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His land acquired, farmer dies of heart attack
At the mercy of the elements
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HC justifies age relaxation in appointments
Travelling allowance revised
Stray cattle thieves assault resident
HAU patents technology for bacterium production
Video games subject to tax: HC
Foreign team to visit women varsity
Committee to monitor school activities
6 get life term for murder
Rs 50,000 reward for info on killers
4 killed in accident
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His land acquired, farmer dies of heart attack
Ambala, January 3 Jasmer Singh was cremated in the village today. President of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti Balwant Singh said Jasmer Singh was under tension since he received the notice. Farmers of the village got agitated over the death of Jasmer Singh. Balwant Singh said a meeting of the farmers would be held on January 12 in Khatoli village to discuss the strategy. Senior leader of the Haryana Youth Congress Himmat Singh, who was present at the time of cremation, asked the farmers to remain peaceful as the Chief Minister had already been considering their demand. Three days ago, another farmer of the village Amar Singh (58), whose land was also acquired, had died following heart attack. One more farmer, Baisakhi Ram, whose four acres was acquired, had also passed away following illness two months ago. The state government has acquired 1,852 acres of six villages near Ambala City for setting up the IMT. The farmers have been opposing the move. Two weeks ago, the farmers had met Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Chandigarh, who had assured them that he would consider the matter. Earlier, the farmers had decided to launch an agitation against the government over the issue, but they postponed it, following the Chief Minister’s assurance. |
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At the mercy of the elements
Rohtak, January 3 The temperatures have dropped sharply over the past few days, causing severe hardships to them. Hundreds of homeless people, mainly migrant labourers and beggars, have been left at the mercy of the elements with no night shelter for them anywhere in the town. “The authorities and NGOs distribute blankets and warm clothes among the needy in winters, but no efforts have been made to construct night shelters for them,” said Yoginder Dahiya, a social activist here. Several poor and destitute persons are forced to spend their nights at bus stands, railway stations or other similar places in the absence of night shelters for them. “The town has several NGOs, including the District Red Cross Society, but none of these have come forward to help consturct permanent structures as night shelters for the poor,” said Raj Singh Hooda, a local resident. He said it was the duty of the local authorities, including the civic body, to ensure that no one died of cold weather due to lack of a shelter. He said the authorities should identify the homeless and provide help to them. The district Red Cross Society could take an initiative in this connection and make use its funds to create a facility for them, he said. |
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HC justifies age relaxation in appointments
Chandigarh, January 3 Upholding the relaxation, the Division Bench of Justice MM Kumar and Justice Ritu Bahri ruled: “We find nothing wrong in granting relaxation in age to one category and not granting the same to the other. In any case, relaxation cannot be claimed as a matter of right as it is well settled”. Going into the background, the Bench observed that the petition filed by Sulochna Devi “challenges the stipulation in advertisement, which grants relaxation in age for direct recruitment to those who are to be appointed as anganwari workers”. The Bench further observed: “According to clause five of the advertisement as reproduced in the writ petition, the parameters of age are 18 to 44 years, but age relaxation has been provided to those widows or their dependant candidates who are to be appointed as anganwari workers to the extent of 50 years. No other category like anganwari helper is eligible for age relaxation. “The petitioner is seeking appointment to the post of anganwari helper and she is already working as anganwari worker…. The grievance made is that once relaxation has been given in age limit for anganwari worker, it should also be given to candidates applying for the posts of anganwari helper”. The Bench concluded: “Having heard the counsel for the petitioner, we are of the considered view that the idea of relaxation is the matter of policy for the state and it will not ipso facto (by the fact itself) grant the benefit to every category. Apart from the fact it is based on expert opinion and it is a policy matter of the state. A number of other factors are taken into consideration in providing the relaxation in age to a particular category of employee…. Accordingly, the writ petition fails and the same is dismissed”. |
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All set for solar eclipse mela
