|
|
|
|
Ludhiana plane crash: Co-pilot
cremated Dr Upinderjit Kaur, Punjab minister for education and civil aviation, places a wreath on the body of pilot Manjit Singh Khokhar on behalf of the Punjab government at Ratia on Thursday. Khokhar’s father, Baba Buta Singh (with white flowing beard), is also
seen in the picture. Photo: Amit Soni
Cong gears up for parliamentary elections |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Chautala calls for rout of Congress
Construction at govt college
Gurgaon emerges as investors’ choice
Security amount refunded to rice millers
Revised pension rules for retd IAS officers
Rural development top priority, says Dharambir
Posts for Reserved Categories
Cong leaders to campaign in six states
Diwali pollution down in Gurgaon
Two BSP leaders quit
Hooda flays BJP-INLD pact
3 held under Arms Act
Fire damages property worth Rs 9 lakh
|
|
Ludhiana plane crash: Co-pilot
cremated
Ratia (Fatehabad), October 30 Minister for education, civil aviation, vigilance and justice Upinderjit Kaur laid wreath on the pilot’s body on behalf of the Punjab government. Raminder Singh, special secretary, civil aviation, Punjab, was also present. Deputy commissioner J.S Ahlawat, SP Saurabh Singh, SDM Munish Nagpal and a number of other administrative and police officers of the district paid their homage to Khokhar, who was declared a martyr by the Punjab government yesterday. Kuldeep Bishnoi, president, Haryana Janhit Congress (BL); Atma Singh Gill, MP from Sirsa parliamentary constituency; Gian Chand Odh, MLA from Ratia; former MLA Mani Ram Keharwala; Jai Pal Singh Lali; Rajinder Chaudhary; Veer Bhan Mehta; and Dr Vinod Batra were among those who attended the funeral. Shivjit Singh, younger brother of the pilot, lit the funeral pyre. Heartrending scenes were witnessed as women, especially the mother and sisters of the young pilot, were uncontrollable. The estranged wife of Khokhar as well his two daughters were also present during the funeral. Baba Buta Singh, father of the pilot, was a picture of composure. “I am proud of my son, who exhibited a great poise and sense of duty in the face of death and saved many precious lives by a averting the crash in a crowded area,” he said. Dr Upinderjit Kaur said Punjab has lost an experienced pilot in Manjit Singh Khokhar and his loss could not be expressed in words. The minister refuted the allegations that the King Air C-90 Beechcraft that crashed yesterday was very old and was not worth flying. “The plane was given the airworthiness by the Directorate of Civil Aviation and the same pilots had flown it to Chandigarh from Mumbai only a day before. The plane was to complete its mandatory 50 hours of flying before being put to VIP use and its 14 hours of flying had already been completed,” Upinderjit Kaur said. Meanwhile, a minor controversy erupted before the funeral when Arvinder Brar, cousin of the deceased, and Major Harpreet Singh, brother-in-law of the pilot, alleged that the Punjab government had announced the state funeral only on papers. They alleged that the body of Khokhar should have been brought wrapped in tricolour, but this was not done. Brar alleged that no officer of the Punjab government was present when he was completing formalities of the postmortem of the pilot at Ludhiana. It was only after the resentment shown by the kin that a tricolour was placed on the martyr’s body. They also accused the Directorate of Civil Aviation of having played with lives of young pilots by giving airworthiness certification to a 30-year-old plane to which a former chief minister, they alleged, had termed as ‘flying coffin’ and never used it. Playing down the controversy, Raminder Singh said: “We had told our counterparts in Haryana to arrange for the state funeral and they have made all necessary arrangements.” He also denied the allegations that there was anything wrong with the aircraft. The exact cause of the accident, however, he said was yet to be ascertained.
