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Tribune Special
Woman, son die in roof collapse
Robbers strike on train, snatch gold chain
CBI nabs defence clerk accepting Rs 1 lakh bribe
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Rigging of Elections
INLD steps up campaign for byelections
Wheat continues to pour in mandis
Central varsity status sought for KU
Help curb foeticide, doctors exhorted
Irate villagers block highway
Experts want media panel set up
Rs 6.28 crore allocated for Yamunanagar
Officers’ absence irks minister
Honda staff continue stir
Fire Aftermath
Girl dies of burns
Painting workshop from tomorrow
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MD/MS Entrance Row Vigilance probe indicts MDU staff Sunit Dhawan Tribune News Service
Rohtak, May 4 According to reliable sources, the probe team has completed the inquiry and finalised the report. In the inquiry report, the Vigilance Bureau has indicted nearly 20 persons, including senior official(s) of MDU, whom it found guilty of misconduct. Several selected candidates have also been indicted. The bureau has recommended that a police case be registered against the accused. It has recommended that the accused be charged with wrongful gains, which indicates that exchange of money had taken place in the process. The outcome of the vigilance inquiry has vindicated the stance of the medicos, who had been alleging leakage and sale of entrance examination papers to certain candidates. The medicos, who had staged a series of protest demonstrations in this regard, had been asserting that senior university officials were involved in the racket. The medicos had even carried out a sting operation to get clinching evidence against the persons they suspected to be involved in the racket. A fact-finding inquiry committee constituted by the MDU authorities had also raised doubt over a specific pattern emerging in the entrance results and these being at variance from the previous years’ results. The MDU inquiry committee had recommended that the matter should be probed by some competent agency. Following this, the Haryana government had asked the Vigilance Bureau to inquire into the matter.
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Woman, son die in roof collapse
Ambala, May 4 The incident occurred in Sikhigarh Mohalla on the Ram Bagh road of Ambala Cantt about 3 am. According to the police, Anita (42), her son, Deepu (11), another son, Rajat (15), were sleeping in the room. Anita and Deepu died on the spot while Rajat, who had sustained injuries, was admitted to the Civil Hospital here. He is stated to be stable. Anita’s husband, Ravinder (45), escaped the incident, as he chose to sleep outside the house due to hot weather. The incident came to light later in the morning when neighbours got up. Ravinder, a carpenter by profession, was unaware of the mishap till neighbours informed him. The neighbours told him they had heard a noise during the night but did not bother to investigate. It was only in the morning that they realised what had happened. Local area MLA D.K. Bansal visited the site and gave Rs 10,000 as compensation to the affected family. Ex-MLA Anil Vij and INLO president Hira Lal Yadav also visited the family. DSP Rajesh Sharma, who also visited the spot, was not allowed by the family to take any police action. Ravinder also refused to the postmortem examination of his wife and younger son. Neighbours said the one room hutment in which Ravinder lived was very old and depleted. The roof was made of wood and mud. The wood over a period of time lost its strength and thus collapsed. |
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Robbers strike on train, snatch gold chain
Ambala, May 4 Prof Vijay Mohan of Osmania University, Hyderabad, was travelling with his wife Shashi Bala from Delhi to Jammu. The incident occurred on board the Pooja Express at the Babarpur railway station near Panipat, where the train made an unscheduled halt. Shashi Bala, who was sitting near the window, was taken aback when a young man pulled the chain she was wearing around her neck from the platform, through the window. The professor and his wife were travelling in coach No. S-7 and were occupying seat Nos. 33 and 36. Shashi Bala raised the alarm. The professor, who was sitting nearby, ran towards the door of the coach to get hold of the snatcher, but was stoned by the snatcher and his two accomplices. The professor was hurt in one of his eyes and the face. Before he could act further, the train moved. The incident occurred at 1.30 am and the GRPF at the Ambala Cantt railway station was informed at about 3.15 am where the train has a scheduled stop. A report was filed by ASI Niyaz Mohammad of the GRPF and the professor was taken to the civil hospital, Ambala Cantt, and given first aid. The GRPF has started inquest proceedings and has lodged a complaint. The GRPF at Panipat has also been informed about the incident. |
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CBI nabs defence clerk accepting Rs 1 lakh bribe
