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Khattar’s swearing-in set to be a grand affair
Cotton production down by 50% in Jind, prices nosedive
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Retirement
benefits
Khaps want marriage Act amended, to meet new CM
Dengue threat looms; six test positive in last 24 hrs
Police team held hostage in Ambala village
Rs 2 lakh reward for lead on wanted criminals
HSGMC seeks time to
express views over Act
Migrant woman gang-raped in Bhiwani village
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Khattar’s swearing-in set to be a grand affair
Chandigarh, October 25 While Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present at the ceremony, top party leaders, including Chief Ministers of the six BJP-ruled states, will descend on Panchkula to celebrate the induction of the first-ever BJP government in Haryana. Those likely to be present are Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Raman Singh, Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Manohar Parikar, Prakash Singh Badal and Anandiben Patel, Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Goa, Punjab and Gujarat, respectively. As many as 20 Central ministers are also arriving for the ceremony in a chartered flight that will fly in the “biggies” of the BJP. Sources said besides the PM, national president Amit Shah, instrumental in architecting the party victory, the members of the BJP Parliamentary Board were likely to be present at the Sector-5 ground which has been turned into a virtual citadel for tomorrow’s ceremony. Sources said invitations had been sent out to party leaders and MLAs of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab as well. Members of Parliament and all legislators of Haryana, including outgoing Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, have been invited for the programme. The entire ground has been divided into various enclosures to earmark and streamline the seating arrangements with special reservations for families of ministers and MLAs and ex-servicemen among others. Of the four stages at the venue in Sector 5, one will be occupied by Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki, Chief Secretary Shakuntala Jakhu, who will conduct the ceremony, and ministers who will be inducted into the Khattar’s Cabinet. Sources said the Prime Minister, who was initially to be seated alongside the Governor on the main stage, might opt to sit with his cabinet colleagues from the Centre while a third stage has been exclusively reserved for party MPs and MLAs. The fourth stage will seat all other dignitaries. Besides over 3,000 cops on duty, the BJP workers too will assist in the smooth conduct of the programme. The “bhajan” parties of the government will keep the crowd entertained with raginis till the programme begins. Meanwhile, the CS and Director General of Police SN Vashisth today reviewed various arrangements and security at the venue through the day and held meetings to ensure that nothing was amiss at the venue where seating arrangements for 20,000 people have been made. The CM designate would be sworn in at 11.23am tomorrow, a time arrived at in consultation with various astrologers, sources said. The invitations for the programme had been held up to enable astrologers to identify the most “opportune” moment for the swearing-in ceremony, sources said. Top bureaucrats in a frenzy
State bureaucrats and top cops are leaving no stone unturned to ‘please’ Chief Minister-designate Manohar Lal Khattar. Efforts are being made to keep an eye on the shuffling that is to take place in the various departments on Monday. Interestingly, even those who were missing from the venue during the day were seen hard at work when Khattar paid a visit in the evening. Among those who dominated the scene at the ‘eleventh hour’ was Pradeep Kasni, who is expecting a plum post after the oath-taking ceremony, and his wife Neelam Kasni, commissioner, Ambala range. Chief secretary Shakuntla Jakhu was also seen taking active part. Over Rs 1 lakh spent on bouquets
Over Rs 3.5 crores are being spent on the mammoth oath-taking ceremony. While Rs 1.5 crore has been spent on the orange-coloured tents, four stages with their designs being changed constantly, high-tech sound system and barricading have come at quite a price. Sources said around Rs 1.5 to 2 lakh would be spent on the bouquets alone. 35,000 chairs have been placed at the venue. The remaining amount has been spent on last-minute makeovers such as re-carpeting roads including that of the previous venue i.e. the Tau Devi Lal stadium, labour costs and refreshments for the guests. The re-carpeting of a slip road near the venue began at 6pm. For the D-day
Besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi, those likely to be present are Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Raman Singh, Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Manohar Parikar, Prakash Singh Badal and Anandiben Patel, Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Goa, Punjab and Gujarat, respectively
The ‘bhajan’ parties of the government will keep the crowd entertained with raginis till the programme begins
Fellow villagers to attend event Family members, friends and fellow villagers of Chief Minister-designate Manohar Lal Khattar will attend his oath-taking ceremony slated to be held at Panchkula on Sunday. Khattar, who belongs to Baniyani village in the district, has four brothers and two sisters. Apart from the family members, relatives and friends, many neighbours and other fellow villagers have already left for Chandigarh/Panchkula. — TNS
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Cotton production down by 50% in Jind, prices nosedive
Jind, October 25 In Jind mandi, 4,500 quintals of cotton has arrived so far against 19,500 quintals in the corresponding period last year. The Uchana Kalan mandi, the biggest cotton market in the district, received 10,000 quintals against last year’s corresponding period’s figure of 30,000 quintals. Narwana has got 9,000 quintals whereas last year it received 10,000 quintals. Julana has received 9,500 quintals, while it received 14,000 quintals last year. Pillukhera market has received 400 quintals against last year’s 1,600 quintals.
