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CM launches smart card scheme for farmers
Submitting false report to NHRC
Vet Dept chief visits Sundana village
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Jat samiti flays Vidrohi’s statement on quota
Wheat procurement may begin on April 10 in Rohtak dist
Failure to remove encroachments from protected monuments
Forced sale of insurance policies
Appointment of PROs in Police Dept in limbo
Hooda has failed to keep promises to voters: Bishnoi
Move to link areas bordering Delhi with orbit rail services
40 Sirsa schools to get clean, purified water
Dharna against poor water supply
2 proclaimed offenders held
Woman raped by 2 brothers-in-law
70-year-old man held on rape charge
3 hurt in Hisar jail clash
Cellphones seized from jail inmates
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CM launches smart card scheme for farmers
Karnal, April 2 Distributing smart cards to progressive farmers, arhtias and officials of the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board (HSAMB) and contractors of the construction wing of the board, Hooda said these cards would ensure more transparency and better rates for farmers. The projects dedicated to the people included a grain and vegetable market, three primary health centres, agricultural business and information centre, a community centre and a railway overbridge at Trawadi. In order to facilitate regular power supply to adjoining rural areas, Hooda laid the foundation stones of five 33 KV substations at Dabri, Rasulpur, Darad, Picholiya villages and Hansi Road in Karnal. Hooda also inaugurated a martyr and freedom fighters’ museum at Karnal where 600 books and 200 rare pictures have been displayed. The museum is dedicated to noted freedom fighter Ch. Ranbir Singh. The Chief Minister also inaugurated three primary health centres at Kutail, Salwan and Gagsina set up at a cost of Rs 6.21 crore. Later, he inaugurated a railway overbridge at Trawadi, constructed at a cost of Rs 26 crore and a Rs3.75-crore agricultural business information centre at New Grain Market, Karnal. He launched the country’s first Digital Mandi at the information centre. Hooda interacted with farmers at Kisan Library and sample collection centers and went round an exhibition organised by the Rice Millers Association and exporters. He later laid the foundation stones for Punjabi and Gurjar dharamshalas, besides a Valmiki Bhawan Commotion was caused during a felicitation function organised at Kalidas Rangshala by Sikh community when a social activist, Anand Kumar, started raising slogans against those seeking clemency for killers of Beant Singh. The police, however, whisked him away. What is smart card
Smart card is an instrument that will enable farmers to know the prices of crops in various mandis of the state so that they can sell their produce in a market giving the maximum price. The card will have the weight of the crop brought to a mandi by a farmer as well as the price at which the produce has been sold. Farmers can also get all information through
SMS. |
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Submitting false report to NHRC
Samalkha, April 2 Kapoor had been booked by the district police under various sections of the IPC after his trade union held a protest outside a local pit-loom unit in November 2005. Later, he was even convicted by a court of law and had to undergo imprisonment. However, Kapoor moved the NHRC stating that he had been implicated in a false case at the behest of an influential industrialist because he had raised the voice in support of the labourers. Following this, the NHRC wrote to the Panipat district administration seeking a report on the matter. In its reply, which was compiled by SDM Shakti Singh and forwarded by Deputy Commissioner Rajeev Ranjan, the administration told the NHRC that no case was registered against Kapoor in Panipat for vandalising any factory. Though, Kapoor was convicted in the said case and had to undergo imprisonment. Kapoor then took up the case with the state Lokayukta, which asked state the Chief Secretary to look into the matter and submit a report. After seeking a report from the Panipat Deputy Commissioner, in which it was admitted that wrong information had been placed before the NHRC, the Chief Secretary asked Suprabha Dahiya, Divisional Commissioner, Rohtak, to conduct an inquiry and fix responsibility. In his report submitted to the Chief Secretary, a copy of which is available with The Tribune, the commissioner concluded that Rajeev Ranjan and Shakti Singh had submitted a false report to the NHRC. According to the official documents, the authorities observed, “it can be said the conduct of the two officials was unbecoming of a government functionary.” It was also stated that before recommending any action against the officials, the two be issued notice.