Chandigarh, May 4 CBI sleuths from the Anti-Corruption Branch swooped in on the clerk, A.K. Sondhi’s residence in Sector 4, Panchkula and recovered another Rs 4.5 lakh, which sources said was received by him from two other candidates a couple of days ago. In addition, a large amount of cash, fixed-deposit receipts, and bonds papers were also recovered from his residence, which are being scrutinised by the CBI. Sondhi is employed in the Ordnance branch of Headquarters Western Command, which is concerned with weapons and equipment. His wife is also working in Western Command and is the personal assistant to a Major General. SP, CBI, Mukesh Aggarwal said they had received a complaint from one Sunil Kumar yesterday that Sondhi had demanded Rs 2.5 lakh from him to get him employed in an ordnance establishment. Based on the complaint, the CBI raided the clerk’s residence. The amount of Rs 1 lakh was supposed to be the first installment of money demanded by him. The Army authorities, according to a statement issued here, had been suspicious of his activities and were keeping a watch over him for the past few months. Sunil, according to Army sources, had first approached them about the matter, but since Sondhi was a civilian, they advised him to lodge a complaint with the CBI. The CBI is interrogating Sondhi to establish the extent of the recruitment racket and other corrupt practices involving him, his wife and possibly others. His main modus operandi was to lure the poor, needy civilian boys with offers of permanent government jobs in various Army ordinance establishments, for which he used to extract large sums of money from them. Assets recovered from Sondhi’s residence, during the search indicate to his amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. |
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Unite politically, Rajputs urged
Rajound (Kaithal), May 4 The descendant of the legendry warrior king of Rajasthan, Maharana Pratap, Arvind was here as a chief guest at a Rajput mahasammelan organised by the Haryana Rajput Pratinidhi Sabha. Though speakers touched certain issued related to women, they ignored the absence of women folk at the community gathering. They talked at length about the prevailing drawbacks in the community and urged them to unite for an overall development. The organisers, however, clarified that it was an apolitical organisation. Arvind said despite their significant contribution in the Indian history, Rajputs had been largely ignored in society due to their own problems. Saying that vote politics has divided the community, he urged them to unite for economical, social and political growth. He appealed the community to fight against social evils and advocated to improve the status of women folk. The esteemed community leader also asked to take appropriate steps to control population growth and appealed for widow remarriage in the Rajput society. Working president of the sabha Yash Pal Singh Rana demanded ministerial berths for Rajput MLAs in Haryana cabinet. He voiced against female foeticide and stressed on the education of women folk. He announced to organise more awareness meetings in the state and requested Mewar to lead the community for a better future. President of the sabha R.P. Singh said Rajputs were not given due recognition in the state politics. Urging the gathering to unite politically, he said there were nearly 14 lakh Rajputs that constituted about 10 per cent of the total voters in the states. He emphasised on education to compete for their respectful share in society. The organisers honoured the family members of Sher Singh Rana, accused in the murder of dacoit-turned-MP Phoolan Devi, for redeeming India’s prestige by taking back remains of the Rajput king, Prithvi Raj Chauhan, from Afghanistan to India. Rana had slipped from the high-security Tihar jail but later arrested in Kolkata. The sabha appealed the gathering to provide financial and social support to the family for the commendable work that Rana had done by risking his life. |
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Rigging of Elections
Chandigarh, May 4 Expressing these apprehensions in Karnal yesterday, Chautala had also alleged that the ruling Congress was using official machinery to intimidate voters in these three constituencies. In a statement issued here today, general-secretary of the media cell of the Congress Lakhwinder Singh Lakha said by levelling baseless allegations against the ruling party, Chautala was trying to cover up the sure defeat of his party. Lakha said even before the withdrawal of the nomination papers, the INLD had conceded its defeat and the apprehensions expressed by Chautala were a mere reflection of his realisation that the people of Haryana, who had rejected his party three years ago, had still not accepted him. Lakha said in politics it was an accepted fact that whenever a party was on a loosing trail, it often accused the ruling party of trying to rig the elections. He said rigging the elections had been a trait of the Chautala government, which had blatantly misused official machinery to ensure the victory of its candidates during the byelections in Yamunanagar and Fatehabad constituencies held in its regime. Claiming that the Congress would win all three seats with big margins, Lakha said the voters of these constituencies would teach a befitting lesson to the INLD as well as the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) of Kuldeep Bishnoi. He also claimed that these parties were contesting to remain number two in the byelections. Meanwhile, a spokesman of the Congress, Ved Prakash Vidrohi, has alleged that former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal and Chautala had reached a secret understanding after realising that the Congress would win the three seats. He said these leaders had decided to help each other’s candidates in different constituencies. While the INLD would help HJC nominee in Gohana, the latter would help the former in Indri. Vidrohi said the designs of these leaders would not succeed because people of Haryana were in knowledge of the fact that Bhajan Lal and Chautala had always been in league with each other to play caste politics. |
