 |
|
|
Ganeshi Lal rejects any BJP-HVP tie-up Cong planning chargesheet against Chautala Haryana plans $263-million road with Malaysian aid Chautala doles out sops for traders 7 condemned prisoners waiting for ‘death’ in Haryana jails |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
24 sentenced to life in murder case DHBVN to check power theft from August 23 NAAC blames frequent transfers for poor research 2 loan defaulters escape from Revenue Dept custody JBT vacancies to be filled through transfers More tourists are
visiting Kashmir: Mir Jat Mahasabha legal cell office-bearers National demand day observed Govt to construct Shahabad-Nalvi feeder
|
|
Ganeshi Lal rejects any BJP-HVP tie-up Chandigarh, August 20 This was alleged today by leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) while reacting to HVP secretary general, Surinder Singh's statement that the HVP was trying to unite all the non-INLD and non-Congress parties of the state for the next Assembly elections. Rebutting the chances of an alliance between the BJP and the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) for the state Assembly elections, state BJP president Ganeshi Lal said at Sirsa today that the BJP would not tie up with any party in the forthcoming elections. Mr Ganeshi Lal added that the HVP wanted to harness public support for its August 25 rally in Delhi by issuing such statements. The BSP, which too could fit in the scheme of things proposed by the HVP leader, also vehemently denied that it could tie up with the BSP for the Assembly elections to be held early next year. " We would contest on our own. Our experience has shown that alliances do not transfer votes to us, though they benefit by the support offered by the BSP to their candidates", Mr Ramji Lal, president of the Haryana unit of the BSP said. Regarding Mr Surinder Singh's call of bringing non-INLD, non-Congress parties together, Mr Ramji Lal said it was to enthuse the HVP workers who could sense that the party was fast losing its significance in the state politics. The HVP, which managed to get a majority in the 1996 Assembly elections riding on its promise to impose prohibition in Haryana, was reduced to only two MLAs when the next Assembly elections were held in February, 2000. It drew a blank in the Lok Sabha elections in May this year. The crucial Bhiwani seat, considered a stronghold of the HVP due to the party supremo Bansi Lal's association with Bhiwani, was won by Congress candidate, Kuldeep Bishnoi, who trounced Mr Surinder Singh, HVP leader, who is also son of Mr Bansi Lal. While Mr Surinder Singh talks about HVP's "alliance" with other parties, the possible allies are thinking in the line of HVP's merger in their party. There was reportedly a move for the merger of the HVP with the BJP. The nomination of Ms Kiran Chaudhary, wife of Mr Surinder Singh, as Congress Rajya Sabha nominee from Haryana, had also triggered off speculations about HVP's merger in the Congress. |
|
Cong planning chargesheet against Chautala Chandigarh, August 20 A former party president, Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, who is heading a committee formed by the Congress to prepare the chargesheet, said here today that they would collect evidence from the general public regarding the “misdeeds” of Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala, his family members, ministers, INLD MLAs and functionaries and “henchmen” bureaucrats. He said any public man could contact him or any other member of the committee and furnish the necessary evidence. Mr Surjewala said the identity of the person providing evidence would be kept secret. The other members of the committee are Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Mr Birender Singh and Mr Harpal Singh, all former party presidents; Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, officiating leader of the CLP; Mr Phool Chand Mullana, general secretary of the party; Mr Karan Singh Dalal, MLA; and Mr Ran Singh Mann, organising secretary of the Haryana Congress. Mr Surjewala said the first meeting of the committee was held on August 16 and the next would be held on August 23. He said the public men could also send the evidence to the Congress office in Sector 9 here through post in a sealed envelope with “Memorandum” superscribed on it. |
|
|
Haryana plans $263-million road with Malaysian aid Chandigarh, August 20 The MoU with the state government would be signed during the Malaysian Works Minister S Samy Vellu's visit to New Delhi from August 22.Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala will be present when the MoU is signed between the state government and the Malaysian consortium at Haryana Bhavan in Delhi on August 24. "The contract is to build the 130-km Delhi peripheral road,'' a source said and added that the CIDB consortium comprised Malaysia's main highway company Plus Bhd and IJM Bhd, which was already active in several construction projects in India. A Haryana official said the government wanted to construct an express highway to connect National Highways Nos1, 8 and 10. The proposed highway would be a joint venture project with the HSIDC holding majority share of 27 per cent and the equity partner having 73 per cent share, he said. The official said that the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal express highway had been necessitated due to pressure of traffic in the Haryana sub-region of National Capital Region. The salient features of the express highway would be a non-stop four-lane high speed toll road only for fast moving vehicles. It would be elevated at the junction of any road, and have under-passes for cattle, carts and tractors in the countryside at the existing tracks. It would have barricades to control the entry of animals and have arrangements for quick removal of any vehicular breakdown. He said that the proposed express highway would ensure smooth and quick transportation of grain, milk and milk products, fruits and vegetables from Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir to other parts of the country. It would reduce the travel time and distance by bypassing Delhi and reduce traffic congestion and pollution in the National Capital. He said due to the absence of connectivity among NH 1, 10, 8 and 2, the entire traffic bound for Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra was passing through Delhi. Consequently the areas of district Sonepat and Jhajjar adjoining Delhi could not find favour for industrial development. There was also a strong demand to connect by road the areas of industrial concentration of Haryana. These areas included Sonepat-Bahadurgarh and Gurgaon-Faridabad. The trucks bound for Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have to wait for hours together outside Delhi due to the restriction on their entry, the source said, and added that the expressway would put an end to this phenomenon. He said that the Town and Country Planning Department of the state had drawn perspective development plans for the towns within the NCR, which covered one-third area of the state. The construction of express highway outside Delhi would go a long way in connecting these settlements. |
|
Chautala doles out sops for traders Kundli (Sonepat), August 20 The Chief Minister, who was addressing a meeting of the entrepreneurs and traders under the second phase of ‘Sarkar Udyogpatiyon Ke Dwar’ at Kundli in Sonepat district, said interest at a rate of 11 per cent would be charged on the loan given earlier by the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation. He said the government would also consider bifurcation of industrial plots and added that the decision regarding fee for extension of load was under consideration. He also announced to allot plots to various associations of Kundli. He claimed as a result of a number of steps taken by the state government to create congenial atmosphere for the development of industry, 208 large and medium as well as 5,000 small-scale industrial units catalysing an investment of Rs12,000 crore had been set up during past four-and-a-half years. These units provided employment opportunities to two lakh people, he said. Referring to the introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) in the state, he said the state leaders of the Congress had intentionally launched a campaign against this for vested political interests while on the other hand Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had appreciated the decision of the state government to introduce VAT. He said there would be no shortage of power in the state after the commissioning of the seventh and eighth units of Tau Devi Lal Thermal Power Plant at Panipat. He said tenders from world over had been invited to set up Yamunanagar Thermal Plant. The process to set up a power plant at Hisar had already been started. He said steps were being taken to set up an ESI dispensary in the complex of the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation here. He said all roads would be repaired by the end of December and a bridge would be constructed over the drain No. 8 here. Earlier, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Vidya Dhar, said 13 large and medium as well as 291 small-scale industrial units had been set up in the district in the past four-and-a-half years with a total investment of Rs 430 crore. |
|
7 condemned prisoners waiting for ‘death’ in Haryana jails Chandigarh, August 20 The oldest ‘condemned’ prisoner (as a person carrying the death sentence is known in jail parlance) is Dharam Pal, who was awarded the death sentence on May 5, 1997. He has been in custody since June 22, 1993. Dharam Pal, who is lodged in Ambala Central Jail, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in 1991-92 for raping a girl of Shahpur Turk village in Sonepat district. The High Court bailed him. Dharam Pal, who says that he was falsely implicated in the rape case due to a land dispute, killed the girl’s father, mother, sister and two brothers aged 15 years and 13 years, respectively. The girl, however, escaped because she was not at home. His mercy petition is pending with the President after the High Court and the Supreme Court rejected his