Kurukshetra, January 3 Aggarwal said the step had been initiated to ensure peace and safety during the solar eclipse mela. However, these orders would not apply to government employees, including police personnel on mela duty as well Amritdhari Sikhs, he added. All arrangements for the mela had been completed and tight security was in place. Police personnel had been deployed at sensitive points, including railway stations and bus stands. Police personnel in plainclothes had been deployed in the mela area to keep a vigil on eve-teasers and anti-social elements. Meanwhile, pilgrims have started arriving in the town for the holy dip tomorrow. |
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Travelling allowance revised
Chandigarh, January 3 Officers drawing grade pay of Rs 10,000 or above and those who are in the pay band of HAG plus or above have been placed in Grade I; the officers drawing grade pay of Rs 8,900 to Rs 9,800 in Grade II. Officers drawing grade pay of Rs 4,600 to Rs 8,800 in Grade III; officials or officers drawing grade pay of Rs 2,500 to Rs 4,200 in Grade IV and those drawing grade pay of Rs 1,300 to Rs 2,400 in Grade V for the purpose of TA and DA. The officers in Grade I, II and III will get DA at the rate of Rs 300 per day; Rs 240 per day and Rs 200 per day, respectively, in any town/city in Haryana, including Chandigarh, and they will get Rs 500 per day; Rs 400 per day and Rs 300 per day, respectively, in any town/city outside Haryana/Chandigarh. Similarly, officials/officers in Grade IV and V will get TA at the rate of Rs 160 per day and Rs 140 per day, respectively, in any town/city in Haryana, including Chandigarh, and Rs 200 per day and Rs 160 per day, respectively, in any town/city outside Haryana/Chandigarh. The officers in Grade I, II and III will be entitled for reimbursement of hotel charges/commercial guest houses accommodation plus daily allowance at any place in the country outside Haryana/Chandigarh up to Rs 5,000 per day plus DA of Rs 500 per day; up to Rs 4,000 per day plus DA of Rs 400 per day and up to Rs 3,000 per day plus DA of Rs 300 per day, respectively. Similarly, officers/officials in Grade IV and V will be entitled for reimbursement of up to Rs 1,500 per day plus DA of Rs 200 per day and up to Rs 300 per day plus DA of Rs 160 per day, respectively. In case of transfer, an employee will be paid daily allowance for himself as well as for each member of his family as per the revised rates. These revised rates of TA/DA shall also be applicable to the members of the All-India Services working in connection with the affairs of
the state. |
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UPA govt urged to release coins in memory of Shaheed Bhagat Singh
Faridabad, January 3 Chairman of the brigade Yadvinder Singh Sandhu said here today that the announcement for introducing the coins in memory of Shaheed-e-Azam was made by the union government on September 28, 2007, in Amritsar at a public function. On the occasion of the succeeding birth anniversary, September 28, 2008, coins of each of the two denominations were released at a function in Khata Kalan village in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district (earlier known as Nawanshahr) in Punjab. Yadvinder Singh, grandson of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, who runs an academic institute here, lamented that the coins have not been introduced in the market for the general public even after three years of the announcement made by the union government. The brigade wrote a letter to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on November 10 last year drawing his attention towards the issue and urged him to bring out the coins at the earliest. However, the organisation has yet not received any response to the letter. According to him, putting a hold on the introduction of coins was “baffling”. The coins made in the Government of India mint, Kolkata, were ready and available to be released. He added that, on a special request, he obtained a specimen of both the coins from the mint. The samples were prepared and tested in 2008. Several social organisations, including Rezangla Shaurya Samiti, formed in the memory of war heroes who lost their lives in the 1962 war with China, the All-India Khatri Sabha, the Punjabi Sabha, the Brahmin Sabha and the local Singh Sabha, have joined the chorus for early introduction of the coins. General secretary of the Rezangla Shaurya Samiti Naresh Chauhan said the delay in introducing the coins gave an immense feeling of discomfort. The legend of the great leader was not only alive, but his ideals were a recipe to keep the country strong. Yadvendra Singh said Shaheed Bhagat Singh was a figure of admiration for all Indians. His memories vide the coins would go a long way in inspiring the youth, he added. |
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HJC holds protest against price rise
