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Blocking roads popular mode of protest in Sirsa
DHBVN relief to honest consumers
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Nod to shifting of load from rural to urban feeders
Solar education kits introduced in 2,000 senior secondary schools
Concern over spurt in crime in Y’nagar
Govt buys 20 acres for timber market
Commonwealth Games
Teacher convicted in 2005 dismissed
3,620 cases of power theft detected
108 held in drive against anti-social elements
Village elects panchayat unanimously, wants model status
State's first Punjabi don gets UGC project
Ayurvedic, Unani docs told to renew registration
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Blocking roads popular mode of protest in Sirsa
Sirsa, June 14 In another incident a few days ago, irked at the failure of the police in arresting a teacher, who allegedly raped a minor girl of the school, villagers from Shahpur Begu blocked vehicular traffic on the Sirsa-Chopta-Bhadra road for over three hours. In yet another case, irate students blocked vehicular traffic on the national highway near Sikandarpur village. Villagers locked school building at Harni Khurd recently, demanding action against a teacher responsible for obscene acts with girl students. These are some of the instances where people resorted to roadblocks and other unlawful acts for one reason or the other, holding innocent people to ransom for hours. Such incidents have been happening at a regular interval in the district. Of late, it has become a common phenomenon for villagers to resort to roadblocks for redressal of their grievances. Deputy commissioner Yudhbir Singh Khyalia had recently appealed to the residents to shun the practice of blocking roads. “The authorities will look into your complaints attentively and provide remedies, if you approach us,” he had assured people in a release. However, the appeal seems to have made a little impact and roads are being blocked at the drop of a hat. The Tribune tried to ascertain views of a cross-section of people, including officials and social and political activists to reach to the root of the problem. Krishan Swaroop Gorakhpuria, a social activist and vice-president of state unit of the All-India Kisan Sabha, said bandhs and roadblocks reflected poor governance. He maintained that common people had begun to feel that they would not get justice without disruptive activities. Inderjit Singh, secretary of the state unit of the CPM, said the public redressal system needed to be improved, if the government was to stop such reactions from people. “Whatever efforts have been made by different governments in this direction, have in fact proved to be gimmicks where ministers and chief ministers hold darbars that reminded of medieval practices,” Inderjit Singh said. He said it was ironical that people end up harming their interests by blocking the roads as they were the real sufferers in all such activities. The police rarely register cases against those blocking roads and the crime record of the police bears testimony to it. A police source admitted that in nine out of 10 cases, those responsible for taking innocent people to ransom by their conduct went scot-free. Interestingly, several of these roadblocks are resorted to as a reaction to the “inaction” of the police itself. SP Satinder Kumar Gupta said the police registered criminal cases in most of the cases, whenever roads were blocked or illegal means resorted to by the villagers. “In most cases, we get the action videographed for the identification of those responsible. However, in some cases, roadblocks are for a brief period and the residents lift the blockade after persuasion,” Gupta added. “Whatever the reason, people have no right to block roads. I have been a sufferer once, when transporting a serious patient had to be delayed for two hours due to a roadblock,” said Harish Kumar, a local resident.
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DHBVN relief to honest consumers
Hisar, June 14 However, the consumer will be advised to take a separate connection for the same failing which the case will be treated as a case of power theft and action will be taken accordingly. Sudhir Rajpal, Managing Director, DHBVN, said that the nigam had decided that in case a change of category from domestic to non-domestic was detected in residential areas where a part of the residential building was being used for commercial purpose, the assessment for unauthorised use would be made on the basis of energy consumed in that part of the house and not for the entire residential building. On detection, the consumer would be advised to obtain a separate non-domestic connection for the said portion of the house failing which the case would be treated as a case of theft of energy. However, if the meter is found tampered with, the assessment of quantity in units would be made under provisions of theft of electricity. Rajpal said that if a residential building had been rented out and the rented portion was being used for residential purpose only —for example students or employees—it would be treated as a case of domestic category only. However, if a building was being exclusively used as a guesthouse or hostel even if located in residential areas, it would be treated as a case of use of electricity for the purpose other than for which the usage of electricity was authorised. However, in the case of non-residential areas and where more than 5 per cent of the sanctioned load was found used for a purpose other than the purpose for which the connection was given, it would be considered as a case of theft of energy. But, in such cases if the meter was in working order, the assessment of the units consumed as recorded by the meter would be taken in account. He said these decisions would provide great relief to honest consumers who were prepared to undo the illegalities they had committed voluntarily.
