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Eyeing a bigger share of the pie
Congress will emerge a strong player in UP, says Selja
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Hooda takes slack officials to task
SPs to hold cyber training programme for cops
Gallantry award winners to get more
100% Enrolment of Girls in Schools
Murders push up state’s crime graph
National Seed Congress from today
4 hurt in scuffle between illegal miners, police
Jeweller identifies thief
Govt seeking Rs 750-cr loan to ‘repay’ debt
Security at Jind district jail spruced up
HC favours Delhi pattern in accident claims
3 held in dowry death case
Girl saved from wedlock
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Eyeing a bigger share of the pie
Chandigarh, January 22 Sources said the Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker, Kuldip Sharma, had received two separate applications for the proposed hike from Nalwa MLA Sampat Singh. These have been forwarded to the government through the office of the Chief Secretary, Haryana, for consideration. In his letter, Sampat Singh has stated that according to the provision under the Haryana Salaries and Allowances of Ministers Act, 1970 (Act 3 of 1970) and the rules amended in 2007, the ministers of Haryana Government are entitled to travel by Business Class as are Grade-I Officers of the government. However, under the Haryana Legislative Assembly (Allowances and Pension of Members) Act, 1975, and rules framed under section 9, Members of the Haryana Legislative Assembly are entitled to travel by air in Economy Class. In view of this position, the MLA has urged the Speaker to issue necessary directions to the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat to take up the matter with the Finance Department of the government “to remove this anomaly” at the earliest so that Members of the Haryana Legislative Assembly can travel by air in Business Class. Meanwhile, in a separate application in which Sampat Singh has sought the permission of the Speaker to attend a workshop in February in Hyderabad, he has raised the issue of the difference in TA/DA given to MLAs and officers. While seeking Sharma’s permission to attend the workshop and allowances according to rules, Sampat Singh, in his letter, has gone on to add that the MLAs are entitled to only Rs1,500 per day as TA/DA for attending meetings inside or outside the state. However, officers of the state with a Grade Pay of Rs 10,000 or more are entitled to reimbursement of hotel charges or commercial guest houses accommodation plus a daily allowance of Rs 5,000 and an additional DA of Rs 500 per day for attending any official meeting outside the state. “Unfortunately the MLAs are not entitled for the reimbursement of hotel charges or commercial guest houses,” he states, adding that “at least the same facility as has been provided to these officers” be extended to the MLAs also. On the demand of the MLAs, the Haryana Government had effected a hike in allowances and introduced salaries of Rs 10,000 per month in the vidhan sabha session of September 2010. In last year’s budget session, the MLAs not only extracted an assurance of laptops and printers and got these along with scanners but cleared a 100 per cent hike in their salaries from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per month and an increase in their Petty grant from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh in the name of “rising prices”. |
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Congress will emerge a strong player in UP, says Selja
Sirsa, January 22 Selja, who was speaking to mediapersons at the residence of former minister Jagdish Nehra today, said the SAD-BJP government in the neighbouring Punjab had proved an utter failure. The Parkash Singh Badal government, she said, went for populism, but in the process dragged the state far behind. Even in centrally sponsored schemes, like those from her own Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry, the Punjab Government, she said, failed to provide benefits to the poor despite several reminders from her office and the performance of Punjab is almost nil in this regard. To a question, she said, Haryana had faired much better, though it was much behind southern states in this matter. Selja said in Uttarakhand, too, people were fed up with corruption while in Goa and Manipur, the Congress was poised to win comfortably. She said in UP, where her party had remained out of power for over 22 years, the Congress was in much better position and it would emerge as a key player in the future scheme of things. Coming down heavily on the main opposition party, the BJP, the Union Minister accused the saffron party of “political opportunism” on the issue of corruption and said the party talked in one language at the Centre and in an entirely different language in the states ruled by it. She said on the one hand, the BJP leader did not tire of talking about a strong Lokpal Bill, on the other hand a state government headed by a BJP Chief Minister was making every attempt to thwart the appointment of a Lokayukta. Commenting on the performance of Haryana, she said, all Congress-ruled states worked under the guidance of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Haryana, too, had witnessed a lot of development under the Centre’s guidance. Asked to comment on the allegations of “regional imbalance” levelled by some Congress leaders, including Jagdish Nehra, who was sitting beside her, Selja said if some party leaders felt like this, the state government needed to take these allegations seriously. She said unlike other political parties in Haryana and in some other states, which, she said, were one-man parties, the Congress was a democratic party and it derived its strength from its workers. She said if the party workers had begun to think they were being ignored in the party as well as in the government, then it was a serious issue that needed attention. |