appeals. The mercy petition was sent in 1999. The other two condemned prisoners in Ambala are Sanjeev Kumar and his wife, Sonia, who were awarded the death sentence in the Relu Ram case. Sonia along with her husband had killed her father, Relu Ram, a former MLA, and seven other members of the family. Their appeal is pending in the High Court. Sonia has been temporarily shifted to the Hisar jail along with all other women inmates of the Ambala jail due to the flood threat. Among the four condemned prisoners lodged in the Hisar jail, three persons were convicted in one case. They were awarded the death sentence on February 8, 2002, for eliminating the entire family of six in Jhajjar district. Om Prakash, his wife Satwanti, his daughter Rekha and his three sons, Dharmender, Rakesh and Rajesh, were done to death on December 21, 1996. The High Court is yet to confirm the death sentence. The fourth condemned prisoner in Hisar is Rattan Singh, who received the death sentence on February, 17, 2004, for murdering a 12-year-old boy in Faridabad district. The sentence is to be confirmed by the High Court. According to the Director-General, Prisons, Mr
A.S. Bhatotia, only two jails in Haryana, Ambala and Hisar have gallows. The Rohtak jail also used to have gallows but these have been in disuse since long. After Haryana came into existence on November 1, 1966, 28 persons have been hanged to death so far. The last time the gallows were put to use in Haryana was on June 20, 1989, when Gulab Singh was hanged to death in the Ambala jail. The first persons to be hanged in the Ambala jail in independent India were the assassins of Mahatma Gandhi — Nathu Ram Godse and narain
D.Apte, who were executed on November 15, 1949, on the orders of Mr Attma Charan Singh, ICS, who held the special court in Delhi. In the Ambala jail after 1947, twice three persons were hanged simultaneously on September 14, 1967, and April 17, 1968, respectively. On three occasions two convicts were hanged simultaneously. Godse and Apte were also hanged simultaneously. Out of 10 persons hanged in the Hisar jail after Haryana came into existence, three persons were executed simultaneously on October 7, 1974. On two occasions, two persons were executed simultaneously. Vijay Singh, who will turn 50 in December next, is the only hangman in this part of the country, which includes Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Though he joined the rolls of the haryana Prison Department as a hangman on December 1, 1987, he is yet to hang a convict. In 1989, he assisted in the hanging of Gulab Singh. He gets the pay of a jail warder. A quick study of the executions in Ambala jail show that till 1989, the time gap between the pronouncement of the death sentence by the sessions court and the execution varied from a few months to about three years. |
|
|
24 sentenced to life in murder case Rohtak, August 20 Mr Vinod Kumar Jain, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court, also imposed fine of Rs 27,500 on each of the convicts. The judge acquitted nine other villagers against whom these convicts had filed a complaint in the same court alleging that the murder was committed by them. The clash took place on March 16, 2000 when the polling for elections of the village sarpanch was in progress. The supporters of rival candidates had an altercation outside a polling booth. In the group clash that followed Sahi Ram, a supporter of one of the candidates and his grandson were assaulted by supporters of the rival candidate. While Sahi Ram died on the spot, his grandson Mandroop died after few hours. The police had registered a case under Sections 302, 323, 325, 341, 285, 452, 148, 149 of the IPC and various sections of the Arms Act against 24 residents of the village. |
|
|
DHBVN to check power theft from August 23 Bhiwani, August 20 While revealing this here today, a spokesman for the nigam said the scheme would be effective from August 23 to September 26 in all eight districts — Bhiwani, Rewari, Mahendragarh, Hisar, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Fatehabad and Sirsa, that fall in the area of the DHBVN. He said under the scheme, nigam officials would organise camps to provide on-the-spot domestic and non-domestic connections in the villages where number of connections were less as against the number of houses and power theft was apparent. The villages were to be selected by the Superintending Engineers (Operation) concerned. He said the scheme was being launched mainly to check the menace of power theft, discourage people using ‘kundi’ connections and to facilitate people to get electricity connections easily. People steal power by taping low tension lines or service cables. Such connections were not only a cognizable offence, but had also created hindrance in the way of development, he added. He said the DHBVN had already conducted survey in the selected villages and found that a number of people had electricity fittings in their houses, but had got no regular connections. The nigam was giving an opportunity to such people to come forward voluntarily to get regular