter, one is reminded of the famous quote from George Orwell’s classic Animal Farm, which goes “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Here’s MDU’s adaptation of the quote: All teachers are equal, but the registrars are more equal than others. |
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KU council restores rights, full salary of teacher
Kurukshetra, April 24 Claiming this here today, Gupta, son of the former vice-chancellor of Kurukshetra University, late Dr Ganpati Chandra Gupta, said it was conveyed to him vide a university letter no. ET-5/08/2924 dated April 21 a couple of days ago. In fact, about five years ago, on December 31, 2002, Gupta was allegedly charged with demanding bribe from a research student for certifying that his work was complete. However, during the trial of the case before a special court in Kurukshetra, as the facts poured in, full story was unfolded and it turned out to be a case of professional rivalry where a fellow member of the faculty allegedly used the research student to prevent Gupta from becoming professor and chairman of the department of Hindi. It was also proved before the court that the complainant, a research student, was in fact having his own grievance against Gupta as the latter had already reported to the university that the student was not doing his job satisfactorily. Under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the Special Judge in its judgement held that Gupta had been falsely implicated. In view of the special court judgement, the Executive Council of Kurukshetra University restored the rights and full salary of Gupta ab initio. Gupta, who has a teaching experience of 30 years, has been teaching at Kurukshetra University here for the past 25 years. He possesses double doctorate degrees and being a Hindi littérateur has been honoured by the Haryana Sahitya Academy and American Biographical Institute (USA). He has successfully guided 45 research scholars for PhD and MPhil so far. Gupta said he had no grudge with anybody, including those who were responsible for falsely implicating him in a criminal case in December 2002, when his promotion to the post of professor was due under the career advancement scheme (CAS). He had to suffer a lot of mental torture and harassment. Kurukshetra University had also deprived him of various university assignments as well as his rights attached to the post of reader discriminating him from other teachers of his status and position since then, added Gupta. |
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Parmanand’s firm decisions stood out
Yoginder Gupta Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 24 Known as “Babuji” to his admirers, Parmanand took a tough stand against the Casino Bill, which was rushed through the Haryana Assembly by Om Prakash Chautala’s INLD on the basis of its majority. Ably assisted by his secretary Vijai Vardan, an IAS officer, “Babuji” took a strong moral stand against the Bill while referring it to the President of India. In a sort of acknowledgement of his arguments, the presidential notification declining assent to the Bill, which had been made a prestige issue by Chautala, virtually repeated verbatim what Parmanand had written in his recommendation to the centre. He also refused to give his assent when the INLD government wanted to release certain hardcore convicts. Barring the initial months, his relations with Chautala remained strained. Known for his politeness, he was equally firm in his views and did not yield to the pressure brought on him by the powers to agree to their decisions. However, he landed himself in a controversy when he appreciated the Vajpayee government at a public function when the Lok Sabha elections had been declared and the model code of conduct was in force. Parmanand had been associated with the BJP since 1996, before occupying the Haryana Raj Bhawan in June 2000. His name for the governorship was sponsored by Suraj Bhan, the then governor of UP, who had a very good equation with the then Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee. Before joining the BJP, he was associated with the national conference and was elected as Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly in 1980. He was also a minister in the cabinet of G.M. Sadiq in 1967 and then in the Farooq Abdullah cabinet in 1982. Born on August 10, 1932, in a Dalit family of Sarore village of the R.S. Pura sector, Parmanand was a postgraduate in economics and did his LLB in 1958-59. He was brought to the politics by the then Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad. Babuji contested the assembly elections seven times and won six times. He was first elected to the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly in 1962 from the Ramgarh constituency. Meanwhile, Haryana Governor Dr A.R. Kidwai and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda have mourned the death of Babu Parmanand.
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Tubewells along Yamuna dry up
Yamunanagar, April 24 There are about 50 villages, including Nachron, Alahar and Khurdban, in the area. Villagers complain that old tubewells have been rendered redundant as they have not pumped out water for the past six to eight months. Several villagers dug their tubewells deeper to make these functional. Shyam Singh, a farmer, said earlier water was available at a depth of 25 to 35 ft, but now one had to bore 75 to 90 ft to find water. Several farmers are using submersible water pumps which cost about Rs 75,000 to Rs 1 lakh. An official of the irrigation department said the water table could be maintained if the average rainfall was 800 mm to 1,000 mm. However, the average rainfall during the past seven years had not exceeded 700 mm. Seven tubewells of the water supply and sanitation department in Rampura, Nehru Park, Shanti Colony, Sacha Sauda Market, Santpura, Meenanagar and Vishnunagar have become non-functional, said sources. There are 63 tubewells in the twin towns of Yamunanagar and Jagadhri. Meanwhile, the sale of water has picked up in the two towns. Packaged water is being supplied to commercial and educational institutions and even in residential areas.
