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Geetika had visited Sirsa
Bishnoi demands probe in Geetika case
Hisar MC to hire firm to survey homes liable to pay tax
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All land records to be made online by Oct
Consensus eludes farmers on Gorakhpur N-plant stir
Develop Chilli Lake into a park, say residents
Centre to trace missing persons planned
Maruti recruitment from Sept 2; touts fleece job seekers
MLAs’ grants come under CAG scanner
Faridabad dyeing, processing units seek exclusive hub
Illegal extraction of groundwater
8 booked in dowry cases
Khap panchayats to take decision on Jats’ rally
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Geetika had visited Sirsa
Sirsa, August 18 In the pictures, Geetika Sharma and her mother, who visited the Kutiya in Sirsa on March 2, 2011, were seen sitting with family members of Kanda during a “jagran” held on Mahashivratri on that day. In a picture, Geetika was seen dancing on “bhajans” with female members of Kanda’s family. The pictures show Geetika’s proximity with the former minister and his family members. The Kandas organise a “jagran” on Mahashivratri every year and Bollywood actors and singers like Hema Malini, Narender Chanchal, Richa Sharma and Anuradha Podhwal had visited the Kutiya in the past. Meanwhile, the Tara Baba Kutiya as well as the office of the Kandas on the Hisaria Road here wore a deserted look today, as hundreds of the former minister’s supporters had gone to Delhi. Both Gopal Kanda and his younger brother, Gobind Kanda, are in custody of the Delhi Police. Krishan Lal Saini, a former chairman of the Market Committee, Sirsa, and a close confident of the Kandas, confirmed that over 250 staunch supporters of the former minister had left for Delhi soon after his bail application was rejected yesterday. Many of them were seen holding demonstration outside the Ashok Vihar police station in Delhi before Kanda surrendered in the wee hours today. Sources close to the former minister said the purpose of the demonstration was to keep the police involved, so that the police was unable to arrest Kanda when he presented himself before the police at the police station. Kanda, according to sources, wanted to surrender instead of being arrested, so that it could help him at the time of arguments on his bail as well as at the time of final arguments. |
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Bishnoi demands probe in Geetika case
Karnal, August 18 Addressing a public rally at Tararori, Bishnoi charged the Delhi Police of trying to save Kanda as many bigwigs were involved in this murky affair. Only a high-level judicial probe by a high court judge can bring the truth out. He said not only the Congress but even the INLD patronise Kanda and it was a matter of deep probe that how a person running a shoe shop could become so rich and float an airline. The HJC got a shot in the arm with former INLD MLA, Nafe Singh Valmiki, joining the party with hundreds of his supporters and demonstrating his following by bringing a large number of supporters to the rally. Lashing out at Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for shielding tainted leaders like Kanda, Bishnoi said earlier also politicians like Om Prakash Jain and Jile Ram accused in murder of a Kambopura village former sarpanch had to resign on serious charges of corruption. |
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Hisar MC to hire firm to survey homes liable to pay tax
Hisar, August 18 According to official sources, the corporation decided to hire a firm as it would help increase its revenue and lug leakages. So far, the corporation has only 53,000 residential properties listed. Since the municipal limits has been extended, it is estimated that the number could go up to 1.5 lakh. The survey firm will measure each property falling within the municipal limits. The owners will be required to fill in a form each. The company will then issue a token, listing the property number. The house tax will be determined on the basis of the area of the house or the plot. Owners of vacant plots will also be required to pay house tax, though at lower rates. The residential buildings will be taxed on the basis of covered area. Vacant plots will be charged at the rate of 50 paise per square yard. The corporation will undertake a sample survey after the company has finished its job to confirm whether the data collected is genuine. MC officials said the increased revenue would help in providing better civic amenities to the city. |
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All land records to be made online by Oct
Chandigarh, August 18 Stating this here today, a spokesman of the department said that a communication to this effect had been sent to all deputy commissioners in the state. He said all village maps (mussavis) were being digitised under the National Land Records Modernisation Programme. The deputy commissioners have been directed to give a print of the digitised ‘mussavi’ to the patwari concerned for updating and the patwari will have to return the updated ‘mussavi’ to the vendor within 15 days. He said that in some cases, due to mutations not being updated in the HALRIS software, the khasra number of the digitised mussavi do not match with the number provided by the HALRIS software. |
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Consensus eludes farmers on Gorakhpur N-plant stir