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INLD steps up campaign for byelections
Chandigarh, May 4 INLD secretary-general and Rajya Sabha MP Ajay Singh Chautala made this announcement today while addressing an election meeting at Katwaal village of Gohana assembly segment in favour of INLD candidate Dr K.C. Bangar. He also addressed election meetings in 10 other villages of the Gohana constituency, where a bypoll is being held along with Indri and Adampur assembly segments of the state. Chautala said the INLD considered Gohana as the most suitable town for conferring district headquarter and it would certainly be given the status after forming the government, as per the wishes of the people of the town. Chautala said the present Congress government had failed to initiate any new programme or plan for the people of Haryana. He held the UPA government responsible for the inflation gripping the country. Another senior INLD leader Abhey Singh Chautala today campaigned in different villages of Indri constituency. He said the present state government had failed to provide even the basic amenities like electricity and water to the people. Prof Sampat Singh, who is the INLD candidate from Adampur, today campaigned vigorously in the constituency.
— UNI |
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Wheat continues to pour in mandis
Chandigarh, May 4 While giving this information here today, Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan said out of this, 48.22 lakh metric tonnes had been purchased by six government procuring agencies and traders purchased 50,591 metric tonnes. He said last year 33.49 lakh metric tonnes of wheat was purchased by the government agencies at the minimum support price of Rs 750 per quintal besides a bonus of Rs 100 per quintal. This year, farmers were being given Rs 1000 per quintal of wheat. Giving the details, he said HAFED had procured 17.97 lakh MTs, food and supplies department 9.94 lakh MTs, Food Corporation of India 7.35 lakh MTs, Haryana Warehousing Corporation 4.43 lakh MTs, Confed 4.30 lakh MTs and the Haryana Agro Industries Corporation had procured 4.20 lakh MTs of wheat. Chander Mohan said Sirsa district had surpassed Karnal district with the arrival of 6.22 lakh metric tonnes whereas in Karnal mandis 5.88 lakh metric tonnes of wheat had arrived so far. Similarly, Kaithal mandis had received 5.43 lakh MTs of wheat, Jind 5.25 lakh MTs, Fatehabad 5.34 lakh MTs, Kurukshetra 4.52 lakh MTs, Hisar 3.16 lakh MTs, Faridabad 2.56 lakh MTs, Panipat 2.16 lakh MTs, Sonepat 1.96 lakh MTs, Ambala 1.53 lakh MTs, Yamunanagar 1.14 lakh MTs, Rohtak 96,049 MTs, Bhiwani 63,697 MTs, Mewat 62,627 MTs, Gurgaon 39,627 MTs, Rewari 34,759 MTs, Jhajjar 26,032 MTs, Narnaul 12,145 MTs and Panchkula 16,717 metric tonnes of wheat. |
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Central varsity status sought for KU
Kurukshetra, May 4 A member of the Executive Council of KU and former general-secretary of the KUTA, Dr Bhagwan Singh Chaudhary, said a memorandum to this effect was submitted by a KUTA delegation, which called upon the former working president and Rajya Sabha member, Dr Ram Prakash, at his residence here today. Chaudhary said since the Prime Minister had declared that every state should have at least one central university, Kurukshetra University should be the natural choice for that purpose. Moreover, Kurukshetra University was the oldest university of the state. It was the richest multi-faculty university of the state and had many outlasting contributions to its credit in terms of achievements of teachers in various research fields. Recently, the university had also celebrated its golden jubilee. It was also the origin of three other universities in the state, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar, and Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, in addition to regional centre at Jind. It was also the oldest seat of higher learning as indicated in the Vedas and other Hindu scriptures, he added. The university was internationally known as Gita Sthali, the land of Karma, added Chaudhary. Dr Ram Prakash assured them that he would take up the issue at the state and centre level. The delegation was led by Chaudhary. He was accompanied by the former KUTA president Dr S.C. Mishra, reader at the Hindi department Dr Subhash, and deputy librarian Rajender Singh. |
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Help curb foeticide, doctors exhorted
