|
|
|
|
|
Five months on, no headway in Geetanjali murder case
Masters in distance mode ineligible for teachers’ test
2 Army martyrs cremated with honours
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
2013 Review: Power A high-tension transmission line near Gohana bypass in Rohtak. A tribune photograph
RinGside view
Tributes paid to Dabwali fire victims
MP Ashok Tanwar, KV Singh and others in an all-religion prayer to pay tributes to the fire victims on the 18th anniversary of the tragedy at Dabwali in Sirsa on Monday. A Tribune photograph
Only education empowers women, says Miss Asia Pacific
Havildar hurt as mining mafia attacks police team
Man attempts suicide outside police station
Mahinder, who consumed pesticide, in the PGIMS, Rohtak, on Monday. A
Tribune photograph
Haryana’S shame
One suspended, two sent to Police Lines for extortion
Rors rue Centre’s quota bias
Hooda thanks Rahul for OBC status to Jats
AAP to contest all Assembly, LS seats
Man held on attempt to suicide charge
Two killed in road accidents "Traffic Tau" in action in Gurgaon Police Commissioner Alok Mittal and JCP (Traffic) Bharti Arora launch the “Traffic Tau” initiative in Gurgaon on Monday.
Tribune photo: Sayeed Ahmed First list of LS nominees by Jan 15 Safai staff on strike
Youth found dead in drain
|
|
Five months on, no headway in Geetanjali murder case
Gurgaon/Ambala/Panchkula, December 23 The aggrieved family of the victim, hoping that justice would ultimately be delivered, held a protest in Ambala to press for speedy trial. Ambiguity continued over the “controversial” autopsy report of the deceased. On July 17, Geetanjali (30), a resident of Sector 8, Panchkula, married to Garg, was found shot dead at the Police Lines parade ground in Gurgaon. The spot is less than a km from the official residence of the CJM, whose lincensed revolver was recovered from near her body. The victim’s family had then accused him of the murder. Though initially the theory of suicide was put forth, the post-mortem report of the victim had indicated that it was murder and Geetanjali was shot at thrice. Geetanjali’s brother Pradeep Aggarwal said, “The case was handed over to the CBI on August 8. Till now, the case has not come up in court.” He rued, “Whenever we call them about investigations, they say they have not got substantial evidence yet. Garg and his parents have not been arrested even though a case of murder has been registered.” The victim’s parents had moved a plea before the CBI court in Panchkula, seeking custody of Geetanjali’s daughters after her death. A decision was still awaited, but the court allowed them to meet the children at the residence of the counsel for the Gargs for three hours. Following allegations by the victim’s family and investigations by the police, a case under Section 302 was registered against husband Ravneet Garg, father-in-law KK Garg and mother-in-law Rachna Garg. Geetanjali’s autopsy continues to be a mystery. The post-mortem report had stated that four injuries were found on the body, three bullet wounds and one on back of the head, apparently inflicted with a blunt object. The report also mentioned the woman was shot from near contact range. However, the autopsy did not find any bullets in her body and the report prepared by three doctors failed to ascertain the cause of death. The Haryana Government had reconstituted the panel and ordered a review of the report, but it was not carried out and the case was shifted to the CBI. The three doctors were summoned by the CBI this October. Though the government promised to get experts from institutes like AIIMS, nothing concrete had been done. Geetanjali’s industrialist father Om Parkash Aggarwal said the family was dismayed at the adamant attitude of the state judiciary, which posted Geetanjali’s husband in Ambala soon after her death in Gurgaon. The family held a protest in Ambala on November 22, blocking the Ambala-Hisar highway for over two hours, demanding action against Ravneet Garg. He said it had been found in the post-mortem report that one bullet hit her in the stomach, another hit her chin and pierced her head and the third injured her neck. He said there had been efforts to prove that Geetanjali committed suicide, but circumstantial evidence proved that it was a murder. Postmortem Report a Major hurdle
|
|
Masters in distance mode ineligible for teachers’ test
