|
|
|
|
Storm brews in Cong over poor performers in LS poll
Bhajan attacks UPA govt on price rise
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Plots for MPs, MLAs Statistics belie govt’s reasoning Chandigarh, August 17 It’s beyond reason and all plausible justification and there are statistics to prove it. That’s probably why it has taken the Haryana government over a year to come close to fulfilling its promise of “gifting” away 14-marla plots at throwaway prices to its Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs).
6 die in road accident
Pact with World Bank to improve power system
Price of milk up by Re 1
Police ‘Atrocities’
Eyeing poll, Capt Yadav woos Punjabis
Former jawans hold protest
Award instituted for panchayats
Dharna postponed
Library inaugurated
Youth booked for raping minor
Tributes paid to Dhingra
Award for vidyapeeth DG
|
|
Storm brews in Cong over poor performers in LS poll
Chandigarh, August 17 For, from within the party, is being raised a voice to deny tickets to all sitting MLAs from Assembly seats which gave an adverse result. The advocates for such a formula to allot party tickets in the Assembly elections are justifying their demand on grounds that the leader representing that particular seat failed to win despite a Congress wave. Though the Congress created history by winning nine of the 10 Lok Sabha seats for the second time, the break up of the result on the basis of the Assembly constituencies showed that the party had lagged behind in 31 seats in the 2009 general elections against 19 seats in 2004. “There is no justification for allotting tickets to Congressmen who lost their Assembly seats to rival political parties in the general elections. The poor performance of the party despite the favourable wave at all such seats only goes to show that those particular Congressmen have no individual standing in their respective areas. The results from the seats are the best proof,” a party leader said. Sources said while the Congress was still in the process of finalising a formula for ticket-allotment this election season, it is also lending its ear to these stray voices seeking reconsidering allotment of party tickets to such leaders in the Congress. This also assumes significance since there is a growing demand to give greater representation to youth. Given Rahul Gandhi’s growing shadow in influencing ticket allotment as was evident in the Lok Sabha elections, especially in neighbouring Punjab, a number of senior leaders are getting sleepless nights. Then, there are Congress leaders in search of new constituencies following delimitation which has either resulted in reservation of their seats, de-reservation or creation of new seats. While the party is unlikely to cut tickets of its heavyweights, including the president of the state unit of the party, cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries where the Congress lost, they might have to move out from their traditional seats while the “lightweights” in the party bear the brunt. The Congress lost in the Assembly segments of Kalka, Naraingarh, Mullana, Yamunagar, Nilokheri, Indri, Gharunda, Jind, Uchana Kalan, Narwana, Barwala, Hisar, Hansi, Bawani Khera, Ateli, Mahendergarh, Narnaul and Nangal Chaudhry. |
|
Bhajan attacks UPA govt on price rise
Fatehabad, August 17 Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) patron and MP from Hisar was speaking to mediapersons in Badopal village in this district. He said the rising prices of commodities of daily use was a cause of concern for common people but the government had been showing lack of will to bring the prices down. The veteran leader alleged that the Haryana Government had failed on all fronts and claimed people were waiting for an opportunity to oust this government. “Power and water have become scarce in Haryana and corruption has reached its zenith, leaving people cursing the government,” maintained Bhajan Lal. He said the whole of Haryana was reeling under the impact of drought, but Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was not declaring Haryana a drought-hit state for fear of having to pay relief. Bhajan Lal demanded that the government should immediately declare Haryana a drought-hit state so poor farmers could get some relief. Accusing Hooda of promoting regionalism during his tenure, Bhajan Lal said whatever little development had taken place during the present regime had been in the “area of the Chief Minister only”. “Hooda is the Chief Minister of Rohtak district and not of Haryana,” the HJC (BL) leader quipped. He said the present era belonged to the youth and claimed that Kuldeep Bishnoi was striving hard to bring the youth to centrestage of Haryana politics. “Youth are going to back the HJC-BSP alliance in the coming Assembly elections in a big way paving the way for the installation of the alliance government in the state,” he claimed. Bhajan Lal expressed his condolences on the death of Haryana Minister Kartar Devi and said she was known for her leadership qualities. |
|
|
Plots for MPs, MLAs
