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Police stoned, vehicles set afire
A watershed in Mewat’s history
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CM rebuts INLD charges with statistics
Police books INLD activists
Jhajjar to have naturopathy institute
Girl commits suicide; 2 killed in accident
AISAD wants 10 assembly seats reserved for Sikhs
Rice millers up in arms
Rai is MDI chairman
Rs 172 cr for fourlaning of road
School building inaugurated
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Police stoned, vehicles set afire
Faridabad, April 4 A Tata truck (with a UP registeration number) coming from Palwal and carrying meat turned turtle at the Munjesar crossing in Ballabgarh. The meat thus strewn on the road drew the attention of the locals, who were convinced that it was beef. Word in this regard spread fast. The police failed to read the mood of the people and did not act fast. Another Tata 407 with a Uttar Pradesh number
arrived at the accident site to pick up the spilled meat. By that time, a big crowd,
mostly comprising youths, had assembled there. The angry crowd jammed the highway and set on fire both Tata trucks. The police from the nearby police stations led by an officer of the rank of ACP tried to intervene. This turned the mob even more violent which resorted to throwing stones at the police. The police resorted to a mild cane charge. None was injured in the clash. The public nabbed one of the persons in vehicles and thrashed him before handing him over to the police. His companions, however, escaped. The jam on the highway continued for about three hours.The police diverted the vehicles to the service road and via Sector 7. No movement on the highway was allowed till normalcy was restored. The police is yet not ascertain if the meat in the vehicle was beef. However, people allege that beef is often smuggled to Delhi and other areas from various parts of Uttar Pradesh as well as areas in Mewat district of Haryana. No case was registered or any arrest made till the filing of the report. |
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A watershed in Mewat’s history
People’s
response Satisfied 68.9 % Partially Satisfied 17.07 % Dissatisfied 14.02 % WATER QUALITY Excellent 27.85 % Good 47.76 % Satisfactory 18.70 % Poor 2.03 % No Response 3.66 % COLOUR Colourless 77.24 % Slightly Turbid 17.48 % Turbid 1.63 % No Response 3.66 % TASTE Excellent 27.64 % Good 66.26 % Satisfactory 2.44 % Poor 0 % No Response 3.66 %
Chandigarh, April 4 So, when a team of Jamia Millia Islamia, commissioned by the Haryana government to carry out a study of its ambitious Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Scheme (RGDWS), arrived at his village this January, he knew exactly what he had to say. To a question about the condition of water supply before the project, he says: “Very bad. People would go to the village hand pump to collect water that was unfit for drinking because of the high salt content”. In another column on how his life had changed with the coming of the project, a part of a questionnaire given to villagers, he replies: “No disease is spreading. Health is right.” He’s not alone is giving a thumbs up to the Haryana’s Public Health Department for this project which has virtually become the lifeline of water-starved Mewat. His sentiments are echoed by nearly 70 per cent villagers of 503 villages where clean, odourless and colourless water has made life simpler for many a woman. Women were forced to fetch water, not necessarily drink-able, from long distances or had to rely on tankers for daily water supply. Like Rudbar Khan from Adbar village has commented: “Has saved time. Now, children go to school on time. If fulfills our needs.” The scheme, which was conceived by the young and dynamic Public Health Minister, Randeep Singh Surjewala, during his last term as minister, has taken water through underground pipelines, some as long as 150 km, by multi-stage pumping from Rahimpur and Maholi (Pawal district) located on the banks of the river Yamuna where ranney wells have been made, to villages which usually went parched or were supplied brackish water. While Phase I of the project is nearly complete, the second phase will target increasing the water supply from 40 litres per capita per day to 70 litres per capita per day .While 258 villages have been fed water through the ranney wells, ground water at the foothills of the Aravallis found fit for drinking caters to another 245
villages. In its report submitted to the government, the four-member team from Jamia Millia Islamia carried out an on-the-spot assessment in 50 villages spread across the district and interviewed as many as 500 villagers over a period of seven months. The response was extremely encouraging. On the satisfaction index, 68.90 per cent villagers are satisfied with the scheme, 17 per cent are partially satisfied and 14 per cent have expressed dissatisfaction. As many as 76 per cent are happy with the water quality, 19 per cent are satisfied and only two per cent have termed the quality as poor. According to the findings, at least 78 per cent have classified the water as colourless while only two per cent have found it turbid and 98 per cent of the population surveyed is “highly satisfied” with the taste of the water. Interestingly, none has rated the water as “poor”. Around 76 per cent have expressed satisfaction with the water pressure while 20 per cent have termed it “poor”. Further, the report points out that all boosting stations are