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Nod to shifting of load from rural to urban feeders
Chandigarh, June 14 An official spokesman said here that permission would be granted to those consumers whose premises were located in the area contiguous to the urban areas. The applicant would have to pay the entire cost of shifting. The consumer would have no right for the shifting of connection from the rural to urban mode if the system conditions did not permit. Each case would be considered on merit, the spokesperson clarified. The permission for shifting would be granted to those applicants only who had cleared their electricity dues. The new connections would be released from the nearest feeder of the appropriate category and in no case the load would be unnecessarily extended from urban to rural zones. The spokesman also said that intermixing of power supply i.e. of urban and rural areas would not be allowed as that might lead to accidents and create operation and maintenance problems for the staff.
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Solar education kits introduced in 2,000 senior secondary schools
Chandigarh, June 14 The kit comprised a mini fan, LED lamps, solar radio, solar toy car, doorbell, house nameplate, traffic light signals, road stud, solar pump, solar isolation meter, thermometer and a solar panel. In the first phase, 2000 senior secondary schools of 13 districts — Bhiwani, Sirsa, Panipat, Karnal, Kaithal, Rewari, Rohtak, Jind, Jhajjar, Fatehabad, Gurgaon, Ambala and Panchkula—had been covered at a cost of Rs 80 lakh. The cost was borne by the state and the Centre equally. The cost of one kit is Rs 4,000. Sumita Misra, Director, Renewable Energy Department and the Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA), said the kits provided in these schools would be used in science labs to educate the students about the solar photovoltaic technology and its uses with small live models of mini fan, LED lamps, solar radio, solar toy car, door bell, house name plate, traffic light signals, road stud, solar pump, solar isolation meter, thermometer and solar panel. She said the department had also taken up the matter with the Centre to release its 50 per cent share of Rs 20 lakh to provide
the kits in the remaining 1000 senior secondary schools of seven districts — Hisar, Kurukshetra, Palwal, Faridabad, Narnaul, Sonipat and Yamuna Nagar — to be covered in second phase within the next three months.
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Concern over spurt in crime in Y’nagar
Yamunanagar, June 14 The business community is aggrieved at the inability of the police in arresting the accused who had looted jewellery and cash from the house of Dr RS Badhawan, a resident of HUDA locality, last week. Besides, in two other cases of dacoity of similar nature in HUDA, the police has been unable to solve the cases. The industrialists and traders expressed concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the district. They put forward various demands to deputy commissioner Ashok Sangwan at a function organised by the the Yamunanagar-Jagadhri Chamber of Commerce and Industry to highlight the problems being faced by the industry here. While highlighting their demands, the members said Yamunanagar and Jagadhri were one of the oldest and foremost industrial towns of the state. However, not much attention had been paid by the successive governments to improve the basic infrastructure for the smooth functioning of the industry here. “We are in dire need of proper drainage and sewerage facilities for the industrial area, as there is extreme waterlogging during rains in this densely populated locality. Old sewerage pipelines remain choked during monsoon. If we witness 3-4 hour rainfall, all internal roads, houses and industrial units get submerged due to the lack of any
provision for the outflow of water,” said Samira Saluja, president of the Yamunanagar-Jagadhri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “The industry’s requirement of water has increased manifold. Hence proper arrangements for adequate water supply, including that of potable water, should be made. The administration should also maintain proper fire brigade station with required facilities to tackle fire hazards keeping in view a large number of plywood industry,” she added. She said a proper policy of return back to the area should be framed by the government through which a certain percentage of the revenue collected from the industry of this area should automatically be ploughed back for development and maintenance work in that area. “There is a need for more public
transport buses in the city, as nearly 3,500 autorickshaws are running in the city and have become a cause of frequent traffic jams and mishaps,” she
further said. While Ashok Sangwan assured that all problems of the industry would be solved on a priority basis.
