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Ratia Assembly Bypoll
Counting centres approved
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Traders up in arms against FDI decision
Clarify statement on power
sharing, Ajay tells Hooda
Custom milling of paddy not profitable, say millers
Rai farmers reject three-fold hike in land acquisition rate
Report sought from panchayats, BPDOs on fall in Red Cross funds
3 members of family commit suicide
Man gets 10-yr RI for murder attempt
Assault on IT
Sleuths
Safai workers to launch stir from Dec 2
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Ratia Assembly Bypoll
Ratia, November 26 Sidhu alleged the Manmohan Singh government had proved to be insensitive to the woes of the common man, while a few rich persons have reaped the benefits. Sidhu also castigated the Hooda government and said election of Mahavir Parshad would bring in Kuldeep Bishnoi as the next Chief Minister after the next Assembly elections. Bishnoi, in his speech, declared he would not allow the government to run in the next six months if his candidate emerged victorious at Ratia. In his inimitable style, Sidhu poked fun at the Congress as well as the INLD and used couplets and anecdotes to bring home his point. He described the INLD nominee Sarfi Bai as “Rabri Devi of Ratia” and termed the Congress nominee Jarnail Singh as “Girgit Singh” due to his frequent switching of parties in the past. Senior BJP leaders Krishan Pal Gurjar, Ram Bilas Sharma, Ganeshi Lal, Captain Abhimanyu, Sudha Yadav and HJC leader Dharam Pal Malik also spoke on the occasion. The INLD today alleged that the Congress has been making mockery of the system by setting proclaimed offenders free and was making them work for the party. Abhey Singh Chautala, the INLD MLA from Ellenabad, alleged that the police yesterday arrested Gauru, a PO who was wanted for a murder bid, but later set him free before producing him in front of a magistrate due to the intervention of a powerful Congress leader. Atam Parkash Batra, Former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala sought votes from members of the Ratia Bar Association and addressed a convention of the “Majahbi Sikh” community. Amit Sihag, president of the Sirsa parliamentary constituency unit of the Youth Congress, led a motorcycle rally of youths to woo voters of Ratia. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda flagged off the rally by riding a motorcycle with the MP Ashok Tanwar riding pillion. The Congress will hold a rally here tomorrow that will be addressed by BK Hariprasad, in charge of Haryana in the AICC, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his ministerial colleagues, said Subhash Bishnoi, who is managing the local office of the Congress candidate. Poll official dies of heart attack
Fatehabad: Bhup Singh Godara, a naib tehsildar posted at Bhuna, died of a heart attack when he was on election-related duty at Biranbadi village of Ratia Assembly segment on Friday night. The victim, who was a duty magistrate, had reached the village when Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was in the village during his campaign in the area. The victim felt pain in the chest and his driver immediately rushed him to the community health centre in Ratia where the doctors declared him brought dead.
— TNS |
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Counting centres approved
Chandigarh, November 26 Section 144 has been imposed in Ratia for ensuring free and fair poll and no candidate will be allowed to set up his booth within a radius of 200m from the polling booth. However, written information has to be given in advance to the Assistant Election Officer before setting up a booth. Serial number of the polling centre for which the booth is to be set up would have to be mentioned outside the booth and due permission from the municipality or panchayat samiti concerned is also needed for setting up such booth. A written permission letter has to be shown to the police or election authority on being asked to do so. Such booths will only be allowed to be set up for issuing identity slips to the electorates and symbol or name of the party for which the candidate is contesting should not be mentioned on the slips. |
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Traders up in arms against FDI decision
Chandigarh, November 26 Terming the decision as irrational and illogical, the trading community in the state is gearing up for the December 1 India bandh announced by the main Opposition party - the BJP - to lodge their protest against the Centre’s decision. “The decision to allow the FDI will prove to be the last nail in the coffin of the Indian retail sector that is already facing stiff competition from big companies and the MNCs,” Gian Chand Gupta, vice-president of the Akhil Bharatiya Beopar Mandal, said here today. Gupta said the decision to allow the FDI in the retail sector had been dictated by the MNCs and taken by the Centre to divert attention of the general public from a large number of scams staring the government in the face. “The worst affected would be about 3 crore small-time traders, who would be thrown out of business by global supermarket giants as the latter would monopolise the retail sector,” Gupta claimed. Echoing similar sentiments, Anil Bhatia, president of the Haryana Beopar Mandal, feared that the decision would deliver a death knell to the retail sector in India, which provided employment to crores of persons in the country. Bhatia claimed that the experience all over the world, particularly in the Third World countries, had shown that FDI in the retail sector had eliminated small traders. Besides unemployment, the decision would lead to price rise, ultimately affecting the common man, Bhatia added. Stating that the Haryana Beopar Mandal would make December 1 a “complete success” to force the UPA government to review the decision, Bhatia appealed to the general public to join hands with the traders’ bodies in the fight against the Centre-MNC nexus bend upon destroying the Indian economy. |