getting 12-16 hours of water supply per day and there is no major leakage in any of the pipelines. “It is observed from the survey data that people at large are content with the implementation of the scheme for district Mewat,” the report concludes. |
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CM rebuts INLD charges with statistics
Sirsa, April 4 The INLD had given a call for a bandh in Sirsa during his visit to the town on Saturday to inaugurate several projects and lay the stone for some other. The INLD legislator, Abhey Singh Chautala, who led the bandh, had alleged discrimination against Sirsa in the matter of development as well as power and water supply. In an informal chat with mediapersons this morning, Hooda gave out data regarding development projects in Sirsa during the first four-and-a-half year of his regime and compared this feat with development activities undertaken by the INLD during its six years in power. “The INLD government spent only Rs 852.18 crore during its six-year rule while the Congress government spent Rs 1470 crore in four-and-a-half years. The whole diatribe and misinformation campaign by the Chautalas is ridiculous, as it is not based on facts,” Hooda claimed. He said a number of demands like a railway overbridge and Ottu lake had been met and a number of new projects and schemes launched to ameliorate the socio-economic status of the people of the area. The Chief Minister said the Congress government had given due importance to vital areas like education, electricity and water. The Congress government had undertaken far more development works, like roads. “The money spent during the previous regime was only 107.92 crore whereas Rs 214.62 crore was spent during the first tenure of my government,” he added, flashing statistics. Similarly, for development of Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Rs 9.95 crore were spent by the INLD government while his government had spent Rs 60 crore on it. On electricity and irrigation, the INLD government had spent merely Rs 181.59 crore and Rs 52.93 crore, as compared to Rs 425.70 crore spent during the Congress regime. Hooda claimed that his government was focused on overall development and had never thought in terms of regions or areas. “I have never indulged in the politics of Banger, Bagar or Sirsa like some others do, and have only worked for the welfare of the entire people,” Hooda maintained. |
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Police books INLD activists
Sirsa, April 4 The FIR, under Sections 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons), 149, 323 (causing hurt), 382 , 307 (attempt to murder) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, various provisions of the Arms Act and the Prevention of Insult to the National Honour Act-1971, has been registered on the complaint of the minister’s younger brother Gobind Kanda. “INLD activists Pardeep Godara, Mahavir Bagri, Leela Dhar Saini, Yogesh Sharma, Raja Kaswan, Suresh Darban, Ram Singh Saini and 20-30 others attacked and beat me up and my brother and Haryana Minister Gopal Kanda at Hisaria Bazar, Sirsa, when we were passing through that route during the bandh organised by the INLD. “The accused, who were armed with sharp-edged weapons and lathis, tore the national flag installed on the bonnet of the minister’s official car and snatched my mobile phone and threatened to kill us,” Gobind Kanda alleged in his complaint to the police yesterday. Confirming registration of the FIR, the SP, Satinder Kumar Gupta, said police parties had been sent to arrest the accused. He said the police had not received a complaint from any INLD worker regarding yesterday’s incident. Meanwhile, the INLD has termed the allegations levelled against the party workers as false and fabricated and accused minister Gopal Kanda of having beaten them up. A much agitated Ellenabad MLA, Abhey Singh Chautala, served a 15-day ultimatum to the authorities to quash the FIR. “If the authorities do not nullify the FIR and take suitable measures to improve power, water and law and order in Sirsa district in 15 days, the INLD will launch a bigger agitation, details of which will be announced later,” Abhey Singh said while talking to the media. Chautala alleged that the government had resorted to various gimmicks to prevent people from participating in the bandh, virtually converting Sirsa town into a police cantonment. “The minister, Gopal Kanda, helped by the police, attacked INLD workers making an appeal for bandh to the shopkeepers. The minister even asked his guards to shoot them,” he alleged. He also claimed that his workers, injured in the attack, were shown the door when they reached the police station to register an FIR. The police, he said, refused to get their medical examination done. |
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Hindi dominates Punjabi mahasammelan!
