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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Wednesday, November 17, 1999 |
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Haryana okays Lok Ayukta
Bill |
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Ajay Chautala flays no-trust move HCCI welcomes new industrial
policy Illegal mining of silica sand Governor opens Kartik Festival 60 scholarships awarded Plying of heavy vehicles banned Mill starts cane crushing Murder accused nabbed |
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Haryana okays Lok Ayukta Bill CHANDIGARH, Nov 16 — The Haryana Assembly today adopted the Lok Ayukta Bill amidst a walkout by the Opposition which described it as a "black Bill". The main thrust of the Opposition attack against the Bill was that the Lok Ayukta would have no power to initiate an enquiry suo motu. Opposition members, including Mr Mani Ram Godara and Mr Chhattar Singh Chauhan (both HVP) and Mr Khurshid Ahmed and Mr Randeep Surjewala (both Cong), said the result of consultations among the government, the Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India or the High Court concerned was not binding. Thus the government would have the final say in the appointment of the Lok Ayukta. Under the new Bill, they said the Lok Ayukta had been made powerless because he could go into only those matters which had been referred to him either by the Governor (in the case of a complaint against the Chief Minister) or the Chief Minister (for complaints against the other public servants). Similarly, they said, it was not binding for the government to act upon the report of the Lok Ayukta. The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala said the Bill, which was aimed at rooting out corruption from public life, was drafted by an expert committee set up under the chairmanship of a retired High Court Judge. Top constitutional experts in the country were consulted before introducing the Bill in the Vidhan Sabha. Unlike the repealed Lok Ayukta Act, under the new Bill the Lok Ayukta would be able to look into complaints against public servants from November 1, 1966 when Haryana came into existence. The Finance Minister, Prof Sampat Singh, also defended the Bill, terming the Opposition apprehensions as baseless. The Bill provides that every complaint will have to be made on a prescribed form and accompanied by an affidavit to prevent character assassination. The Lok Ayukta will complete the enquiry within one year. Every enquiry will be conducted in camera unless the Lok Ayukta decides otherwise for reasons to be recorded in writing. The Lok Ayukta will be appointed on the advice of the Chief Minister, who will consult the Speaker of the Assembly, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India in the case of appointment of the former Supreme Court Judge or the Chief Justice of a High Court and the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the case of the appointment of a person who is or has been a High Court Judge. The 1977 Act, provided for consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned whose judge would have been appointed as Lok Ayukta. Now consultation with the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has been made mandatory. The Lok Ayukta will have term of five years and will not be reappointed. His status will be the same as was being enjoyed by him at the time of his retirement. The House also passed two amendment Bills seeking to abolish octroi in the state. Mr Godara wanted the government to explain how it would make good the loss caused to the civic bodies after the abolition of octroi. The other Bills passed by the House were the Haryana Appropriation (No. 4) Bill, the Punjab Scheduled Roads and Controlled Areas Restriction of Unregulated Development (Haryana Amendment) Bill, the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Second Amendment) Bill, and the Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 1999. Later the House was
adjourned sine die. |
Noisy scenes in Haryana
Assembly CHANDIGARH, Nov 16 — Noisy scenes marked the final day of the two-day winter session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha with the Opposition and the Treasury Benches indulging in heated exchanges. Pandemonium first began after question hour when Dadri MLA Sat Pal Sangwan took exception to Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala’s remark that since the slaying of animals was banned in Haryana he would not violate the law made. An agitated Mr Sangwan told the Speaker that the remark was targeted at him. Mr Chautala, however, clarified that the remarks were not targeted at Mr Sangwan. Former Speaker Chattar Singh Chauhan too made objections against the remarks made by the Chief Minister for him yesterday wherein the Chief Minister had said of paying ‘shradhanjali’ to Mr Chauhan. Later in the day, Congress legislators stormed into the well of the House raising slogans when BJP leader Ram Bilas Sharma made certain remarks against AICC President Sonia Gandhi. The Congressmen approached the Speaker's chair and staged a dharna in the well of the House. BJP leaders, on the other hand, maintained that it was Congressmen who had started a smear campaign. Both groups were pacified when Deputy Speaker Faqir Chand Aggarwal ordered