Rohtak, January 3 The party demanded dismissal of the state government and imposition of the President’s rule in the state. The protesters led by the district chief of the party took out a procession in the city before submitting a memorandum to the district authorities regarding their demands. According to the memorandum, addressed to the Governor, the state government had not only failed to redress the grievances of the masses but the “misrule” had resulted in various problems, including an acute rise in prices of essential commodities, rampant corruption and unemployment in the state over the past few years. Alleging that the state government had been fooling people in the name of various schemes, it claimed that public funds were being misused or were going down the drain with no relief to the common man. Charging the state government of being responsible for the alleged SEZ scam, the party claimed that agricultural land worth hundreds of crores had been given to private companies at nominal cost in the name of developing SEZ, while not a single brick had been laid in the region in the name of the project. Criticising the land acquisition policy of the state government, it charged it of acquiring farmers’ land at throwaway prices and fuelling real estate prices in the region, thus making the purchase of residential plots or house out of the reach of the common man. According to the party, the unemployment rate had gone up sharply in the state due to the faulty policies of the government. It claimed that the state government had no moral right to remain in power due to the deteriorating law and order situation. The party had started the drive from Ambala on December 27 and announced to organise these in all districts in the state. |
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Stray cattle thieves assault resident
Hisar, January 3 In one such incident, a resident of Model Town, Arun Aggarwal, received a head injury last night when a gang of thieves loading stray cattle in a truck in front of his residence threw a brick at him. The miscreants also fired two shots into the air to scare him. Aggarwal said his wife heard a commotion outside his home. Looking out of the window, she saw eight persons trying to forcibly load several cattle in a truck parked there. When he went out and questioned them, they said they were taking the ailing cows to a veterinary facility. When he asked them to leave, one of them took out a pistol and fired twice into the air. One of the miscreants then hurled a brick at him, resulting in a head injury. He was later hospitalised. There have been more such incidents in other parts of the city during the past few months. Several truckloads of cattle have been intercepted by the police in the district. The cattle thieves take stray cattle to Uttar Pradesh where these are allegedly butchered. Since it is a lucrative deal, the cattle thieves go to any length to prevent being caught. Meanwhile, the local municipal corporation plans to establish a gaushala on a 26-acre piece of land on Dhansu Road on the outskirts of the city to house stray cattle. Officials said the state government had approved the project and details were being worked out. |
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HAU patents technology for bacterium production
Hisar, January 3 An official spokesman said here today that the Patent Office, Government of India, had allowed patent No. 243958 for this technique. He said root-knot nematodes were a serious problem in several crops, especially vegetable, fruit, pulse, ornamental and plantation crops. The nematodes attacked roots and caused galling (knots) which impaired absorption of water and nutrients from the soil, thus causing production loss. He said the Pasteuria Penetrans bacterium had proved to be very effective in the management of nematodes but its use as a bio-control agent was impeded by the absence of technology for its mass multiplication. The technology was based on a three-tier in vivo system involving the plant-nematode bacterium. “The plants are raised in an aerophonic system and maintained in a growth room. After one month, the root balls are dried and milled into powder. The root powder bearing spores of the bacterium is directly used as bio-nematode,” he said. The field experiments in transplanted vegetable crops and as seed treatment in bold-seeded crops had given promising results. The patent is valid for 20 years. |
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Video games subject to tax: HC
Chandigarh, January 3 Acting on a bunch of petitions by DLF Golf Resorts Ltd and others against the state of Haryana and other respondents, Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal, Justice MM Kumar and Justice Jasbir Singh ruled: “We hold that the state legislature is competent to impose entertainment duty/tax on entertainment and amusement activities, which include sports”. The Bench added: “The video games are subject to entertainment tax. Even if a person is entertained in a video parlour by his own performance, there is no legal requirement that the owner of the video parlour should organise some entertainment programme like performance in theatre, amusement, games or any sport. In other words, it is no longer sine qua non (essential action) that performance by a third party organised at the instance of the assessee is imperative in order to attract entertainment tax. “The mode of payment is wholly immaterial whether made at the entry or at the time of playing games. Therefore, a lump sum amount paid in the beginning or annual subscription given year after year would hardly make any difference; and a performance becomes public in character when people come to play the game by displaying their own skill for consideration at a place where the members of the public are invited to pay and enjoy the facilities”. Going into the background, the Full Bench observed: A Division Bench of this court, of which one of us was a member - Justice MM Kumar - has made a reference in a bunch of petitions to this Full Bench raising significant and common questions of law concerning validity of the levy of entertainment duty on sports clubs under the Punjab Entertainment Duty Act, 1955; and Punjab Entertainment Duty Rules, 1956, as applicable to Haryana. |