Fatehabad, August 18 In a dramatic development yesterday, a deputation of 15 farmers led by Hans Raj Siwach, president of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, had gone to Chandigarh to meet Hooda, when INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala was in their village to address a rally to support their cause. Chautala’s rally was held as per its schedule, where the INLD supremo declared that his party would not allow the project to see the light of the day at any cost. Meanwhile, the 15-member deputation of farmers returned last evening after meeting Hooda. Despite a series of meetings since yesterday, farmers have not been able to reach to any conclusion on the fate of their two-year old agitation that began on August 17, 2010. “We have not been able to arrive at any consensus yet,” admitted Hans Raj Siwach, who added that their dharna at Fatehabad and Gorakhpur village would continue as usual. He said farmers were willing to end their agitation, but they wanted the government to give them at least that much compensation, which was given to Sirsa farmers last year while acquiring their land for a HUDA sector. Farmers’ dilemma is that they had gone to meet Hooda on their own initiative, but they have not been able to get any assurance that could help them in face saving for ending their agitation. Hooda, according to sources rejected their demand of annulment of the nuclear power project on the ground that it was too late now and expressed his helplessness to increase the compensation on the ground that the award had already been announced. Hooda is also reported to have told farmers that a majority of them had already accepted the compensation, which implies that the compensation was sufficient. He, however, assured them that the government would do its best to protect their interests and appealed to them to end their agitation. Meanwhile, owners of 51 acres accepted their compensation today taking the percentage of those who have taken their cheques to 60 per cent of the total land acquired for the project. Prahlad Singh Gillankhera, Chief Parliamentary Secretary and MLA from Fatehabad, said farmers were coming forward to give their land out of their own volition as they know that the nuclear power plant was a project of national importance. |
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Develop Chilli Lake into a park, say residents
Fatehabad, August 18 Activists of the samiti staged a dharna on this issue at the Jawahar Chowk, where leaders of the BJP, INLD, HJC and the CPM visited to offer their support. “The historic lake is in a shambles and the authorities are doing nothing to save this place, which has become a dumping ground for sewage, rainwater and other wastes,” alleged Harnam Singh, convener of the samiti. Among those who visited the dharna were
former BJP MLA Balbir Singh Chaudhary, HJC district president Rajinder Chaudhary, CPM leader Devi Lal, INLD leader Balwan Singh Daulatpuria and several others. Chilli is a historical lake that surrounds the old Fatehabad, the town named after Emperor Firoz Shah Tuglaq’s son, Fateh Khan, in the early 16th century, from three sides. The lake drew water from an offshoot of the Ghaggar and served as security cordon for the town. However, the lake had since been converted into a sewage dump as the authorities started emptying sewerage contents of the town in it. Land mafia had also started encroachments upon the Chilli Lake’s land and in the recent years, many constructions had come up on it constricting its size considerably. As some of its land belonged to individuals, who have for long shifted to other states, land sharks started purchasing Chilli land from them at throwaway prices and carved out illegal colonies on it. Local residents, including some NGOs, have
been demanding the development of the Chilli Lake into a tourist spot and the issue has surfaced in almost all recent elections. The local authorities had announced in April that Rs 1.50 crore had been approved for this project, but nothing has happened on the ground so far. |
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Pharmacist treats patients at Bhainswal Kalan PHC
Sonepat, August 18 However, duties of a doctor are being performed by a pharmacist, Sandeep Kumar, at the centre and patients have no other option except to avail the treatment provided by him. Nearly 60 patients arrive everyday at the PHC to get treatment. Sources said the government had sanctioned two posts of physicians and one of a dental surgeon for the centre. At present, all the posts are lying vacant. Dental surgeon Dr Atul Sharma had been shifted to Gohana Civil Hospital, while Dr Praveen Kumar left the centre on May16 this year to pursue further studies. Similarly, Dr Gaurav Aggarwal had been shifted to Haryana Bhawan in New Delhi on deputation about two years ago and the post had been lying vacant since then. Gohana Civil Hospital Senior Medical Officer Dr Ishwar Singh Punia said there was a shortage of trained doctors not only in Gohana area but also at other health centres in the state. “A pharmacist cannot prescribe medicines legally, but he can give some guidance to patients,” he added. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will distribute cash awards to the sportspersons from Haryana who had participated in the London Olympics and their coaches on August 26. Villagers have decided to raise their demand for doctors at the centre during the CM’s visit. |
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Centre to trace missing persons planned
Karnal, August 18 The Director of the SCRB, Laik Ram Dabas, said about 300 persons go missing in Haryana every month while about 250 abandoned dead bodies are recovered of which only 50 are identified due to lack of adequate machinery for the identification of unclaimed bodies. The main reason is that the comparison of interstate reports is made on a monthly basis and by that time the bodies become mutilated or decayed or are cremated without proper identification and remain on the records The centre would be set up at Madhuban Police Academy initially. Later it would be shifted to the National Capital Region (NCR) region comprising Sonepat, Gurgaon and Faridabad areas which accounts for 60 per cent of the missing persons, Dabas disclosed. The Union government has entrusted the responsibility of tracing the missing persons to SCRBs in the states but due to work overload, the state police is not according priority to this task, leading to delays. When anyone goes missing, the relatives try to trace him at their own level and come to the police only after they fail to get any clue. The police also treats it as a routine matter and simply lodges a complaint. Keeping this in view, the SCRB has decided to set up an assistance centre to keep a record of missing children, men and women and the also the abandoned and unidentified bodies that are recovered. The centre would be connected through the Internet and WANs with all the Police Headquarters in the country and the affected families could approach the centre with photographs and other details of the missing person. The initiative would give a ray of hope to the affected people who pursue the matter for some time and ultimately live in agony and pain. |
