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Saturday, October 13, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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HARYANA MINES I Train
passengers robbed, 18 injured Hooda flays new
house tax policy IN FOCUS Doctor
held on graft charge Four
students hurt in clash |
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1,000
power connections disconnected Sonepat
police bags prize for patrolling HPSC
selections Chautala visits
jawan’s family Bag
containing 5 pistols found Three MC
officials, clerk suspended 
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HARYANA MINES I Chandigarh, October 12 The leasing of the mines was discriminatory and subjective, though the Central law requires that these should be leased out after taking into consideration certain factors like special knowledge or experience in reconnaisance operations possessed by an applicant, his financial resources, the nature and quality of the technical staff employed by him or the investment he proposes to make in the mines. The discriminatory nature of the allotment procedure was proved when the Punjab and Haryana High Court recently quashed the allotment of a number of mines made by a former Chief Minister, Mr Bhajan Lal. Before the 1996 Assembly elections, the HVP President, Mr Bansi Lal, also used to say that either he would nationalise all mines or these would be auctioned. However, after coming to power, he continued with the prevalent procedure of allotment. Before his government was toppled, Mr Bansi Lal allotted about 25 mines to his “favourites”. It is another matter that the Chautala government allowed only a few persons, who were given mines by Mr Bansi Lal, to operate these. Obviously, these persons were close to the new political dispensation also. The others are unable to run the mines because the environment management plans (EMP), a mandatory requirement, have not been approved by the state government yet. Interestingly, the state, which is to approve the EMP, is believed to have given notices to a number of lease holders asking why their lease should not be terminated because they have not been operating the mines. The Mines and Geology
Department (MGD) had received about 1,000 applications for about 50 mines notified by it as available for leasing. Chief Minister Chautala is believed to be under tremendous pressure from about 25 MLAs, a number of former and sitting Central Ministers and three former Prime Ministers, not to speak of his relatives, to allot the mines to their favourites”. Instead of buckling under the pressure and risking the annoyance of many, Mr Chautala took a bold decision. He directed the MGD to draw up plans to auction the mines. The top brass of the department came out with a novel idea to circumvent the Central law, which requires that the mines of major minerals must be leased out on a long-term basis. The major minerals, broadly speaking, are those which are used by industry as opposed to the minor ones which are used in construction activity. The state decided to invoke its authority over the minor minerals. It amended the law to provide for the auction of the mines yielding minor minerals. The Director, MGD, Mr Ram Niwas, says while the mines for minor minerals will be auctioned for seven years, the allottee will be asked to store major minerals separately to be disposed of by the government itself. This will take care of the Central law. While hearing a writ petition seeking action against a Haryana Minister and one of his relatives for alleged illegal mining, a Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court headed by Mr Justice Jawahar Lal Gupta, too, had suggested that the mines should be auctioned. The Advocate-General of Haryana, Mr Surya Kant Sharma, told the court that it was not permissible under the Central law. (To be concluded) |
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Train passengers robbed, 18 injured Panipat, October 12 They managed to escape minutes before the train halted at the railway station here around 10 p.m. According to information, eight gangsters boarded the train from Delhi around 8.30 p.m. as soon as train crossed Delhi, the gangsters, armed with knives and sharp-edged weapons, started looting passengers of S-11 compartment. As many as 18 passengers including Omkar Kaul (Jammu), Delhi police constable Krishan Vir, Deepak and Mahesh of Delhi, Charan Singh and Dr Aman Singh were injured. After looting cash and other valuables from the passengers during about one-and-a-half hour journey between Delhi and Panipat, the gangsters pulled the chain about 5-6 km before Panipat and managed to escape with the booty. Statements of the victims was recorded at the railway station and a case has been registered by the GRP Panipat under Section 395 and 397 of the IPC. |
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Hooda flays new
