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Wednesday,
October 24, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Haryana seeks Rs 102 cr
for cotton growers Major changes in HCS
selection Rathore faces another
charge Old-age pension for
dead! Bansi promises demolition of Tau’s
statues |
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Thousands throng Kali temple Power staff to hold demonstration Regular supply of water demanded Disinherit Poonia’s daughter: panchayat Student
slips into sarovar, dies
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Haryana seeks Rs 102 cr
for cotton growers Hisar, October 23 This was stated by the Chief Minister Mr Om Parkash Chautala while inaugurating a two-day workshop on “Revamping of Extension Education and Possibilities of Social marketing” at Haryana Agricultural University here yesterday. He said the State government was keen on providing relief to the affected farmers as the damage in the cotton belt was severe. The chief minister said soil and weather conditions in the state were favourable for sowing every kind of crop but the farmers were not aware of production technologies as well as marketing techniques because of which they were unable to compete with their counterparts from the developed countries. Complimenting the farmers he said it was sheer hard work that made them sustain production and make Haryana the food bowl of the nation. He expressed concern over the challenges posed by the WTO regime and said that it required serious thinking to address the problems. Mr Chautala said under the prevailing conditions diversification of agriculture was the need of the hour. He called upon the farm scientists to take every possible step to encourage diversification. He said livestock production, floriculture, horticulture and cash crops offered farmers better returns. Mr S.Y. Qureshi, Principal Secretary to the chief minister said social marketing and socio developmental programmes had not been exploited fully. He said introduction of social marketing would make agriculture extension work more vibrant. |
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Major changes in HCS
selection Chandigarh, October 23 Henceforth, the examination will be conducted on the pattern of the one conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for the all-India services like the Indian Foreign Service, the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Police Service and the allied services. According to the Chief Secretary, Mr L.M. Goyal, from now onwards the examination for the HCS and the allied services will be conducted every year regularly by the HPSC. At present the commission is conducting the examination after a gap of several years because the government does not intimate it the number of vacancies it has every year. Mr Goyal says initially the examination will be conducted only for the HCS and the allied services but ultimately the examination for the Haryana Police Service will also be clubbed with it. Like the all-India services examination, a preliminary test will be conducted. The candidates will have to appear for two objective-type papers of 100 marks each. While one paper will be of general studies, the other will be optional to be selected by the candidate from 19 subjects. After the preliminary test, candidates numbering 15 times the number of vacancies will be called for the main examination, which will be of 600 marks and comprise five papers. The English paper(including essay), the Hindi paper(including essay) and the General Studies paper will be compulsory and will carry 100 marks each. There will be two optional papers of 150 marks each. A candidate will select the optional papers out of 21 subjects. The marks for personality test(interview) will be 75 as against 90 at present. Since after the preliminary test, the number of candidates appearing in the main examination will be considerably fewer than at present, it may be possible to conduct the examination at one centre or at the most at two. This will ensure better invigilation, reducing complaints of copying by influential persons. Mr Goyal says the optional papers will be of the level of postgraduation but the syllabus will be less than that for the all-India services examination. He says the holding of a competitive examination every year will give a “prompt opportunity” to students, who have to now wait for years to compete for the state civil services. In another change in the pattern, it has now been decided that ex-servicemen and their dependents, too, will have to appear in the preliminary and main examinations. While the application form will be priced, no examination fee will be charged from the candidates belonging to the reserved categories. While the minimum pass percentage for the Hindi and English papers will be 33, there will be no such condition for the other papers. Mr Goyal says next year 59 vacancies will be notified to the HPSC in the HCS and allied services. |
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Rathore faces another
charge Ambala, October 23 Mr Dhanjal committed the case to the Session Court. The order said that the application had been filed by Mrs Madhu Prakash, complainant in this case, alleging there in that pursuant to the order dated August 21, 1998 passed by the high court on a petition filed by the applicant and upheld by the Supreme Court a case was registered and the charge sheet was sent to this court under Sections 354 and 509, IPC. It was alleged that during the investigation, the CBI had recorded the statements of prosecution witnesses, namely Ms Aradhana, alias Reemu, Ms Madhu Prakash, applicant, Mr Anand Prakash, Mr S.C. Girhotra and others. It was further contended that Mr Rathore had filed an SLP in the Supreme Court against the judgement of the high court and it was averred by Mr Rathore that on December 28, 1993 Ruchika was admitted to the PGI Chandigarh reportedly for poisoning at home, where she died at 11.15 p.m. the next day. The fact that Ashu, brother of Ruchika, was involved in six cases has also been mentioned in the SLP filed by Mr Rathore. It was averred that witnesses who had been examined by the CBI had stated that hell-like conditions for Ms Ruchika were created by Mr Rathore which was the cause of death of Ms Ruchika. It was contended that Mr Girhotra, father of the decased, stated that Ruchika used to weep and cry and used to complain that Mr Rathore had spoilt her life and her character had been assassinated. Two or three days before her death, she cried and cursed Mr Rathore for making her life useless by molesting her, said the order. A prayer was made that an offence under Seciton 306, IPC, be added to the charge sheet and the case be further committed to the Court of Sessions, it was also prayed that the CBI be directed to get the statements of Ashu and other important witnesses recorded in the interest of justice and further directions be issued to the CBI to produce all original record pertaining to the investigation of this case from the very inception. This application was contested by the accused as well as the CBI by filing their separate replies. |