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Clarify statement on power
sharing, Ajay tells Hooda
Addressing a series of election meetings in Adampur constituency today, he said Hooda’s statement was “utterly undemocratic” as it meant that unless the voters elected the Congress nominees their constituencies would stay neglected in the future too. Ajay said a Chief Minister was the head of government of the entire state and he was expected not to differentiate between different constituencies as far as development and distribution of resources was concerned. However, Hooda’s statements during the campaign clearly indicated that
he would punish the voters if his party nominees were defeated. Hooda’s veiled threats, he said, were an insult to the voters and he should apologise and clearly state that no area would be denied its due, irrespective of the results of the byelections, Ajay Chautala said. He also targeted Kuldeep Bishnoi saying he was only trying to secure the political future of his family rather than improving the lot of the voters. The voters, he added, were wise now and they would not be affected by the emotional touch that Bishnoi is giving to the campaign. Meanwhile, Congress nominee Kulbir Beniwal said the UPA government at the Centre had two-and-a-half years of its tenure left. The Congress government in Haryana had another three years to go. “I promise to bring
so much development funds to the area that every voter would be benefited,” he added. Beniwal said his opponents had no experience of politics and they would not be seen in the area after the byelection. But he would be there to serve them, he promised. The Congress nominee said his opponents represented the interests of two particular families whereas the Congress represented the interests of the entire electorate. HJC-BJP nominee Renuka Bishnoi also continued her tour of the constituency today. She reached out to women voters and said only a woman could understand the problems faced by the village women. She appealed to them to vote for her and in turn promised to look after their interests in the same mould as her late father-in-law Bhajan Lal. Renuka Bishnoi said the attempts by the Opposition to create a divide in Adampur would not succeed simply because the voters would not let that happen. She said that the HJC-BJP combine was the future of politics in Haryana as the people were determined to keep both the INLD and the Congress out. |
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Custom milling of paddy not profitable, say millers
Sources in the trade say that just as basmati growers are feeling cheated this year because of abnormally low rates of the crop, the growers of superfine variety of paddy would also not find many buyers for their produce next year. Officials, however, do not agree with this assertion. They point out that while there is no minimum support price (MSP) for basmati, the superfine variety, popularly known as parmal, has an MSP, due to which its growers would not suffer a loss. According to trade sources, what the officials say is theoretically correct, but only theoretically. Practically, it is the rice millers who lift the parmal variety of paddy on behalf of the government from the mandis. The millers do so because they mill it for the government and deliver the rice to the Food Corporation of India (FCI). The process is known
in trade parlance as “custom milling”. Only a negligible quantity of this variety is
purchased by the millers for themselves, for which they have to give 75 per cent of rice as levy to
the government. If the millers do not come forward to lift the paddy on behalf of the government, the latter has no wherewithal to purchase paddy from the mandis. The millers now do not find custom milling attractive enough to carry it on
in the coming years. The FCI pays Rs 15 per quintal as milling charges to
the millers. This rate was fixed when the policy was first formulated. No changes have been made to it since. The officials said that the millers are free to sell byproducts of paddy milling in the open market. This made the scheme profitable to them. Jewel Singla, legal adviser to the Haryana Rice Millers and Dealers Association, said even after selling the byproducts, the millers have to pay at least Rs 100 per quintal from their pocket. The main reason, he said, is the insensitivity of the policy makers towards the ground reality. He says the crop damage in paddy comes to 4 to 5 per cent. The crop damage, which includes a pinpoint dot
on the rice grain, does not reduce the nutritional value of rice. But the FCI
accepts only 3 per cent crop damage. Singla said that to bring the rice to the FCI standards, the millers have to take the help of sorting plants to weed out damaged grains. This costs about Rs 150 per quintal. He said if a miller polishes the damaged grains too much, the nutritional value goes down. But that is acceptable to the FCI. Then, there is perennial space shortage in the FCI godowns. Whenever there is rush to deliver the rice to the FCI by the millers, the godown staff adopts delaying tactics to cover the shortage of space. As a result, the millers fail to make timely delivery of rice and they have to pay fine to the Food and Supplies Department of the state in the name of “holding charges”. Singla said many millers have had to pay about Rs 10 lakh or even more each to the department as holding charges per annum for the past few years. As a result of all these problems, the rice millers, by and large, end up in losses. Their next generation is not keen on continuing the business. The ultimate loser would be farmers, said