However, the matter was kept pending as the state Lokayukta is to take up the matter for hearing on May 16 and only after that further action could be taken against the erring officials. Kapoor contended that by submitting a false report with the NHRC, the district administration had plugged all possibilities of his getting acquitted of the false charges that had been framed against him and instead he had to undergo imprisonment. |
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Vet Dept chief visits Sundana village
Rohtak, April 2 The Deputy Commissioner has ordered the authorities concerned to get the water of village ponds replaced. It is reported that about 500 animals were still under treatment in the village. The problem has been prominently highlighted by The Tribune since the day the disease broke out and started claiming the lives of cattle in the last week of February, the month in which the department had organised a ramp walk of the Murrah cattle at Jind, to showcase one of the best breed of milch cattle in the country. Though officials of the department had been camping in the village for the past one month, the deaths of cattle and other animals continued till recently. “This development has not only led to panic among cattle owners in the village and the surrounding areas, but also caused a huge loss to owners as the average price of a milch cattle is between Rs 20,000 and Rs 50,000,” claimed a resident Mahavir. The total loss could be several lakhs as every other household had lost a
cattle during this period, he added. Dr Dangi said the situation had been under control. All animals had been vaccinated and there was no shortage of any medicine to tackle such a
disease. “Teams of veterinary specialists from Hisar and Jalandhar have also visited and have collected blood samples to find out the root cause of the problem,” said an official. |
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Jat samiti flays Vidrohi’s statement on quota
Hisar, April 2 Reacting to the statement, Hawa Singh Sangwan, president of the Haryana unit of the samiti, said here today that the political standing or strength of any community was no yardstick for determining whether a community was socially or economically backward. He said Yadavs had been declared as backward castes in UP and Bihar despite the fact that these two states were ruled for long periods by Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav. Babu Ram Gore had been Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh while Brahm Prakash had remained Chief Minister of Delhi. Again Rao Birender Singh was the second Chief Minister of Haryana. This, however, did not imply that the backward status accorded to the communityu in UP and Bihar should be withdrawn. Political strength of any community was always reflected in its political strength. However, the criteria for backwardness was determined on the basis of social and economic indices. Sangwan said the Mandal Commission report clearly mentioned that Jat leaders at that time considered the status of a backward class below the collective dignity of their community despite the fact that the Jat community met all parameters laid down by the commission for consideration as a backward caste. He said things had changed and Jat leaders now fully realised that a large number of community members had to work under the MNREGA scheme as their own land holdings had shrunk to less than two acres in the majority of cases. Hence, the Jats had become economically backward, he added. |
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Wheat procurement may begin on April 10 in Rohtak dist
Jind, April 2 The arrival date of the wheat crop was likely to get delayed by around a week due to the cool climatic conditions this time, though the overall production of the crop was likely to go up by around 10 per cent this season. “We have been prepared to start the procurement process on time and were hopeful that the dispute over the lifting contract was solved by the time of arrival of the crop in the market,” says Laxmi Narayan, District Manager of HAFED here. He said one of the contractors had filed a case in the high court regarding the allotment of the contract for which April 4 had been the next date of hearing. He added that due to a delay in the start of harvesting season due to climatic conditions, the actual arrival and procurement may begin after April 10 only, though the official period starts from April 1 each year. This view appears to find a support from officials of the Agriculture Department who also claim that harvesting period would be delayed by atleast a week this time as the crop was still not ripened fully so far owing to a cool weather this time. This has also led the officials to believe that the average yield of the wheat which had been around 45.15 quintals per hectare last year could increase by about two to three quintals this time resulting in an overall rise in the total production of the crop this season. A total of around 2.15 lakh hectares of land in the district had been under the crop, nearly the same as last year. “The farmers who have not been able to sow the crop so far have been advised to use the late varieties of seeds in order to get adequate production for the crop. Favourable conditions have helped the farmers to achieve the targeted production to quite an extent,” said an official. |
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Gurgaon-Chandigarh super luxury buses launched
Gurgaon, April 2 An official press statement issued here today said nine buses had been received at the Gurgaon and Chandigarh depots of Haryana Roadways, while 16 more would be rolled out by next month. Each bus costs Rs 85 lakh. Online booking of seats in these buses had already started. The fair from Gurgaon to Chandigarh was Rs 595 while those boarding from Delhi would have to pay Rs 510. These buses would halt only at the Oasis Tourist Complex in Karnal. |
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Failure to remove encroachments from protected monuments
