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Meltdown hits state
Notice to union transport ministry
LeT Threat |
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Roadways’ contractual staff yet to receive pay
Tech institutes to be graded
Consumer forum to hold adalat
5 officers transferred
5 get life term for murder
SI suspended
8 robbers arrested
775 polio booths set up
Liquor vends to remain closed
Dearness relief for pensioners
Rain brings cheer to farmers
High Court
MDU declares exam results
Cabinet meeting
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Meltdown hits state
Chandigarh, December 16 Official sources informed TNS that the VAT collections had shown a negligible increase since October. As compared to a growth of 23 per cent in the VAT collections in the first two quarters of this fiscal (April - September), and 15.47 per cent in October, the growth in revenue collections was down to just 7.34 per cent last month. As compared to a VAT collection of Rs 634 crore in November 2007, the collection is down to just Rs 681 crore in November 2008. Though the state government is taking solace in the fact that the overall VAT collections are still growing by 19. 59 per cent, it is now trying to plug all loopholes and ensure that the total revenue during this year continues to show growth, even if it is marginal. “There is a general recession in the market, which has led to a sharp dip in the revenue collections during the past two months. But as the state government’s expenditure grows, we also have to increase our resources. Thus, we will be tightening our grip on traders to plug all loopholes and have enough resources at our disposal,” said Ramendra Jakhu, financial commissioner, excise and taxation. No wonder, the state government is now all geared up to correct the slump and mop up additional revenue. The state government is now going all out to recover taxes from traders and businessmen who have not paid their dues for years. It is learnt that the state has to recover Rs 1,400 crore as dues from the traders and businessmen. “We have now started publishing the names of all defaulters on our website, in case they have not deposited their dues with the exchequer. Since we also have photographs of some defaulters, we will now begin publishing their photographs and their names on the website and in newspaper advertisements. This will help us increase our recovery to at least Rs 200 crore this year,” said Jakhu. This department is also trying to increase VAT collections by realising more revenue from mining and luxury tax. The department proposes to increase the VAT collections on mining from the present Rs 35 crore - Rs 40 crore to Rs 100 crore. Luxury tax (which was imposed in November 2007) collections in the state, too, will be increased from the present Rs 30 crore - Rs 35 crore to Rs 100 crore this year. |
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Notice to union transport ministry
Chandigarh, December 16 The notice was directed to be issued for an immediate resolution of issues between the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and Haryana. The issue relates to the sanction of funds for the Kalka-Pinjore road widening project. The sanction of funds for the project should come before the next date of hearing, the Bench asserted. The Bench also sought details of the expenses on escort vehicles and security of VIPs. The issue of heavy toll tax did not go unnoticed. Speaking for the Bench, Justice Uma Nath Singh wondered if the middle class could afford traveling to Delhi. “These toll tax people think that they are in Japan or USA without realising that it is common man who suffers from their whimsical charges,” Justice Uma Nath Singh verbally observed in the courtroom. The surface transport secretary was also asked to file an affidavit to explain the rationale behind levying such heavy toll taxes. As the matter came up, the deputy commissioners of Panchkula, Panipat and Sonepat were present in the court in compliance with the high court directions. DC, Panchkula, Rajinder Kataria told the Bench that he took all steps, but it was for the NHAI to maintain, repair and widen the Kalka-Pinjore stretch given the Centre’s directions. The Panipat SP was pulled up for his reported laxity and failing to comply with the orders requiring him to provide security to contractors working on the project in his area. The Panipat DC’s efforts were appreciated, but he was asked to ensure the timely completion of the project. The SP and DC, Panipat, were on the receiving end for not providing enough security to judges passing through their territory as a high court judge remained stuck on the Panipat highway for 45 minutes after meeting with an accident. Book 2 cops, state told
Justice Ajai Lamba directed Haryana to register a case against two police officials of police station Hodal in Faridabad on the allegations of implicating a youth, Nepal Singh. He was alleged to be in possession of smack recovered from another person. The officials had allegedly let off the accused and implicated Nepal Singh. The fact came to surface in the inquiry conducted by senior officials approached by Asa Ram, the father of Nepal Singh. |
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LeT Threat