Hisar, December 23 Thousands who have completed MCA and MSc (computer science) degree courses offered by various state universities in Haryana through the distance mode have been left in the lurch as the Board of School Education Haryana (BSEH) has rendered them ineligible to apply for the Haryana Teacher Eligibility Test (HTET). The HTET is the qualifying test for eligibility as postgraduate teacher in the school cadre. These degree holders are now feeling cheated as Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Kurukshetra University and Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, have been offering the MCA course through distance mode for several years. Significantly, MCA and MSc (computer science) degrees make them eligible for the post of assistant professor in colleges and universities as per UGC norms. Many of them had got jobs after clearing the national eligibility test (NET) being conducted by the UGC. BSEH instructions for eligibility for applying for the HTET for postgraduate teacher in computer science mention that only those who have done MCA and MSc through regular mode are eligible to participate in the test. An aspirant said though he had cleared NET and was now eligible for the post of assistant professor in computer science, the Haryana board’s eligibility terms for the post of postgraduate teacher in computer science had come as shock to him. “State universities have been offering MCA and MSc courses through the distance mode for nearly a decade and between 40,000 and 50,000 students had obtained degrees with the hope of getting jobs. The government’s instructions for applying for the HTET revealed that these students have been duped by these universities,” he said. Every masters degree which made an aspirant eligible for NET, which was a higher level test, made the degree holder eligible for the HTET, except computer science, he said. The BESH had introduced the HTET for postgraduate teacher in computer science for the first time, opening the scope of appointment of computer teachers in schools on a regular basis. When contacted, board secretary KC Bhardwaj said eligibility criteria had been set by the state government for each subject. Dharminder Kumar, Dean of the department of computer science and engineering, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, which offered MCA in computer science through distance mode, maintained that the degree holders were eligible for various state government posts, including that of postgraduate teacher in computer science, as per guidelines of the Directorate of Technical Education of the Haryana Government. “I cannot comment on why the BSEH rendered them ineligible,” he said. |
|
2 Army martyrs cremated with honours
Gurgaon, December 23 Representing the Haryana Government were Sohna MLA Chowdharay Dharmaveer, MP Rao Inderjeet Singh, Gurgaon MLA Rao Dharampal while ADC Pushpender SDM Vivek Kalia and tehsildar Balraj Singh represented the administration. Hundreds of villagers from Bhondsi and nearby villages came to bid farewell to the martyr. Subedar Singh was killed in a millitia attack in Sudan on December 19. The deceased’s father,Kanhaiya Singh, felt proud while saying the final goodbye to his son. The government has announced to provide Rs 15 lakh of which Rs 10 lakh will be given to the martyr’s family while the rest will be spent on a memorial. Bhiwani:
The body of martyr Dharmesh Sangwan(32) who was killed in South Sudan in an extremist attack last week, was consigned to the flames in his native Kheri Batar village of Dadri subdivision on Monday. He was the rowing star of the country and had won medals in Asiad and other international champoinships. Hundreds of people, including Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda, Bhiwani-Mahendergarh MP Shruti Chaudhry and state minister Satpal Sangwan attended the funeral. Sangwan's nine-year-old son lit the pyre after soliders unwrapped the body draped in the National Flag. He is survived by his wife, kids and parents. Putting a brave face, Rajender Sangwan said he was proud of his son’s martyrdom. Interacting with mediapersons after cremation, MPs Deepender Singh Hooda and Shruti Chaudhry said they would try to get the maximum possible help for the soldier’s family. |
|
Discoms’ financial rejig plan, tariff hikes major highlights
Pradeep Sharma Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 23 This coupled with the introduction of the feeder pillar box scheme and one-time settlement scheme, computerisation of registration of power complaints, assured power supply scheme at extra cost and mounting arrears of power bills kept the power department in the limelight during 2013. Discoms' rejig plan
The Hooda government accepted the Centre's bailout package for discoms by taking over 50 per cent of the liabilities (Rs 8162.09 crore), calculated by March 31, 2012, to set the stage for their restructuring. The balance 50 per cent loans would be restructured by providing a moratorium on principal amount and the best possible terms for repayment. Power tariff hikes