Chandigarh, August 17 The government’s reasoning of lack of accommodation for MPs and MLAs during the session time too sounds a tad unconvincing. This is especially since at the government’s disposal are 40 rooms in the MLA hostel, 22 rooms at the Panchayat Bhawan and 16 rooms at the Haryana Niwas. Inquiries at the three places today revealed that while the MLA hostel was almost full, no room was occupied in the Haryana Niwas and the rooms at the discretion of the Chief Minister were vacant in the Panchayat Bhawan. All these are in addition to the 12 official residences for the Chief Minister and ministers which are either government houses or those that are being paid for by the state exchequer and the 38 MLA flats which have been allotted to the MLAs. Then 22 houses, originally constructed to house the ministers in Sector 12-A of Panchkula, have been allotted to Parliamentary Secretaries appointed from among the MLAs. This takes care of 72 MLAs of the 90-member House, leaving only 18 MLAs without official accommodation. Further, in the draw for group housing societies in 2005, immediately after coming to power, the government had reserved a site for a housing society for MLAs, which has 40 members. Besides, the government has at its disposal, rest houses and guesthouses of various boards and corporations in Panchkula along with the rooms in motels of the Haryana Tourism Department. These statistics then belie the urgency for providing 14-marla plots to 80-odd MPs and MLAs to make their stay comfortable. Also, a few members of the House already have their own houses in Chandigarh or Panchkula. All these rooms and accommodation put together certainly seems enough to house all 100 representatives even if they choose to descend together on the city. Meanwhile, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has described the move to allot plots as “shameful act” against all established democratic, social and constitutional norms. INLD secretary general and Rajya Sabha MP Ajay Singh Chautala said the Chief Minister should not forget that the state exchequer was not his personal property and it cannot be distributed to gratify Congress MLAs, ministers and MPs. |
|
|
Plywood industry forced to import poplar wood
Yamunanagar, August 17 This is for the first time that the traders are importing poplar timber, as the price of poplar has witnessed a steep hike from Rs 630 to Rs 1,000 per quintal due to shortage in the past two months. Even as the demand of the plywood has increased manifold, the area of cultivation of poplar and eucalyptus has not increased. Plywood industrialists rue that the government has not made any effort to bail them out of the crisis. Although import of poplar timber cost them only Rs 750 per quintal, the process is time consuming. They get delivery of timber after about two months of placing orders. Industrialists feel that the government should increase the cultivation area. “This is for the first time we are importing poplar timber from Germany. We have placed an order and are likely to get it one-and-a-half month after. We have been facing shortage of poplar timber for the past two months and its price has also increased considerably,” Sumit Mangal, one of the industrialists said. While president of the Wood Technologists Association SC Jolly said the plywood industry had made plantation of poplar and eucalyptus as cash crop for the local farmers, the area of cultivation was limited only. We demand that the government should provide wasteland to industrialists and farmers to grow trees on lease basis. Out of the total wasteland, 50 per cent trees should be allowed for the industrial use while the rest could remain as green cover. This way, the government would not only solve the shortage of timber but also increase the green area in the state, he added. The president of the plywood industry, Davinder Singh, said the government should fix the price of timbers to be sold to the industry in the same manner as it did by fixing the price of sugarcane for sugar industry, paddy for rice mills and wheat for flour mills. “Farmers have been getting poplar yield between five to seven years. The government should give emphasis to involving the research and development department where it can find ways of reducing the cycle of popular trees yield between three to five years,” he added. |
|
Kartar Devi cremated
Rohtak, August 17 Fakeer Chand, brother of Kartar Devi, lit the pyre at the Ram Bagh cremation ground. A contingent of the Haryana police saluted the departed soul and fired in the air as a mark of respect to the leader. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, several ministers and MLAs were among those who were present at the time of cremation. Kartar Devi, who had been holding the Health portfolio till a few weeks ago, had been retained as minister without any charge due to her poor health for the past couple of months. Laying wreath on the minister’s body, the Chief Minister described her as an icon in the political arena, who had put her life in the service of the downtrodden and the Backward Classes. He said she had not only been a devoted Congress worker but had also worked with dedication for various social and common causes. He said the party and the government had lost a hardworking minister and a political leader. General Secretary of the AICC and in charge, Haryana affairs, Prithvi Raj Chauhan also paid tributes to the minister. Wreathes were also laid on behalf of chairperson of the UPA and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Tributes were also paid on behalf of Governor of Haryana Jagannath Pahadia. |
|
6 die in road accident
Sonepat, August 17 The injured has been identified as Simmi, daughter of Vikas and Poonam. A case has been registered at Murthal police station. The incident took place when the victims were returning from Shimla. The car was being driven by Sunil. Though the driver of the canter applied emergency brakes, Sunil could not control his car and dashed in the rear of the canter. The impact was so terrific that Vikas, Poonam, Neeraj and Rishika died on the spot whereas Sunil and Anil succumbed to injuries while being taken to the local Civil Hospital by the Highway Safety Police. The doctors declared all six victims as brought dead.
