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Cops begin closing in on Rampal
25 booked in Nagaland fake arms licence case
Waste water recycling a hit in Karnal villages
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Diarrhoea outbreak in Sirsa, 80 taken ill
26 IAS officers transferred
Sushil’s big fight: Possession of land for academy at Rai
IRREGULARITIES IN FOREST DEParTment
gohana heist
Siblings drown in village pond
Rohtak varsity students keep gates locked for second day
CM Khattar takes to ‘meeting diplomacy’
Child’s death: HUDA JE held in Ambala
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Cops begin closing in on Rampal
Hisar, November 12 The cops are learnt to have chalked out a strategy and were waiting for an appropriate time to swoop down on the ashram. “We are closing in on the ashram and have set up a security ring in a 1-km radius. We are in no hurry, but the action would be swift as we don’t want a clash with the supporters,” said a police official. The police has set up 10 checkposts on the Hisar-Chandigarh highway on both sides of the ashram and has stepped up vigil on the activities of Rampal’s followers. The nakas are aimed to check the flow of followers to the ashram even as thousands continued to stay put in and outside the building. Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Magistrate ML Kaushik said Rampal supporters had gathered in the ashram in large numbers and there was apprehension of them resorting to violence to avert his arrest. The Hisar SP had on Tuesday suggested imposition of Section 144 in the area. It prohibits gathering of five or more persons in a 500-metre area around the ashram and carrying of weapons, including lathis. IGP Anil Kumar Rao ordered the action following the High Court’s fresh NBWs against the self-styled godman on Monday. Police avoiding clash with followers
"The police are closing in on the Satlok Ashram and have set up a security ring in a 1-km radius. We are in no hurry, but the action will be swift as we don’t want a clash with the supporters of Sant Rampal" Police officer |
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25 booked in Nagaland fake arms licence case
Sources said two cases were registered against the weapon holders two days ago following the recommendations of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Rohtak range IGP to probe the case. Twelve persons had been booked by the city police station and the rest by the Linepaar police. No arrest had so far been made in this regard, said sources. Weapons of most of the accused were already in possession of the police as these had been deposited before the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections, Bahadurgarh DSP Shamsher Dahiya said. He said the SIT had already impounded over 200 fake arms licences procured from Nagaland in Jhajjar district and about 40 persons involved in this inter-state racket had so far been booked. As per the SIT’s investigation, a large number of people residing in Gurgaon and Mewat districts had also got arms licences from Nagaland on the basis of fake documents. In all, 70 such persons from Gurgaon district had been found carrying weapons on the licences issued by the Nagaland authorities, said sources. Several gunhouses had also been found involved in this illegal trade as they had violated the Arms Act by selling weapons to fake arms licence-holders without any verification, sources added. Besides private gunhouses in Haryana and Delhi, the licencees managed to buy firearms from Government Arms Factory in
Kanpur. Yet to be arrested
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Waste water recycling a hit in Karnal villages