Power consumers continued to be at the receiving end of the repeated power tariff hikes on account of fuel surcharge adjustments. Even as the Haryana Government claimed surplus power, consumers had to bear the brunt of three power tariff hikes with effect from April 1, July 1 and October 1. However, in a clear populist move, the Hooda government spared the agricultural sector from the power tariff hikes. Power arrears
The arrears of power bills, which were pegged at nearly Rs 4,155 crore, continued to be a cause of worry for the authorities concerned. Surprisingly, the domestic defaulting consumers constituted the lion's share of the total defaulters with 13.91 lakh consumers (of the total of nearly 17.82 lakh) owing an amount of about Rs 3,365 crore to the state exchequer. Surprisingly, nearly 10 lakh defaulters continued to enjoy the privilege of uninterrupted power supply as they were still in the category of 'connected consumers'. However, stepping up its campaign against the defaulters, the discoms recovered an amount of Rs 139 crore and Rs 120 crore in October and November, respectively. Pillar box scheme
The power department launched the feeder pillar box scheme in rural areas to reduce theft and provide incentives to consumers opting for the scheme. The scheme involved installation of meters outside the consumers' premises in feeder pillar boxes. The benefit of one-time settlement for power bill defaulters was promised provided 50% of the households were willing to give an undertaking for implementation of the scheme. However, the scheme met with a lukewarm response as it had been implemented only in nine villages. Nuclear power plant
The nuclear power plant being developed by Nuclear Power Corporation of Indian Limited at
Gorakhpur (Fatehabad) was finally on track with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set to lay its foundation stone in January next year. The 4x700 MW power plant, to be developed on 1,503 acres, will go a long way in meeting long-term energy needs of the state. Assured power scheme
Haryana experimented with a scheme for providing uninterrupted supply of power on selected urban and industrial feeders with effect from April 22. According to the scheme, reliability of power supply to eligible consumers will be made maintained up to 95% and above of the period at an additional surcharge of Rs 1.50 per
unit. Centralised call centre
A centralised call centre with toll free number 1800-180-1615 was made functional for round-the-clock lodging of consumer complaints. The number 155-333 was made available in all cities to lodge of complaints. An online consumer grievances redressal system was introduced on the websites of both
discoms, www.uhbvn.com and www.dhbvn.com, for registering consumer complaints. |
||
|
RinGside view
Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar, one of the front-runners in the race for the post of Haryana Congress president, chooses to stay away from the media glare. However, after his name was “deemed to have been cleared” as incumbent Phool Chand Mullana’s successor, repeated calls to his mobile went unanswered. Asked why he didn’t respond to messages and calls, Tanwar’s candid confession was that he takes no calls because the media, anyway, attributes to him what he never says. Inspection, Haryana style
The special teams formed for the inspection of records of various offices of the Haryana government are special indeed. Treated like VIPs by senior officers and a law unto themselves, rules are certainly not for them as was witnessed this week at the PWD guest house in Jind city. The special team from Hisar, which was to inspect government records of Jind administration, was allowed to consume liquor at the guest house, throwing all norms to the wind. Asked about their behaviour through that night, a member, much to everybody’s shock, said: “Haryana mein inspection aise hi hove hai, bhai!” Karnal MLA Sumita Singh and Mayor Renu Bala definitely don’t see eye to eye. This was evident when the councillors led by the Mayor sat on a four-day dharna in front of their own office. Their grouse was that despite having passed projects worth Rs 10 crore at the two House meetings, no work on ground had been initiated. Demanding fixing of accountability of the MC staff for inaction, they sought action against those guilty of stalling development works. However, if insiders are to be believed, the “inaction” is the outcome of the on-going rift between the MLA and Mayor. The Congress MLA represents the Karnal assembly seat while the Mayor, elected by a faction of the Congress with support from the INLD and BJP-HJC councillors, won against the MLA’s candidate. The situation has come to such a pass that NGOs or other organisations wanting to inviting both of them have to make do with one of them. BJP not one on reservation for women