Singla. about custom milling
Rice millers lift the parmal variety of paddy on behalf of the govt from the mandis, mill it for the govt and deliver it to the Food Corporation of India. In trade parlance, this process is known as custom milling. Millers’ complaint
Even today, the FCI pays Rs 15 per quintal as milling charges to the millers. This rate was fixed when the policy was first formulated. Official stand
The millers are free to sell byproducts of paddy milling in the open market. This makes the scheme profitable to them. |
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Rai farmers reject three-fold hike in land acquisition rate
Sonepat, November 26 The reaction of the samiti came today after the Rai MLA Jai Tirth, in a press note, stated that the state government had filed an affidavit in the court stating that the land acquisition rate had been increased for the acquired land in Sewli, Aswarpur, Patla, Khewra, Badhmalik, Badhkhalsa, Jakholi, Firozpur Bangar and Bahalgarh villages. Rajpal Sewli, president of the samiti, said that the enhanced rate was not acceptable to the farmers as the market price of their land was more than Rs 1 crore per acre. The government had given a total amount of Rs 95 lakh per acre for two pieces of land at Asawarpur village acquired recently, he said. He added that their other demands had also not been addressed. At the time of acquisition, farmers of all these villages, except most farmers at Badhkhalsa, had accepted the acquisition award of Rs 12.5 lakh per acre. Later, the farmers of these villages knocked on the doors of the judiciary to get the acquisition rate enhanced and also began agitating for it. |
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Report sought from panchayats, BPDOs on fall in Red Cross funds
Karnal, November 26 The district Red Cross officials have also asked all the BDPOs to give, within three days, a detailed account of the money deposited by panchayats within their jurisdiction from 2004 and the funds transferred to the Red Cross. After the report was published in The Tribune on November 20, it was found that the Gharaunda block had deposited Rs 2 lakh in the Red Cross fund in June while no money has been deposited by the other blocks. Additional Deputy Commissioner MK Pandurang has also sought a report from Sunil Kumar, secretary, District Red Cross, and asked him to give information about the total amount deposited in the Red Cross fund since 2004. Sunil Kumar said that
the exact situation would be known only after the reports from the blocks
was received. Timeline
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3 members of family commit suicide
Karnal, November 26 Rampal (45), his wife, Santosh, and son, Sanjeev (22), who suspected that the girl had eloped with her friend were so upset that they lost their calm and took the extreme step to save them from embarrassment and social disgrace. The trio was spotted by villagers in serious condition few hours after consuming the poisonous substance (sulphas) and rushed to a private hospital where Rampal and Sanjeev were declared brought dead while, Santosh, who was admitted to the ICU in a critical condition, also died after few hours. Sources said Rampal’s daughter, whose marriage was fixed for December 7, went to the market last evening and did not return till late night and neighbours said she was seen with a guy in Karnal. The family was in the police station till late night, enquiring about the girl and when there was no information till the wee hours of the morning, the traumatised family members decided to end their lives and consumed sulphas. Haryana was notorious for honour killings but this was perhaps the first case in which the family members committed suicide to save their honour. |
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Man gets 10-yr RI for murder attempt
Sirsa, November 26 The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the accused. Prem Kumar visited the house of Lachham Ram on March 22, 2008, the day of the Holi festival, when the latter’s brother Bhalle Ram was also sitting there. Under the influence of liquor, Prem Kumar hit Bhalle Ram with a ‘gandasi’ on his head. As a result, Bhalle Ram got several fractures on his skull and fell unconscious. Bhalle Ram was shifted to the General Hospital where doctors declared his skull injury as dangerous to his life. The court orders said the fine imposed on Prem Kumar would be given to Bhalle Ram as a compensation for defraying the medical expenses, which he had incurred on his medical treatment of skull injury. In default of payment of the fine, the accused will undergo further RI for three years, the order said. |
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Assault on IT
Sleuths
Sirsa, November 26 The incident had occurred, when a team of IT sleuths raided the local Tara Baba Kutiya managed by Kanda family on January 31, 2008. The accused are alleged to have snatched a laptop from the officials and manhandled some of them. The police had registered cases against 18 persons, but one of them died during the course of trial. |
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Safai workers to launch stir from Dec 2
Faridabad, November 26 Naresh Shastri, state president of the Nagar Palika Karamchari Sangh, said, “The proposed agitation includes gherao of D Suresh, MCF Commissioner, who made the commitments to a delegation of the sangh.”
— TNS |
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Hisar, November 26
Chandigarh, November 26