Karnal, November 12 As per the three-pond system, a pond is divided into three portions. “A filter is fitted at the nullah that feeds the pond with waste water. With heavy sediments filtered at the first stage, water passes through several other filters fitted in the first and second portions before reaching the third portion. Water in the third portion is clean suitable for irrigation, drinking for animals and fisheries,” Additional Deputy Commissioner Girish Arora said. For the beatification of the pond, green belt is developed around the pond. Besides providing clean environment to villagers, the three-pond system would recharge underground water, he said. Under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (now Swachh Bharat Abhiyan), the district administration launched the project in Shahpur, Sirsi, Jadoli, Chandsmand, Rasoolpur and six other villages. The project was developed, designed and executed by the engineers of the Panchyati Raj Department, Arora said. Apart from solving the problem of waste water in villages, the project provided jobs to villagers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Sources said the technique would be exhibited in other districts. “A documentary film on the project is being made. The process of water recycling will explained and this will motivate others to take up the project,” the ADC said. |
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Diarrhoea outbreak in Sirsa, 80 taken ill
Sirsa, November 12 Over 100 people are suffering in a small area and the health authorities allege that the supply of contaminated water is reason for the spread of the disease. A majority of the victims are migrant labourers who have been working in the cotton market for loading and unloading of the crop. Though complaints of supply of contaminated water are rampant in the district – as many as 268 samples of drinking water have failed in the past three months – the water being supplied to the cotton market area till last week was of bad quality. The Public Health Engineering Department has been trying to detect the fault after switching off the water supply. Angad Bishnoi, SE, PHE, said he had directed the XEN concerned to rectify the fault. It was not necessary that the outbreak has been caused by drinking contaminated water. Since a majority of the victims are migrants, they might have consumed something unfit for human consumption, he said. |
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26 IAS officers transferred Chandigarh, November 12 PK Das has been made the Finance Secretary, while PK Mahapatra will be the Home Secretary. P Raghvendra Rao will head the all-important TCP Department. A second list of reshuffle is expected soon since the heads of departments and DCs are yet to be moved. Rajan Kumar Gupta goes as the Additional Chief Secretary
(ACS), Power and Renewable Energy; Navraj Sandhu becomes the ACS, Development and Panchayats Department; and Roshan Lal is the
ACS, Excise and Taxation and Mines and Geology. RP Chander goes as the ACS, Medical Education and Research and Women and Child Development, while SK Gulati as the ACS, Social Justice and Empowerment and Welfare of SCs and BCs. Ram Niwas has been shifted as the ACS, Health. P Raghvendra Rao will be the ACS, TCP and Urban Estates, while PK Mahapatra goes as the ACS, Home, Jails, Criminal Investigation and Administration of Justice Department, Housing, and Principal Resident Commissioner, Haryana Bhawan, Delhi. KK Khandelwal, additional PSCM in the previous government, has been posted as ACS, Sports and Youth Affairs, while Dhanpat Singh becomes the ACS, Agriculture. Vijai Vardhan will be the ACS, Higher Education, Archives and Printing and Stationery and Cultural Affairs departments. PSCM Sanjeev Kaushal will be the Principal Secretary, Information, Public Relations and Language Department, in addition to his present duties. PK Das will be the Principal Secretary, Finance and Planning, while Shahshi Bala Gulati goes as the Principal Secretary, Labour and Employment. Alok Nigam will be the Principal Secretary, Public Health Engineering and Cooperation (till further orders). RR Jowel has been posted as the Principal Secretary, Irrigation, while Dheera Khandelwal as the Principal Secretary, Technical Education. Devender Singh has been posted as the Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce and Electronics & Information Technology. Posted as Principal Secretary, TCP, during the Congress regime, TC Gupta will be the Principal Secretary, School Education. Amit Jha has been posted as the Principal Secretary, Forests and Wildlife, while SN Roy goes as the Principal Secretary, Urban Local Bodies. Avtar Singh has been transferred as Principal Secretary, Transport and Civil Aviation and Environment as also Science and Technology, while Mahavir Singh has been posted as Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Fisheries.
