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Order to close cane crushers
Sampat takes power corp to task
Gear up for polls, Cong workers told
Demolition drive: Residents hold protest
A crowd gathers near the Jind bypass in Rohtak to protest against the demolition drive near Khokrakot on Tuesday. Photo: Manoj Dhaka |
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Hospital wants HIV+ youth shifted out
State to raise Rs 1,500 cr as loan
Bank duped of Rs 1.5 lakh
Relief for Dhonchak
Separate SGPC
ACP’s Murder
Charges framed in Sarita case
Market body ends strike
Z security sought
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Order to close cane crushers
Chandigarh, February 24 Because of the shortage of sugarcane, almost all sugar mills in the state, whether in the private sector or in the cooperative sector, will not be able to crush the cane to their full capacity, resulting in the lower production of sugar this year. Official sources say the crushers had been ordered closed because their continuation adversely affected the availability of seed cane for next year, which would further bring down the area under cane. The cane shortage is countrywide. Trade sources say the price of sugar, which has already started rising, may touch Rs 35 a kg after the Lok Sabha elections if the next government did not order the large-scale import of sugar immediately. The government, they say, has managed to artificially subdue the price by releasing more quota in the market. The Centre has also imposed stock limits on the traders. Already, several mills have stopped their operations mid-season. So much so, the Phapharana Sugar Mill in Assandh of Karnal district, which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on December 19 last, stopped crushing after 22 days. Crushers had been offering Rs 50 per quintal more to the growers than the official price. The order to close the crushers has invited criticism from the Opposition. In a statement issued here today HJC spokesman Satpal Kaushik said the decision would adversely affect the cane growers as the crushers were offering higher prices for even that cane which was being rejected by the mills. The growers, he said, had already been hit hard by the exceptional low yield of crop this year due to several factors. Demanding the immediate withdrawal of the order President of the Haryana BJP Atam Prakash Manchanda said as a result of this order small growers would not be able to sell their produce in the off season, when the mills had been closed. He said the area under cane was coming down because the growers were not getting remunerative prices and timely payment for their produce. Manchanda said closing the crushers without giving their owners sufficient time would affect their economy as they still had uncrushed stock of cane. Moreover, they would not be able to fulfil their commitments to gur traders from whom they had accepted advance money. |
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Sampat takes power corp to task
Chandigarh, February 24 Even as the HPGCL authorities tried to dispel all his concerns, the former Finance Minister, who had conducted a thorough study of the proceedings for the power generation company’s annual revenue requirement (ARR) hearing today, rejected the ARR claiming that it was on the upper side. “The ARR should be reduced by at least Rs 2000 crore, as it is the taxpayers’ money which is being spent. The HPGCL should rework its estimates, especially for return on equity and on contracting deals to buy fuel at revised, lower rates,” he said. The hearing, conducted at the HERC office in Panchkula, began with Managing Director of the HPGCL Sanjeev Kaushal seeking permission from the power regulatory authority for introducing multi-year tariff. “This is one of the stipulations under the Electricity Act, 2003. This will ensure that the tariffs stay down in cases where operations have been much below the norms for previous years, till the initial starting point in determining the revenue requirement and the improvement trajectories are recognised at relaxed levels rather than the desired levels. The tariffs will be regulated for anything between two to five years and the “discoms” (UHBVN and DHBVN) will benefit, and this benefit will also be passed on to the end consumers,” he proposed. As the HPGCL MD went on to explain that the transit losses for coal were high at 2 per cent because of the distant location of their power generation plants from the coal pit heads, the INLD leader objected to this high loss and said HERC should not allow losses more than the acceptable norms of 0.80 per cent. The HPGCL authorities, however, claimed that the losses of 0.80 per cent were worked for the NTPC, which were located at the coal pit-heads. Sampat objected to the high return on equity of 17.481 per cent, claiming that it should not be over 10 per cent. The HPGCL, however, claimed that the return on equity was in consonance with the guidelines of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission.
