Chandigarh, February 7
The Cabinet today decided that a full-fledged Budget will be presented during the forthcoming Budget session of the state Assembly beginning February 21.

“The Cabinet has decided that the Budget, not the vote on account, will be presented during the Budget session,” Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda told reporters after the Cabinet meeting here today. He refused to elaborate on the nature of the Budget.

It was widely believed that in view of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in April-May, the Haryana Government would get the vote on account passed instead of the Budget in the forthcoming session.

The Haryana Cabinet today approved the amendment in Haryana Motor Vehicles Rules, 1993. Now, the registration numbers from 21 to 9999 of non-transport vehicles would be issued by the respective registering authorities (SDMs).

Earlier, the preferential numbers of non-transport vehicles for the first 100 digits of each series were issued by the Transport Commissioner. The preferential numbers from 1 to 20 would continue to be issued by the Transport Commissioner.

Besides, randomised allotment of registration numbers would be started to increase transparency in allotment of registration numbers of vehicles.

The Cabinet today decided to grant dual family pension from military and civil employment to widows of those ex-servicemen who joined civil services in Haryana after their retirement from the military.

Earlier, at the time of retirement from the state government, ex-servicemen got pension from military and civil services. However, after the death of pensioner, the widows of these ex-servicemen were eligible to only one family pension.

The Cabinet approved the Haryana Advocates Welfare Fund Rules, 2014. The fund was set up to give assistance to practising advocates, their spouses and dependent children.

The Cabinet approved amendments in the Haryana Registration and Regulation of Societies Rules, 2012. As per amended rules, every existing society would have to apply to the district registrar for allotment of a new registration number within a period of two years from the date of coming into force of the Act without any fee or within next 12 months on payment of fee.

The Cabinet reduced VAT on earth-moving equipment to 5 per cent under the Haryana Value Added Tax Act, 2003. Currently, earth-moving equipment, including excavators, track excavators and backhoe loaders, are taxed at 12.5 per cent.

The Cabinet amended the Haryana Rural Development Department (Group B) Service Rules, 1998, to add one post of Private Secretary, System Analyst and Project Officer (MIS) in the Rural Development Department.

The Cabinet approved the renaming of ‘dhobi’ as ‘dhobi-rajak’ in the list of backward classes of the state in Block ‘A’.

Ambala, February 7
On a call of the BJP Kisan Morcha's 'rail roko' agitation in support of their demand for the implementation of Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, party workers and supporters today laid siege to the Ambala Cantonment railway station for over half an hour. The movement of trains was not affected to a large extent.

BJP workers and supports assembled at the Rukmani Devi hall near the railway station and took out a procession. On reaching the railway station, they were stopped by the district police, who had made elaborate security arrangements at the station.

The protestors first raised slogans on the outer premises of the station and then entered the platform, where they halted the Kalka-Nizamuddin passenger train for some time.

Around 200 party workers and supporters under the leadership of local MLA Anil Vij participated in the protest. The pushed aside the barricades and got on to the train to protest.

Vij said the UPA government was adopted an anti-farmer stand due to which cultivators across the nation were facing a hard time. He said the report should be immediately implemented.

Karnal: Activists blocked the railway track for half an hour. There was no impact on the movement of trains during this protest. Protesters were left the track after raising anti-government slogans.

Hundreds of workers were assembled at the Ramlila ground led by Ram Bilas Sharma, state BJP president, and Mahipal Dhanda, state Kisan Morcha president. They started a protest march and reached the railway station entrance.

The police tried to stop them, but protesters crossed the barricades and blocked the railway track. Sharma assured Duty Magistrate-cum-tehsildar Hari Om Attri and DSP (Headquarters) Joginder Rathi that they would protest peacefully for half hour and leave.

Sharma alleged that the Congress-led UPA government was doing injustice with farmers. Farmers were forced to commit suicide and the government is directly responsible for these suicides, he added.

Faridabad: The stir call by activists of the Kisan Morcha passed off peacefully without any disruption to trains. Hundreds of protesters assembled at the railway station at Ballabgarh, but their protest ended without any adverse affect, claimed the authorities.