Chandigarh, April 2 Among other things, the high court had made it clear that Deputy Commissioners-cum-Collectors were dutybound “to get ancient/protected monuments or property attached thereto retrieved from the encroachers in accordance with law”. The entire exercise was to be carried out before September 30, 2009. Taking up the matter again, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Mahesh Grover asserted that in eight out of nine monuments mentioned in a chart prepared by the Archaeological Survey of India, “there appears to be an apparent infringement of the court’s order dated October 4, 2008”. The Bench added: “Such encroachments, therefore, will have to be dealt with in accordance with the direction contained in the order dated October 4, 2008. In terms of the direction, we initiate contempt proceedings against the Deputy Commissioners of the districts where the eight monuments are located. The sites of eight monuments regarding which suo motu contempt proceedings have been initiated are: Ancient site, Ther Mound, Sirsa; mosque of sarai of Ali Vardi Khan in Gurgaon district; two gateways of Mughal Sarai, Gharaunda, Karnal district; Prithviraj Chauhan’s Fort, Hansi, in Hisar district; ancient site, Rakhigarhi, Hisar district; Buria Ka Nala, Faridabad district; Kos Minar 22 in Palwal (Aurangabad), and ancient site, Theh Polar, Kaithal district. The Bench added:”Notice be issued to the Deputy Commissioners concerned after registration of separate contempt cases returnable on July 11.The names and particulars of the Deputy Commissioners currently in charge of the districts are to be intimated by the state counsel to the High Court Registrar (Judicial). |
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Karnal scripts history; claims forming world’s largest Red Ribbon
Karnal, April 2 Representatives of social organisations, students and prominent citizens wearing red T-shirts and red caps/turbans assembled here to
participate in a “state-level youth convention” under the National Forum of Artists and Activists (NIFAA) leadership and claimed to have formed the world’s largest human awareness Red Ribbon. Commending the effort, Haryana Speaker Kuldeep Sharma said:”I have seen several political rallies but such an enthusiastic response from the youth for a social cause is amazing”. NIFAA chairman Preet Pal Singh Punnu said the last record on cancer awareness, as per the Guinness Book of Records, was formed in Saudi Arabia in October, 2010, when 4,952 persons formed a pink ribbon. Another attempt was made in Bangalore in which 6,500 persons participated but it was not registered in the Guinness Book of records, he claimed. |
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Forced sale of insurance policies
Sirsa, April 2 Ashwani Madan, District Social Welfare Officer (DSWO), said the authorities had taken away electronic benefit transfer (EBT) machines from some FINO officials after
it was found that they were using official data for selling insurance policies of a company by
misleading people that these were under a scheme of the government. The state government has handed over the task of
distribution of social security pension to FINO, a business and banking platform with extensive delivery channels. The government, in fact, had handed over the job
to banks — AXIS Bank in case of Sirsa — which, in turn, had hired the services of FINO. Under the scheme, the beneficiaries were to be provided smart cards so that they could draw money from the EBT machines available with business correspondents
of FINO. However, people complained of delayed payments, deletion of names of beneficiaries and in several cases indecent behaviour with people, including women, by its officials, leading to demonstrations at several places. Looking into the complaints, the state government withdrew the job
of distributing social security pension in villages from FINO and gave it back to panchayats some months back. “People complain that FINO officials have been approaching them on the basis of data available with them and forcing them to purchase insurance policies under the garb of a government scheme,” said Madan. He said the authorities would initiate legal action if further complaints were received in this regard. Abhishek Tiwari, district coordinator of FINO for Sirsa, did not respond
to calls made on his mobile while Kamaljit Bhardwaj, manager of Axis Bank, said FINO had taken the agency of a private insurance company and its officials were doing this work as the job of distributing pension has been partially withdrawn from the company. He said the bank had asked FINO officials not to sell insurance policies in this manner. |
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Appointment of PROs in Police Dept in limbo
Rohtak, April 2 All incumbents who had worked on the post on a contractual basis are still awaiting a fresh term after being relieved from the department a few months ago. While such posts had been created under the policy of outsourcing, the department has perhaps been left confused. The financial burden of such posts was not much as each of such incumbent was paid a monthly wage of Rs 20,000 only, but perhaps due to no clear-cut policy on how to adjust the salaries of such persons, the matter is getting delayed,” said sources in the department. It is learnt that a majority of these posts had been held by youths who were not only qualified but who were also enthusiastic about their work, though the financial package they had been getting was meager. “As there was no job security, many of the qualified and competent persons had stayed from such work and did not respond to the advertisement run by the department in some of the districts,” claimed a candidate on condition of anonymity. He said the move to hire professionals was good, but the government ought to prepare a proper policy and norms with a handsome package if the department wanted to attract able and talented professionals. About a dozen PROs appointed for six months on contract had been relieved from their jobs a few weeks ago and had not received their extension letter yet. “We have written to the department and have recommended an extension, but we are still to receive any nod in this regard,” said Alok Mittal, the IG, Rohtak range. He said such a post was quite important in view of the fact that the police was required to have a proper and smooth communication with the media and society as a whole. |
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Cinema for Cerebral Growth
Haryana is discovering novel ways to promote intellectual growth among its young. With snail-paced reforms in education, the thirst for knowledge is turning into a movement for promotion and appreciation of meaningful cinema as a tool for education.