that the remarks be expunged. In his reply to the calling-attention motion moved by BJP MLA Karan Singh Dalal and Congress MLA Ajay Singh, Mr Narender Singh Rao, Mr Satvinder Rana, Mr Khurshid Ahmed and Mrs Kartar Devi on the erratic power supply in the state, the Chief Minister informed the House that the power availability position was quite comfortable with daily availability ranging from 380-400 lakh units which was 60-65 lakh units more than that last year. The Chief Minister said except for the peak-load restrictions on the industry from 5.30 p.m. to 9 p.m. there was no power cut on domestic and non-domestic consumers in the urban areas and the supply to the agriculture sector was given in two groups on a regulated basis. In the southern belt the government was providing eight to 10 hours of daily supply for tubewells. Besides, the group which operates during the day was being given two- phase power supply from 5.30 p.m. to 8 a.m. for lighting purposes. He said considering the complete failure of rains and the resultant need for tubewell irrigation, a major part of the extra power was being directed towards the rural sector. Citing an example, Mr Chautala said the agriculture sector was provided 51, 93 and 83 lakh more units of power on a daily basis as in August, September and October, reportedly compared to the corresponding period in 1998. The BJP MLA Karan Singh Dalal while moving the first calling-attention notice of the day earlier said that agro-based industries had been ignored in the new industrial policy formulated by the state government. The Chief Minister said for the first time the industrial policy would have a co-ordinated approach for the overall development of agriculture, industries and the services sectors. The Chief Minister said the development of industries was not possible without paying due attention to the agro-based industrial sector. An economic development board was being set up for overseeing integrated development of the state. The Chief Minister said agro-based and food processing industries had been identified as one of the five thrust areas to promote investment. Diversification in the farming sector had been an important feature of the new industrial policy and special emphasis had been given to the development of the small-scale sector. Replying to a question
by Congress MLA Ajay Singh Yadav, the Chief Minister said
the government had constituted a subcommittee for
reviewing the taxes imposed by the previous government
for generating additional revenue in the wake of
prohibition. |
Game of one-upmanship on in
Haryana GURGAON, Nov 16 — Notwithstanding the public posturings of the ruling Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and its ally, the BJP, the two parties are trying to prove a point that one is more popular than the other in Haryana. Leaders of the two parties have started attributing the success of the INLD-BJP combine and rout of the Congress in the recent Lok Sabha elections to the popularity of their respective leadership. While leaders of the BJP say the grand success was due to the charisma of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, members of the INLD attribute it to Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala. Significantly, till a fortnight ago, these leaders were attributing the success to joint leadership of the two parties in a spirit of bonhomie.According to observers,these straws in the wind are ominous indications for the two parties. Sources said Mr Om Prakash Chautala and leader of the BJP in the Haryana Assembly, Ram Bilas Sharma recently exchanged heated words in the last meeting of the coordination committee of the two parties in Delhi. The committee was setup for better coordination between the two parties and to facilitate smooth functioning of the government in the state. Prof Sharma had reportedly raised objections before Mr Chautala that expectations of the people were not being fulfilled by the present government and had urged for more pro-people measures from the government. In response Mr Chautala allegedly told Prof.Sharma not to harbour illusion of being a popular leader. Mr Chautala said he had direct rapport with Mr Vajpayee and that the INLD-BJP tie-up would continue as long as he (Mr Vajpayee) wanted. Keen followers of the Haryana’s politics say that the reported friction between leaders of the two parties was linked to sharing of seats in a possible snap poll in the state. The public gesture of the BJP leaders against any move to dissolve the Haryana assembly notwithstanding, they were gearing up for the possibility of a mid term elections. A senior leader of the Haryana unit of the BJP, Mr Sitaram Singla had recently stated to newsmen here that one of the jobs assigned to the coordination committee of the INLD-BJP was to discuss modalities of seat sharing between the two parties. Prof Sharma, addressing a meeting of senior leaders of the BJP in Rohtak, a few days ago, had urged the party cadre to be ready to contest about 50 assembly seats. Among others, all five MPs and the MLAs of the BJP were present at the meeting. There are many who feel that the BJP was only "politicking"in taking a negative stand against the mid-term election. The game behind this is said to be to apply pressure on the INLD and extract as many assembly seats in