Karnal, December 16 The union home ministry has alerted states to beef up security at power installations in view of the information provided by intelligence agencies that the LeT has collected information about grid stations in the country and may be planning attacks on these. The government appears to have had this information prior to the terrorist attack in Mumbai on November 26 and it shot out letters to the chief secretaries, the DGPs and the police commissioners of states and union territories on November 30, cautioning them about such possible attacks. The home ministry’s letter No. 11034/2/2008-IS 4 directed the states to beef up security and thwart any attempt of terrorists to attack power stations. There are four major grids in the country, with the northern, eastern and western grids having been linked to make the central grid, wheeling over 1 lakh MW. The only left-out grid is the southern grid, handling the transmission of 30,000 MW. There are 31 major Power Grid stations in the Central Grid, including one in Himachal and two in Haryana. Besides, there are over 620 power substations in Haryana which have been asked to take adequate security measures, according to official sources. Acting on the advice of the union home ministry, the state government has alerted all power stations and directed them to take extra precautions regarding security of these vital installations. National security adviser M.K. Narayanan had also recently told a TV channel that one of the atomic power plants in the country was under threat from the LeT. Though he did not name any specific nuclear installation, government agencies were reported to have strengthened the security at the Kaiga nuclear power plant in Karnataka. |
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Security to be strengthened at railway stations
Ambala, December 16 This was disclosed at a high-level meeting of senior officers of the Government Railway Police (GRP) and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) here today. The meeting was addressed by IGP, railways and technology, K.K. Mishra and ADGP, law and order, V.N. Roy. Baggage scanners, vehicle scanners, DFMD-door frame metal detectors, dog squads and more CCTV cameras are on cards. All important stations would be sealed and only selected entry and exit points would remain open, Mishra said. Boundary walls would be built along the railways yards at important stations like Ambala, Jammu and Amritsar, he added. The Indian Railways would also introduce an emergency number on the lines of 100, 101 and 102. The number was expected to be introduced within a month. Mishra said in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks it had became necessary to install close circuit television cameras and deploy more police force at railway stations. He said in the first phase, security arrangements would be boosted in Chandigarh, Gurgaon, and Panipat and Faridabad railway stations. The control room would be manned 24 hours and recordings would be re-played by an expert team to check any untoward incident. The GRP and RPF would be provided with more weapons, including AK-47 and 9 mm pistols. A proposal was also mooted to provide the personnel with more bulletproof jackets. Joint exercises of the two forces would be held along with railway officials for close and effective coordination. Railway officials said an integrated security plan of railways was circulated much before the Mumbai attacks happened. “We had already sent our estimates,” said a senior Ambala division official. “The attacks have only propelled the whole procedure into fast mode,” he added. |
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Tributes paid to martyrs
Rewari, December 16 Highlighting the unparalleled gallantry of the Indian forces, Hooda said by carving out Bangladesh, India created history under the acclaimed leadership of the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. Mentioning heroic deeds of the jawans of Rewari district, the Chief Minister said with over 24,000 serving defence personnel and an equal number of ex-servicemen, Rewari aptly executed the noted national slogan of “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan”. Hooda said while Sainik School had already been opened in Rewari, a central university, which had been allocated for Haryana, would be set up in Mahendergarh and the proposed defence university would be established in Binola village in Gurgaon district. Reiterating his commitment for equitable distribution of available canal water, the Chief Minister announced that as soon as the hurdles in the accomplishment of the Hansi Butana Link Canal were cleared, the peasantry of South Haryana would get its share of canal water. In response to certain demands raised by the local minister, Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, the CM said he would examine and implement the project, which could develop the Masani Barrage into a fine tourist spot. HPCC president Phool Chand Mullana, working president of the HPCC Kuldeep Sharma and parliamentary secretary Rao Dan Singh described Hooda as “Vikas Purush” and a devoted well-wisher of the people of the state. Simultaneously, they exhorted the people to vote the Congress to power in Haryana again. Earlier, the Chief Minister inaugurated the newly constructed Rewari-Jhajjar-Delhi bypass, Masani Barrage recharge channel and the trauma centre. Besides, he laid the foundation stone of a new sabzi mandi at Bithwana village near here and Government College for Women in Sector 18 here. Simultaneously, he unveiled a statue of Rao Gopal Dev, a hero of 1857, and placed a wreath on the War Memorial here. BHIWANI: Paying tributes to the martyrs on the occasion of Vijay Diwas at Martyrs Memorial in Nehru Park here on Tuesday, additional deputy commissioner Sunita Verma said every Indian was proud of the soldiers of the Army, who laid down their lives for the country’s pride. She said the Indian Army had got freed Bangladesh from the clutches of the Pakistani army on December 16, 1971, and had arrested over 1 lakh Pakistani soldiers that day. Therefore, this day was celebrated as Vijay Diwas, she added. She also placed a wreath on the statue of martyr Madan Lal Dhingra and a police contingent reversed arms to pay respect to the martyrs. President of the Netaji Subhash Bose Yuva Jagriti Sewa Samiti Ashok Bhardwaj paid tributes to the martyrs and said they should respect the sacrifice made by the martyrs of the country and be united to root out terrorism from the country. KAITHAL: As many as 40 ex-servicemen and war widows were honoured by deputy commissioner Vikas Gupta at a function held on the occasion of Vijay Diwas at the mini-secretariat here on Tuesday. The ex-servicemen and war widows were presented shawls, blankets and sewing machines on behalf of the District Red Cross Society. |