With eight chapters of film festivals organised in the region, after the success of Yamunanagar Film Festival (HIFF), now Kurukshetra University is organising the first-ever International Film Festival on Media (MIFF) from April 3 to 7. Based on research findings that prove that 40 per cent of the space is allotted to cinema, entertainment and music by the media, which help cinema acquire a larger role than it creates for itself. The festival is aimed at finding more meaningful relation between the two - media and cinema. With this in mind, the five-day festival organised by the Institute of Mass Communication and Media Technology, KU, has selected films based on the theme of media and its relation with politics, bureaucracy, corruption, crime and law, art and literature. During these five days media students and those pursuing film appreciation course will have an interface with editors, film critics, documentary and feature film directors, producers, actors, authors, artists and scriptwriters to understand how different genres of art influence each other and the mass media. “We are looking at cinema as an art form, not as a means of entertainment alone, a course for intellectual growth and a tool for education. Watching a good film is like reading a work of literature,” says Ajit Rai, director, MIFF. On the opening day, Seema Biswas, a national award winner actress for “Bandit Queen”, will present a film on 26/11 Mumbai blasts “Un Hazaron Ke Naam” by Siddharth Sen Gupta. A film based on media hype “Tere Bin Laden” by Abhishek Sharma will be followed by a solo play by Seema Biswas “Stree Patra”, written by Rabindra Nath Tagore. The festival will open with Kundan Shah’s classic comedy “Jane Bhi Do Yaaron”. The second day will be dedicated to films, as educator Vinod Bhardwaj will present two of his films made on famous painters MF Hussain and Himmat Shah. George Clooney’s winner of several international awards, “Good Night And Good Luck”, based on the broadcast media and a film on eminent photographer Raghu Rai by Suresh Kohli will be the highlights. Spencer Tracy’s film on Ernest Hemingway’s novella “The Old Man And The Sea” will explore literature in cinema and dimensions of crime, law and cinema will be explored through Basu Chatterjee’s “Ek Ruka Hua Faisla”. The third day will feature an FTTI film by Tripurari Sharan “Woh Subah Kidhar Nikal Gayee”. Dance in cinema will be understood through Arun Khopkar’s film “Sanchaari” on Leela Samson, who now heads the Censor Board and the Sangeet Natak Akademi. Udayy Kumar Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; Neena Lath Gupta, MD, NFDC (Mumbai), and Tripurari Sharan, DG, Doordarshan will also participate. The fourth day, dedicated to NRI cinema, will feature Udayan Prasad’s “My Son-The Fanatic” and “Brother in Trouble” and Leslee Udwin’s “West is West” and “East is East.” The last day will be dedicated to films made by Haryanavis- Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan’s award winning film “Lahore” and “Laado” will be screened. The festival will conclude with the screening of “Das Capital” by Rajan Kothari and Dayal Nihlani. |
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Hooda has failed to keep promises to voters: Bishnoi
Kaithal, April 2 This was stated by Kuldeep Bishnoi, MP, while addressing a joint meeting of the HJC- BJP workers here yesterday. He said due to the “anti-people” policies of the present state government, there was resentment among all sections of society and, in such a situation, the masses were now looking towards the HJC- BJP alliance to uproot this government during the next Assembly elections. Kuldeep, who was given a warm welcome by hundreds of workers of both parties, said the state was under a huge financial burden, which had reached Rs 60,000 crore. In such a situation, how will Hooda implement the projects that have been announced already? The MP said the hike in power tariff by the government would add to the woes of people who were already reeling under the prevailing high prices of items of daily use. He expressed his concern over the worsening law and order and the power shortage in the state. Kuldeep alleged that many scams had taken place in Haryana under the present regime and all these scams would be probed by the HJC-BJP alliance government if it got a mandate from the people. BJP state president Krishan Pal Gujjar said the base of the INLD was shrinking in the state. |
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Move to link areas bordering Delhi with orbit rail services
Palwal, April 2 Attending a Nav Nirman rally yesterday, Hooda appreciated the show of unity made by the Congress leaders and asserted it would enable the party to win in all Assembly seats in Faridabad and Palwal district, as well as the Faridabad parliamentary constituency in the next elections. Hooda expressed disappointment at the loss of the Congress in all Assembly seats in Palwal in the last Assembly elections. The seats were lost on account of the leaders working at cross-purposes. This was in spite of the fact that the people of Palwal are pro-Congress, he added. “I am happy that the leaders have realised their mistakes and have decided to work unitedly in the interest of the party,” he observed. Hooda’s comments were in the backdrop of former Haryana minister Karan Dalal, the organiser of today’s rally and Congress MP from Faridabad Avtar Singh Bhadana, who spoke earlier, admitted the mistakes committed by them, which resulted in the party’s poor performance at the hustings. Responding to a list of demands made by Karan Dalal, the chief minister said his government was contemplating linking the areas of the state bordering Delhi with orbit rail services. Haryana Metrol Rail Corporation has already been constituted by the state, he added.