They said the protesters stood in front of the Delhi-Trivandrum Express for a couple of minutes, which was the time of halt of the train at the station. As the protesters did not stop or delay any train, no case was registered, said SDM Jitender Kumar.

A spokesperson of the district unit of the BJP Kisan Cell said hundreds of activists staged a dharna for some time in front of the Kerala-bound train at the station.

Chandigarh, February 7
An unholy nexus between litigants and some lawyers has surfaced. Unscrupulous litigants are instituting civil suits. Even before a notice can be served on the other party, they allegedly make their own lawyers appear in trial courts on behalf of the defendants.

The lawyers then disappear without responding to the averments, paving way for ex-parte proceedings against the defendants. So far, two such case in the Gurgaon sessions division have surfaced. But the possibility of similar modus operandi being adopted in other courts of the Punjab and Haryana High Court cannot be ruled out.

In both cases, the defendants were not served notices, but advocates appeared on their behalf without filing power of attorney. In one of the cases, the advocate never appeared in the court. In the other, the advocate claimed that he was without instructions. Both cases ended in ex-parte decisions.

Taking a serious view of the matter, Justice Mehinder Singh Sullar of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued notices to two Gurgaon advocates, Deepak Goyal and VK Bhardwaj. They have been told to personally appear in court for explaining their conduct and show cause why criminal contempt or other appropriate proceedings should not be initiated against them.

Justice Sullar has directed the Gurgaon District and Sessions Judge to 'quickly obtain' and send information from other courts on the number of cases where advocates had appeared on behalf of clients without filing proper power of attorney or 'vakalatnamas'.

Elaborating on the modus operandi, Justice Sullar asserted: "It has come to my notice that a group, consisting of unscrupulous litigants and very few lawyers, is illegally operating in Sessions Division, Gurgaon.

"The litigants or the plaintiffs used to file civil suits on untenable grounds against the defendants. Even as the defendants were not served, some advocates would appear on their behalf, file memos of appearance and not powers of attorney or 'vakalatnamas' without the service of defendants.

"On subsequent dates, they neither file written statements, nor appear on their behalf, culminating into ex-parte proceedings and ex-parte decrees against the defendants. This practice is deeply touching the administration of justice and giving rise to multiplicity of proceedings."

Justice Sullar added: "In both cases, it was vehemently urged on behalf of defendants that neither were they served, nor engaged the pointed advocates to appear on their behalf. The plaintiffs were stated to have manipulated the entire ex-parte proceedings with a malafide intention. They did not file any power of attorney or 'vakalatnamas' to show that they were actually engaged by the defendants.

"Prima facie, it appears from the record that the plaintiffs have manipulated ex-parte proceedings in the cases with active connivance of Deepak Goyal and VK Bhardwaj, advocates, without any proper authorisation to appear on behalf of the defendants with malafide intention?.

"It cannot possibly be denied that the tendency and frequency of committing such scams in judicial proceedings in courts have been tremendously increasing day by day, adversely affecting the administration of justice. It needs to be curbed with a heavy hand." 

Rewari, February 7
The state Education Department has decided to rope in newly selected Post Graduate Teachers (PGTs) for teaching students in upper primary classes (from VI to VIII) in government schools where there is insufficient workload at the senior secondary level.

A memorandum in this regard was recently sent to all the district education officers (DEO) from the office of Director, Secondary Education, Haryana.

The communique states that if there is insufficient workload in classes IX and X in high schools and classes IX to XII in senior secondary schools, then the PGTs will be required to teach upper primary classes too.

The Education Department had already asked PGTs to teach classes IX and X classes in the name of rationalisation. Earlier, PGTs taught only students of classes XI and XII.

Meanwhile, terming this new directive as “arbitrary” and “illogical”, the Haryana School Teachers’ Association (HSLA) has decided to oppose the move at the state level. “What is the Education Department trying to prove by roping in its PGTs to teach the upper primary classes? It is not clear what the Trained Graduate Teachers (TGTs) will do if PGTs will take these classes,” said an HSLA leader.

Rewari DEO Sangeet Yadav said the PGTs would take upper primary classes only in schools where posts of TGTs had been lying vacant. “The provision has been made for the time being so that students do not suffer due to vacant posts of teachers.” he said.