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Mumbai Terror
Faridabad, December 16 The two were honoured in Jasana under the aegis of “84 Pal” (a cluster of 84 villages surrounding Jasana). Elected representatives of panchayats took part in the function. The two were taken out in a procession in the village. They were earlier taken to the village temple to thank the deity for their successful contribution to the combat operations and also for the peace of the souls of those who lost their lives in the terrorist attack. Subedar Fire Chand was injured in firing by the terrorists and was shifted to a Mumbai hospital. Later, he was flown to the Army Base Camp Hospital in Delhi. He was injured on the ankle region. He came to Jasana yesterday after being discharged from the hospital. The panchayat of Jasana announced 100 sq yard plots to both their heroes for showing exemplary courage in serving the country in a time of crisis. The villagers were, however, hurt as no one from the administration came to attend the function. |
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Roadways’ contractual staff yet to receive pay
Gurgaon, December 16 The Haryana Roadways Workers Union today deposited the agenda to the general manager regarding the same. “Earlier the contractual staff used to get the salary by the first of every month. However, for the past four months they have not been getting the salary on time,” president of the union Satish Yadav said. “Every time we ask the reason for delay, it is told that the salary has been issued from the office, but the delay is from bank’s side, whose system is always not working,” he added. Superintendent, Haryana Roadways, Bharat Singh Saini said: “We need to pay Rs 200 to the bank as commission to pay salary to 300 contractual employees. Though the government salary transaction is at bar here, we have to pay to the bank.” On being asked why the salary has not been given yet, he affirmed: “Earlier, the staff on contract used to take the salary on wrong basis. They used to take it as contingency drawl along with the regular pay role employees. The procedure of which has now been changed and we have to follow accordingly. We have to pass through a very long procedure before giving the salary to employees.” He assured that the staff would get the salary on time from next month. General manager, Haryana Roadways, Ajay Malik said: “I have not received any agenda yet. Not getting the salary till now is a very small thing and they are turning it into a big issue. We have already sent the salary to the employees’ account today,” he claimed. |
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Tech institutes to be graded
Chandigarh, December 16 Technical education minister A.C. Chaudhary said here today that the grading would ensure the capability or comparison of institutions regarding aspects like educational level and learning environment. It would also provide a platform for continuous improvement in the quality of education. The grading would also encourage friendly competition among the institutes for bringing about improvement and development in the educational facilities and creative vision. It would also improve facilities for the staff of the institutes and enable the institutes to carry out self-assessment and undertake improvement. He said with the implementation of the ISO-9001 quality management system, the institutes would be provided with well-defined and documented procedures to improve the consistency of output, go in for continuous quality improvement and remove obsolete and inefficient practices. It would also improve internal operational efficiency and help build an international image of the institute. With its implementation, students’ complaints would also get reduced, thus improving the satisfaction level of the students and their parents. Chaudhary said the grading and certification exercise was being coordinated by the Haryana State Counselling Society, Panchkula, and a grading finalisation committee of the department had been formed for monitoring and coordinating the activities of the grading agencies. Various agencies had been empanelled for this purpose and the work of grading would be completed before the next session. |
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Consumer forum to hold adalat
Chandigarh, December 16 A spokesman of the commission said here today that those who intended to get their cases settled in the lok adalat could approach the secretary of the commission. He said special benches had been constituted to settle the cases under the mega lok adalat, initiated by the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice T.S. Thakur. These benches would settle the cases as and when anyone approached the commission for taking up his or her case under the lok adalat even on December 20 and December 21. He said 47 cases were settled amicably by a special lok adalat held last weekend out a total of 118 cases relating to HUDA, the LIC, the HVPN, the postal department and insurance companies, which were put up before the lok adalat. A special bench comprising advocates K.K. Doda, Gian Inder Sharma, I.P.S. Sawhney, Sachin Kapoor, Veena Bhutani, Rajnish Malhotra and P.S. Bedi was constituted by the commission to settle the cases. |
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5 officers transferred