Ambala, May 4 Inaugurating a state-level workshop organised by the Haryana unit of the IMA and the UNPF, she said it was a healthy sign that all sections of society were offering their support to curb this evil. Recently, the Chief Minister and the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court took up this issue. She sought the support of the IMA to help check sex ratio in the state. She said the northern belt of the country was the most affected in sex ratio crisis. She said there were some historical reasons behind it as centuries back most of the foreigner attacks were made on northern states .The attackers targeted female members of the families besides the valuables. She said now the time had changed and the women were leading in various fields. She warned if female foeticide was not stopped strictly, boys of the state would have to look for brides in other states. She said the department had been strictly implementing the PNDT Act in the state. So far, action had been taken against 39 doctors. Out of which, 11 doctors had been convicted. Similarly, 104 ultrasound centres had been sealed for violation of the PNDT Act. She said besides efforts of the government, social cooperation was also necessary to deal with this problem. Secretary-general of the IMA S.N. Mishra said the department should not treat doctors as criminals. Dr D.S. Jaspal, Dr Dharm Prakash, Dr Beniwal, Dr Venod Tayal, Dr Ashok Sarwal, Dr Virender Sood, Dr Dev Raj Gupta also spoke on the occasion. At least 100 doctors attended the workshop. |
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Protests over erratic power, water supply
Rohtak, May 4 Irked over the erratic power and water supply, residents of several villages of the district have resorted to blocking vehicular traffic on roads passing through their villages. Such protests further aggravate the situation by causing inconvenience to the commuters, apart from putting undue pressure on the local administration. Residents of Kanheli, Bainsi, Bohar and Lakhan Majra villages in the district have staged protest demonstrations accompanied by road blockades in their respective villages over the past few days. The inhabitants of some localities within the town also staged dharnas to register their protest against the power and water shortage. While the officials concerned attribute the power shortage to increased demand and a shortfall in supply due to closure of some power units for maintenance, the residents refuse to buy these arguments. However, in their bid to put pressure on the government, the protest demonstrations by the affected residents cause great inconvenience to other people, especially the commuters. “Many a time, the residents do not approach us prior to resorting to such drastic steps,” says officiating deputy commissioner P.C. Meena, adding that the threat of certain anti-social elements making some mischief under the garb of the demonstration is also there. On being asked about the measures adopted by the district authorities to control the situation, Meena said teams headed by HCS officers had been constituted to survey all residential areas and point out the shortcomings in the power and water supply mechanisms. “Each HCS official has been assigned the charge of three wards,” he said, adding that the move had shown encouraging results. Elaborating, Meena said the teams were visiting the wards in the morning as well as the evening to assess the situation of power and water supply there. “By personally visiting the colonies, the officials get a first-hand account of the actual situation prevailing there and the problems being faced by the local residents. Thus, they are in a position to point out specific lacunae, which can be tackled accordingly,” he asserted. |
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Irate villagers block highway
Jind, May 4 Locals had blocked the traffic on this highway a week before also on the same grounds. The protesters, who agreed to lift the blockade around 12 noon after the intervention of the officials concerned, however, threatened to block the road on permanent basis if their demand was not fulfilled within 72 hours. This has been the eighth such development in the district in the past one month. The protest started at about 8 am today after hundreds of residents, including women and children, came on the road and staged a dharna. They alleged that there had been no proper supply of potable water. The officials concerned claimed that the problem was not from their end as the water supply depended on the availability of power supply. The villagers, however, asked the authorities to arrange for alternative source of power, which included provision of a generator for operating the water pump for a minimum of required period daily. Water supply in a majority of the villages had been a victim of poor power supply, claimed sources in the official circles. Seven such protests and demonstrations have already been held in various parts of the district in the past 30 days. Two blockades each on the Jind-Rohtak road and the Jind-Gohana road and two on the Narwana-Tohana have occurred in the past three weeks. The rise in the day and night temperatures in the past few days have led to the drying of many water bodies. |
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Experts want media panel set up