|
|
|
Cong gears up for parliamentary elections
Faridabad, October 30 Sources said the party was fine-tuning its poll strategy and the brainstorming on issues related to the upcoming parliamentary elections was on. The party leaders also feel that the poll preparedness of the organisation for the coming election was much reduced on account of the pro-activeness of the Chief Minister as well as a number of developmental works done by the Congress government in the state. On the other hand, the BJP-INLD combine that is angling as much as the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) to emerge as an alternative to the Congress, has decided to literally launch its election campaign in the NDA’s November 1 Sonepat rally to be organised by it. The workers of the BJP and the INLD are already showing poll combativeness during their mobilisation campaign for the rally. The X-factor that appears to be goading the BJP-INLD workers is the fact that apart from L.K Advani and former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, the Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal and Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik are also slated to address the rally. Efforts are on to rope in the Chief Ministers of Gujarat and Bihar so that the rally truly captures the spirit of the NDA. With regards to the HJC (BL), the possibility of its having an alliance with the BSP has been receding as the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP supremo was apparently not inclined for an alliance. The party is also busy in galvanising support for its December 2-Bhiwani rally. The party will make additional preparation for its rally after assessing the response of the masses to the BJP-INLD Sonepat rally as the rally would be the first after the re-alliance of the BJP and the INLD in the state. Also, the HJC (BL) wants to occupy as much of the anti-Congress space as possible. Hence, any increase in public support for the alliance would also be at its cost. The Congress leaders, on the other hand, appear to be much happy with the coming together of the BJP and the INLD. A senior functionary of the party opined that with the BJP inviting the INLD to its fold, it has now a greater handle to jack up its prospects. The party will now simply has to make it Bhupinder Singh Hooda Vs Om Prakash Chautala. Also, the comparison of the functioning of the earlier INLD government and the present Congress government would now be done during the election campaign and that would work in the favour of the Congress.
|
|
Chautala calls for rout of Congress
Sonepat, October 30 Addressing a district-level meeting of the party workers and office-bearers here today, he also asked the workers to sink their differences with the alliance partners BJP, if any, to ensure ascendance of veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani to the post of the Prime Minister and make NDA candidates victorious in all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state. He also lashed out at the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre for its failure to check terrorism, price rise and various other problems of the country. In such a situation, it was necessary to overthrow the UPA government during the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, he added. Chautala defended the alliance with the BJP and said he had taken this decision in the national interest as the alliance could take the country out of mess created by the UPA. He also gave a call to other political parties to join the NDA in national interests and save the country from the UPA misrule. He also claimed that the tie-up with the BJP in Haryana was among hearts and not between the parties and, hence, it will last long.
— PTI Chandigarh: The NDA’s November 1 ‘Vijay Sankalp Rally’ at Sonepat would be a historic rally and the workers are particularly enthusiastic since the November 1 rally would also coincide with Haryana Day. This was stated by Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) secretary general and Rajya Sabha MP Ajay Singh Chautala at a press statement here today. All senior NDA leaders, including Lal Krishan Advani and BJP president Rajnath Singh, would address the rally while INLD president Om Parkash Chautala would preside over the rally. Other senior NDA leaders like Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav, Shiv Sena leader Udhav Thackeray, Sharad Joshi, AGP president and other NDA leaders would also address the rally. INLD leader said INLD and BJP leaders were making concerted efforts to make the rally a success. Chautala today addressed the party workers at Rohtak, Sonepat, Panipat, Jhajjhar and Sonepat. He said the people of the state are fed up of the anti-people government in Haryana and Sonepat rally would play a major role in ousting it. Inflation and deteriorating law and order situation has made the life difficult for a common man.