Hisar, April 4 Hooda’s close friend Bharat Bhushan Batra, MLA from Rohtak, was the only other community leader who spoke in Punjabi. Surprisingly, even as the community leaders were seeking a better deal for the Punjabi community and language, all banners and hoardings erected at the venue were in Hindi. The charter of demands presented by the main organiser of the meet, Vinod Bhayana, who won from the Hansi Assembly segment on the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) ticket but later joined the Congress, was also in Hindi. In his speech, Hooda said the Punjabis as a community were hardworking and self-respecting people. He attributed his good dress sense and his fondness for golgappas to his numerous friends from this community. He said his government had accorded the second language status to Punjabi and a Punjabi teacher would be appointed in any school where 10 students opted to study the language. The Chief Minister said a Balidaan Bhawan in memory of Punjabi martyrs would be set up at any place the community leaders chose. He appealed to all 36 communities in Haryana to live in harmony to ensure development. Denying accusations of inequitable distribution of development funds, Hooda revealed that his government had so far invested Rs 1,470 crore in Sirsa district while his predecessor Om Prakash Chautala had invested just Rs 852 crore between 1999 and 2005. Rajya Sabha member Shadi Lal Batra, who presided over the function, said the Hooda government had done much for the community but more was needed to be done to better the lot of this community. He described Hooda as a Punjabi at heart who understood the aspirations of the community. The organiser, Vinod Bhayana, pointed out that Punjabis constituted 33 per cent of Haryana’s population and sought their proportional representation in all government departments, boards and corporations. He said although the Hooda government had been doing much for the community but there was certainly scope for more. Rohtak MLA Bharat Bhushan Batra hailed Hooda as a “true friend” of the community and urged the Chief Minister to give the community’s interests a high priority. He said only the Hooda regime was taking care of the interests of the community while earlier Punjabi leaders had only used the community to further their political careers. |
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Jhajjar to have naturopathy institute
Jhajjar, April 4 Besides, a 50-bedded chest disease hospital will be set up in the area of Matanhail in this district and its foundation stone will soon be laid by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. This information was given at a health camp organised by the AYUSH Department in Jhajjar today, which was inaugurated by Asha Hooda, wife of the Chief Minister, and vice-president of the Haryana State Child Welfare Council. The Director of the Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy, Dr Chidananda Murthy, said Rs 2.5 crore had been released to set up the institute at Devarkhana village. Addressing a gathering, Asha Hooda said during the tenure of the present government, four medical colleges were being set up in Haryana and this was a big achievement. “The pace of development will be further accelerated by the government in Haryana. The day is not far away when four new power plants will make Haryana self-reliant in power. The dream of making Haryana a developed state will be realised soon,” she said. Health and Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal said an extension of AIIMS was being set up at Badhsa village in Jhajjar district and new power plants were coming up at Jharli. Jhajjar would be connected by rail. She said now expectant women would get nutritious food within the hospital during the delivery. The Director-General, AYUSH, RK Sapra, said 522 dispensaries of AYUSH were functioning in all districts and AYUSH hospitals had been opened at Ambala, Panchkula, Jind, Gurgaon and Hisar. Also, 91 AYUSH poly-clinics were functioning in the state. |
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Girl commits suicide; 2 killed in accident
Rewari, April 4 Family members alleged that the girl took the extreme step after her alleged molester, Nanak Ram Gujjar, a resident of Sangwari village, threatened them with dire consequences if they pursued the matter further. Meanwhile, on a complaint filed by Phool Singh, the Kasaula police has registered a case of abetment to suicide and criminal intimidation as well as under the SC/ST Act against the accused. Sources said Nanak intruded into Phool Singh’s house on March 30 and made a bid to outrage the modesty of his teenaged daughter. However, when she raised the alarm, the accused fled away. In another incident, two women died on the spot while nine other occupants, including six women, were injured when the tempo they were travelling in reportedly overturned on the Rewari-Mahendragarh road, near Nangal Mundi village, 12 km from here, today. The deceased have been identified as Paini Devi (75), wife of Gyani Ram, and Krishna Devi (62), wife of Rattan Singh, residents of Bijwasan area of Gurgaon district. The mishap took place when all these persons, residents of various villages of Gurgaon district and Najfgarh area of Delhi, were going from Rewari to Motla Khurd village, 15 km from Rewari. All of them had come here by train and had hired a tempo to reach Motla Khurd village. |