At the recent state executive meeting of the Haryana BJP at Karnal, the party called upon women to lead from the front to pull the party’s cart to power in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll though the party’s reservation over women reservation was clearly discernible. On the one hand, Saroj Pandey,national president of the BJP Mahila Morcha, exhorted the women to play a vital role by going door to door with the lotus symbol imprinted on their hands with “heena” and sought adequate representation to women in the party, former BJP president Nitin Gadkariwas evasive on the issue. He named leaders like Indira Gandhi and Sushma Swaraj who had risen to the top positions without any reservation. Seems the party is still undecided about the course it wants to take AAP leader’s arrival sets cat among pigeons
As if the speculation over sitting Congress MP Rao Indrajit Singh was not enough to keep all prospective candidates in different parties on their toes, the arrival and plan of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and member of the national executive Yogendra Yadav (50) as a contender, has thrown everybody in a tizzy, especially on account of the party’s success in Delhi. Yadav, who hails from Saharanwas village of Rewari district, seems to have chosen the Gurgaon parliamentary seat as his battleground. Sources close to him claim that though a formal abnnouncement is yet to be made, the recent volunteers’ meets at Gurgaon, Rewari and Mewat
were his first steps in this direction. Hooda’s PR managers
Post-Gohana rally, the larger-than-life images of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his MP son, Deepender Singh loom large in the state. Close on the heels of father-son duo’s show of strength at Gohana, Hooda’s PR managers are leaving no stone unturned to project the Chief Minister and Hooda junior in the run-up to the Lok Sabha and assembly elections and that too at the cost of the state exchequer. A case in point was the foundation stone-laying ceremony of three educational projects in the state by HRD Minister MM Palam Raju as pictures of Deepinder, along with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Hooda, occupied the pride of place in the full-page advertisements. The photo or even Sonepat MP Jitender Malik’s mention, was conspicuous by its absence in the advertisements. — Contributed by Geetanjali Gayatri, Parvesh Sharma,Parveen Arora
Bhanu P. Louhmi, Sumedha Sharma and Pradeep Sharma |
|
Tributes paid to Dabwali fire victims
Dabwali (Sirsa), December 23 Among those present to pay their tributes on the 18th anniversary of the Dabwali tragedy were Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar, Haryana CM’s OSD (Media) KV Singh, former MP Sushil Indora, Zila Parishad Chairman Sita Ram, Congress spokesperson Hoshiari Lal Sharma and Dabwali SDM Satish Kumar. Tanwar inaugurated an e-library in the memorial on this occasion.“The e-library has 8500 books, seven internet connected computers and two kindle tablets with each having storage of 15,000 books,” said a spokesperson of the Sirsa administration. Tanwar and KV Singh accepted the demand of the fire victims’ families for an institute to provide training for firefighting in the memorial. Singh said the demand for opening a burn centre for the victims was getting delayed because the state government was not getting a doctor with super-specialisation in burns. Among the visitors was septuagenarian photographer Roshan Lal, who lost both his sons in the fire tragedy. His wife too died soon after the death of both sons. The list is endless, but the victims have shown resolve to come to terms with the tragedy. Many of them have moved ahead. Suman Kaushal (27), a girl with 100 per cent disability and disfigurement, has been able to complete her graduation and BEd. Bobby(19), who suffered disfigurement, is pursuing his BA in DAV College, Chandigarh. Prabhjit and Bhavik, the two fire victims, have made it to the IITs while two others, Navjeet and Sahil, have gone to leading engineering colleges. Sania, a girl, is pursuing CA. |
|
Only education empowers women, says Miss Asia Pacific