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Maruti recruitment from Sept 2; touts fleece job seekers
Gurgaon, August 18 The Manesar plant employed nearly 3,300 workers, of which nearly 1,500 were regular and the rest were on contract. However, according to company sources, it has now been decided to keep the ratio of regular and contractual workers close to 80:20. Hence, apart from sacking the 546 regular workers, the company has also decided to show the door to a majority of the contractual workforce. “We will call the contractual workers for job tests and interviews and recruit those found eligible as regular workers,” said a company official. Meanwhile, hundreds of job seekers from different parts of Haryana as well as other states are thronging the Manesar and Gurgaon plants of the MSIL. Cashing in on the wave, placement agencies in and around Gurgaon are minting money, while several unscrupulous elements and touts are also fleecing the job aspirants on assurances of getting them placed at the company. On the other hand, the Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union (MUKU) has decried the company management’s move to sack staffers. MUKU general secretary Kuldeep Jhangu has maintained that there should have been a proper inquiry before terminating the services of the workers. The union has demanded the reinstatement of the innocent workers. |
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MLAs’ grants come under CAG scanner
Chandigarh, August 18 The office of the Principal Auditor General, Haryana, has decided to look into the spending of grants and utilisation of funds and loans by the MLAs. Not only this, the department is also carrying out physical verification of the amount spent, by sending out its teams to various constituencies. Sources say the teams are verifying the amount given away from the petty grant of Rs 2 lakh, which is a discretionary fund available with the MLAs. Besides, in a couple of cases, teams are verifying the utilisation of Rs 40-lakh loan available with the MLAs at a very low rate of interest. A former MLA, now a Member of Parliament, is learnt to have got in touch with Vidhan Sabha officials to pay back the balance amount pending against his name, the sources said. This drive is being carried out on the basis of the details of spending sent by the office of the Vidhan Sabha Speaker. Vidhan Sabha officials said though the records were sent annually to the office of the Principal Auditor General, it was for the first time that the department was verifying the utilisation of loans and spending of grants by the MLAs on ground. The sources said so far the audit objections were limited to the expenditure by various government departments on schemes and projects. However, for the first time, the expenditure details of the MLAs had also come under the scanner. “The expenditure of the petty grant and the utilisation of the loan taken by the MLAs for construction of houses are being looked at in at least six cases. Some MLAs have got in touch with the Vidhan Sabha on finding out that a team has been carrying out verification in their respective constituencies. Cases of a couple of MLAs from the Opposition are also being examined,” the sources added. The office of the Principal Auditor General refused to comment on the matter. Sources said officials of the department had raised an objection about House committees holding frequent meetings in other states. Though no reply was sent to them, but Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Sharma convened a meeting of chairmen of all the committees and asked them to limit holding of meetings in other states to 14 days and fixed the number of such meetings to four. |
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TMC seeks extention of rail links to rice growing areas
Karnal, August 18 Making the announcement at a public rally at Majoora village in Assandh Assembly Constituency in Karnal, Rajya Sabha MP, KD Singh and in charge (northern) of the AITMC, regretted that several areas of Haryana were producing super quality basmati rice but were deprived of rail links, resulting in various problems in transporting the produce to terminal markets and said his party would vigorously pursue this matter. He said though Assandh was on the top for producing quality rice but the area had remained backward due discrimination and step-motherly treatment meted out to Assandh and other areas of north Haryana by the Hooda government. Accusing the Chief Minister of neglecting the northern Haryana in developmental activities, Singh said Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee was role model in this regard who followed the motto “Ma-Mati-Manus” and believed in balanced development of all areas and all sections. Assuring that the TMC would remove all anomalies restricting the benefits of reservations to Valmikis within a week, if voted to power and a university named after Maharishi Valmiki would be set up in the state, Singh had earlier said in an attempt to strike a chord with the Valmikis. Hitting out at leaders of major political parties in Haryana, he said they were only interested in making money, which the TMC was committed to the service of the people. Claiming that the people of Haryana were itching for a change, Singh said Mamata Banerjee has come forward to lead the campaign for change and urged the people to support her for "balanced development and justice". Accusing the Hooda government of shielding former minister Gopal Kanda, the TMC leader said his surrender after more than a week proved that the government was aware about his whereabouts but did not arrest him. |