|
|
Child falls into borewell, rescued
Sirsa, August 17 The girl remained in the hole for over four hours and showed extraordinary courage. She held a rope lowered in the hole firmly till her rescuers pulled her out. Kiran, the daughter of farmer Joginder Singh, was playing with other children outside her residence built in the fields, when she fell into the borewell that had been constructed recently for installing a submersible tubewell. The girl slipped straight into a 10-inch wide plastic pipe of the borewell. The girl’s father informed the police and soon SP Subhash Yadav and DSP Dabwali Ram Phall reached there with their force. A number of villagers also assembled there and started a rescue operation. The rescuers, mostly villagers, lowered a rope, with a hook tied on one end of it, into the well. Kiran, on the advice of rescuers, caught the hook firmly and continued holding it till she was pulled out of the hole. She was immediately rushed to the local general hospital. Her condition is stated to be stable. |
|
Pact with World Bank to improve power system
New Delhi, August 17 The development objective of the project is to improve the availability, efficiency and accountability of electricity supply in Haryana through strengthening the transmission and distribution system. The power-starved state that has been suffering from drought-like conditions has demanded 400 MW of power to tide over the acute crisis of power supply owing to failure of electricity supplies from the hilly region. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had written to Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde demanding 400 MW of power from the central pool. The total cost of the improvement project is $ 471 million out of which $ 330 million will be financed by World Bank. The project will be implemented entirely in the state by two state-owned companies - Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Ltd and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam. The project components include the strengthening of the transmission system and the urban distribution system and technical assistance and capacity building of transmission and distribution companies. The state government has also demanded Rs 1,007.50 crore compensation from the Centre for Haryana Power Distribution Utilities. These funds will be used for the purchase and supply of additional power to the agriculture sector. |
|
Price of milk up by Re 1
The dairy cooperative of Haryana has increased the price of skimmed and double toned milk by Re 1 a litre, ghee by Rs 5 a litre, and of sweets by Rs 20 per kg. The double toned milk by Vita is now available for Rs 20 a litre and skimmed milk for Rs 18 a litre. The price of ghee has been increased to Rs 232 per litre and pinni to Rs 170 per kg. This follows the recent hike in milk prices by Milkfed - dairy cooperative of Punjab - which has hiked the price of milk by Re 1 litre, butter by Rs 20 a kg and ghee by Rs 10 a litre in a fortnight. However, due to a severe shortage in milk supply, Milkfed is mulling yet another hike in procurement price from dairy farmers that can be passed on to the consumers. Officials in the dairy cooperatives of Punjab and Haryana informed The Tribune that considering a severe shortage of fat in milk, they have been forced to hike the procurement price of milk so as to get the maximum milk for their operations. In the past one month, both dairy cooperatives have hiked the procurement price of milk by Rs 10 per kg fat (to Rs 290 per kg fat). On the other hand, the private dairy industry has hiked its procurement rates to Rs 300 per kg fat. Amarjit Goyal, CMD, Modern Dairy, Karnal, said as against a requirement of two lakh litres of milk per day, they were able to procure just 50,000 litres of milk a day for the past few weeks. “There is a shortage of 10-15 per cent in total milk production because the animals are facing heat stress in this drought-like situation,” agreed a senior official in Milkfed. Milkfed is barely managing to procure six lakh litres of milk a day and the additional requirement of 1.50 lakh litres is being met through reconstitution of skimmed milk powder (SMP). Similarly, the Dairy Development Cooperative Federation, Haryana, is able to procure just 3.14 lakh litres of milk and is reconstituting almost 90,000 litres of milk a day to meet its daily requirement of four lakh litres a day. “We have increased the prices of skimmed and double toned milk, ghee and pinni as we have had to increase the procurement price of milk,” said a senior official in the Haryana dairy cooperative.