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Sushil’s big fight: Possession of land for academy at Rai
On Wednesday, Sushil knocked on the doors of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma and Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu to help reclaim his land in the school campus. Ironically, he did not choose to go to the Sports Minister. Sources said Sushil had to make a distress visit to Rai after Moti Lal Nehru Sports School principal and director VK Verma refused to give possession of the land to the wrestler two days ago. At the time of the announcement, Verma, two years ago (December 2012), had welcomed Sushil Kumar with open arms and had presented a memento in honour of his Olympic feat. It is learnt the principal, a retired Navy officer, has had his share of controversies with the school staff
as well but has managed to weather all storms in the past. Sushil said, “I don’t know what is the hassle in giving possession of the land. I have the required papers with me. I have now been assured by the Haryana government that the land still belongs to
me and I will be given possession soon.” Sources say school authorities claim the land in question has been “gifted” for charity and under legal provisions, it cannot be passed on to any other person or society. The trigger for the controversy was the recent raid by Sports Minister Anil Vij. He pulled up the school authorities for utter neglect of the institution. He also ordered a probe by the sub-divisional magistrate and sought its report in a week. What set
the rumour mills churning is some phone calls from Haryana BJP leaders to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in the face of his “differences” with Vij. The Hooda government had in December 2013 given eight acres of land on lease to the Sushil Kumar Foundation in Moti Lal Nehru School of Sports at Rai to set up a wrestling academy. Wrestling red tape
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IRREGULARITIES IN FOREST DEParTment Sushil Manav Tribune News Service
Sirsa, November 12 Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Chhotu Ram Jotriwal, IFS officer of the 1979 batch, has written to Conservator of Forests (CF), Rohtak, G Raman, IFS officer of the 1989 batch, accusing him of “misquoting” him and “unnecessarily dragging” his name for stopping an inquiry into irregularities by Vinod Bhatia, CF (Monitoring and Evaluation). In reply, Raman today accused his boss of “abusing (his) authority, position and dignity at the cost of the Forest Department” by retracting from his telephonic order given on November 11. He has asked Jotriwal, head of the Forest Department, to refer the matter to the police to verify the veracity of facts. The PCCF’s letter is in reaction to Raman’s letter dated November 11, wherein he informed Bhatia that Jotriwal had called him at 1.20 pm that day and directed him to withdraw his November 5 letters. Raman had written to Bhatia on November 5, requesting him to look into the allegations of irregularities. While seeking Raman’s explanation, the PCCF has denied having ever called or stopped Raman from getting the allegations inquired into. In another letter, Jotriwal has entrusted the inquiry to two junior officers of the department — Sonepat Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) OP Kajla and Jhajjar DFO SS Dahiya. Bhatia is a senior IFS officer of the 1992 batch and is known for his integrity, while Kajla and Dahiya, Haryana Forest Service (HFS) officers, have been occupying cadre posts in spite of being non-cadre officers. “Now, you are running away from your verbal orders. Once again you have exhibited your instinct character and conduct of intentionally and cunningly getting rid of your own misdeeds,” Raman has written to his department head. In reply to an explanation sought by Jotriwal, Raman has said that the CF (Monitoring and Evaluation) is a designated post to monitor and evaluate all works of the DFOs. He further said that in Bhatia, the government had appointed a competent conservator to monitor works in the state.
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Rs 70,000 more recovered
Our Correspondent
Sonepat, November 12 He said both accused — Praveen and Sonu of Jind’s Nidana village — were in police custody. They are nephews of Balraj, the main accused who allegedly committed suicide. The three arrested accused — Satish, Balraj and Surender — were today produced in court that remanded them in five-day police custody, the SP said, adding that the police were raiding the possible hideouts of their accomplice Rajesh. The thieves dug an 84-foot-long tunnel to access lockers on the night of October 26 and 27. They used sharp implements, including shovels and spades, to dig the tunnel before breaking open 86 lockers using iron bars. — OC
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BJP leaders visit Sirsa dera for thanksgiving
Sirsa, November 12 Led by Kailash Vijayvargiya, who was BJP’s in charge of elections in Haryana, Speaker Kanwar Pal Gujjar, Minister of State Krishan Bedi (Shahbad), OP Yadav (Narnaul), Naib Saini (Naraingarh), Ghansham Dass (Yamunanagar), Balwant Singh (Sadhaura), Manish Grover (Rohtak), Kulwant Baazigar (Gulha Cheeka), Subhash Barala (Tohana), Kamal Gupta (Hisar), Rohita Rewri (Panipat), Pawan Saini (Ladwa), Subhash Sudha (Thanesar), Shishpal Virk (Assandh), Harvinder Kalyan (Gharaunda), Seema Trikha (Badkhal) and Shyam Singh Rana (Radaur), among other MLAs, met the dera chief. When the media pointed to Opposition’s allegation that the BJP’s victory was, in fact, dera’s victory, Vijayvargiya said a victory was a victory, no matter whose it was. |
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Siblings drown in village pond
Sonepat, November 12 According to information, the siblings went to play in a vacant plot next to the pond last evening. Later, Gautam answered the call of nature and went to the pond to wash his hands but fell into it. On seeing this, Prince ran to save his brother but he slipped and fell in the pond. Both brothers were drowned. When they did not return till late in the evening, their father Sandeep Kashyap and other villagers started searching for them. They found the undergarments of the younger brother lying near the pond. After two hours of search operations, their bodies were recovered. As it was an accident the police was not informed and the bodies were cremated without a post-mortem. Ramesh Kashyap and Raj Mohan Verma of the social justice cell of the BJP reached the village to express their condolences and demanded compensation for the parents.
