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Opposition keeps mum on land acquisition benefits
Hearing to continue today
‘Cong’ men remove nameplate of former MP
Undertrial injured, case registered
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Forest dept to launch plantation drive
Violence averted in town
Malaria cases on the rise
Monsoon plays truant in state
Women make full use of travel facility
Panel on 1857 celebrations
to meet
Nigams to strengthen power transmission
Raksha Bandhan celebrated across city
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Opposition keeps mum on land acquisition benefits
Chandigarh, August 28 The main opposition party in the state, the Indian National Lok Dal(INLD), and the second major opposition party, the BJP, are so far silent on the issue. The lone voice against the decision has come from Krishan Murti Hooda, a former minister and close associate of suspended Congress MP Kuldeep Bishnoi. In a statement issued here today Krishan Murti described the decision as a "gimmick" of the Chief Minister to check the "declining popularity of the state government among the masses." He said the decision was a publicity stunt and would benefit less than a microscopic minority. While the land having a market price of Rs 1 crore was being acquired for Rs 22,000 per acre, the owners would be paid Rs 3.30 lakh in 33 years. Krishan Murti said despite this announcement, the farmers in Rohtak district were opposed to the compulsory acquisition of their land. Leaders of the ruling party have, however, described the decision as historic and path-breaking. President of Haryana Congress Phool Chand Mullana described the decision as unprecedented and "no other state government has so far taken such a far-sighted decision". He said it was part of the series of decisions taken by the Chief Minister in the interests of the farmers. A senior party leader and Chairman of the All-India Kisan-Khet Mazdoor Congress Shamsher Singh Surjewala said the decision was courageous and it would go a long way in the acceptance of the demand raised by his organisation that land was inalienable as the owner, whose land was acquired, continued to have a stake in it for years to come. Surjewala said the decision should extend even to that land which had been purchased by private developers. Transport Minister Randeep Surjewala said the decision was historical. Spokesman of the Haryana Congress Ved Prakash Vidrohi also welcomed the decision. |
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Dera chief’s pleas Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 28 “Why not a regular bail plea before the sessions court,” observed Mr Justice Mittal while opening the proceedings. He then asked CBI counsel Rajan Gupta where was the urgency to arrest the petitioner (dera chief) now when he had not been arrested during the five years of investigation. At this, Gupta averred that though the dera chief was not arrested during the probe, it was no ground to offer him the relief. CBI counsel contended that the pleas for pre-arrest bail were wholly misconceived and would prejudice the trial. He cited many apex court judgments to buttress the point that ideally the relief under Section 438, CrPC, (pre-arrest bail) should be given when the probe was pending. Once the chargesheet was filed, there was no scope generally for protection under Section 438, CrPC, and Section 439, CrPC, (regular bail) would be the appropriate remedy. Gupta also pointed out that the cases, Ranjit Singh murder case, journalist Ramchander Chatterpati murder case and the sexual exploitation of sadhvis case, were referred by the high court to the district and sessions judge, Sirsa, before being entrusted for probe to the CBI. The sessions judge, in his report, had said as powerful people were involved in the matter, it was not possible for him to investigate. Importantly, Mr Justice Mittal asked counsel for both the parties that if they had any objection to his hearing the case as he had refused bail to an accused in the Ranjit Singh murder case when he was the district and sessions judge at Kurukshetra. Counsel replied that it was not an issue at all. S.K. Garg Narwana, counsel for the petitioner, argued that the issue was why the petitioner was being implicated. “What is the real face of the CBI. The agency has failed to trace out the person behind the anonymous complaint which triggered the furore,” he averred.The judge finally summed up the proceedings asking petitioner’s counsel to focus on the parameters of the bail and not to dwell on the merits of the case.