house tax policy Ambala, October 12 Talking to mediapersons here today, Mr Hooda said a meeting in this regard would be held on October 17 at Chandigarh. “The bandh will be in protest against the new house tax policy which has become a burden on the common man,” he said. Mr Hooda stated that whenever the Congress comes to power in the state, the previous house tax policy would be implemented. He said among others, party office-bearers, MLAs and district presidents were expected to attend the meeting. Mr Hooda said he was visiting grain markets to take stock of the situation. “We are concerned about the adverse condition of farmers who are being forced to make distress sale. Even the minimum support price is insufficient since the cost of inputs has considerably gone up,” he said. He stated that there were several irregularities, large-scale bungling and a policy of pick-and-choose was being followed during procurement for the past two years. “This has demoralised the farmers,” he said. Mr Hooda further said that the law and order situation was deteriorating in the state. “I have already demanded for a special Assembly session to discuss the situation,” he added. Later Mr Hooda visited the new grain market at Ambala city and took stock of the situation there. He stated that the farmers told him that they had to wait for a long time before their paddy was procured. Mr Balwant Gupta, Ms Kiran Bala Jain, Mr Dilip Chawla, Mr Rajendra Hooda, Ms Amarjit Kaur Sodhi, Mr Sampooran Singh Durala, Mr Surjit Singh Gorsian and Mr Arun Garg also accompanied him during his visit. |
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IN FOCUS Ambala Municipal councillors of both the towns have passed resolutions against the implementation of the new house tax policy. However, following the Government’s decision, officers of the municipal councils have been implementing the policy. All councillors of Ambala City, including those of the ruling group, boycotted the council meeting when the Executive Officer announced enforcement of the new policy. Municipal council officers maintain that the new policy will not affect the common man. Only 10 to 12 per cent of the people owning big houses will have to pay more. However, the people do not agreed with them. The EO of Ambala City said that they had sent out 6500 house tax bills so far, and only 173 persons had complained of discrepancies in their bills. The formula laid down by the Local Bodies Department to assess house tax leaves the municipal councils with no discretion to oblige any house-owner. The Executive Officer of Ambala City said that one-third of the house-owners would be exempted from the tax policy while half the house tax payers would get relief. Under the new policy, handicapped persons, widows, ex-servicemen and those living below the poverty line would be exempted from house tax. Congress councillors as well as those of the ruling BJP are opposed to the new policy. A BJP councillor, Mr Sushil Kumar, who is also the president of the local BJP unit, said that it would create unnecessary problems for the poor. Ms Amisha Chawla, a Congress councillor, said that the municipal council had been unable to provide even basic facilities to the residents. This multiple enhancement of house tax was an act of injustice to the common people. Mr Ashok
Kharbanda, a social activist, said that Ambala City had neither proper roads nor adequate drinking water. The council should first provided these basic amenities to the people and then think of enhancing house tax. There have also been complaints that the survey of houses was done by students who could not be treated as competent to do the job responsibly. That is why there were discrepancies in the bills. The people feel that a new survey should be conducted by competent persons. |
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Doctor held on
graft charge Panipat, October 12 According to the police, a sister-in-law of Lehna Singh of Dehra village was admitted to the civil hospital here as she had bone fractures for conducting an operation, orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Pankaj Aggarwal, reportedly demanded Rs 3000. Lehna Singh informed the SDM about the doctor's demand. A trap was laid to catch the doctor redhanded. The SDM signed the currency notes and asked Lehna Singh to hand over these to the doctor. The doctor has been arrested and a case has been registered. |
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Four students hurt in clash Sonepat, October 12 According to preliminary reports, the injured students have been identified as Azeem, Rohit, Kuldeep and Rama Kant. They are students of electrical engineering. All injured were admitted to hospital. They are stated to be out of danger. The incident occurred around 7 p.m. when the students were taking tea in the college canteen. The alleged assailants were armed with knives, lathis and iron rods. The incident was not reported to the police. |
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1,000 power
connections disconnected Panipat, October 12 According to Executive Engineer of the division S.K. Chawla, electricity bills amounting to Rs 38 crore were outstanding against the consumers in the division. Despite several incentives in the past, the defaulters were not coming forward to deposit their pending bills. Mr Chawla said due to the “indifferent” attitude of the defaulters, the Nigam had been forced to take strict action against them. The division had decided to recover Rs 10-15 crore during this month. All sub-divisional engineers and junior engineers had been warned that strict action would be taken against those found guilty of cooperation with the defaulters and providing them illegal connection, Mr Chawla said. Officers in the field had been directed to intensify the recovery campaign and officers found reluctant in doing so would face transfer. |