connections instead of using ‘kundi’ connections. He said under the campaign, a team comprising concerned Subdivisional Officer, Junior Engineer, linemen, clerk and a representative of the district administration would visit the villages on fixed days and release new connections on demand by going at the doorstep of the people. The spokesman said the team of the nigam officials would carry all required papers with it and all formalities would be completed at site without causing any inconvenience to the applicants. People desirous to get connections in villages would, thus, be given connections on the same day and they need not bother even to go to the office of the nigam. He said after September 26, a campaign would be launched by the nigam to detect unauthorised connections and action would be taken against the persons found stealing power. |
|
NAAC blames frequent transfers for poor research Rohtak, August 20 In its latest analysis of accreditation reports of colleges and universities in Haryana, it has pointed out that 52 per cent of the reports of peer teams which inspected these institutions showed that the staff lacked motivation for engaging in research and career advancement because of these two factors. It said frequent transfers disrupted continuity which in turn affected performance. NAAC is an autonomous body of the University Grants Commission (UGC), which evaluates higher education institutions in the country. It is on the basis of this evaluation that the UGC determines the quantum of aid to the institutions. As many as 75 per cent of higher education institutions in the state are accredited to the council. The report said that “very few” teachers were members of professional bodies. Not many attended symposia, conferences and workshops for their professional growth. It has suggested that to encourage teachers to engage in research, the government as well managements of higher education institutions should create a corpus to provide seed money for funding research. It said this should be done even at the post-graduate level. The council pointed out that no attempts were being made to relate subject matter to current issues regarding community development and its needs. Therefore, it wanted all colleges in the state to set up research and development units which should be managed by competent faculty. According to the report, very few teachers demonstrated awareness of latest trends and issues related to their subjects. They did not show interest in developing and using well-crafted instructional materials to facilitate learning. It said professional development of teachers “should be encouraged and made mandatory if required”. The report said that most of the teachers were not trained to use computers despite the fact that there was a provision in colleges under an agreement with Tata Infotech for providing 100 hours of free training for teachers. It has recommended that computer training be made compulsory for both teaching and non-teaching staff of colleges and universities. The report also pointed to the heavy workload on teachers in violation of the UGC norms. This, it added, was affecting the overall performance of the institutions as the teachers had little time to spare for other important activities. It also pointed out that though there were 127 privately managed colleges in Haryana compared to 60 run by the government, the former were not being allowed to fill vacant posts or create new posts since 1986 and this was affecting their performance. The council said because of lack of government support, colleges and universities were appointing teachers on a temporary or ad hoc basis on consolidated salary. It said pay parity between teachers of all categories was a must and temporary and ad hoc staff should be paid “full scale of pay similar to that of permanent staff”. According to the report, private colleges in Haryana were found “significantly superior to government colleges” so far as curricular, teaching-learning evaluation, infrastructure, learning resources, student support and progression, organisation, management and healthy practices were concerned. But research, consultancy and extension criterion for both categories of institutions was found to be equally low. The NAAC found that the “accredited status of colleges affiliated to Kurukshetra University is more encouraging than colleges affiliated to Maharshi Dayanand University”. |
|
2 loan defaulters escape from Revenue Dept custody Yamunanagar, August 20 According to information available, the defaulters — Shyam Lal of Karkoli village, Faquir Chand of Tibi village and Budhu of Malikpur village — and the watchman Gurtez Singh reportedly consumed liquor in the cell last night. The “heavily drunk” watchman reportedly left the cell door unlocked and the three defaulters fled. According to Mr Balbir Singh, Manager of the bank, Budhu, instead of fleeing, reached the bank in the morning and offered to clear his debt. He deposited Rs 9,500 and assured the bank officials to clear his debt by August 31. The three had taken a loan of about Rs 50,000 each against their land holdings for setting up business. But when they did not repay the loan, an arrest warrant was issued against them and the three were arrested on August 16. Sources said each of them owed about Rs 70,000 (principal amount plus interest) to the bank. Sources in the Revenue Department said the department had only provided a cell and the security was not its concern. |