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Gear up for polls, Cong workers told
Chandigarh, February 24 “The enemy may not be much of a challenge and it may be issueless, but a war is a war. We can’t sit back. Tell me, who will fight the enemy in the field,” he asked the workers, only to be met with a loud “we will, we will” from the crowd. He announced that the Congress’ election campaign for the Lok Sabha and subsequently the Assembly elections would formally be kicked off with a rally on March 8. He asked them to report in large numbers as a show of strength to the Opposition. Armed with the weaponry of party flags, calendars with achievements of the government and three audio-video CDs, Hooda asked the workers to take the message of the “pro-people government policies” to the public. In fact, so enthused were the workers at the meeting that they intermittently prodded the leaders on the dais to go in for Assembly elections along with the Lok Sabha elections and raised slogans in favour of the Chief Minister. “An individual cannot change a system. It has been team work all along and we have managed to give a clean and free environment in the state. We have tried to make it the number one state and have even succeeded,”
Hooda added. Referring to the issue raised by campaign committee in charge Venod Sharma that the Opposition had skipped the obituary references in the Assembly when tributes were being paid to his father, Chaudhary Ranbir Singh Hooda, he said that his father did not need a certificate from a man who had been disowned by his own father. Earlier, President of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) Phool Chand Mullana said the election date would be announced shortly. “In the face of lack of issues with the Opposition, it could create caste and religious divides and the Congress workers should be geared to tackle these,” he stated. Addressing the workers as leaders, Venod Sharma said, “We have done a lot of good but we can’t afford to be overconfident.” Working president of the HPCC Kuldeep Sharma said the BJP was undecided about its leadership at the Centre. “Their top leaders are fighting among themselves while the Congress line is clear that Manmohan Singh is the prime ministerial candidate,” he remarked. With the meeting beginning almost two hours behind schedule, women workers spent the time gossiping, some even suggesting that a rift was always detrimental to any family, adding that the Congress should bury the hatchet and invite Bhajan Lal back into the party fold. |
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Demolition drive: Residents hold protest
Rohtak, February 24 They were protesting against the demolition of some structures by the district administration near Khokrakot locality here this evening. They demanded to end the demolition drive launched in the region. Bulldozers, however, razed down more than 12 structures in the locality, which were declared illegal and encroachment on land owned by the Archaeological Department. As per official claims, ‘land mafia’ had encroached upon the land belonging to the department and this came to light after a
recent survey. According to district officials, the defaulters were served several notices in the regard, but they had failed to clear up the land, which made them to take such an action. “The drive was carried out today as the matter is likely to come up in a court soon regarding the status of land,” a local official claimed. Meanwhile, a large number of people gathered at the site and protested against the drive. They claimed that they had built structures after getting proper documents and were not informed that this land belonged to the Archaeological Department. Police force was deployed at the spot to avert any untoward incident. The traffic movement remained disrupted between the Gohana and the Jind Bypass roads. |
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Hospital wants HIV+ youth shifted out
Sirsa, February 24 The boy, whose father had died five years ago, is the only breadwinner for the family comprising his mother and three young sisters, aged 20, 18 and 16. He is lying on the hospital bed in an unconscious condition and has no one in the family who can take him outside for treatment. However, the hospital authorities say they do not have the facilities needed to treat HIV/AIDS patients. The victim’s younger sister, who is sitting by the side of his bed in the local general hospital, told The Tribune that her brother used to eke out a living for the whole family by working as a salesman in a shop since their father died of cancer five years ago. Her brother suddenly fell ill in November last year and since then they have been trying to get him treated at several places but to no avail. “Our mother has been doing menial jobs to pull on the family and my sisters and I have been looking after our brother in the hospital,” she said. The youth was brought to the hospital on Saturday, but his kin were told to take him somewhere else by doctors today. It was only after some social activists like Rohtash Jangra intervened that the doctors relented. Dr Gobind Gupta, medical specialist of the local general hospital under whom the youth is undergoing treatment, said the youth suffered from tubercular meningitis and was HIV positive. He said they did not have the arrangements to test and treat such patients and these facilities were available only in the PGIMS at Rohtak in Haryana. “We want to refer him to the PGIMS for proper treatment but his family members are not willing to take him from here,” he maintained. He described the condition of the youth as critical. |
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State to raise Rs 1,500 cr as loan
Chandigarh, February 24 The proceeds of the loan will be utilised for financing capital expenditure in connection with the development programmes of the state government. Stating this here today, a spokesman of the Finance Department said the state government had also notified the sale of these stock (securities). The consent of the Central Government was needed under Article 293 (3) of the Constitution. He said the stock would be sold through the Reserve Bank of India by auction in Mumbai on February 27, 2009. The application form duly filled with the bids should be submitted to the RBI, Mumbai, on February 27 by 12.30 pm. The results of the auction would be declared the same day and the successful bidders would have to make the payment on March 2. The spokesman added that the loan would be repaid at par on March 2, 2019. He said interest would be paid half yearly on September 2 and March 2 and the cut-off yield determined at the auction would be the coupon rate per cent per annum of the stock sold at the auction.