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Hooda takes slack officials to task
Sirsa, January 22 Minister Gopal Kanda, chief parliamentary secretary Prahlad Singh Gillankhera, Hooda’s political secretary Prof Virender Singh and HPCC delegate Gobind Kanda were present at the meeting. The Deputy Commissioner, J Ganeshan, the SP, Devender Yadav, and district-level officers of all government departments attended the meeting. Hooda not only told the officials to behave with respect towards elected representatives of the people and office-bearers and workers of his party, but also took some officials, who were found ill-prepared for the meeting, to task. It is an oft-repeated allegation against Hooda that he does not have a firm grip over bureaucracy, which, the Chief Minister’s critics allege, works in an unbridled manner. Also, complaints have been coming from the Congress workers that officers at the district level and in the sub-division, do not treat them well and they feel neglected in their own party’s government. The tone and tenor of Hooda’s communication with the officials who were found slack in their approach towards the projects announced by the government was hard- hitting. The officers of the Public Works Department (Building and Roads) came in for reprimand in the strongest terms from Hooda, when he learnt that the design of the Nezadela to Mallewala bridge over the Ghaggar had not yet been prepared. Hooda had announced the project during a rally in Sirsa in 2010. Similarly, the department could not start work in the court complex, though an announcement was made in 2007. Hooda scolded senior officers of the department badly and asked the minister, Gopal Kanda, to visit all roads with officers of the PWD (B&R) Department and send a report on the condition of the roads to him. When Hooda was informed that the funds for construction of Begu road had not arrived from the headquarters, Hooda called up a senior officer in Chandigarh and told him to deposit Rs 1.85 crore in the account of the department within three days. Similarly, a senior officer of the Public Health Department had to face the ire of the Chief Minister, when the report read out by the officer at the meeting did not match with the one in the file with the Chief Minister. Reproaching the officer, Hooda told him to come prepared after reading all reports before attending any meeting. The officers of the Irrigation Department and the Haryana Roadways, too, had to face the ire of the Chief Minister for slackness in the development projects of their respective departments. Hooda also asked the DC and the SP to see to it that all officers sat in their offices to listen to public grievances from 11 am to 12 noon on all working days. |
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SPs to hold cyber training programme for cops
Jhajjar, January 22 The DGP has also asked them to take essential steps in this regard so that the process of making the cops cyber experts could be initiated immediately. A communiqué in this regard has been sent recently to all Commissioners of Police, IGPs and SPs of the state from the DGP’s office for executing the directives without any delay. “There are sufficient funds to impart information technology training to the cops and hence the officers should come forward to take concrete steps in this regard. Besides, a cyber lab costing about 1.5 crore of rupees has also been set up at Madhuban town, which will turn out to be very useful in the times to come,” said Dalal. Sources said the directives aimed at coping with the shortage of efficient and intelligent police officials in the handing of cyber crime in the state. While talking to The Tribune, Alok Mittal, IGP of the Rohtak Range Police, said the range had recently concluded a two-day
training programme on “Investigation of Cyber Crime” wherein over a dozen police officers from four districts — Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat and Panipat — of the range were trained by a cyber expert in the use of information technology in handling the cyber and other crime cases efficiently. |
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Gallantry award winners to get more
Chandigarh, January 22 The state government has decided to increase the award money of the winners of Paramvir Chakra and Ashok Chakra from Rs 25 lakh each to Rs 31 lakh each, of Mahavir Chakra and Kirti Chakra from Rs 15 lakh each to Rs 25 lakh each and of Vir Chakra and Shaurya Chakra from Rs 10 lakh each to Rs 15 lakh each. The amount being given to the winners of Vayusena Medal, Navsena Medal and Sena Medal has also been increased from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7.50 lakh each and that for Mention-in-dispatches from Rs 2.50 lakh to Rs 5.50 lakh. The annuity for the winners of Paramvir Chakra, Ashok Chakra and Mahavir Chakra has been increased to Rs 2.50 lakh, Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1.90 lakh, respectively. The winners of Kirti Chakra, Shaurya Chakra and Sena Medal would get annuity of Rs 1.50 lakh, Rs 70,000 and Rs 40,000, respectively. Annuity for mention-in-dispatches has been increased to Rs 20,000. Hooda said it was a matter of great pride that Haryana with just 1.37 per cent of the geographical area of the country was contributing a