— TNS |
|
Contractor alleges assault, files FIR against teachers
Sushil Manav Tribune News Service
Sirsa, October 30 The police is investigating the matter. The contractor, Paramjit Grover, has said in his complaint that college lecturers H.S Dhillon, H.S Dudi, Lalit Jain, clerk Vijay Kumar and cashier B.S Bhola beat him up while he was returning from the courts after attending a hearing in his case pending against these teachers. The teacher, however, have denied the allegations and met additional deputy commissioner Yudhvir Singh Khyalia in this connection. They alleged that the contractor had minor bruises that were self-inflicted, and he had registered an FIR against them to pressurise them to release payments for the work that has not been completed. The college authorities, according to sources, had received a grant of Rs 9 lakh for the construction of the basketball court and a boundary wall in February and the work on it was to be completed by March 31. Grover, who was allotted the work on the project, alleges that the accused teachers refused to release part payments of the work although he had spent Rs 1.6 lakh. A committee of teachers comprising H.S Dudi, Lalit Jain, S.C Sharma, H.S Dhillon, Sudesh Bala and clerk Vijay Kumar had recommended non-release of payments as they alleged that the contractor had failed to complete any substantial work to deserve payments. Grover stated that he had filed a criminal complaint in the court against the committee members. “When I was returning home after attending the court, the five accused beat me up on the Barnala Road,” alleged Grover. H.S Dhillon counter alleged that Grover has been trying to implicate them in one case or the other ever since they had stopped his payment due to poor quality and quantity of work. He said they had no reason to clash with the contractor and they had returned from the courts after getting bail in the criminal complaint filed by him. They had also filed revision against the lower court’s summoning orders on October 25, when they came to know that a case has been registered against them. Ajay Sharma, SHO, city police station, said a case has been registered against the college teacher but the police is verifying the truth in the allegations.
|
|
Gurgaon emerges as investors’ choice
Gurgaon, October 30 According to official estimates, investments of Rs 4,107 crore have been made in Gurgaon alone during the tenure of the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress regime in the state till date. As many as 1,976 large, medium and small scale units have been set up in the city. Disclosing this here today, Gurgaon deputy commissioner Deepti Umashankar said of the given number of industrial units, 1,924 were small-scale units set up with an investment of Rs 1,531 crore. “The production of these units came out to be about Rs 2,602 crore and these units provided employment avenues to 45,600 unemployed youth,” she said, adding that 52 large and medium sized industrial units had been set up with an investment of Rs 2,576 crore where production amounting to Rs 4,728 crore was made and 12,455 youth were provided employment opportunities. These figures projected by the Industries Department reflect the setting up of units during the period from April 1, 2005 to September 30, 2008. The new units include Information Technology (IT) and IT-enabled services industrial units, apart from the automobile, garments manufacturing, electronics and automobile parts manufacturing units. The DC said the total exports from the district in the IT and IT-enabled service industry had touched the figure of Rs 18,000 crore at the end of last financial year 2007-08. She said in 2006-07, the software export from Gurgaon was Rs 15,000 crore, whereas it was Rs 10,700 crore in 2005-06. In Gurgaon, the industry is growing at the rate of about 40 per cent, which is much above the national average of about 28 per cent. In order to give boost to the IT industry, a regional IT industry promotion office has been set up in Gurgaon. The DC said: “Gurgaon is fast emerging as an IT hub and there are about 400 IT and IT Enabled Services (ITES) companies operating in the district. It has emerged as a preferred destination for IT industry after the announcement of IT policy by the state government.” She said the IT policy framed by the Haryana government was likely to give a further fillip to this industry with the creation of more employment opportunities, adding that the major incentives given to these units include relaxation in floor area ratio, rebate on registration, transfer of properties charges, exemption under the Haryana Shops and Commercial Establishment Act. As of now, the economic growth of Gurgaon district is estimated to reach 10 to 15 per cent during the next five years as compared to the national growth rate of 8 to 9 per cent.