Chandigarh, February 7
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued a notice to the Haryana Government on a petition challenging the government’s move to select around 1,400 assistant professors in colleges across the state.

The challenge to the selection process has been thrown primarily on the grounds that the state government has refused to exempt PhD degree holders from passing NET examination.

Taking up the matter, the Bench headed by Justice Jasbir Singh told the Principal Secretary, Department of Higher Education, to file an affidavit on February 12 to justify the criteria.

The petition in the matter was filed by Rajeev Mohan of Ambala and other petitioners. They contended that the Haryana Public Service Commission advertised 1,396 posts of assistant professor in the college cadre on January 24. PhD degree holders had not even been considered for selection.

Counsel for petitioners Amit Khatkar argued that the Haryana government’s decision to delete the exemption clause for PhD holders was in direct contradiction of UGC regulations.

Gurgaon,February 7
The Municipal Corporation (MC) has decided to construct check dams in Ghata area in the foothills of the Aravalis to conserve water. MC Commissioner Praveen Kumar, along with a team of senior officials, visited the area where three check dams are already in place and more than 50 pits had been dug up to help recharge groundwater.

"We are taking these measures to conserve rainwater so that we can get a solution to persistent problem of depleting groundwater level. These check dams will help in slowing down the flow of water and recharging groundwater" said Kumar.

The move has left the environmentalists doubtful about the success as they fear the move would further deteriorate the situation in the eco-sensitive area.

“There used to be a huge lake in Ghata and it used to help recharge groundwater. But its nowhere to be seen now as the private builders have taken over the area and made rampant construction which has destroyed the natural water bodies. Had the government made efforts to preserve natural water bodies this construction would not have been required. These artificial structures will not be of much use and may on the contrary further disturb the sensitive ecological system,” said environmentalist SP Gupta.

The MC has directed the officials concerned to ensure that two lakh saplings being planted in the Aravalis are protected. It has also given directions to identify the places for rainwater harvesting pits. — TNS

Faridabad, February 7
With the footfall in the ongoing 28th International Craft Fair at Surajkund here going up each day, the manner of the allotment of huts and space within the mela premises also seems to have caused a heartburn to many who failed to get a spot this time.

However, the authorities have denied any discrimination the in allotment of space. The number of visitors to the mela crossed 2 lakh today, the seventh day of the fair. It will continue till February 15.

“The authorities turned me away without any justification when I contacted them for a stall in the mela,” said Deepak Anant Raut, a craftsman, who had been participating in the fair for the past two years. He said he was not allowed to meet senior officials in this connection.

Sushil Kashap and Sunita Bhaguar, who came all the way from Jharkhand, were shocked when they were told that there was no space for them. “We were formally invited by the authorities to take part in the mela this year. When we arrived, they said there was no slot available for us this time. We had no option but to take the next train home,” claimed the artisans.

Over 800 huts have been installed for around 1,500 artisans from across the country on the mela premises spread over 35 acres. Though it is also revealed that dozens of artisans and participants have also been allotted space in the open, Raut alleged that the process of space allotment was not transparent. The officials allowed the participants on their discretion.

The Commissioner, Haryana Tourism Development Corporation, Vijay Vardhan, denied discrimination in the allotment of huts and space in the mela. He said in view of the mela, it was impossible to allot all the applicants a space inside. He claimed that the authorities had to drop some of the participants after two chances to make way for other artisans.

Sirsa, February 7
With young voters comprising a major chunk of electorates this time, the INLD has started targeting them ahead of the General Election. Several senior youths leaders of the party, including two fourth generation members of the Chautala clan, are busy wooing youths and students.

Under his “Yuva Manthan” programme, Dushyant Singh Chautala today addressed meetings at Ellenabad and Rania in Sirsa today.

Yesterday, he addressed meetings at Tohana and Ratia in Fatehabad.

While Dushyant Chautala is heading the “Yuva Manthan”, his younger brother Digvijay Singh is holding meetings of the INSO, a students’ organisation of the INLD, across the state.