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Foreign team to visit women varsity
Panipat, January 3 A spokesman for the university said the delegation, which would include students and faculty members, would visit the university for three days, from January 5 to January 7. The delegation would spend two days on the university campus and would be shown the Institute of Ayurveda, the Herbal Garden and university departments. The delegation would be introduced to the holistic approach of ayurveda towards well being, principles of panchkarma, treatments like para-surgical procedures, pre-operative procedures of panchkarma and the need for yoga. A special cultural programme would be hosted for the visiting delegation, which would be presented by university students. Later, the team would visit the museum of a model village and go on a trip to Khanpur village. The delegation, on its part, would throw light on the practice of holistic health in the USA, the spokesman said. |
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Committee to monitor school activities
Jhajjar, January 3 Haryana Education and Health Minister Geeta Bhukkal said this while interacting with mediapersons after listening to public grievances at her residence here yesterday. “Villagers will be included in the monitoring committee, who will ensure that various school funds released by the government for purchasing dresses and books for students, maintenance of the school and carrying out other academic activities during an academic session are being utilised suitably,” said the minister. She said the move to associate villagers with the government schools aimed at bringing transparency in the system besides getting valuable suggestions from them to improve the quality of education. “The current educational system cannot be improved without the participation of the villagers in the school functioning, hence formation of the monitoring committee is a positive step in the direction of enhancing the standard of education in the state,” the minister added. Bhukkal said dual desks were being arranged for the government schools. A grant was being released for the beautification and improvement of school buildings under various schemes and its proper utilisation would be ensured, she maintained. “The government is focusing on the infrastructure in the government schools. Kitchen sheds for midday meal are being constructed in the schools and provision of 16 dishes has been made in the midday meal keeping in view the taste of children and nutritional value of the food,” she said. |
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6 get life term for murder
Sirsa, January 3 The court of RC Dimri, Additional District and Sessions Judge, has also ordered the convicts to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 each or undergo further imprisonment of six months in default. The convicts, Bhagwan Singh, his three sons - Hardev, Angrez and Chhinda - another kin Harnam Singh and his son Sukha Singh, had attacked the family of Fauja Singh, a resident of Thehri Mohar Singh, on November 29, 2009. Fauja Singh and his two sons - Sukhchain Singh and Gurbax Singh - were injured in the incident. They were rushed to the general hospital, Sirsa, where Gurbax Singh succumbed to his injuries. The police had booked the accused under Sections 323, 324, 326, 506 and 302 of the IPC on a complaint of Fauja Singh. |
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Rs 50,000 reward for info on killers
Rewari, January 3 A delegation of the Bar Association, including vice-president Chandan Singh Yadav, secretary Sunil Yadav and other senior advocates, met the SP here today and demanded speedy arrest of the criminals. The SP assured them that the culprits would soon be arrested. Meanwhile, the Bar Association members, who suspended court work today as well, has decided to meet on January 6 to decide the future course of action. Finance Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, an advocate and member of the District Bar Association, yesterday went to Mohanpur village and consoled the bereaved family. |
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4 killed in accident
Fatehabad, January 3 According to reports, five persons were going from Burj village to Kalwan for agriculture work on a tractor-trailer. As the tractor was crossing a bridge near Kamalwala village, a tyre of the trailer got entangled in a pit of the roadside. Meanwhile, a truck from Narwana hit the trailer killing tractor driver Charan Singh (50) and Karam Chand (37) on the spot. Charan Singh’s son Gurdeep (18) and Karam Chand’s brother Ramji Lal (40) were seriously injured and shifted to the General Hospital, where both succumbed to their injuries. In another incident, Jagdish Chander (40) was killed when the motorcycle he was riding on was hit by a canter.
— TNS |
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