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Govt buys 20 acres for timber market
Yamunanagar, June 14 The decision is considered important as the plywood industry of the district fulfils 50 per cent of the plywood needs of the country. "Due to lack of any platform such as a timber market, there has been no fixed rate of timber, including eucalyptus and poplar, in the state," said the state principal chief conservator of forests, Dr Parvez Ahmed, here yesterday. The demand for the raw material has increased manifold in the industries here. Farmers of the state have been fulfilling only 40 per cent timber need of the plywood industry and the industry has been getting rest of the timber from Uttar Pardesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand. "The industry can provide free-of-cost plants to farmers to increase the plantation of eucalyptus and poplar to fulfill their demand," Ahmed added while addressing seminar on "Need for supply of captive plantation for industrial use at sustainable basis" organised by the Wood Technologists Association here. "There is no restriction or regulation under the Indian Forest Act in terms of felling and transport of wood in Haryana and this has provided the required impetus for large-scale plantations by institutions and individuals in areas outside forest. Only a small area in the foothills of Shivaliks and Aravallis has restrictions regarding the felling of trees under the Punjab Land Preservation Act (1900), but even in these areas there is no restriction in felling and transport of agro forestry produce like eucalyptus and poplar," he added. "Now, industrialists have to motivate farmers to grow more plants as per the industry needs. There is much land available with panchayats and industry can motivate farmers to grow eucalyptus and poplar. The forest department has been providing more than 3 crore different varieties of plants to farmers in the state every year since 2003. This is done to protect the environment and the need of the industry," he said. There is much scope of eucalyptus plantation in villages situated along seasonal rivulets in the district, he further suggested. Reacting to the demand of the plywood industry to provide them wasteland for agro forestry to fulfill their ongoing demands of timber, he said the forest department had no land which the department could provide to the industry. President of the Wood Technologists Association SC Jolly said the stability of the plywood industry depended on active support of the government. The plywood industry had been facing shortage of raw material, due to which the price of timber had almost doubled in comparison to last year. Besides, the industry had been facing shortage of labour and the industry also lacked research and development facilities. Plywood industrialist Anand Amreek Singh said there was much work needed to be done on rain harvesting. They had to save and store rainwater as much as they could, as the water table had been going down significantly every year. Another plywood industrialist Ajay Oberoi said much of technical staff problems could be solved if local polytechnics and ITIs started plywood-based courses.
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Ambala to get tourism institute soon: Selja
Ambala, June 14 She said, Panjokhra Sahib, a church near the Air Force Station destroyed during the Indo-Pak War, and Patel Park in the Cantonment area would be developed as historic tourist spots at Ambala in near future. The Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned ecotourism projects in her constituency, including Morni, Pinjore and Yamunanagar, to the tune of Rs 3.29 crore. The experts from the Ministry would soon arrive for the survey and assess tourism developments in the area. An Institution of Tourism and Hospitality, which will provide opportunities of employment to many youths, would be opened soon for which an appropriate place was being identified at Ambala. This was stated by Kumari Selja who was in the town to lay foundation stone of the long-awaited complex for the construction of over 300 chambers in the court complex at Ambala City. On the occasion, she appreciated the role of the Ambala Bar Association for extending support to her and the Congress party during the elections. She assured to extend all possible help to the association as and when required. While answering to a query about solid waste management plant, she said she would take up the matter with the district administration that Rs 20-cr solid waste management plant set up at Ambala is not functioning. She said officials of the Ambala Municipal Corporation and representatives of the company have been summoned to explain reasons for the failure of the plant and assured that it would be made functional soon. In reply to a question about the spurt of cases on atrocities on Dalits in the state after the Mirchpur controversy, she said the incident was also a reflection on the state’s social fabric. The government should be strict in enforcing law and order to provide a sense of security among people, she added. Earlier while inaugurating the construction work of the lawyers’ chamber, she announced a grant of Rs 10 lakh to the Ambala Bar Association from her MP LAD funds. SK Jain, president of the association, thanked her on the occasion. Later, Selja listened to public grievances of her constituency at her residence in Ambala Cantt.
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State ‘growing fast’ under Cong govt
Faridabad, June 14 The Faridabad Industries Association (FIA) during its 57th annual general body meeting expressed the view that Haryana had been a fast growing state and the growth had accelerated appreciably under the current administration. It opined that it was a “testimony of the focus and the competence of our leadership” that in 2008-09, Haryana’s economy grew by 8.02 per cent while the National GDP grew by 5.7 per cent. Giving presidential address, in which state chief secretary Urvashi Gulati was present as the chief guest, president of FIA Sajan Kumar Jain said the industry shared the vision of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to make Haryana the number one state. He further said the industry would like to join the government in achieving this objective. In sync with its apparent positive tilt in favour of the government, the FIA tried to impress upon the present leadership that Faridabad was an old and important industrial city and played a vital role in the state’s economy. The FIA could become an active and meaningful partner to revitalise the city, it added. The association offered itself to be in the vanguard in evolving a pubic-private-partnership model of governance to bring higher level of effectiveness and transparency in the new industrial policy framed by the ministry of industry and commerce for speedy growth of the state. The FIA’s support was apparently unflinching. It said there was no doubt that Faridabad had now started moving on the fast track of development after having “remained neglected” for a long time. It cited the upcoming IMT, Badarpur flyover, widening of the bypass road/NF-2/Faridabad-Gurganon and Ballabgarh-Sohna as some of the development projects as indicators of overall progress. It also appreciated the local team of officers led by deputy commissioner Praveen Kumar saying the FIA was “fortunate” to have them at the helm. It made special mention of the Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF) and its commissioner Mahtab Singh Sehrawat, saying that there had been a visible improvement in conditions of industrial sectors. It accorded “special appreciation” of the efforts made by Mahtab Singh, notwithstanding cash constraints faced by the civic body.