“Fungal foliar disease, insect attack and weeklong rain one-and-a-half months ago damaged cotton in the district,” said Agriculture Development Officer Kamal Saini. Farmers in the Jind cotton market demanded that they should be paid higher price for their produce, as the state was going to face shortage of cotton this year. They alleged private purchasers were offering them lower prices than last year. This year, farmers are selling the produce in the range of Rs 4,000 to Rs 4,200 per quintal. Last year’s price hovered around Rs 5,000 to Rs 5,500. “Since the government has failed to take much-needed steps to protect cotton growers by fixing prices, private purchasers have formed a nexus with officers concerned. Private purchasers have been purchasing cotton at lower price,” alleged Suresh, a cotton grower. Private purchasers, however, said the quality of cotton had deteriorated. “The production in all districts is likely to go down by around 50 per cent. During the initial days of procurement, the mandis usually get huge quantity of cotton. But this is not the case this year,” said Rajpal Chahal, Jind district market enforcement officer. Distressed voice Since the government has failed to take much-needed steps to protect cotton growers by fixing prices, private purchasers have formed a nexus with officers concerned. They have been purchasing cotton at lower price. — Suresh, cotton grower
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HC: Can’t differentiate among corporation, federation & govt staff
Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 25 The judgment by the Division Bench of Justice Satish Kumar Mittal and Justice Deepak Sibal came on an appeal filed by Haryana and another appellant against Shadi Lal Malik and other respondents. Malik initially joined as cashier in the Haryana Dairy Development Corporation, which was wholly under the administrative and financial control of the Haryana Government. However, he was transferred on deputation as accounts executive to the Haryana Dairy Development Cooperative Federation after its formation. He was then posted to work in the Model Exotic Animal Farm in Bhiwani, which was under the federation’s administrative control. Thereafter, all employees working at the Bhiwani animal farm were transferred to the Animal Husbandry Department of Haryana. After retirement, Malik opted for employees’ pension scheme, but was held disentitled. The appellants insisted that the service rendered by him in the Animal Husbandry Department would only be taken as the qualifying service for grant of pension. The single judge was, however, of the view that the writ petition filed by the employee deserved to be allowed as the past service rendered by him in the corporation and federation would have also to be counted. Dismissing the appeal, the Division Bench asserted: “The state of Haryana having created the corporation and the federation to execute its own scheme and these being fully under the control of the state, both financially and administratively, no distinction could be allowed to be drawn between employees of the corporation/federation vis-à-vis government employees, particularly for the purpose of counting their service towards qualifying service for the grant of pension.” “According to us, any such classification/distinction would be hit by Article 14 of the Constitution of India. If the stand taken by the state of Haryana is to be accepted, that would mean that 24 years of unblemished service of the respondent-employee would be washed away and resultantly, his widow and other family member would not get pension,” the Division Bench said. “Once it is admitted that both the corporation and the federation fully owned by the state of Haryana and under its administrative control and then it is not open to the state of Haryana to draw an artificial distinction….According to us, the distinction drawn being arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India deserves to be ignored…. We find no merit in the appeal and the same is, therefore, dismissed but with no order as to costs.”