“Over 40 per cent of the electorate who will be electing the government at the Centre and in Haryana in 2014 are youth. The “Yuva Manthan” programme is aimed at knowing aspirations of young voters and to know what they expect from their elected government, so that their hopes could find a place in the party manifesto,” said Dushyant Singh while speaking to The Tribune.

He said he, party’s youth wing president Pradeep Gill and in charge of youth affairs Baldev Ahlawalwas were heading “Yuva Manthan” meetings in 30 assembly constituencies each.

Yuva Manthans started on January 15 and would conclude by February 25.

On the other hand, Digvijay Singh Chautala is busy in constituting units of the INSO in each district of the state.

The party, Dushyant Singh Chautala said, had dissolved the earlier units in August last year.

Jind, February 7
Jind Zila Parishad (ZP) chairperson Veena Rani has sought Congress’ ticket to contest the General Election from the Sonepat constituency.

“I have sought a ticket from the Sonepat constituency and completed formalities. I am just waiting for the final decision,” she said here today.

“For the Sonepat constituency (a major part of Jind comes under it), I am the best candidate. I am a social worker and having the support of all villages of Jind,” said the ZP chairperson.

She claimed that being the ZP chaiperson, she had served Jind district well and could win the seat with a huge margin.

Some senior Congress leaders said the Congress had a long list of ticket aspirants for the Sonepat seat as it had received over 22 applications for it.

Some Congress leaders having proximity with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda are also reportedly trying to get a ticket from Sonepat.

“After incumbent Congress MP Jatinder Malik announced that he will not contest the election, everyone wants to get a ticket from here,” said a senior Congress leader from Sonepat on the condition of anonymity.

When asked about the Congress high command direction not to forward their claims through media, she said, “I am highlighting my candidature and have not spoken against anyone. There is nothing wrong in it.”

Bhiwani, February 7
The cricket fraternity mourned the sudden demise of the young wicketkeeper-batsman Sandeep Singh in a freak mishap when a tractor ran over him during levelling of a ground in Mundhal village of the district yesterday.

BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhary, former BCCI president Ranbir Mahendra and a number of Haryana Ranji players attended the funeral of the young cricketer today as the last rites were performed at the village.

Mahendra said as per reports he was helping in preparing a ground for a sports tournament in his village. A tractor which was pressed into service for the earth work on the ground skidded and ran over Sandeep resulting in his death. He said the sudden demise of the player has not only devastated his family but had also come as a shock to the Haryana cricket as he was one of the most valuable and talented players in the side.

Sandeep played 15 first-class matches, 12 List A games and 16 T20 matches, of which four were for Services in the 2009-10 season. He also led Haryana in CK Nayudu Trophy. — TNS

Chandigarh, February 7
The tug of war between the Haryana Government and the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance is set to intensify over a meagre compensation of Rs 343 crore for the 1,383 acres that it has to return to Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (HSIIDC) from its land from the special economic zone (SEZ) in Gurgaon.

In fact, the compensation amount of Rs 343 crore, okayed by a Haryana Cabinet meeting, which was presided over by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, fell far short of Rs 1172 crore demanded by Reliance for its exit from its proposed special economic zone (SEZ), which had already been de-notified by the state government.

The compensation amount will even be less than nearly Rs 400 crore paid by Reliance to the state government for getting the land in Garhi Harsaru village in Gurgaon district.

“The company’s claims on account of administrative charges forming, refund of the stamp duty, reimbursement of development expenditure and interest amount totalling to Rs 1,172 have not been accepted. The refund amount has been worked out strictly as per the terms of the Joint Venture Agreement, dated June 19, 2006, signed between the HSIIDC and M/s Reliance Ventures Limited (RVL),” Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda claimed.

However, official sources claimed that the wide gap between the amount demanded by Reliance and offered by the state government could spark off legal complications. Since the prime land, along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) was in the possession of Reliance, the HSIIDC would face difficulties in getting the possession of the land, which is now earmarked for the global city project.

Sources said apart from spending nearly Rs 400 on getting land from the HSIIDC in 2006, Reliance has spent a considerable amount on the development of this chunk of land. Apart from this, the company had paid annuity to the tune of Rs 17.61 crore to the farmers of the areas, whose land was acquired for the SEZ.