|
|
Security amount refunded to rice millers
Chandigarh, October 30 The food and supplies department of the state had held back this amount on the plea that the central government had asked it to recover transport charges paid during the past several years. The millers were critical of the department’s stand. They had been arguing that every year they entered into a contract with the government agencies, under which there was no provision for levying transport charges on them. The agencies used to pay transport charges to contractors, most of them being politically well connected, never transported paddy from mandis to warehouses of the agencies. The millers claim the paddy was actually transported from the mandis to the warehouses by the millers while the contractors collected transport charges from the agencies. The millers also claim that in reality they provided their premises to the agencies to store paddy, for which they do not charge anything from them. Thus, the directions of the central government to deduct transport charges from their security amount were unjustified as well as illegal. Moreover, they say, what was not provided in the contract could not be enforced on them. The millers had gone on strike in protest against the decision of the food and supplies department for 15 days in late August and early September this year. They called off their strike only after Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda agreed that their security amount should be refunded by the agencies. In lieu of the security amount, the millers were required to submit an affidavit stating that if the central government did not accept their plea for not deducting the transport charges, they would refund the amount to the agencies. They were to also give undated cheques as a further security. However, certain officers of the food and supplies department tried to create obstacles in the implementation of the Chief Minister’s assurance. These officers relented only after Hooda firmly told them to implement his promise. According to information received here, now instructions have been issued by the department to the agencies to release the security amount to the millers, who were facing a severe financial crunch at a time when they need a lot of money to purchase paddy from the mandis. Jewel Singla, vice-president of the Haryana Rice Millers Association, told TNS that the Chief Minister had helped the millers in the face of opposition from the bureaucracy. He said the decision would help both the millers and the paddy growers. |
|
Revised pension rules for retd IAS officers
Chandigarh, October 30 On fixation as per the new rules, pension for September to be paid in October may be drawn and paid on the basis of revised pension rules. It is likely that the payment due in some cases may be computed incorrectly leading to over payments that might have to be recovered subsequently even after this exercise. The pension disbursing authority should, therefore, make it clear to the retiree that the payments would subject to the adjustment from their pension that may be due to them subsequently should any discrepancies be noted later. For this purpose, an undertaking may also be obtained in writing from every retiree at the time of withdrawal of pension for September to the effect that in case excess payment that may be found to have been made as a result of incorrect fixation of pension in the revised pension rules, it will be refunded by him/her to the government either by adjustment against future payments or otherwise. On receipt of the option, action for drawl in disbursement of revised pension should be completed immediately and while drawing pension in the revised pension rules, income tax due should be deducted and credited to the government.
|
|
Rural development top priority, says Dharambir
Bhiwani, October 30 The chief parliamentary secretary was hearing the grievances of the people at his residence at Dadri in Bhiwani district. Thousands of villagers and representatives of panchayats were present on the occasion. He heard the grievances related to water supply, power, roads, canal water, chaupals and health services of Mandaula, Mandauli, Kalali, Balali, Kaliyana, Badal, Asawari, Ramlawas, Chandeni, Jhojhu Kala, Maii Kala and Khurd villages and gave necessary directions to the officers concerned to take steps to redress them. Singh also announced grants for several gram panchayats for development works in their respective villages. He said the state government was spending a huge amount for the development of villages. Mahatma Gandhi Grameen Basti Yojana, Indira Gandhi Drinking Water Scheme, Rajiv Gandhi Vidyutikaran Scheme, Rojgar Guarantee Bill Programme and Nirmal Gram Puraskar were some of the initiatives implemented by the Centre and the state for providing maximum number of facilities to the villagers, he added. Singh also stated that under the DRDA scheme, any gram panchayat could construct aganwari centre in its village. A sum of Rs 3.44 lakh would be spent on it. The panchayat would have to approve a land proposal of 200 square yards and deposit a sum of Rs 33,000 as its share. |
|
State to adopt ‘replacement theory’
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 30 The “replacement theory” will be adopted in case total cadre has full representation of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and the Backward Classes in accordance with the reservation policy. A letter to this effect, which is addressed to all financial commissioners and principal secretaries, divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners, heads of departments, registrar of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and chief administrators, managing directors of the boards and corporations, has been issued by the chief secretary. Elaborating on the theory, the letter states that if a post is vacated by a Scheduled Caste candidate, the same is to be filled from within the Scheduled Caste category. Similarly, if the post is vacated by the general or the Backward Class candidate, the same is to be filled from the respective category. It is, however, made clear that this theory will be applicable only where there are four or more posts in a cadre. In case there are two or three posts in a cadre, the roster shall be operated. The decision has been taken in view of the orders passed by the Supreme Court of India in R.K. Sabharwal and others Vs State of Punjab and others.