Chandigarh, December 16 Balraj Singh, chief executive, Haryana Khadi and Village Industries Board, has been posted as director, Sports and Youth Affairs, in addition to his present duty against a vacant post. Yesterday, the government had shifted O.P. Singh, an IPS officer who was working as director, Sports, to the Home Guards. The reason for his sudden shifting to an “inconsequential” post is not known. Abhe Singh Yadav, administrator, HUDA, Faridabad, has been posted as deputy secretary, Planning, in addition to his present duty. Ritu, joint director (administration), Women and Child Development, and under secretary, Women and Child Development Department, has been posted as joint director (administration), Higher Education, and under secretary, Higher Education Department. Hawa Singh, SDM, Kaithal, has been posted as estate officer, HUDA, Kaithal, in addition to his present assignment and Prem Chand Gangle, SDM, Jind, has been posted as estate officer, HUDA, Jind, in addition to his present duty. |
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5 get life term for murder
Sonepat, December 16 The court also imposed a fine of Rs 22,000 on each convict. A case was registered on a statement of Sahil, 12-year-old son of Hari Om, in which he alleged that on the night of March 31, 2007, he, along with his sister, were sleeping with their father and mother when Sanjay, Krishan and Satish entered the house and stabbed his father to death with knives. The police investigation revealed that Anita had given a contract (supari) of Rs 5 lakh to Ramesh for eliminating her husband. |
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SI suspended
Rohtak, December 16 The accused has been identified as Subhash Chander, who had been handling a case pertaining to the theft of a vehicle. He had allegedly let off three of the accused nabbed by the police earlier for no valid reasons. The police had even recovered the stolen vehicle from the possession of the accused, who were let off without any action An inquiry was then carried out by a DSP rank official into the matter on the directions issued by the office of the IG, Rohtak range. The SI was booked under Sections 217, 411 and 109 of the IPC after the submission of the probe report. Interestingly, one of the sections that has been used in this case is of non-bailable nature. |
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8 robbers arrested
Kaithal, December 16 The police has arrested eight members of this gang and seized a pistol, two double-barrelled guns, 26 live cartridges, a sword and an iron road from the gang members. However, one gang member managed to give the police the slip. Those arrested were produced in the court of ACJM V.P. Sirohi today, who sent them to 14-day judicial custody. Giving details, SP Sultan Singh told mediapersons here this evening that a police party received information that nine members of a gang of dacoits were planning to loot vehicles on the Kaithal-Ambala road. The police swung into action and overpowered eight members of this gang. Those arrested include Satbir, alias Jhabbal, Subhash and Sandeep, all residents of Kithana; Satyavan of Mirchpur in Hisar; and Subhash of Dillonwala village, Rajinder of Narwana and Baljeet of Pega, all from Jind district. The police has registered a case under sections 399 and 402 of the IPC and 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act. |
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775 polio booths set up
Sirsa, December 16 The civil surgeon, Sirsa, Dr S.K. Sharma, said while polio vaccine would be administered at booths during the first day of the campaign, teams of vaccinators would go from house to house during the next two days to cover those children, who might have not been taken to the booths the first day. He said during the campaign, special attention would be paid to those residing in slums, far-flung areas, isolated hutments, brick-kilns and the floating population. |
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Liquor vends to remain closed
Chandigarh, December 16 A spokesman of the Excise and Taxation Department said here today that the liquor vends would also remain closed from December 29 to 31 in the areas where general elections or byelections of municipal committees or municipal councils would be held. He said similarly no hotel or restaurant or club or other establishment would be allowed to sell or serve liquor to any person in these areas during the above-mentioned period. The ban on the sale of liquor had been imposed in view of the orders of the State Election Commission. |
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Dearness relief for pensioners
Chandigarh, December 16 He said with the grant of this additional instalment, the DR of the pensioners and the family pensioners had increased from 47 per cent to 54 per cent. The liability on account of this instalment on the state exchequer would be Rs 28 crore during the current financial year. |
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Rain brings cheer to farmers
Sirsa, December 16 The rain will be beneficial to crops like wheat, gram and others. "We will not need any irrigation for some days now and the drizzle will also help in the growth of the plants," said Gurjeet Singh Mann, a progressive farmer from Kirpal Patti village. "The crops needed their first irrigation now and the light rain came as a boon for farmers of the area today," he added. |
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High Court
Chandigarh, December 16
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MDU declares exam results
Chandigarh, December 16 He said those students who could not pass their compartment examinations could fill their forms for the next examination up to December 30 (without late fee). |
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