Moreover, the prices of land have skyrocketed in the proposed SEZ area in the last six years. With the Hooda Government coming up with amendment in the SEZ policy last year, allowing the development of integrated townships in the de-notified areas of the SEZ, anybody can guess if Reliance would be in hurry to hand over the land to the HSIIDC.

Sirsa, February 7
The police arrested 22 protesters, eight members of the Computer Teachers’ Association and 14 agitators of the disbanded Haryana State Industrial Security Force (HSISF), for showing black flags to MP Ashok Tanwar’s “Jai Sirsa Lok Sabha Yatra” on its final day here today.

Protests were also held in other parts of the city from where the yatra passed through.

Tanwar was interacting with students in Chaudhary Devi Lal (CDL) University and speaking about the steps taken by the Congress government in improving education facilities in the state, when activists of the Indian National Students Organisation (INSO), a student wing of the INLD, raised slogans against him.

Soon, striking members of the CDL University non-teaching association also raised slogans as they submitted a memorandum of their demands to Tanwar.

As the MP’s Yatra reached near Bal Bhawan, striking members of the Computer Teachers’ Association and activists of the disbanded HSISF showed black flags and blocked the way of the yatra.

First, the police tried to prevent them from coming close to Tanwar. However, when they remained unmoved, the police, which seemed wary of the possibility of some elements taking advantage of the situation and manhandle the MP, arrested 22 of them under Sections 107/151 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

They were produced before a magistrate, who remanded them to judicial custody till February 18.

Nearly 50 shopkeepers of the Shiv Chowk area closed their shutters for an hour when Tanwar’s yatra passed through the area and showed him black flags. Pankaj Kamra, an activist of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was leading the protesting shopkeepers.

Meanwhile, Tanwar described his yatra that began from Dhamtan Sahib under the Narwana assembly segment on January 28 successful. He said it was organised for collecting inputs from the people for the party manifesto and for presenting his report card to voters.

INLD’s Jasbir Singh Jassa, however, described it as Tanwar’s vidai yatra (farewell journey) from the Sirsa parliamentary seat.

Karnal/New Delhi, February 7
State president of the BJP Ram Bilas Sharma has said there is no dispute between the HJC and the BJP on the issue of the distribution of seats. The final decision on the seats will be taken by February 15.

Talking to The Tribune here today, the state president said, “The decision on who will fight from which seat will be taken by the party higher authority. The name of the candidates has been given to the party parliamentary committee. The list will be out in a week.”

He also said the Karnal seat is their traditional seat but the decision on the distribution of seats would be taken by the joint committee of both the parties.

“BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will address a rally at Karnal in the last week of February. It will boost the morale of the workers,” said Sharma.

He alleged that AAP was working on the direction of foreign agencies and it would not go a long way.

The HJC, which met at its headquarters yesterday, has authorised party president Kuldip Bishnoi to decide on the seat.

As per the seat sharing formula between the HJC and the BJP, the former is to get two seats in its share, including Hisar.

Chandigarh, February 7
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today stressed the need for using new technologies to improve governance and called for re-designing of the system to make it more responsive and accountable to the citizens.

The Chief Minister stated this at “e-Haryana event”, organised jointly by the Haryana Government and a private firm here today.

“Successful e-governance initiatives have substantially reduced physical interface between service seekers and service providers on the one hand and reduced discretion and introduced transparency in the delivery of citizen services on the other,” Hooda said.

“Information and communication technology (ICT) has become a part of our day-to-day life with overall economic progress,” he said.

“The proliferation of mobile communication, with close to 90 crore subscribers over in the past 10 years, has been a silent but perhaps the most visible revolution of the century, greater than even the advent of radio or television,” he said.

“We cannot deny that some undesirable practices have crept into the system. They have increased dissatisfaction among the citizens as service seekers,” he said.

“The effective role of ICT in meeting citizens’ expectations through e-governance has been recognised as a potent alternative and its efficacy has been proved universally without any doubt,” Hooda said.

He also listed several challenges in adoption of ICT for providing good governance such as lack of re-engineering of archaic practices and required enthusiasm among administrative machinery.