|
JBT vacancies to be filled through transfers Chandigarh, August 20 While stating this here today, an official spokesman said that in case of any vacancy of JBT teacher in a zila parishad, priority would be given to fill it through transfers from amongst unmarried women, widows or divorcees, ex-servicemen or para military personnel or wives of officers, handicapped and couple cases in case of employees of state government or of its board or corporation or the Union Government. He said those desirous of seeking such a transfer would have to apply on prescribed performa to the department within 10 days through the concerned zila parishad. Thereafter, he said, no application would be considered. He said in case of acceptance of their applications they would have to give their consent to accept such an appointment through transfer as a new appointment. As a result of it they would not be entitled to the benefit of seniority fixed in their parental zila parishad. They would be appointed only in rural areas and would never be transferred to urban areas. Their new seniority in the new zila parishad would commence from the day they would assume the charge. Such a transfer would be admissible only once. The reservation policy of the state various categories would be kept in view while making such an appointment through transfer. Such teachers would not be entitled to any travelling or dearness allowance. |
|
|
More tourists are
visiting Kashmir: Mir Ambala, August 20 Mr Mir said in 2003, 2.5 lakh tourists visited Kashmir and this year so far 3.65 lakh tourists have arrived here. “These figures do not include the pilgrims going on Amarnath Yatra or Mata Vaishno Devi,” he said. He stated that the state government had identified areas so that the Kashmiri migrants who want to return could be rehabilitated. Housing complexs were being built at Khir Bhawani in Srinagar and at
Muttur, besides construction of complexes at Badgam and Anantnag. “The Kashmiri migrants who will return will be provided with basic facilities. A job will be given to one member of each family. The relief being given to them will continue. We are also providing jobs to Kashmiri Pandits. We are also going to ask for an employment package from the Centre,” he added. |
|
|
Jat Mahasabha legal cell office-bearers Chandigarh, August 20 According to a press statement of the cell, Mr Man Mohan (Tohana) and Mr Rameshwar (Yamunanagar) have been made senior vice-presidents, while Mr Subhash Mann (Panipat), Mr Balraj Gill (Sirsa) and Mr Narender Attri (Faridabad) have been appointed vice-presidents. Mr Ranjit Singh (Kurukshetra), Mr Satbir Ravish (Kaithal) and Mr Daya Nand Hooda (Hisar) will be the secretaries. Mr Jasbir Singh Mor (Chandigarh), Mr Vinod Chahar (Dadri), Mr Vinod Gulia (Gurgaon), Mr Virender Bhal (Karnal) and Mr Karnail Singh (Guhla-Cheeka) have been made joint secretaries. The following will be the presidents of the district units: Mr Sushil Nehra (Ambala), Mr Jitender Dhaliwal (Bhiwani), Mr Rajbir Singh (Fatehabad), Mr Abhey Dahiya (Gurgaon), Mr Satbir Singh Nain (Hisar), Mr Jasbir Singh Dhull (Jind), Mr Shamsher Singh Kundu (Kaithal), Mr Joginder Deswal (Karnal), Mr Sukhvinder Singh Malik (Kurukshetra), Mr Satish Kadian (Panchkula), Mr Rajesh Saharan (Rohtak), Mr Yash Pal Malik (Sonepat), Mr Prithvi Singh Dhanda (Yamunanagar) and Mr Surinder Lochhab (Jhajjar). |
|
|
National demand day observed Hisar, August 20 Their demands included increasing the EPF interest rate to 12 per cent, scrapping the move on foreign direct investment in Air-India, LIC and BSNL, restoring the right to strike through legislation and framing a national policy for farm labourers. Mr Prabhat Singh, president, and Mr Satbir Singh, general secretary of the Haryana chapter of CITU, said a special resolution was also adopted against the termination of services of Forest Department workers. Sonepat: Various trade unions observed a national demand day here today and warned the Union Government against treading the NDA path and adopting anti-workers attitude. According to a report, the employees from banking, insurance and telecom sectors belonging to the Central Coordination Committee, AITUC and CITU have urged the Centre to implement pro-workers policies to ensure the stability of the UPA government. |
|
Govt to construct Shahabad-Nalvi feeder Kurukshetra, August 20 Under this project, a 22.25 km long feeder and two main distributaries — Shahabad distributary and Nalvi distributary — would be constructed. The total length of these channels would be 381.30 km. |
|
Man poisons his three children, commits suicide Kaithal, August 20 |
|
Three get life term for
murder Ambala, August 20 |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