|
|
|
Police ‘Atrocities’
Mewat, August 17 Members claimed that firstly the police asked the arrested people to fill their bail bond. Initially, they refused to sign the bond and insisted on being sent to the jail. However, in the evening they were discharged. It was unanimously decided that from tomorrow onwards the demonstration would be held at double pace and 22 people would offer court arrest tomorrow. None of the officials was available for the comment. Earlier, a large demonstration was organised in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s Office here by members of all the communities of Mewat against the alleged police atrocities. On August 2, the Haryana police had mercilessly beaten up women on Badkli Chowk and when it was resisted by the locals it resorted to lathicharge. Many women, children and shopkeepers sustained injury. To add salt to the wounds, the police registered a case against the innocent people and even chargesheeted them. In the panchayat held on August 13, it was unanimously decided that the case against them be withdrawn and an FIR should be lodged against erring officials. It was also decided that in the absence of the fulfilment of demand the members of Mewat Sangarsh Samiti would court arrest and remain in the judicial custody till the innocent people were freed. There is a huge anger among the people of Mewat against the alleged atrocities by the police. Similar alleged incidents of police atrocities in Alawalpur village of Mewat as well as at Jama Masjid, Gurgaon, earlier, has fuelled the anger among people against the police. |
|
Eyeing poll, Capt Yadav woos Punjabis
Rewari, August 17 At his ‘tacit’ behest, members of the Punjabi community organised a sammelan in Mianwali Dharamshala here yesterday evening. Former Municipal Council chief and senior INLD leader Harish Arora reposed his faith in the policies and programmes of the Congress party while bidding adieu to the INLD. Welcoming him into the party fold, Captain Yadav gratefully recalled the Punjabi community’s contribution which made him victorious at the hustings during the several previous Assembly elections in a row. Simultaneously, he hoped that the community would extend its support to him in the coming elections as well. He gave an assurance that the concerns of the community would always be fully addressed. In response to his exhortation, Dinesh Kapoor, Dalip Mata, Ashok Grover, HR Anand and several other prominent leaders of the community assured him of their full-fledged cooperation in the coming elections. |
|
Former jawans hold protest
Kaithal, August 17 They raised slogans against Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the Congress for his failure to absorb them into the Haryana police. The protesters had started a foot march from Panipat a few days ago to Chandigarh and back to Delhi, where they will call on UPA chairperson and AICC president Sonia Gandhi. State president of the disbanded unit Sukhbir Singh in a press statement here today said Hooda during the election campaign of Deepender Singh Hooda had assured them that they would be absorbed in the Haryana police after the elections, but now he had backtracked from his promise and they had been forced to launch an agitation. He said they would reach Delhi after passing through Ambala, Ismalabad, Pehowa, Kaithal, Jind, Julana, Rohtak and Bahadurgarh. He said during the last Assembly elections Hooda had promised to provide employment to 10 lakh youths. They would continue their protest till they got justice, he added. |
|
Award instituted for panchayats
Chandigarh, August 17 An official spokesman said such chaupals were being constructed in a phased manner and the government had earmarked about Rs 25 crore for their construction during the current financial year. He said the second phase of the project had been taken up during the current financial year with a target of constructing 850 more women chaupals. |
|
Dharna postponed
Sonepat, August 17 However, the proposed dharna was postponed because of the death of Cabinet Minister Kartar Devi and a two-minute silence was observed to pay homage to the departed soul. The memorandum of their demands, including announcement for immediate draught relief to farmers, to put an effective control over the rising prices of essential commodities and to give possession of 100 square yards of plots to homeless families, was sent by registered post to the Haryana Governor. In the memorandum, they criticised the state government for the law and order situation that had worsened and erratic power supply. |
|
Library inaugurated
Sonepat, August 17 Prof Virender, political advisor to Haryana CM, who presided over the function, donated four Vedas, Ramayana and Mahabharata and poet Dinesh Raghuvanshi contributed 100 books for the library. Besides contribution by many others, an amount of Rs 1 lakh that was left by Krishna Devi, wife of Mukhtiar Singh, after her death, was also handed over to the library. |
|
Youth booked for raping minor
Rewari, August 17 Subsequently, when the girl disclosed the matter to her parents, a complaint was filed following which the Model Town police registered a case of abduction and rape against the accused Navin Kumar. The police also got the girl medically examined at the civil hospital here. The girl’s family, which belongs to Alwar district of Rajasthan, as well as the accused, a resident of UP, had been living in rented accommodation in the colony. |
|
Tributes paid to Dhingra
Kurukshetra, August 17 A yajna was performed on the occasion. President of the samiti Ashok Arora, former Haryana Transport Minister and state president of the INLD, AC Nagpal, former president of the Punjabi Sabha, Kurukshetra, and Kulwant Rai Chhabra, treasurer of the samiti, paid tributes to the martyr. Residents pay tributes to martyr Madan Lal Dhingra in Karnal on Monday. Tribune photo: Ravi Kumar
|
|
Award for vidyapeeth DG
Sirsa, August 17 A release by the vidyapeeth said Dhindsa would receive the award in Delhi on August 19 at a function to be organised by the NGO. |
|
|
| 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 | |
Chandigarh, August 17