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Karnal shooting: Probe team set up
Karnal, April 24 The police is awaiting the forensic report regarding the weapons used in the crime. The statement of Renuka Kalyan, an eyewitness who was shot at and is undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospital, New Delhi, is crucial. She is still stated to be in a critical condition. Saranbeer had allegedly killed his brother-in-law Namit Kalyan and shot at his sister before shooting himself. Karnal SSP A.S. Chawla said a team of investigators was on the job. He said the report from the forensic science laboratory, Madhuban, was eagerly awaited. “It is important to look into the reasons that led to the firing incident. The SIT will look into various aspects, including the circumstances that prompted the assailant(s) to open fire at Kalyan’s house on that fateful night,” he said. He said Ranbir, advocate and father of Saranbeer, had an arms licence and was issued three weapons against it. “One pistol was recovered from the crime spot whereas two other weapons have also been sealed and sent for forensic investigation. The licence was valid up to July this year,” he added. Chawla said the forensic report would help establish as to which weapon(s) was used in the crime.
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Tension in village over passage
Fatehabad, April 24 The locals belonging to the Jat community had not only dug out the street but also erected a wall to deny passage to the Dalits. The authorities, who had been maintaining till this morning that the land belonged to a Jat, Nihal Singh, and that he had done nothing wrong in getting possession over his own land, suddenly swung into action in the afternoon and razed the wall with the help of the police after the Dalits threatened exodus from the village. Some of the Dalits and panchayat member Mathri Devi today met block development and panchayat officer (BDPO) R.P. Munjal and alleged that the sixty-year-old brick-lined street had been dug up by some local people belonging to the Jat community and had erected a wall in that place. While alleging that the authorities were hand in glove with those who had dug up the street, the Dalits threatened to make the BDPO office at Bhuna town their permanent abode after exodus from the village in case their passage was not restored. Munjal said a part of the land of this street belonged to Nihal Singh and he had made a representation to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for restoration of his land. He said after the demarcation of the land, he had found that the land in dispute actually belonged to Nihal Singh. He said the Dalits did not have any difficulty as only the width of the street had been reduced and it was not that Nihal Singh had completely acquired the street. Later, Munjal accompanied by SHO, Bhuna, Sadhu Ram rushed to the village and razed the wall set up by Nihal Singh and his accomplices. Deputy commissioner O.P. Sheoran said the matter had been resolved. He said the Dalits were apprehensive that their houses built on the encroached land of the street might not be razed. |
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First Cong rebel shows up
Sonepat, April 24 Talking to mediapersons at the PWD rest house here, he criticised party leaders for “neglecting the wish” of party workers. Meanwhile, Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) candidate Dharam Pal Singh Malik, whose disqualification under the anti-defection law led to the bypoll, will file his nomination papers on April 28, while INLD candidate K.C. Bangar, a former chairman of the Haryana Public Service Commission, will file his nomination papers on May 2. The Congress candidate said he would file his nomination papers on May 2. SIRSA: The Congress’ announcement to field Ranjit Singh, son of the late Devi Lal, from the Adampur assembly seat, has suddenly charged up the calm political environment of the district. According to political analysts, the Congress move is aimed at checkmating Bhajan Lal. Ranjit Singh said he would challenge Bhajan Lal on his home turf. Asked if being an outsider from Adampur would not be a drawback, he replied that there was no question of being an outsider as Sirsa was once part of Hisar. The Indian National Lok Dal has fielded former finance minister Sampat Singh from the constituency.
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Women join Janhit Cong
Kurukshetra, April 24 While addressing the gathering, almost all speakers criticised the present government for not paying attention to the primary problems of the common man. They alleged that the government had failed on various fronts such as price rise, frequent power cuts, scarcity of drinking water, burning of ripe crops due to crossing of electric wires and deteriorating conditions of law and order. The HJC (BL) district urban president and former MLA, Banta Ram, unfolded the false claims of the present government and highlighted the development works done during the regime of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal. State vice-president of the HJC and former Haryana minister Dr Devender Sharma made the people recall Bhajan Lal’s regime, during which, representation to all sections of society was given. ROHTAK: Former Haryana minister and Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) leader Krishan Murti Hooda has alleged that the state government was not serious on the issue of providing adequate security to Bhiwani MP Kuldeep Bishnoi. “Instead of strengthening Bishnoi’s security cover in view of the threats being received by him, the government has withdrawn some security personnel,” Hooda maintained while addressing a press conference here on Wednesday. |
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Bishnoi may contest from Adampur
Gurgaon, April 24 In an informal chat after his visit to the house of the bereaved family of slain HJC leader Vikram Pehalwan here, Bishnoi said a final decision regarding the Adampur seat would be taken after discussion with his father. “We will make the announcement in this regard in a day or two,” said Bishnoi who has already been publicly declared by Bhajan Lal as his political successor. Interestingly, his father has already announced to contest the Adampur seat. Though the MP from Bhiwani is interested in contesting the Lok Sabha byelection as the HJC candidate in case his resignation is accepted, he thought of contesting the assembly byelection due to the “unending drama over his resignation”. Interestingly, the HJC has already announced its candidates for all three seats going to the polls on May 22.