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Faridabad dyeing, processing units seek exclusive hub
Faridabad, August 18 The government recently expressed its reservations against the idea of creating the hub. Rather, it has suggested to owners of dyeing and processing units to purchase land at their own cost and set up the hub themselves. It assured it would approve the project. The Faridabad Textile Processors Association, supported by industry
associations led by the Faridabad Industries Association (FIA), had taken
up the issue with the government. Ravi Jindal, president of Faridabad Textile Processors Association, said a fresh attempt would be made to persuade the government. The units are in the small and medium size categories. Hence, setting up the hub themselves is cost-prohibitive, he added. The industry’s case was that the units scattered in various parts of Faridabad be set up at one place, possibly in the upcoming Industrial Model Township here. Intrinsic to the concept of the hub was a provision for a “common effluent treatment plant”, a robust sewage system and availability of sufficient water in it. The industry’s stand is that the units presently face financial burden in setting up their individual sewage treatment plants and measures to prevent air pollution. It is of the view that the proposed hub could also take care of the needs of the units wanting to expand their business. Jindal said dyeing and processing units were listed in “polluted” category by the Pollution Control Board. Hence, they could be set up only at officially designated places. The present industrial sectors, including Sector 25 and 6, the DLF industrial area, where the units were located had been occupied. |
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Illegal extraction of groundwater
Chandigarh, August 18 Stating this today, a spokesman of the department said that the colonisers had been directed that groundwater should not
be used for construction purposes. The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), North-Western Region and Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon, have been asked to take action for sealing unauthorised tubewells and borewells. The colonisers have been asked to explain the reasons for withdrawing the groundwater for construction purposes against the approval of the CGWB or State Environment Impact Assessment Authority or Haryana State Pollution Control Board and also in violation of the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court dated July 31, 2012 within 15 days. A maximum of six notices have been issued to Raheja Developers Private Limited, followed by five to DLF New Gurgaon Homes Developer Private Limited and four each to Tulip Infratech Private Limited and Vatika Limited. Three notices have been issued each to Emaar MGF Land Limited, Chintels India Limited and Bestech
India Limited. The others issued show- cause notices include AN Buildwell Private Limited, ABW Buildwell Private Limited, Aggarwal Developers Private Limited, ALM Infotech Private Limited, Ansal Properties and Infrastructure Limited, Bestech India Limited, Chintels India Limited, Countrywide Promoters Private limited, Deputy Gothwal Construction Private Limited, Dharmpal and others, DLF New Gurgaon Homes Developer Private Limited, Emaar MGF Land Limited, Era Infrastructure (India) Limited, Headway Builcon Private Limited, Ish Kripa Properties Private Limited, JMD limited and others, JSG Builders Private Limited, Jubilant Malls Private Limited and Jubilant
Software Services Private Limited. The other colonisers to have been issued notices are KSS Properties Private Limited, Land Mark Appartment Private Limited, Magnum International Trading Company Limited, Mapsco Builders Private Limited, Mahindra Gesco Developer Limited, National Buildings Construction Corp. Limited, Ninex Developers Limited, North Star Appartments Private Limited, Orris Infrastructure Private Limited, Oxyzen Realtors Private Limited, Pal Infrastructure and Developer Private Limited, Pashupati Buildwell Private Limited, Pioneer Urban Land and Infrastructure Limited, Prajakta Colonizers Private Limited, Puri Construction Private Limited, Raheja Developers Private Limited, Ramprastha Green Private Limited, Reliable Realtech Private Limited, SA Infracon Private Limited, SU Estates Private Limited, SA Infratech Private Limited, Satya Developers Private Limited, Selene Construction Private Limited, Sham Communications Systems, Shivnandan Buildtech Private Limited, Spaze Towers Private Limited, Splendor Land Base Limited, SRP Builders Private Limited, Tata Services Limited, Tirupati Build Plaza Private Limited, Tulip Infratech Private Limited, Uppal Housing Private Limited and Vatika Limited. |
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8 booked in dowry cases
Faridabad, August 18 The victim, who was married in 2010, alleged of being threatened by her in-laws of dire consequences if their demand was not fulfilled. In another incident Ameena Khatoon of Sanjay Colony charged her husband of torturing her for a motorcycle and Rs 50,000 as dowry. Four family members of the accused, including his parents, have also been named in the
FIR. — TNS |
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Khap panchayats to take decision on Jats’ rally
Hisar, August 18 The faction headed by Hawa Singh Sangwan has already decided to hold a rally at Garhi Sampla on September 13. Khap leaders will meet at Jind on August 24. They had helped the samiti leaders reach an agreement with the state government during the last agitation in March. |
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