— OC |
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Governor stresses women empowerment
Jind, November 12 “Women empowerment is a must if we want to see the country prosper. But women have to fight for their rights rather than expecting it from men,” said Solanki, who did not allow a university professor to read his introduction paper due to delay in all programme. He also said the CRSU authorities had named the girls’ hostel as Laxmi Bai after having discussions with him. He said he wanted women to fight like Laxmi Bai if they face bias. Highlighting the importance of universities in preparing the youngsters for future challenges, the Governor asked all universities to work hard to provide both theoretical and practical knowledge to the students. He also announced that Jind had not seen the required development as yet. Sonepat MP Ramesh Kaushik criticised stage sectary Jyoti Sheoran and Dr Rishi Pal, both professors, and others for using English to conduct stage. “When the Chinese and Japanese can use their language, why can’t we use Hindi? On the one hand, we are demanding Hindi for the IAS and IPS exams, and on other, we are not using it in our college and university functions,” said Kaushik. |
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Rohtak varsity students keep gates locked for second day
Rohtak, November 12 Today, senior officials of the State Department of Technical Education and the district administration met the protesting students to know about their demands. After their interaction, it was decided that a committee comprising students’ representatives, university faculty members and Vice Chancellor’s nominees would meet the Education Minister and apprise him of their concerns. The students agreed to this, but remained adamant on continuing the stir till they got a written assurance on the fulfillment of their demands. The protest, however, remained peaceful. The students have demanded a change in the University Act and grant of independent autonomy to all four institutes – of textile design, fine arts, film and television (cinematography) and urban planning and architecture – functioning on the university campus. The protesting students maintained that they did not have basic facilities such as hostels, placement cell, qualified faculty and adequate lab equipment. They said they had apprised the university authorities of their concerns a number of times, but to no avail. SUPVA registrar Umesh Saroj urged the protesting students to call off their stir as the Education Minister had offered to
meet their representatives and consider their demands, but the students declined his request and refused to budge. “Whenever we approach the university or state authorities with our grievances, they assure us of prompt action, but no concrete measures are taken to address our concerns thereafter. Hence, we were left with no other alternative but to stage protest demonstration and this time it will continue till a plausible solution is offered to us in black and white,” said the protesting students. The students further maintain that ever since the integrated campus housing four institutes had been made a university, their independence and academic growth had been hampered. What they want
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Link farming with technology: Balyan
Sonepat, November 12 He was addressing the farmers after inaugurating a district-level Kisan Mela in the HSIIDC complex at Rai today. “The new government at the Centre is working out these plans to ensure welfare of the farmers,” he said. He expressed concern over the reports of burning of over 200 poly houses in Sonepat district and said the incidents would be probed and action would taken against those responsible for it. He asked the farmers to give suggestions on agriculture matters and these suggestions would be given due consideration. As many as 55 stalls were put up in the mela by different wings of the Agriculture Department, farmers and private companies. The farmers told him that baby corn, sweet corn and mushroom cultivated in the Rai region were popular in 5-star hotels and the international market. |
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CM Khattar takes to ‘meeting diplomacy’