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Old-age pension for
dead! Rohtak, October 23 Lajwanti, wife of Bhagwan Dass of Babra Mohalla, died on October 22 last year but she too has got her old-age pension till July this year. She was not paid the pension for August and September as she was found absent from her house. Savitri Devi, wife of Bhim Singh of Indira Colony, died on December 17 last year but she was “alive” till September this year as per the pension disbursement records of the department. These are not isolated cases. There are numerous such cases, says Mr Resham Singh, IGP, Rohtak Range. After he got a report about the irregularities, he ordered an inquiry into the scandal. He had to correspond with the higher authorities of the department to procure the list of beneficiaries as local officials were not “enthusiastic” to oblige him. The government disburses old-age pension through employees of the municipal council which records births and deaths in its jurisdiction. Records revealed that the deaths of the “beneficiaries” who had been receiving pension were also recorded with the municipal committee. According to Mr Resham Singh, there are nearly 12,000 pension beneficiaries in Rohtak. A random survey of the records of approximately 1,000 such beneficiaries revealed that 19 of them were dead. The IGP had ordered the registration of a criminal case under Sections 420/467/468/471 and 120-B, IPC, in this connection. He has also directed the SPs of Sonepat, Panipat, Jhajjar and Karnal to hold an inquiry into the disbursement of pension in their respective areas. Investigations revealed that many persons in their 40s and 50s were also getting old-age pension. |
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Bansi promises demolition of Tau’s
statues Hisar, October 23 Addressing public meetings at Mahenda and Garhi villages of this district yesterday, he said instead of different categories, the reservation was provided in one category under the Central system. Mr Bansi Lal said if voted to power, the HVP would remove all statues of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal as Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala was trying to gain cheap popularity at government expense by installing such statues. Demanding a compensation of Rs 10,000 per acre to cotton growers, he alleged the Chautala government had failed to save cotton crops from American bollworm. He said the compensation should be announced at the earliest as the farmers were not in a position to sow another crop. He said Mr Chautala had burdened people by raising power tariff, house tax rates and imposing new taxes. He also said crime was on the rise in the state. Mr Bansi Lal said his party would not have an alliance with the BJP in the next election. |
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Thousands throng Kali temple Kalka, October 23 The Sarbajneen Durga Puja Committee of Kalka is organising Durga Puja at Gobind Ram Dharamshala. Besides the religious rituals, the celebrations include cultural programmes on different days before the celebrations conclude on October 26. |
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Power staff to hold demonstration Faridabad, October 23 According to a spokesman for the union the decision to stage the protest at Panchkula was taken at a recent meeting of its leaders. He said the government had been continuously ‘harassing’ and ‘victimising’ the staff, which had forced the employees to resort to agitation. Despite staff in the department, the employees had been trying to cope up with the additional burden of work, he claimed. |
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Regular supply of water demanded Rohtak, October 23 After visiting villages in the block yesterday Prof Virender, president DCC (rural), said the condition of the people, especially farmers in Sampla, was miserable due to scarcity of water. Residents of Naya Baans village told him that they were not getting piped and canal water for quite some time and they were forced to fetch drinking water from the neighbouring Gijhi village. Prof Virender said residents of Hasangarh village complained that the water tank in the village had remained dry for the past over two years. Residents of Naunand village reportedly told him that the water works of the village was closed just after the present government took over. He said a ‘Jalyudh’ would be launched from Sampla block from tomorrow. |
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Disinherit Poonia’s daughter: panchayat Hisar, October 23 The panchayat held at Litani village, near hear, and presided over by Swami
Karampal, through a resolution, said since Sonia (Poonia’s daughter) had already confessed to the eight murders, her inherting the vast property would send a wrong signal to society. |
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Student
slips into sarovar, dies Ambala, October 23 The 19-year-old Dalbir Singh had gone to attend the state-level sports championship at Kurukshetra. Apparently he had gone to take a dip in a sarovar where he drowned. His body was brought to Ambala where it was cremated. A
pall of gloom had descended on his residence. Local residents said
Dalbir Singh was an upcoming sportsman and he had performed well. They
said that his death was a blow not only to his family members but also
to the sports fraternity. |
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Anti-US protest Rewari, October 23 |
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Envelope
sent for lab test Ambala, October 23 |
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Salaries
on Oct 31 Chandigarh, October 23 |
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