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Khaps want marriage Act amended, to meet new CM
Hisar, October 25 This development comes against the backdrop of Khattar reportedly endorsing khap panchayats’ view on girls “dressing decently”. “The sarv khap is thankful to Khattar for understanding the importance of khaps,” mahapanchayat spokesperson Kuldeep Dhanda told The Tribune today. “Khap representatives General (retd) DP Vats, who takes up the legal fight for khaps in the Supreme Court, and Baleram Narwal of the Kathura Barah Asthitav are impressed about the CM-designate’s views on the social organisation (khaps),” he said, adding that the mahapanchayat would soon meet and seek an appointment with him to discuss the long-pending issues. Dhanda did not react to Khattar’s reported remark that the girls should dress decently, stating that so far, he was unaware of the context in which the comment was made. Satrol khap pradhan Inder Singh liked Khattar’s idea of girls “wearing decent clothes”. Long-pending demand
Khaps have been raising the demand for amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act for long. They argue that an amendment to the Act would render marriages within same gotra, bhaichara gotra illegal and put an end to honour killings and other controversies surrounding such marriages that are socially unacceptable. They had submitted representations to the Centre and state government and took this stand in the Supreme
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Dengue threat looms; six test positive in last 24 hrs
Faridabad, October 25 Sources at the Health Department said several cases of malaria and dengue were reported across city hospitals and clinics daily. Of these six new cases, two patients were admitted at the civil hospital, while four others were getting treatment at private hospitals. “The blood reports of several suspected cases are awaited,” claimed an official from the Health Department. “There could be several colonies in the city that were prone to malaria outbreak due to presence of favourable conditions for the germination of mosquito larvae and lack of proper cleanliness or preparedness of the residents,” remarked Dr Virender Yadav, a senior physician at the Health Department. Dr R Bhagat, district malaria officer, claimed while continuous surveys were on in sensitive areas, teams had also been activated to conduct fogging and anti-larvae activity in the localities from where the recent cases had surfaced. “The Health Department is equipped to tackle the problem,” he added. Measures in place
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Police team held hostage in Ambala village
Ambala, October 25 Tension prevailed in the village following the murder of Rajpal Singh, who was stabbed to death by four persons on the night of Diwali for objecting to bursting of crackers by his neighbours. The four accused have been identified as Rahul, Sahil, Vishu and Ankur. Senior police officers said that since the situation in the village was volatile, they had deputed some policemen to prevent any untoward incident. However, the villagers accused the police of favouring a particular community and held them hostage. It was only after senior police officials reached the village and assured the residents of an unbiased action in the case, that the villagers allowed the policemen to walk free. A case has been registered and the accused have been arrested.
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Rs 2 lakh reward for lead on wanted criminals
Sonepat, October 25 Though four police teams had been raiding their hideouts in Haryana, Delhi and other places, they have failed to nab them. This has led to fingers being pointed at the cop’s credibility. Bajrang Dass Garg, president of the Haryana Beopar Mandal, and the state vice-president of the BJP, Rajiv Jain, today visited Kharkhoda and met the members of the mandal. Jain assured those gathered that the government would ensure security to the businessmen. |
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HSGMC seeks time to
express views over Act
Kurukshetra, October 25 HSGMC chief Jagdish Singh Jhinda said “A general body meeting has been called on October 27 in Kurukshetra. After the Assembly elections this is our first meeting and all the 41 members of the committee will attend it.” About the agenda of the meeting, he said, “All the issues regarding the committee will be discussed and the accounts and records of the gurdwaras that are under the control of the committee will also be checked.” — TNS |
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In total, the district has received around 35,000 quintals of cotton so far, while it received 80,000 quintals in the corresponding period last year.