Chandigarh, November 12 Sources said since Manohar Lal was “thrust” upon the MLAs as the leadership’s choice as Chief Minister, overlooking the claims of other senior leaders and chief ministerial candidates within the party, the first challenge before Khattar is to keep these “aspirants” in good humour. Most of these “aspirants” are ministers in the Cabinet and the BJP’s biggest fear is that they could emerge as independent power centres. The Chief Minister has held three closed-door “informal” meetings with his Cabinet colleagues. Sources maintain that since Cabinet meetings are also attended by bureaucrats, the idea of these meetings is to take a feedback from the core group. “All of us are relatively new to decision-making and government. Instead of being embarrassed after a decision is taken, the idea is bounced around and views sought. Bringing a policy matter directly to the Cabinet where there is limited scope of discussion is not something the government wants to risk at the moment,” sources said. The BJP is working on creating an impression that every opinion matters and no difference of opinion exists within the government on issues. However, rivals within and outside the party are skeptical about these “informal meetings”, claiming that this is only a cover-up to ensure that the Chief Minister faces no challenge from within his government. Also, with a call on various issues taken at such meetings, every decision becomes the “collective responsibility” of the Cabinet and the onus of a “wrong” step does not fall entirely on the CM. The Congress government which was in power for nearly 10 years had a completely different style of working where the decisions were taken by the CMO’s Office before being tabled at the Cabinet meetings. Crash course for MPs
Haryana CM Manohar Lal has written a letter to all MPs and Deputy Commissioners to attend a "crash course" to streamline administrative working and enable better coordination. The letter says the MPs and DCs should attend the course at the state-run Haryana Institute of Public Administration in Gurgaon on November 17 |
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Public sector bank staff hold strike
Kurukshetra November 12 While the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), which represents bank officers and employees, demands 25 per cent wage hike, the Indian Bank’s Association (IBA) offered an increment of 11 per cent only. It is very low and unacceptable. The banks of the north zone will go on another strike on December 3,” he said. “The motive of the strike is to protect our rights. We were compelled to take this route as the government and the IBA didn’t show any positive move. The banks are the backbone of the nation and the workload has increased manifolds, but the government has no planning for us. We had also asked for the five-day workweek, but to no avail,” bank employees lamented. Banking operations, including cash transactions, cheque clearances and foreign exchange dealings, were affected, causing inconvenience to customers. The public sector banks had gone on a two-day strike earlier in February in the wake of the rising inflation. Yamunanagar: Banking services remained paralysed in 115 branches of nationalised banks in the district today due to the strike. The bank employees, under the banner of the Haryana Bank Employees Federation, Yamunanagar, staged a dharna in front of the main branch of State Bank of Patiala here. Gurmukh Singh, secretary of the federation, said their demand of wage revision had been pending since November 2012. However, the government had turned a deaf ear to it. Karnal: The strike of the bank employees today affected the trade to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore in 235 branches of 37 banks in the district, said AK Baweja, chief lead bank district manager (LDM). The protesters said if their demands were not fulfilled, they would observe a zonal relay strike from December 2 to 5. Services remained paraylsed in Sirsa also. |
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Villagers block traffic, demand probe into murder case
Yamunanagar, November 12 The deceased had been working as a farmhand with Sandeep Kumar of Sankhera village for several years. On November 4, he went for work but did not return that night. He reached home the next day but in an injured condition. He was rushed to a local private hospital where he was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. However, he succumbed to his injures yesterday. The deceased’s kin brought his body today and they placed it on Bilaspur-Jagadhri road at about 10.30 am demanding registration of a murder case. DSP Ajay Rana reached the spot and pacified the agitators and assured them the guilty would not be spared. Later, on the complaint of Suresh’s wife Lajwanti, the Bilaspur police registered a case of murder and the SC/ST Act against two persons - Bhura and Sher Khan, both residents of Sankhera village. The police said efforts were afoot to arrest the accused. |
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Child’s death: HUDA JE held in Ambala
Ambala, November 12 The contractor whose name was also included in the FIR was at large. The police said the JE would be produced in the court tomorrow. Residents of Sector 9 protested this morning, demanding the arrest of the officer responsible for negligence. The Ambala SDM handed over a cheque for Rs 1 lakh to the victim’s parents late last night. |
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Jhajjar, November 12
Chandigarh, November 12