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40 Sirsa schools to get clean, purified water
Sirsa, April 2 “Over 14,000 schoolchildren will get clean purified water due to these systems,” said J Ganeshan, Deputy Commissioner, Sirsa. “We have selected 40 such schools, where the number of children is up to 350 in each school. Each UF system has cost Rs 35,000 to the authorities,” Ganeshan added. A scarcity of drinking water is witnessed in many village schools during summer season and where it is available, the water is often contaminated. This leads to spread of water-borne diseases like gastroenteritis, jaundice and typhoid among children. The purified drinking water will save children from such infections in future. |
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Levy of Excise Duty on Unbranded Jewellery
Fatehabad, April 2 Expressing their solidarity with jewellers and goldsmiths, who have been on strike ever since the Union Budget was announced, local traders joined them in their demonstration in the town. The traders marched in a procession to the mini-secretariat, where they gave a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister to the DC. Meanwhile, the relay fast by jewellers and goldsmiths continued today. Earlier, Gobind Kanda, an executive member of the HPCC, and Bhupesh Mehta, block president of the Congress, visited the dharna site and expressed their support to the agitating
jewellers. |
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Dharna against poor water supply
Sirsa, April 2 The women alleged that they had not been receiving any water for the past
three days. A junior engineer of the Public Health Department came there and assured the agitating women that
their problem would be solved soon. |
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2 proclaimed offenders held
Hisar, April 2 A case under the NDPS Act was registered against him. He was granted a bail and he absconded after that. On a tip-off, the police arrested him from Agroha. A court had declared him a proclaimed offender in 2009. In a simlar case, Prithvi Singh was arrested on August 22, 1993, from Adampur while carrying 6 kg of opium. He was sentenced to 10-year jail. However, he was acquitted by the high court and was released from the jail. He was arrested from Kohli village today.
— TNS |
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Woman raped by 2 brothers-in-law
Sirsa, April 2 The victim and her younger sister was married to two real brothers at Tibbi for four years. However, she came back to her parents three years back, as her in-laws allegedly harassed her for dowry. After the community panchayats failed to resolve the tangle, she lodged a complaint of harassment for dowry against her in-laws with the police last month. She alleged that her brothers-in-law, Sanjay and Kalu Ram, met him in a market yesterday, when she had gone to purchase vegetables and offered her a lift in their vehicle. The duo took her to agriculture fields near Dhani Sheranwali and allegedly raped her. The two allegedly threatened her of dire consequences, if she revealed the matter to anyone. Medical examination of the victim confirmed the allegations. A case under Sections 376, 120-B and 506, IPC, against the two has been registered accused. |
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70-year-old man held on rape charge
Faridabad, April 2 The girl’s relatives had gone to the accused’s house to protest against the crime where they were subjected to verbal abuses by Charu. Brandishing a knife he threatened to liquidate them. |
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3 hurt in Hisar jail clash
Hisar, April 2 Soon thereafter members of both gangs picked up whatever they could lay their hands on and attacked each other. Inder Gujjar and two others, Suraj Bhan and Rajesh, were injured. They were admitted to the General Hospital here. Doctors advised the police that Gujjar be shifted to the Medical University at Rohtak. However, on Gujjar’s insistence he was admitted to a local nursing home instead. The Civil Lines police has registered an FIR. |
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Cellphones seized from jail inmates
Rohtak, April 2 This is perhaps the first recovery of mobile phones from the district jail this year, said the police. Meanwhile, the police has arrested a proclaimed offender, Satish of Bhalaut village in the district. Booked in an attempt-to-murder case 10 years ago, Satish had been absconding since then. |
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