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Poll code to remain in force till May 27
Chandigarh, April 24 Stating this here today, chief electoral officer, Haryana, Sajjan Singh said following this the announcement of new projects/programmes/concessions/financial grants in any form of promises or laying of foundation stones by the party in power was prohibited. No appointment or promotion was permitted during this period without prior clearance from the EC, he added. He said writing on walls, pasting of posters/papers or defacement in any other form or erecting/displaying of cutouts, hoardings and banners would not be permitted on public property. However, if the local laws permitted, these might be allowed. Sajjan Singh said photo electoral rolls published on January 25 would be used during the byelections.
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Winners of story writing contest honoured
Chandigarh, April 24 Those honoured on the occasion included Anju Dua Jamini of Faridabad, who had bagged the first prize of Rs 3,500 for her story “Concrete Kee Fasal Ka Hakdar”; Devpriya of Panipat and Gayani Devi of Karnal, who bagged the second prize and were given Rs 3,000 each for their stories “Baddapan” and “Kash”, respectively; and Dr Praduman Bhalla of Kaithal, who had bagged the third prize of Rs 2,500 for his story “Saheb Ka Kuta”. While congratulating the winners of the competition, the education minister said in this era of intense competition, the responsibility of writers had increased manifold. They should further contribute and strive for building a better and progressive society by giving a new direction to the people through their writings, he added. The akademi had invited stories from the writers of Haryana domicile for story competition 2007-08. A total of 86 stories were received for this competition, out of which four were selected for giving awards. |
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68 pvt schools provide fee details
Yamunanagar, April 24 The district education officer on April 9 had asked all private schools of the district to provide details of the fee they collected from students. Three schools had raised their fees and parents of students had objected to the hike. Two of the schools had rolled back the hikes. The DEO’s office has formed a five-member committee to cross-check the information filed by the 68 schools. The department has reported to the district administration about the schools, which had not filed the information. An official of the department said the district administration would recommend the next course of action regarding the schools, which did not comply with the orders. The department had asked the schools to provide details in a specified format. The schools had to provide information on the amount of fee collected monthly and annually from students of each class. The school managements were also asked to provide details of funds collected from students. Only 26 private schools in the district are recognised.
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Drive to clean Brahm Sarovar
Kurukshetra, April 24 Verma said they spontaneously went into the water with brooms, brushes and other cleaning materials and participated in the cleanliness drive. The cleanliness drive of the KDB would continue and many more were expected to join. He said thousands of pilgrims throng the city to have a sacred bath in the sarovar. Keeping in view of maintaining and cleaning the sarovar, Verma today called the heads of religious and social organisations of the city to maintain the sarovar. The meeting was called in the lecture hall of Shri Krishna Museum. He also highlighted the objective of the meeting and said the common man had a greater role to play for the upliftment of the sarovar. He requested all religious leaders and social workers to extend their support for initiating a karsewa to clean the sarovar. |
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Another all-women PCR launched
Faridabad, April 24 Like the first PCR, the second one will have four women personnel. The new PCR will share the load of the earlier one, which had to cater to the entire district. The areas assigned to the second PCR include Surajkund, SGM Nagar, the NIT, Kotwali, Mujesar and Sector 55. The women cell of the police had received 40 written complaints on issues relating to women. The authorities claim the the PCR helped redress a majority of the complaints.
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Woman stabbed to death
Rewari, April 24 The crime was committed when she was alone in the house. In the evening, when Miland Rawat, an employee with Capsule Health Care Company, Jauniawas village near Dharuhera, returned home, he found Ranjana lying in a pool of blood on the floor. Subsequently, he informed the police, which took her to a private hospital at Dharuhera, where she was declared brought dead by doctors. The police has registered a case of murder and launched investigation into the matter. |
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Man gets 10-yr jail for raping daughter
Yamunanagar, April 24 District and Sessions Judge Virender Singh found Chander Kumar (50) guilty of rape and threatening his minor daughter. On June 13, 2007, Chander raped his daughter in an inebriated state. He had raped his daughter earlier also. On June 16, the police registered a case under sections 376 and 506 of the IPC on a complaint of the victim. After committing the crime, he had threatened her to keep her mouth shut or face dire consequences. Fed up with his drinking habit, his wife had left him several years ago. The judge sentenced him to 10 years in jail for rape and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000. |
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