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Commonwealth Games
Gurgaon, June 14 As per a decision of the Union Government, tax concession will be extended to those hotels, which would be ready by July 31. This concession will be for five years. The concession will be admissible only to one-star to four-star hotels. Kataria recently met owners of hotels constructed or under construction in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Rewari and Sonepat districts to know about the problems being faced by them in completing work related to the games. He ordered the officers concerned to redress on a priority basis the problems being faced by the hoteliers. He said cooperation was being extended to the hotel owners in completing all formalities without any hassle at the earliest. All officers of the departments concerned had been directed to clear hotel-related files immediately. If any owner of the hotel faced any difficulty, he could directly meet him. Kataria said one lakh tourists and sportspersons were expected to come during the games to be held in Delhi in October next. Foreign tourists preferred star-rated hotels approved by the Union Ministry of Tourism and as such all hotel owners should apply for getting their hotels star-rated. He said a committee constituted under his chairmanship was competent to certify up to three-star hotels. The list of the star-rated hotels and of those which were approved by the Union Ministry of Tourism would be uploaded on the websites of the Commonwealth Games, the Union Ministry of Tourism, Haryana Tourism Department and the Haryana government. International travel agencies would also be linked with these website.
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Teacher convicted in 2005 dismissed
Bhiwani, June 14 In various cases, he was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for one year and a fine of Rs 1,000, RI for five years and a fine of Rs 2,000, and RI for six months and a fine of Rs 1,000. The move came after a verbal complaint was received in this regard. The director, in his order, mentioned that a teacher is a role model for society, particularly for students and their guardians. Even slightest slur on the reputation of teacher casts reflection on the minds of schoolchildren. Students and their guardians want an unblemished image of their teachers. Teachers are expected to set high standards of integrity, probity and rectitude. He further mentioned that he failed to understand that why no action had been taken against the said teacher despite being convicted in 2005.
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3,620 cases of power theft detected
Chandigarh, June 14 A spokesman of the UHBVN said here that 564 cases of theft of electricity were detected in Rohtak district, 540 in Kaithal district, 512 in Jind, 377 in Ambala and Panchkula, 337 in Karnal, 318 in Yamuna Nagar, 311 in Panipat, 291 in Sonipat, 200 in Kurukshetra and 170 in Jhajjar. As many as 20,823 consumer connections were checked during this period. In most of the cases of theft of power, the consumers were found stealing power by tapping the lines. The cases of meter by-pass, tampering of meters or fake seals also came to light. He said the nigam temporarily or permanently snapped power supply of 44,584 defaulting consumers, who owed to the nigam over Rs 34 crore out of which Rs 19.75 crore was recovered. The power supply of 11,388 non-payers was snapped in operation circle Ambala, 8,993 in Yamuna Nagar, 6,664 in Kurukshetra, 4,835 in Kaithal, 3795 in Jind, 3530 in Panipat, 1895 in Jhajjar, 1863 in Karnal, 1431 in Sonepat and 190 in Rohtak. The spokesman said the nigam would intensify its campaign against power theft, one of the main reasons for shortage of electricity. This was also causing low voltage, accidents and breakdowns. Simultaneously, the power supply to non-payer consumers would also be disconnected as per rules and the nigam teams would crosscheck to ensure that the supply of such consumers had actually been disconnected.
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108 held in drive against anti-social elements
Panipat, June 14 District police chief Rajinder Singh said the police had registered 27 cases under various sections of the Excise and Taxation Act and arrested 36 persons. The police had recovered illicit liquor from the possession of those arrested. This included 298 bottles of country made liquor, 180 bottles of English whiskey and 13 bottles of beer. He said 10 different cases were registered under various sections of the NDPS Act and a recovery of 1.5 kg of charas and some other narcotic substances was made. The police also registered 20 cases under the Arms Act and recovered four pistols and 16 knives. Besides, at least 72 persons were booked under the Gambling Act and Rs 2.8 lakh was recovered from them. The SSP said there were five cases of robbery that had been solved by the police and a recovery of Rs 78,000 was made from the accused. Similarly, 80 cases of theft had been registered and Rs 5.49 lakh that had been stolen during these crimes was recovered. The SSP said the district police was working to the best of its capacity to keep the criminal activities under control. He said the police was also working on various high-profile criminal cases that took place in the district during the past couple of months and it had stumbled upon various clues in these cases and these were likely to be solved soon.