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Sonepat police bags
prize for patrolling Chandigarh, October 12 In a press statement Mr M.S. Malik, DGP, said Police personnel of Sonepat and Fatehabad districts bagged two prizes each in three categories, namely, best night patrolling and ‘nakabandi’, successful investigation of criminal cases and highest recoveries under local and special laws. He said the Sonepat police bagged first prize of Rs 5,100 in the best night patrolling and second prize of Rs 3,100 for solving cases. The Fatehabad police bagged first prize of Rs 3,100 in highest recovery under local and special laws and third prize of Rs 2,100 in night patrolling and ‘nakabandi’. The Panipat police won the first prize of Rs 5,100 in the category of successful investigation while the Sonepat and the Yamunagar police, respectively, secured the second prize (Rs 3,100) and third prize (Rs 2,100) in this category. The Karnal police got the second prize of Rs 3100 in the category of night patrolling and ‘nakabandi’ and the Faridabad police won the second prize for highest recoveries. Whereas, the Hisar police secured the third prize in the highest recovery category. A committee comprising IGP (Law and Order) and two DIGs had recommended the best teams to the DGP who selected the winners. |
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HPSC
selections Chandigarh, October 12 General Category: 402, 186, 534, 164, 150, 31, 107, 167, 479, 191, 11, 314, 30, 352, 362, 180, 383, 321, 317, 157, 546, 103, 344, 406, 98, 292, 536, 252, 372, 390, 195, 353, 290, 90, 333, 48, 519, 320, 106, 520, 557, 437, 401, 141. Additional General Category: 293, 12, 39, 518, 75, 251, 138. SC(A) Category: 50, 478, 315, 77, 176, 486, 469. SC(B) Catetory: 165, 443, 188, 152, 439, 368, 109. Additional: 434, 201, 378. BC Category: 364, 87, 501, 410, 253, 549, 78. Additional: 428. PH Category: 295, 422. Additional: 394. ESM Category: 376, 323, 112. Additional: 282. |
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Chautala visits
jawan’s family Rohtak, October 12 Sepoy Balwan Singh fell victim to the recent bomb explosion at the Assembly House in Srinagar. Later, the Chief Minister went to the residence of Ms Ritu Malik, co-pilot, who was killed in the air crash with senior Congress leader Madhav Rao Scindia near Manipuri on September 30. |
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Bag containing
5 pistols found Yamunanagar, October 12 According to information available
here, Mr Mahender Singh Walia of Kishan Pura village while going to
his field last night noticed two bearded youths moving suspiciously on
a bicycle. When asked to explain about their presence in the
village, both of them fled and throwing something in the fields. Mr
Walia rushed to the spot and discovered a bag containing five pistols,
number of cartridges, one monkey cap, one Pathani suit and two bullet
belts. He immediately informed about the incident to the police at
Khizrabad. However, the whereabouts of the youths are still not known. |
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Three MC
officials, clerk suspended
Kaithal, October 12 The Executive Officer, Mr J.P. Bishnoi, Secretary, Dharam Veer Bawa and Assistant Accountant Nand Lal have been placed under suspension with immediate effect, according to a communique received here yesterday. Though no reason for the suspension has been mentioned in the letter, it is reliably learnt that the officials had issued cheques for Rs 45 lakh without the knowledge of the Chairman, Local Municipal Council. Taking serious view of the matter some municipal councillors brought this matter to the notice of the Chief Minister, Mr O.P. Chautala, who in turn directed the Commissioner. On the other hand, the suspended employees say that most cheques had been issued to deposit outstanding Provident Fund arrears of employees. |
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BE entrance examination Hisar, October 12 He said the university was the first in northern India to start the course. |
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Youths demand ransom, held Jind, October 12 Mr O.P. Singh, SP, said here today that they had been identified as Sukhbir alias Billu, Sukhbir alias Sukhan, and Raja, all residents of Nagura village. |
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Shots in air
create panic Sonepat, October 12 According to a report, unidentified car-borne youths fired shots in the air and some bullets hit the walls of a service station, but none was hurt. The incident occurred near the residence of Mr Dev Raj Dewan, an independent MLA, residing in Atlas Road area. On receipt of information, Mr Hardeep Singh Doon, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Headquarters) and the Station House Officer of the Civil Lines police station arrived on the spot and started search operations, but the culprits escaped. A case has been registered against the culprits and a hunt is on to apprehend them. |
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