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‘Cong’ men remove nameplate of former MP
Hisar, August 28 They also broke open the lock and occupied the office. Significantly, Ramji Lal is perhaps the closest political aide and personal friend of former chief minister Bhajan Lal. He is known for his cool demeanour. He is presently president of the Hisar district Congress (Rural). The group was led by one Balkrishan who said they had given Ramji Lal enough time to quit his party post in view of the statements he had been making against the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government and the national Congress leadership. However, when he did not do so voluntarily, the party workers had to take unilateral action to force his ouster. He said the party supporters would never let anyone criticise the state and national leader while remaining in the party. Such indiscipline could not be permitted as it was tantamount to using the party platform to derive political benefit for anti-party activities. The group later passed a resolution seeking removal of Ramji Lal from all party posts. Copies of the resolution were sent to the Congress President Sonia Gandhi, chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Haryana Congress chief Phool Chand Mullana. After the incident Ramji Lal said he had never shown any disrespect towards Sonia Gandhi but he was a supporter of Bhajan Lal and his son Kuldeep Bishnoi and would not quit under any circumstances. He said he could think of quitting only after Bhajan Lal left the party. Condemning the incident he said such unruly behaviour was never a part of Congress political culture. Such activities were the hallmark of the Indian National Lok Dal in its various avatars. Ramji Lal said the leadership was free to remove him but he would not allow rowdies to cow him down. He alleged that those involved were not Congress workers. He said he had sent a report about the incident to Haryana Congress chief Mullana. |
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Undertrial injured, case registered
Rewari, August 28 The case has been registered on a directive of the Sessions Judge, who ordered medical examination of Saini, after he complained and showed his injury to the court where he was produced yesterday in a case of murder. While Surender is undergoing imprisonment in a case of murder, Kamal Saini too is facing trial for murder. |
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Forest dept to launch plantation drive
Chandigarh, August 28 Minister of State for Forest and Tourism Kiran Choudhry said here today that the objective of the drive was to sensitise teachers about the importance of environment and forestry. She said the teachers would further communicate with students and would make them interested in knowing the vital role of trees in correcting ecological imbalance. She said the teachers would plant saplings of shady and ornamental trees to celebrate Van Mahotsav. The Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) in each district would select 50 schools in consultation with the District Education Officer. The DFO would also make all necessary arrangements for digging of pits and transportation of saplings to the selected schools. The publicity material, literature and posters on forestry, environment pollution and global warming would be made available to the schools for display and distribution amongst teachers and students. She said this decision was taken in pursuance of the state's forest policy to enhance the tree cover in the state from the present 6.63 per cent to 10 per cent by 2010. |
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Violence averted in town
Bhiwani, August 28 Following killing of Dalit leader Rakesh, alias Lara, by three unidentified persons at Gohana yesterday, the members of the local Valmiki society decided to submit a memorandum to the state government. A meeting was convened to decide the further course of action in the matter at Bawri gate near Valmiki Mohalla. As some youths were preceding towards the meeting venue, some of the vehicles were pelted with stones at Dadri gate. Tension mounted with the spread of this news and the police arrested three youths of the society. However, they were released after inquiry. On the other hand, senior members of the society, viewing disturbance, cancelled the meeting and urged the invitees to return to their destinations. Deputy commissioner Mohinder Kumar convinced some of the members of the society for not taking law into their hands and asked them to submit their demands to send the same to the state government. The DC and SP Sanjay Kumar jointly visited the town and claimed that the situation was under control. Society members said the state government should take action against the killers by arresting them immediately. “The accused should be arrested immediately to avoid any agitation from the society,” they added. |
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Malaria cases on the rise
Fatehabad, August 28 Maintaining that it is still not in epidemic form, the health authorities did not deny that there has been an unprecedented increase in the malaria cases. Hospitals, both government and private, have been receiving patients affected with malaria in large numbers almost daily from villages as well as towns. Rattia, Bhirdana, Samain, Bhattu Kalan, Pilimandori, Banmandori, Fatehabad and Tohana are among the worst affected areas. Civil surgeon Dr J.K. Bishnoi said three teams had been formed for fogging insecticides in all towns of the district and spraying malathion in |
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Monsoon plays truant in state
Chandigarh, August 28 However, parts of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh experienced light to moderate rain since last night. Except Narnaul that received 6.0 mm rain overnight, a lull continued in the rainfall activity in Haryana. In Punjab, moderate rain lashed Ludhiana and Amritsar, recording 23.6 mm and 22.0 mm downpour last night. Ranjit Sagar Dam site measured 6.0 mm rainfall. Parts of Himachal Pradesh, including mid and lower hills, also had downpour overnight. Dharamsala, headquarters of Kangra district was the wettest place in the state, recording 26.6 mm rain, followed by Nahan, headquarters of Sirmour district, registering 17.2 mm rainfall. Dhundi, Sundernagar, Pandoh, Bhang-Manali and Kalpa areas also had rainfall. Humid weather conditions prevailed in Chandigarh in the absennce of rain for the second day today. The maximum humidity was recorded at 89 per cent and the minimum at 54 per cent in the city. Parts of Jammu region also had rainfall. Jammu received 2.6 mm rain till this morning. The Met Office predicted moderate to rather heavy rain or thundershowers at many places in Haryana and a few places in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh during the next 24 hours.
