Panipat, December 18
With the Union Government signing an agreement with the World Bank under the Coal Fired Generation Rehabilitation Project, the Panipat thermal plant along with three other similar plants in the country are all set to be renovated and modernized.

The total cost of the project is US $ 303.4 million, out of which US $ 180 million would be International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) loan and US$ 45.4 million would be Global Environment Facility (GEF) grant.

The objective of the project is to improve the energy efficiency of selected coal-fired power generation units through renovation and modernisation as well as improved operations and maintenance.

A significant benefit of the project would be reduction of greenhouse gas emissions per kilowatt hour of electricity generated.

According to a statement issued by the Union Government, the power plants that would be renovated and modernised include Bandel Thermal Power Plant of West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited (WBPDCL) (210 MW), Koradi Thermal Power Plant of Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited (MSPGCL) (210 M

Chandigarh, December 18
The BJP has sought a White Paper on the state’s fiscal health while maintaining that the Congress-led Haryana government had failed to fulfil its pre-election promises. The BJP also demanded an inquiry by a sitting judge of the High Court into the allegations against senior police officers in the Madhuban scandal.

The president of the state unit of the BJP, Krishan Pal Gurjar, while addressing a press conference here today, said the state’s financial position did not seem too good. “The Hooda government should issue a White Paper on the state’s financial health,” he said.

Gurjar maintained that the Congress had rushed into the Vidhan Sabha elections right after the Lok Sabha elections because it did not have the funds to meet the poll promises. “The Congress never intended fulfilling the promises, including 15 lakh jobs for the youth, construction of the Hansi-Butana canal, recruitment of over 10,000 teachers, ensuring availability of water in canals and providing plots to the BPL families. Though it has been over a month since the Congress returned to power, no steps have been initiated to fulfil any promise,” he said.

He claimed that the law and order situation had virtually collapsed in the state and cases of atrocities against Dalit women had gone up from 53 cases in 2003-04 to 301 in 2008-09.

“There have been two dozen cases of rape where Dalit women are the victims. In female foeticide, Haryana ranks among the top three states,” he alleged. Stating that the Madhuban case had come as a big question mark on the functioning of the police department, he said the party would write to the Chief Minister to get a through investigation into the matter from a sitting High Court judge.

“If the allegations are found to be true, the guilty should be punished. If these are only allegations, then, too, it will restore the credibility of the police, which has taken a beating,” he held.

Gurjar said sowing for the kharif season was already under way and there was no water in canals at the tail end because, unlike previous years, the government had not bothered to get these cleaned. “The government talks of generating employment on the one hand and is privatising power on the other hand. Let the government fill vacant posts with regular employees instead of involving private players,” he remarked.

Critical of the Congress for allegedly “manipulating” numbers to “stabilise” its government, Gurjar said the Speaker should show as much haste in deciding an appeal against the Haryana Janhit Congress MLAs who joined the Congress as he showed at the time of approving the merger.

“The MLAs, on their part, should resign on moral grounds since the people voted for them against the Congress. Whatever the Congress did is undemocratic,” he said.

Sirsa, December 18
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today criticised the UPA government for the spiralling prices of essential commodities and sought the resignation of the Manmohan Singh government on the issue.

He addressed a series of public meetings at Kalanwali, Baragura, Rori, Bharokha and Bagguwali under the Kalanwali assembly segment today to thank the voters for the victory of SAD nominee Charanjit Singh.

“Inflation figures have touched a new high in the past 11 years but the UPA government seems insensitive to the woes of the common man,” Sukhbir alleged.

The agriculture, finance and commerce ministries had failed to work in tandem to tackle inflation.

Calling upon the people to expose the “corrupt policies” of the Congress-led Union Government, Sukhbir said curbs on import and export had been imposed and then relaxed to manoeuvre the prices of essential commodities, which was responsible for the “calculated” price rise.

Badal regretted that with pulses being sold at Rs 90 plus, the Centre, instead of accepting failure in bringing down the prices, was advising people to opt for dry peas.

The NDA had been pressing for an adjournment motion in Parliament to discuss the issue.

But with the PM in Copenhagen and the Agriculture Minister busy with the Indo-Sri Lanka one-day series, the UPA did not think the matter was worth discussion in Parliament.

Badal said the NDA would soon call on the President, Pratibha Patil, requesting her to intervene to wake up the government from its slumber and dismiss the government for its “inability to perform its constitutional duty of protecting the life of its citizens.”

The poor were dying of hunger because of the rising prices, Sukhbir claimed. 

Karnal, December 18
Making a slow recovery from economic recession, the Haryana hotel industry has suggested slashing of bar license fee and abolition of VAT on sale of liquor in bars and restaurants to give a boost to tourism in the state.

A delegation of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Haryana (HRAH), which met Excise and Taxation Commissioner Vijay Rastogi, apprised him of the problems being faced by the hotel industry and pleaded that the issues raised by the association be taken into consideration while framing the new excise policy for 2010-2011.

The members argued that the hospitality industry in Haryana, which was in a nascent stage, was badly hit by economic recession as high bar license fee and imposition of VAT made it difficult for the “capital intensive” industry to make a fast recovery from recession.

Food and beverages being a critical component of profitability in hospitality industries, concessions should be granted to help the industry come out of the present economic slowdown, they added.