|
|
Cong leaders to campaign in six states
Chandigarh, October 30 Party spokesman Ved Prakash Vidrohi here today said the main focus of the Haryana leaders would be on adjoining Rajasthan and Delhi. He said to assign the areas of campaigning to various leaders,
Margret Alwa, general secretary of the AICC and in charge of the party affairs in
Haryana, had convened a special meeting of the state Congress working committee at 24, Akbar Road,
New Delhi on November 3. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, all MPs, MLAs, office-bearers of the state unit and presidents of the district
Congress committees would attend the meeting. Vidrohi said the state leaders would start campaigning in their respective allotted areas after the meeting. He expressed the hope that the Congress would emerge victorious in all six states and the NDA, led by the “communal BJP”, would wilt and start disintegrate after the Assembly elections. |
|
Diwali pollution down in Gurgaon
Gurgaon, October 30 Deputy commissioner Deepti Umashankar said the pollution level was checked at various places in the city on the occasion of Diwali and compared with last year's levels. "This year, the suspended particulate matter (SPM) was 832 microgram per cubic metre as compared to last year's 978. The level of respiratory problems intensifying RSPM was 520 this year as against 621 last year," she maintained. Similarly, on Diwali day, the level of sulphur dioxide was 36 and nitrogen oxide 67 microgram per cubic metre. Last year, on the occasion of Diwali, the suphur dioxide level was 49 and the nitrogen oxide level 77. According to the deputy commissioner, the noise pollution level was checked on the Mehrauli-Gurgaon road (near the Mall area), the bus stand, Sectors 4 and 14. It was also found to be less by 5 to 7 per cent as compared to that recorded last year. |
|
|
Two BSP leaders quit
Sonepat, October 30 In separate statements, they also blamed the state leadership of the party for announcing the name of former MLA Dev Raj Dewan as party candidate for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Sonepat without the consent of party workers. They also alleged that the state party leadership had been indifferent to the workers of the Balmiki community and indicated that more Balmiki workers would quit the party in the near future. Meanwhile, the district unit of the BSP has decided not to hold the
November 9 rally at Gohana as earlier announced by it. — PTI |
|
Hooda flays BJP-INLD pact
Rohtak, October 30 The Chief Minister, who was addressing a press conference here today, said as in mathematics zero plus zero is equal to zero, the same way the result of the alliance between the BJP and the INLD would be revealed to the people. He said both parties were part of the politics of self-interest and they had nothing to do with the welfare of the masses. Both these parties have lust for power and it was because of their ill-intention to grab power that they have joined hands. He said the people were aware of the intentions of these leaders and workers of these two political parties and they had also tried them earlier. The people were waiting for the elections so as to give a befitting reply to such political parties and their leaders, he added.
— PTI |
|
3 held under Arms Act
Rewari, October 30 The accused have been identified as Virender of Gujariwas village, Sumit of Dhaliawas village and Vikas, a resident of sector 3 here. The police also seized a country-made pistol, one live cartridge and a stolen motorcycle from their possession. However, their fourth accomplice managed to flee. The three accused were today produced before Duty Magistrate Saurabh Gosain, who remanded them in police custody for two days. A case has been registered under Sections 398, 401 and 411 of the IPC as well as the Arms Act in this regard. |
|
|
Fire damages property worth Rs 9 lakh
Yamunanagar, October 30 In another incident, a fire broke out in Madaan plywood, Jagadari, and damaged property worth Rs 3 lakh. |
|
More power supply within 2 years
Chandigarh, October 30 |
|
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Mortal remains of Manjit Singh Khokhar, co-pilot of the Punjab government’s ill-fated VIP plane that crashed yesterday near Ludhiana, were consigned to flames with full state honours at his native town of Ratia today.