— UNI |
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Women make full use of travel facility
Fatehabad, August 28 Heavy rush of girls and women could be seen on various bus stands of the district since early
morning. The roadways authorities had plied ten special buses to deal with the situation. The general manager of the Fatehabad depot of the Haryana Roadways said four flying squads of the roadways had been working at Ratia, Tohana, Bhattu and Fatehabad to ensure that roadways drivers stopped buses on all halts. He said more than 80 per cent of the commuters today were women. The exact number of women who benefitted from the free travel facility could be known only by tomorrow, he added. |
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Panel on 1857 celebrations
to meet
Chandigarh, August 28 The meeting will be presided over by the Chief Minister, an official spokesman has said. He said the Haryana government had decided to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of First War of India’s Independence in a befitting way. The government had increased their monthly pension from Rs 1400 to Rs 3500 in addition to dearness allowance, the spokesman said. The government had also recently increased the amount for gallantry award winners, Paramvir Chakra and Ashok Chakra winners to Rs 25 lakh each, Mahavir Chakra and Kirti Chakra winners to Rs 15 lakh each, Vir Chakra and Sena Medal winners to Rs 10 lakh each. Winners of Shaurya Chakra would be given Rs 5 lakh in lieu of annuity, he added. — UNI |
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Nigams to strengthen power transmission
Bhiwani, August 28 A DHBVN spokesman here yesterday said the nigam would construct 18 new substations of various levels and augment the capacity of 12 existing substations. The HVPN would construct a 220 KV substation at Isharwal and two 132 KV substations at Haluwas. The DHBVN would construct 15 substations of 33 KV at Siswala, Budhera, Mandola, Pichopa, Pataudi, Kakroli, Chhapar, Singhani, Kari-Dharni, Baralu, Alampur, Bapora, Hasan, Kheri Battar and Chahar-Kalan. To strengthen the power distribution system in the district, DHBVN plans to rehabilitate 48 overloaded and lengthier feeders by dividing each feeder into two or three feeders of proper load and length at a cost of Rs 6 crore. To ensure regular and uninterrupted power supply during fixed hours to the agriculture sector and the domestic sector in rural area of the district, domestic and agriculture load of 61 feeders of 11 KV would be segregated at a cost of Rs 38 crore. The work had already been allocated to the contractors and was likely to be completed by the end of this year. The DHBVN also plans to set up 3,000 new distribution transformers in the district and augment capacity of 400 existing transformers of different capacity. In addition, the nigam would construct 488 km distribution lines and set up 586 distribution transformers under the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojna (RGGVY). All villages in the district would be provided high voltage distribution system (HVDS) or low voltage distribution system (LVDS) so as to provide uninterrupted supply at a better voltage level. The villages having less than 300 connections would be provided with the LVDS system while the villages having more than 300 connections would be provided with the
HVDS. |
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Raksha Bandhan celebrated across city
Ambala, August 28 Rakhis were tied on the wrists of prisoners by their sisters at Ambala Central Jail in Ambala City. A number of women had begun to arrive at Ambala Central Jail complex by 7 am and they queued up to enter the meeting gallery by 9 am. Usha Rani, who had come to tie Rakhi at the Ambala Central Jail, said she makes it a point to meet her brother every year on such occasions. "Eventhough my brother is lodged in jail, it has not weakened the strong bond between us. I will be the happiest person when I tie rakhi on my brother's wrist after he completes his jail term and is a free man," she said. There was a heavy rush of passengers on Haryana Roadways buses. A number of women utilised the free travel facility to go and meet their brothers. Haryana Roadways buses during the morning hours were specially jampacked. Deputy commissioner Ambala R.P. Bharadwaj said orders had been issued to drivers and conductors of Haryana Roadways to be on duty today. While 170 buses run in Ambala district, 10 additional buses were also pressed into service. A large number of women tied rakhi on the wrist of Ambala City MLA Venod Sharma. Venod Sharma said Raksha Bandhan is symbolic of the love between brothers and sisters. While sisters pray for the good health and long life of their brothers, on the other hand brothers promise to protect their sister.
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