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Bank duped of Rs 1.5 lakh
Fatehabad, February 24 According to sources, the accused came to the branch situated on the national highway and filled a withdrawal voucher and signed it as Sandeep Hooda. Later, he presented the form with a token to lady sitting in the cashier cabin and took away Rs 1.5 lakh from the bank. When the cashier was making entries of the payment, she found that Rs 25,000 had been paid against that token just five minutes earlier. She brought the matter to the notice of the bank authorities, which immediately closed the bank, but the youth had escaped by then. The bankers found that there was no account by the name of Sandeep Hooda in the branch. Later, the matter was reported to the police. Bank officials said the fraudster not only forged signatures of the officer, who tallied the signatures on the withdrawal forms with those in bank records, but also managed to steal a token. Interestingly, a youth had also duped the local branch of Punjab National Bank situated at a little distance from the branch a week ago in the same manner. The police later took bank officials to the SP office, where they were shown footage of CCTV camera installed at PNB, where the same incident had happened last week. The cashier confirmed that the youth appeared to be the same that duped her. |
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Relief for Dhonchak
Chandigarh, February 24 Dhonchak, represented by RS Bains, has been given two weeks’ time for the purpose. Counsel for the high court had earlier argued that taking suo motu cognizance of Dhonchak’s complaint against Haryana IPS officer Manjit Singh Ahlawat may not be sufficient grounds for dropping the charge sheet. The high court had, earlier, taken note of a letter written by Dhonchak, seeking a CBI probe into the allegations of forgery and fraud against Ahlawat during his tenure as SP, Rewari, along with other police officials. Taking up the letter, the then Chief Justice had directed that the matter be taken up on the judicial side, and the letter be treated as a writ petition. Dhonchak was then posted as additional CJM, Rewari. Issuing directions, the Chief Justice had observed that the there was merit in the application and it be treated as a civil writ petition.
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PM, Badal playing politics: Jhinda
Tribune News Service
Karnal, February 24 Jhinda, who went to Rohtak yesterday to thank the Chief Minister, said Hooda was not playing vote-bank politics and had told him that he had initiated a move to fulfil his commitment. However, it was clear from the reported statement of SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar that the Prime Minister and Badal were coming in the way of a separate SGPC for the state and cautioned that Haryana Sikhs would not hesitate in making any sacrifice for their cause. He said Makkar had claimed that the SGPC had called off the Karnal rally on an assurance from the Prime Minister that a separate committee for Haryana gurdwaras would not be constituted.
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Mobile seized from accused
Sonika Bhatia Tribune News Service
Bhondsi, February 24 The police is now investigating from where he got these and with whom he has been in contact with. Bhardwaj had been brought here on judicial remand on January 7. The police had seized the SIM cards and the mobile after a search of more than two hours. During the search, it seized five mobiles from five other prisoners also. Joint Commissioner Manjit Singh Ahlawat said the mobile phones from the prisoners were seized on Monday after they raided the jail premises. It was also disclosed that the mobile jammer installed in the jail was not working. Even jail superintendents are being interrogated regarding the use of mobile phones by the prisoners. The police had seized half a dozen mobile sets, batteries and chargers from the barracks. The commissioner feels that the jail management could be involved in the episode. He has apprised the DG (Jails) of the matter. The cyber cell will now investigate the matter.
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Charges framed in Sarita case
Ambala, February 24 Two police officials of Rohtak - Silak Ram and Baljeet - are the accused in this case. Special Judge of the CBI court, Haryana, AK Verma adjourned the hearing for April 21. The counsel for the defence pleaded that the DNA test of the police officials was negative and no sufficient evidence was available against them. On the other hand, CBI counsel HPS Verma said the mobile call details and the suicide note of the victim, Sarita, were solid evidence in this case. On June 9 last year, Sarita had committed suicide in front of the Police Headquarters in Panchkula after she “failed to get justice” from district police officers. Her husband had alleged that she had committed suicide as she was raped by two police officials of the CIA staff, Rohtak. Later, the investigation was handed over to the CBI. |
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Market body ends strike
Gurgaon, February 24 They were protesting against the government for not providing them proper space to sit. Mukesh Dagar, general secretary of the association, said, “The CM has told to wait for tomorrow and has assured us of solution for this.” |
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Z security sought
Yamunanagar, February 24 The members said Jhinda had been campaigning aggressively for the rights of Sikhs in Haryana, which was not acceptable to Akali leaders as they were against the formation of a separate committee for the state. |
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Traffic movement on the National Highway No 71 remained disrupted for over an hour, following a protest by the local residents.