Sirsa, May 4 The idea was mooted during a function organised by the department of journalism and mass communication of Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, to mark World Press Freedom Day. The experts also discussed in detail the steps taken by the state government for the welfare of mediapersons working in Haryana. Chairperson of the department Virender Singh Chauhan said World Press Freedom Day was an opportunity to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom, evaluate press freedom in the country, defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tributes to journalists who had lost their lives in the line of duty. Padmini Jain, lecturer, elaborated on the freedom of press in India and compared it with other countries. She added that the free press in India was a democratic asset, yet mediapersons faced a threat from vested interests in various parts of the country. |
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Rs 6.28 crore allocated for Yamunanagar
Chandigarh, May 4 An official spokesman said the rural and urban share of the district plan would be Rs 439.60 lakh and Rs 188.40 lakh, respectively, whereas the Scheduled Castes share for rural area would be 117.60 lakh. He said a sum of Rs 50.40 lakh would be spent on the welfare of urban Scheduled Castes. He disclosed that during the current financial year, an amount of Rs 22.85 lakh would be spent on the education sector whereas a sum of Rs 5 lakh had been earmarked for promotion of ITIs. |
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Officers’ absence irks minister
Chandigarh, May 4 The holograms will be put on each bottle of country liquor produced in the state to ensure the genuineness of the liquor. The meeting was convened to finalise tenders for purchasing the holograms. Already one month has passed since the new excise policy came into force. The process to purchase the holograms is likely to be delayed further. Sources say it may not be possible for the government to procure the holograms and give it to the distilleries before the end of the first quarter of this financial year. The minister is reportedly upset over the absence of the senior officers of his department from the important meeting. However, the officers say they could not attend the meeting because of their already scheduled engagements. |
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Honda staff continue stir
Rewari, May 4 The agitating workers have been protesting against the alleged apathy of the management towards their demands. The demands include regularisation of the services of all such casual workers who have completed five years of service, upgradation of contract workers with five-year service to casual workers and enhancement of the wages of casual workers. Meanwhile Umesh Dhall, general manager of the factory, told The Tribune today that negotiations between the management and representatives of the agitating workers, in the presence of the district labour officer, were already on and they hoped that the dispute would be resolved amicably sooner than expected. |
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Fire Aftermath
Fatehabad, May 4 Cases have been registered on complaints of the agriculture department, though no arrest has been made so far. One person has so far died and several others received burn injuries in these incidents of fire. Wheat crop and property of farmers have also been damaged during these fires. Farmers Ramesh, Ram Murti, Vinod, Chhotu Ram and Rajinder Singh, all farmers from Daulatpur village, were booked by the police on a complaint of agriculture development officer (ADO) Narender Kumar. The police has registered a case against these villagers and begun investigations. Karamjit Singh, Malkiat Singh, Parduman Singh, Kuldeep Singh, Charan Singh, Baljinder, Gurjit, Zile Singh and Ranjit Singh from village Bahbalpur were booked by the police on the complaint of ADO Jagdish Chander. Shakar Lal, Sohan Lal and Joginder Singh from Bhuna and Om Parkash from Dhani Thoba were also booked by the police for violating the ban on burning of wheat straw. |
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Girl dies of burns
Yamunanagar, May 4 According to police sources, Rakhi of the Camp area was rushed to the civil hospital with sever burn injuries yesterday, where she succumbed to the injuries. Sonia, an aunt of Rakhi, said Rakhi was doing some work in the house when her clothes came in contact with a kerosene lamp. The body was handed over to the family after a post-mortem examination. The police is investigating the matter. Meanwhile, Ranbir (24) of Taranwala village here died after the bike he was riding was hit by a cart here today. Suresh Pal of Malikpur Bangar village, who was also on the bike, sustained injuries in the accident. He was admitted to the civil hospital here, where his condition is stated to be stable. |
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Painting workshop from tomorrow
Chandigarh, May 4 While stating this here today, a spokesman of the parishad said the aim of organising this workshop was to give opportunity to the budding artists to showcase their creations besides encouraging them to perfect and sharpen their artistic excellence so that they bring laurels to the state. Deputy commissioner, Panchkula, R.K. Kataria would inaugurate the workshop. He said as many as 17 artists would participate in this workshop.
— UNI |
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