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Panchayat Elections
Ambala, June 14 Women, this time in sarpanch elections, have used the constitutional privilege of 33 per cent reservation for them in full spirit. Besides this, around 10 per cent of the other seats were also captured by women candidates. In Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections, too, women candidate participated in a large number. This time, the post of the chairman of Zila Parishad was kept reserved for woman candidate. In Zila Parishad elections, ward number 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8 had been made reserved for women candidates. In each of those wards, around six women candidates were in the fray, while last time this number was quite low. In other general wards too women candidates gave tough fight to male candidates. The bifurcation of polling percentage indicates that this time women have used their voting rights in large number in comparison to the last time. In some of the polling booths, the number of women voters was much higher in comparison to male voters. This change in the rural areas would further encourage women to take active part in the Assembly as well as the Lok Sabha elections. Paramjit Kaur, one of the woman candidates who contested Zila Parishad elections, said the Women Reservation Bill should be passed in the Lok Sabha soon so that women could get 33 per cent reservation in the Assembly and the Lok Sabha too like gram panchayats.
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Village elects panchayat unanimously, wants model status
Ambala, June 14 According to Gurmukh Singh, an elderly person of the village, as many as 270 voters are in the village and most of the families were migrated from Pakistan. He said that Gurdev Singh was elected sarpanch unanimously in 1992 and the tradition was continuing since then. Villagers have decided that no sarpanch would be offered second chance for this post so that new candidates could avail this opportunity. The villagers are of the view that unanimous election has boosted the brotherhood in the village and disputes are also solved amicably. The villagers do not go to police station in minor disputes. They jointly celebrate religious functions of each other's community. They also take keen interest to keep the village clean and green and want that their village should be recognised as a model village in the state. The villagers have constructed a gurdwara and a temple in the village with personal donation. Similarly, a library and a dinning hall were also constructed in the village with the financial and manual help of the villagers. The newly elected sarpanch had offered Rs 1 lakh for the development of the village. The newly elected panches have also contributed financial assistance for the other development schemes of the village. Deputy commissioner Samir Pal Saro had announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh for this village for electing the sarpanch and panches unanimously.
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State's first Punjabi don gets UGC project
Ambala, June 14 Talking to The Tribune Gasso said he has contributed in four poetry books named "Hunar di Kehak", "Gaunde Jazbe", "Chhanvan de Inderdhanush" and "Kushbua de Kangan". His critic's perception has a wide variety, titled "Punjabi Kavita Vishleshan Aur Mulyankan", "Parvasi Punjabi Kavita", "Vichardharak Parivesh" and "Sabhyachar Aur Punjabi Natak". He also published Shiromani personality Dr SS Randhawa titled book during the tenure of India's first Deputy Commissioner of Delhi Dr Mahendra Singh Randhawa. In 1987, his lead contribution titled "Baatein Karta Aakaash" focused all poets, shayars and gazalkars who belonged to the land of Ambala district. Besides, all contributions in this book are focused on Ambala's history in detail. Dr Gasso's hard work paid him with a responsibility of handling a project called Punjabi Sanskriti Ka Bahu-aayapi Adhyayan from UGC, New Delhi, and he got a grant of Rs 3.56 lakh for this project. He is Haryana's first Punjabi professor who has managed to get this national-level research project. He will be focusing on wide aspects of Punjabi sanskriti with minute unexplored challenges. Dr Gasso said that his poetry gives living and thinking inspiration of humane emotions from the core. "One can feel the pulse of partition in my poetry. My poetry collection "Khushbuan De Kangan" was awarded by the Haryana Punjabi Sahitya Academy in 2002," he said. He got another award from Punjabi Sath Lambadan, Jalandhar, with a memento. He was also honoured with a State Award on January 26, 2005, by then Haryana Governor AR Kidwai.
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Ayurvedic, Unani docs told to renew registration
Chandigarh, June 14 If the practitioners failed to get their registration renewed up to June 30, 2010, Rs 10 extra would be charged per month, he added. The persons practising on the basis of invalid registration or without registration would invite strict action. The practitioners registered with the board were required to display their registration certificates at their clinics. The practitioners who had changed their professional address should intimate their new addresses to the board.
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