The members sought reduction in bar licence fee for all category hotels to Rs 4 lakh from the present three-tier fee structure of Rs 6 lakh for three-star, 15 lakh for four-star and 25 lakh for five-star hotels. They pointed out that Rs 25 lakh was the highest license fee in the country for any hotel.

Stating that 25 percent VAT on sale of liquor by bar (L-4) and restaurants (L-5) was impractical and non-competitive, the association members sought abolition of the same. The hoteliers were paying “double tax” as liquor was bought from the retailers, who were already taxed, and the VAT was zero on liquor sold by bars and restaurants in neighbouring states, they claimed.

The association also urged that the local excise officers be permitted to issue annual sanction for purchase of imported liquor as centralisation of power at Chandigarh was causing harassment to hoteliers in districts.

Permission to serve liquor by female bar tenders in bar and restaurants and opening up of bar outlet for an extended time should be made optional on payment of additional fees, they urged.

The serving age of the bar tenders should be below 21 years while the age for those serving liquor should be above 25 years, as done by Delhi government, they further claimed.

President of the HRAH Manbeer Choudhry, who is also the ex-president of Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI), said ‘ahatas’ should not be allowed as the investments made by them was negligible as compared to hotels and restaurants, and they cut into their business due to the “uneven playfield”.

He further said there was an urgent need to check the “ahatas’ as they were promoting roadside drinking.

Kurukshetra, December 18
The Kurukshetra University Teachers Association (KUTA) has urged the University Grants commission (UGC) to release guidelines regarding minimum qualification for appointment and promotion of teachers and equivalent posts in universities and colleges.

A delegation comprising Dr Kamraj Sindhu and Dr Parmesh Kumar, vice-president and secretray of KUTA, and senior faculty members Dr MS Jaglan, Dr Bhagwan Singh Chaudhary and Prof Ramesh K Garg, met UGC Chairman Prof Sukhdev K. Thorat in New Delhi yesterday and submitted a memorandum.

KUTA president NS Kaushal said the delay in the release of the guidelines was causing anxiety among the teaching community as due benefits were being denied to teachers on the pretext that revised guidelines were awaited. He said promotion from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor should be through a “screening committee” and not a “selection committee”.

Further, the designation of Associate Professor in pay band IV should be given to Readers from the day they completed three years in the post and not from January 1, 2006. The delegation took up the issue of “privileging of international journals with impact factor over local and national publications”. It said this had caused resentment among teachers as there was no consensus on the reliability of the impact factor as an index of quality in research publications.

Other demands included upgradation of professors in the higher academic grade of Rs 12,000 on completing 10 years and academic allowance for all categories of teachers, which could be at 10 per cent of the basic salary.

Fellowship

Meanwhile, Prof KR Aneja, Department of Microbiology, Kurukshetra University, has been made Fellow of the Indian Mycological Society. University Registrar Prof Ragvendra Tanwar said Dr Aneja would also be given Rashtriya Gaurav Award by the India International Friendship Society (IIFS), New Delhi, during a symposium on “Global Participation in India’s Economic Development” next year.

Gurgaon, December 18
The Referral Transport Scheme (RTS) launched in Haryana recently won much praise of a delegation from Vietnam which visited the city today to assess healthcare facilities in the state.

The delegation members, impressed by the scheme, said on returning home, they would recommend a similar programme there.

The 13-member Vietnamese delegation led by Ms Truong Thi Mai, chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Social Health and Labour of the Republic of Vietnam, visited rural and urban areas for a first-hand feel of the state health services.

The delegation, which comprised nine MPs, three officials and a student, visited a delivery hut at Jharsa village, the Primary Health Centre at Badshahpur and the Civil Hospital in Gurgaon.

The Civil Surgeon, Dr SS Dalal, explained to the delegation in detail about the functioning of the RTS.

At Jharsa, village sarpanch Sube Singh welcomed the delegation with garlands. Some members enjoyed a“hookah” with the village folk.

At Badshahpur, the delegation was apprised of various welfare schemes for the underprivileged by Dr Shashi and Dr Neeti.

Karnal, December 18
Six persons were arrested from a partly constructed house in Sector-8 here for indulging in betting for the ODI cricket match between India and Sri Lanka being played at Nagpur today.

On a tip-off, the police raided the place and had to face a flurry of stones that were pelted from inside the house before they could overpower the culprits. The police seized Rs 1.06 lakh cash, 22 mobile phones, two laptops and one television set from the accused. The civil line police booked the accused, identified as Rampal of Wazir Singh colony, Bansi Lal of Sector 7, Sandeep and Sunil of Shiv colony, Sanjeev of Subash Nagar and Sunderlal of Hissar under sections 332, 353 and 307 of the IPC and various sections of the Gambling Act.

Kurukshetra, December 18
Three unidentified persons armed with lathis attacked purohit Gain Chand Goswami while he was worshipping at the banks of the Brahma Sarover this evening.

An eyewitness, pleading anonymity, told mediapersons the attackers were suspected to be members of a liquor mafia. They left threatening Goswami that they would not spare anybody who opposed them.

Goswami was rushed to LNJP Hospital here. He said he had been opposing the activities of the liquor mafia around Brahma Sarover from time to time. Reacting sharply, Shiv Sena district president Naresh Mahajan alleged that the holy city was gradually turning into another UP town where goondaism ruled supreme. — OC