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AISAD wants 10 assembly seats reserved for Sikhs
Karnal, April 4 Mann said the party would also press for reservation for two Lok Sabha seats and 10 per cent reservation in government jobs in the state for the Sikhs who had so far remained neglected. He said the AISAD had already decided to contest all 11 SGPC seats in Haryana. The meeting was convened to discuss problems faced by the Sikhs in Haryana. Elections to the executive of the state unit of the AISAD were held after the meeting. Didar Singh was unanimously elected state president. As many as 150 delegates from various parts of the state arrived here today to participate in the meeting. The AISAD later passed a resolution thanking Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for according second language status to Punjabi. |
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Rice millers up in arms
Yamunanagar, April 4 Earlier the government had fixed it at 4 per cent. The rice millers held protest here yesterday alleging discrimination against the recommendations issued on April 1. They alleged that while rice millers from Punjab were allowed to supply rice with 4.75 per cent damages, then why this discrimination for rice millers of Haryana? Haryana Pradesh Rice Millers and Dealers Association general secretary Ashish Mehta said rice millers had been facing problems due to faulty policies of the Centre and the state . “We have also submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister in this regard,” he said. Association’s president Azad Singh Rathee said, “Due to poor infrastructure of the FCI, we have been able to supply only rice to the central pool. Besides, the state government should not charge holding charges till June from the millers”. |
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Rai is MDI chairman
Rai, who has been a member of Board of Governors of MDI, has also worked with the Union Government in various capacities for over 20 years. He was involved in a diverse range of activities from management to regulation to formulation of policies. Lauding the appointment, the members of the Board of Governors pointed out that since the MDI was promoted by the IFCI, Rai’s appointment would enhance closeness between the MDI and the IFCI and help the institution achieve greater heights in the academic arena. Rai thanked the Board members and asserted that the MDI was a powerful brand which needed to be strengthened through physical and virtual reach in geographical and cyberspace. Welcoming the new chairman, the MDI director, Dr BS Sahay, maintained that the institute would become a top business school in the world with his vision. The MDI has the distinction of being the first internationally accredited Indian B-school by the Association of MBA (AMBA) and by the South Asian Quality Standards (SAQS). |
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Rs 172 cr for fourlaning of road
Yamunanagar, April 4 This was disclosed at a meeting held to review the steps taken by the district administration for carrying out developmental works as per the announcements of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. All aspects of the fourlaning of the Saharanapur-Ladwa-Kurukshetra road were discussed in the meeting, an official press note said. Public Health Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala said a sum of Rs 18.72 crore would be spent on the fourlaning of the old Kaithal bypass from the Ambala-Kaithal road to the Patiala-Kaithal road and for the sixlaning of the Karnal-Kaithal road.
— PTI Order amended
Chandigarh: State Election Commissioner, Haryana, Dharam Vir has further amended the Haryana Panchayati Raj Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1996. As per the amendments, Para 11 of the order will be replaced with the words - “A candidate shall be deemed to be set up by a political party, if and only if, the candidate has enclosed a declaration to that effect along with the nomination paper; the candidate is a member of that political party and his name is borne on the rolls of members of the party; a notice in writing, in Form-B (Annexure-III), to that effect has, not later than 3 pm on the last date for making nominations, been delivered to the RO concerned.
— TNS |
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School building inaugurated
Rewari, April 4 Exhorting teachers to make the teaching-learning process captivating enough to relieve children of its inherent monotony and drabness, he laid stress on the need for technical education to ensure easy and lucrative employment. The minister also announced a financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh for the school. |
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In Mewat’s Noushera village, Nasru may not understand ranney wells and boosting stations, the government and its fiscal management. But he does understand something as basic as clean drinking water.
So, when a team of Jamia Millia Islamia, commissioned by the Haryana government to carry out a study of its ambitious Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Scheme
(RGDWS), arrived at his village this January, he knew exactly what he had to say.
Gurgaon, April 4