lot to the Armed Forces of the country. Every 10th soldier of the Armed Forces belonged to Haryana. The number of serving personnel and ex-servicemen of the state stood at 19.38 lakh. For the welfare of these persons, the state government had made a provision of Rs 33 crore in the annual budget for 2011-12. Giving details of the incentives being given to the serving personnel and ex-servicemen by the state government, he said ex-servicemen above 60 years of age and their widows, who are not getting any pension, were being given financial assistance of Rs 1,000 per month. The war widows were being given a financial assistance of Rs 1,000 per month besides their monthly pension. The ex-servicemen, who took part in World War II and who were not getting any kind of pension, and their widows were being given a financial assistance of Rs 1,500 per month by the state government. The blind ex-servicemen and handicapped ex-servicemen, who were not getting any kind of pension, were also being given a monthly financial assistance of Rs 1,000. A monthly financial assistance of Rs 1,000 was being given to paraplegic, tetraplegic and hemiplegic ex-servicemen. Financial assistance of Rs 51,000 was being given for the marriage of the orphan daughters of ex-servicemen and Rs 11,000 to the widows of ex-servicemen on the occasion of marriage of their daughters. He announced a Rs 10-lakh grant from his discretionary fund to the association. |
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100% Enrolment of Girls in Schools
Sirsa, January 22 He said the government had implemented a number of programmes under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan to bring the dropouts into the mainstream. He said in Sirsa
district, Rs 55 crore would be spent on the implementation of various schemes under the
Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan during the current financial year, out of which Rs 39 crore had already been spent. According to a survey conducted recently, 3,493 children, including 1,847 rural children in the
age group of six to 11 years, were found out of schools. During the current financial year, a special campaign was launched in the district to bring the dropouts into the mainstream of education and 900 students had so far been enrolled in various schools. These students were being imparted special coaching by teachers so that they could complete their education after
joining the mainstream of education. During the current financial year, Rs 35
crore was spent on the construction of 200 additional rooms, 137 rooms for headmasters, toilets
for girls and boundary walls in various schools. A sum of Rs 2.40 crore would be spent on
free distribution of textbooks to the children in the district, Ganeshan added. |
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Murders push up state’s crime graph
In fact, the Haryana Police was at the receiving end of criminals with the state registering 1,061 murders in 2011,58 murders more than 2010. As far as kidnappings were concerned, last year’s tally was 960 as compared to 956 in 2010. In a pointer to the status of women in Haryana, 723 women were raped in the state last year as against 713 in 2010.While 2,739 dowry cases were registered last year, 256 dowry deaths were reported as compared to 286 in 2010. Figures revealed that a total of 82,976 cases were registered under the IPC and the Local and Special Laws (L&SL) in the state in 2011.The “Crime in India-2010” report released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) of the Ministry of Home Affairs last year has dubbed Haryana as the 12th most criminal state in India with 80,892 cases in 2010. The spurt in crime is despite the fact that the Haryana Police busted over 300 inter-state gangs. Special emphasis was laid on the arrest of gangsters involved in several sensational cases, a senior police official stated. Police sources said property disputes and large-scale urbanisation were major reasons for crime against persons, including murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and rape. A large number of dowry deaths and rapes were also a reflection on the secondary status of women in a primarily male-dominated society like Haryana. Moreover,increased awareness among people to get the cases registered in all incidents of crime were also behind the spurt in the number of cases in the state, the sources added. |
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Poachers kill black buck in Fatehabad village
Fatehabad, January 22 The villagers rushed the injured black buck to a cowshed in Shivalya
Market of Fatehabad town, where despite efforts by the veterinarians, the life of the animal could
not be saved. Anoop Kumar, a youth from Jhalnian village, who along with others brought the injured animal to Fatehabad, said he heard the sound of a gunshot at about 3 pm today, when he was sitting in house constructed in his fields. When he rushed towards the fields, he saw two poachers, one of whom was wielding a gun. An injured blackbuck was lying on the ground struggling for life. The two escaped,
when he challenged and chased them. He called other villagers and rushed the animal to Fatehabad for treatment. The District Forest Officer, Satbir Singh Sheoran, said that blackbuck came under the endangered species of animals and its poaching attracted stringent punishment, which includes imprisonment. He said he had sent
the Wildlife Protection Inspector Dwarka Prashad to Jhalnian in search of
the poachers. |
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National Seed Congress from today