Faridabad, December 23 The Haryanvi lass, who made the country proud recently by winning the Miss Asia Pacific beauty pageant crown this year, revealed that she wanted to work in the field of woman empowerment and education of the girl child. She said empowerment of girls was incomplete in view of the skewed gender ratio and incidents of crime against women in various parts of the state and the country. She said though reservation for women in various sectors, including panchayati raj bodies, was a welcome development, it would not serve the purpose until the beneficiaries were able to execute the responsibility given to them independently. A resident of Sector 11 here, the 21-year-old beauty pageant winner said the reports of husbands representing their wives holding posts of sarpanch, panchayat member and zila parishad member taking decisions on their behalf was unfortunate and spoke volumes for the need to make women independent in matter of understanding and taking decisions without the help of anyone. She said she wanted to work for the uplift of the girl child and improvement of the gender ratio for which the state was in the news in the past. She was the first girl from Haryana and the fourth Indian girl to win the coveted title of Ms Asia Pacific. |
|
Havildar hurt as mining mafia attacks police team
Yamunanagar, December 23 According to information, the Khizrabad police received information that illegal mining was going on in the Hathnikund area. SHO Sandeep Kumar sent two teams there-one was reportedly in a jeep and the other one was on a motorcycle. It is said that the team which was on the motorcycle was surrounded by the mining mafia when it reached the spot on Sunday afternoon where illegal mining was going on. The mafia attacked the team. In the attack, havildar Bhupinder Singh received injuries. The attackers also damaged the motorcycle. After the attack, the mining mafia fled from the spot leaving the police vehicle. Superintendent of Police, Yamunanagar, Sibas Kaviraj confirmed that the mining mafia had attacked on a police team. “In the attack by the mining mafia, one havildar has sustained injures. We have booked two persons and efforts are being made to arrest them,” said SP Sibas Kaviraj. |
|
Man attempts suicide outside police station
Sirsa, December 23 The police booked Mahinder for attempt to suicide under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code, said a spokesperson of the Sirsa police. Mahinder went to the Nathusari Chopta police station in connection with a first information report of fraud he had lodged against some persons in October. However, he left the police station in a distressed condition and returned with a pack of pesticide after some time. Later, he consumed the pesticide in the presence of the police. Station House Officer Balwant Singh Jassu rushed him to the General Hospital in Sirsa, where doctors referred him to the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak. Speaking to mediapersons at General Hospital here, Mahinder’s brother Kuldeep alleged that some persons committed a fraud by transferring his brother’s land by presenting other persons in place of the real owner. He alleged that despite a first information report lodged by his brother, the police had failed to take any action in the past two months. “Today, the police told Mahinder to come to the police station in connection with the first information report and demanded Rs 1 lakh for each of the persons named in the first information report,” Kuldeep alleged. He said his brother had a heated argument with the Station House Officer, after which he consumed the pesticide in front of the police station. Efforts to contact Jassu were futile. The policeman who answered calls on Jassu’s official mobile phone said he was busy in a meeting with a senior officer. Senior Superintendent of Police Saurabh Singh said the Ellenabad Deputy Superintendent of Police had been directed to probe the incident. |
|
Hisar AIR executives accused of harassing women staff
Tribune Reporters
Hisar, December 23 The complaint, a copy is available with The Tribune, named two officials posted at the Hisar AIR station, alleging that they have been ill treating and misbehaving with the women/girls working as casual staff. “They used to summon the women casual staff to their rooms and keep on staring them. On being asked why are we being summoned inside the rooms so frequently, they ask us they be wise enough to understand. One of them mentioned that women had always been a usable thing. They also touched us much to our embarrassment and call us to office much earlier than the timings on the pretext of preparations for programmes,” said the victim in her complaint to the SP. She mentioned names of three women besides herself who had been at the receiving end of ill treatment and harassment by the executives. The complaint also stated that one of the accused asked her for a compromise on phone and threatened her. Hisar SSP B Satish Balan confirmed that he had received the complaint. He said Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Manish Chaudhary had been investigating the issue. One arrested for
molesting woman