Karnal, January 22 The experts would emphasise the need to produce "disease resistant and high quality hybrid seeds and the role of the seed certification agencies and the Public-Private Partnership in quality seed production would also be deliberated in depth. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda would inaugurate the Congress while Minister of Agriculture and Processing Industrie Ram Charan Mahant would be the guest of honour and Minister for Sports and Agriculture Sukhbir Kataria would be special guest. This would be the fourth such event organised jointly by the National Seed Research and Training Centre, the Government of India and the Haryana Seed Certification Agency to achieve the goal of food security. |
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4 hurt in scuffle between illegal miners, police
Chandigarh, January 22 On getting a tip-off, Yamunanagar district mining officer Sanjay Sabharwal along with the SDM, Bilaspur, and a police party raided a farm at Farizpur village in Khizrabad area of the district. The raiding party found that despite a ban on mining in the state, three JCB machines were digging the river bed and loading four dumpers. The owner of the farm, who was seated in a Scorpio (PB-15F-9400), and his driver allegedly tried to run over the members of the raiding party. The vehicle got stuck in the sand and its driver, Wajid, was overpowered by the police. However, the owner, Asra, ran away. The police overpowered seven persons, who were operating JCB machines. Meanwhile, several persons led by Asra came to the farm and attacked the raiding party in a bid to free the arrested persons. However, they ran away when additional police force reached the spot.
— TNS |
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Jeweller identifies thief
Palwal, January 22 The owner of Anupam Jewellers could recognise Bunty when he visited
his shop as he was one of the participants in the popular “Big Boss” reality TV show. Wanted
in several cases by the Delhi Police, he had gone to the shop on January 9 this year. Anil Dhawan, district police chief, said the fraudster had gone to the shop in a Maruti car. When the owner raised an alarm he escaped.
During the run his car met with a road accident in Faridabad. He abandoned the car and fled to Delhi. The police had recently arrested him in Bhopal. |
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Govt seeking Rs 750-cr loan to ‘repay’ debt
Gurgaon, January 22 “The state government is going to raise a loan to the tune of Rs 750 crore for paying the interest on a huge amount,” he pointed out, adding that the government machinery had totally collapsed in the state. Addressing a news conference here today, Chautala asserted that the state government was not able to pay salaries to employees and pension to the elderly. Coming down heavily on the Hooda government, the INLD leader alleged that the land acquired from farmers at low prices was now being sold at the rate of crores of rupees per acre. Chautala demanded that the land acquired for the development of special economic zone (SEZ) be returned to the original owners. He pointed out that the conditions put while acquiring farmers’ land for SEZ had now been withdrawn in order to benefit the industrialists and corporate houses. He said on coming to power in Haryana, the INLD would return the land. |
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Security at Jind district jail spruced up
Jind, January 22 Though the district jail can boast of minimum overcrowding in view of the fact that there are a total of 568 undertrials and prisoners lodged against a capacity of the 500 persons, the authorities have claimed that several measures had already been taken to prevent any incident similar to that of Sonepat. While as many as 66 security personnel are deputed to look after the security of the complex at any point of time, it is learnt that adequate lighting has also been done in and around the complex. High-power lights have been installed both inside and outside the complex. |
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HC favours Delhi pattern in accident claims
Chandigarh, January 22 Justice Bindal’s suggestions come on a letter written to the Punjab and Haryana High Court by Gurgaon resident Sat Pal Singh. Taking up Justice Bindal’s suggestions, the Bench of Justices MM Kumar and AK Mittal has already issued notice of motion. The notice for March 9 has been issued to Chandigarh, along with the states of Punjab and Haryana. Justice Bindal said the claims tribunal had revolutionised the motor accidents compensation law in Delhi. Immediately on receiving intimation about an accident, the investigating officer (IO) inspects the spot before preparing a site plan. He also conducts an on-the-spot inquiry. Within 30 days of the accident, the IO files the accident information report with the claims tribunal. In hit-and-run cases, the responsibility to pay the insurance company is on the state government. |
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3 held in dowry death case
Kurukshetra, January 22 After registering a
case, the police had arrested Manbir Singh and two others. |
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Girl saved from wedlock
Fatehabad, January 22 The bride’s mother, though claimed that his daughter was a major, but failed to produce her certificates. She also refused to give her consent for medical examination of the girl to ascertain her age. Finally, the family members of the girl agreed not to marry the girl till they produce the certificates confirming her age.
— TNS |
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Chandigarh, January 22