Yamunanagar: A youth was overpowered by public and handed over to the police when he allegedly molested a married woman here yesterday. In her complaint with the Yamunanagar police, the victim said Prince of Gopal Nagar had molested her when she was home alone. “As she raised the alarm, her neighbours came for her help and overpowered the accused,” said the police. ASI Balbir Singh said the police had arrested the accused and a case had been registered against him. One booked for
assaulting woman
Faridabad: A man has been booked on charges of sexually exploiting a woman with whom he secretly got married on March 13, 2013 despite the fact that he was already married. A case has been registered against the accused, a resident of sector 3, and his relatives. No arrest has been made so far. The victim in her complaint alleged that Arun married her by hiding his previous marriage and he exploited her sexually till the matter got exposed. She accused him of aborting her three-month-old child. She alleged that his relatives physically assaulted her. |
|
One suspended, two sent to Police Lines for extortion
Ambala, December 23 Sources said the cops had allegedly caught Maninder Singh of Ambala city with some banned substances. However, the cops offered to help Maninder by not registering the case against him if he agreed to pay them Rs 4.5 lakh. However, Maninder Singh filed a complaint with Police Commissioner Rajbir Deswal, alleging that the cops were trying to implicate him in a case and were demanding Rs 4.5 lakh. Maninder Singh told the commissioner that the cops had already extorted Rs 3 lakh from him and were still demanding Rs 1.5 lakh. The Police Commissioner ordered an inquiry by the ACP who found substance in the allegations and recommended action against the three cops. |
|
Rors rue Centre’s quota bias
Kurukshetra, December 23 “The Haryana government had decided to give reservation to five communities, including Rors, but the Central Government has done discrimination with us” said sabha Convener Rakam Singh Koyar. Seeking reservation for the community in Haryana on the economic, social and educational criteria, Koyar said the sabha had asked the community to get united and take a stand. Koyar said: “Political leaders should raise their voice for the Ror Rors have an influence in 16 Assembly constituencies. A mahanpanchayat has also been called by the sabha on December 29 here to discuss the matter. |
|
Hooda thanks Rahul for OBC status to Jats
Chandigarh, December 23 Former Union Minister Balram Jakhar, MP Deepender Singh
Hooda, Haryana Sports Minister Sukhbir Kataria, former minister Prof Chatarpal and Col OP Sandhu of the Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti were also present on the occasion. Later, while interacting with
mediapersons, Hooda said on the recommendation of Group of Ministers, recently the Union Cabinet has asked the National Commission for Backward Class, for providing reservation to the Jat community in
OBC. — TNS |
|
|
AAP to contest all Assembly, LS seats
Kurukshetra, December 23 State AAP secretary Paramjeet Singh said: “We are going to start open meetings from Sirsa and will cover all 21 districts over the next one month and set up around 16,000 booths.” After Sirsa, AAP leaders, including Yogender Yadav and state convener Ashawant Gupta, would visit Ambala and Yamunanagar on December 29, Jind on December 31,
Karnal and Panipat on January 4, Palwal and Faridabad on January 5 and Panchkula on January 12. Paramjeet Singh said the party would contest all
90 assembly seats and 10 Lok Sabha seats of the state. |
|
Man held on attempt to suicide charge
Rewari, December 23 He was produced in a local court today, which remanded him in a 14-day judicial custody. In his complaint, Brijesh said following an altercation with him over a trivial matter, Sandeep tried to hang himself to a ceiling fan. He was prevented from taking the extreme step and the matter was brought to the notice of the police. |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
The acceptance of the financial restructuring plan
(FRP) of debt-ridden discoms — Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) and Dakshin Haryana Bilji Vitran Nigam
(DHBVN) —by the Haryana Government and three power tariff hikes were the highlights of the power sector in 2013.
Dabwali (Sirsa), December 23
Sirsa, December 23
Joint Commissioner
of Police (Traffic) Bharti Arora. The Traffic Tau will stand at popular intersections, traffic lights and public hangouts along with representatives of the Gurgaon traffic police to create awareness about traffic rules.
The initiative is being supported by SABMiller India's "Respect the Road" campaign and Home Safe, Delhi's first chauffeur-on-hire service.
— TNS