the INLD-BJP. A strong section in the BJP is convinced that it was the political compulsion of the INLD leadership and political expediency to go in for early elections. The reason being that it wants to reap the maximum electoral benefit before any possible anti-incumbency factor creeps in. The continuation of the INLD-BJP alliance for the next assembly elections is a foregone conclusion as both parties need each other to outwit the Congress. Hence, the BJP would stand to gain by making the right kind of noises to force the INLD to give it extra assembly seats if the mid-term elections were to follow. The BJP leaders express the view that as the BJP and the INLD had won equal number of seats in the last Lok Sabha elections,the ratio of distribution of seats for the assembly elections should be in accordance with it. The INLD leadership is
cut up on the "vaulting" ambitions of the BJP
leaders of Haryana after the results of the Lok Sabha
elections. It is credited with the view that the
post-poll stand of the BJP leaders was in contrast to
their stand before the election. The BJP leaders were
said to have assured the INLD leadership before the Lok
Sabha elections that they would be happy with 25 assembly
seats. |
Ajay Chautala flays no-trust
move HISAR, Nov 16 — Indian National Lok Dal Youth wing president and MP from Bhiwani Ajay Chautala has termed the Congress-sponsored no-confidence motion in the state Assembly as a "desperate" move of the party to conceal dissension within the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC). Addressing a press conference after inaugurating the first All-India inter agricultural universities athletic meet here today, he said, after having lost the trust of the people and getting a severe drubbing at the hustings, the Congress was trying to raise non-issues. Expressing confidence and satisfaction over the defeat of the no-confidence motion, he claimed the present government would last its full term. Listing the achievements of the INLD-BJP government, Mr Chautala claimed people were feeling relieved with the welfare schemes of the government. Criticising former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal for his claim that he would bring down the government "very soon", Mr Chautala said Mr Bhajan Lal had been making such claims for the past three years about the Bansi Lal government also. Replying to a question
about the reservation to the Jats, Mr Chautala said, he
favoured reservation on economic considerations. However,
he stated that the reservation should be granted on
uniform basis. He said there should not be any
discrimination in Rajasthan where the Jats of Dholpur and
Bharatpur had not been provided reservation. |
HCCI welcomes new industrial
policy AMBALA, Nov 16 — The Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) has welcomed the announcement of the new industrial policy by the Haryana Government and expressed satisfaction over the acceptance of most of the demands of the HCCI. The senior vice-president of the chamber, Mr N.C. Jain, said yesterday in a press statement that with the implementation of the present industrial policy there would be a faster growth of industries in the state and there would be an appreciable improvement in production due to which in a short period the industries would come out from the recessionary situation prevailing these days. Mr Jain urged the
government to include the representatives of various
industrial associations in the standing committee which
would be constituted to study the existing law and
procedure and to suggest modifications and alterations. |
Illegal mining of silica sand FARIDABAD, Nov 16 — Illegal mining of silica sand is allegedly being done in the town with impunity costing lakhs of rupees in royalty and sales tax daily to the state government, according to sources. It is alleged that the state government is turning a blind eye to this illegal extraction in the Surajkund-Badhkal area under the influence of a political heavyweight. Earlier, in 1985 a court had imposed strict restrictions on mining in this area which the lessee had to observe before a licence was granted. It is further alleged that more than 500 truckloads of silica sand is being removed daily without any authority entailing a loss of about Rs 7.50 lakh as royalty and sales tax to the state exchequer. The unauthorised mining started after the above said politician could not get a licence for it, the sources said. When contacted an
official spokesman said a campaign had been launched
against illegal mining. He was not aware if any mine had
closed down as stated. |
Governor opens Kartik Festival FARIDABAD, Nov 16 — The fourth seven-day Kartik Festival began at Raja Nahar Singh Fort at Ballabhgarh last evening amidst the beating of drums and sehnai recital. Mr Mahabir Prasad, Haryana Governor, was the chief guest at the opening ceremony. The main attraction was "shahi lakadhara", a dance-drama popularly known as "sang" presented by Pandit Tula Ram troupe. Artistes of the North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala, presented "rai naritya" based on raslila and "Vanves" and bhavai" dances of Gujarat and Rajasthan, respectively. Sonal Man Singh, Odissi dancer, Pandit Jasraj, Penaz Masani, danseuse Alarmel Valli and violin maestro L. Subramanium will be participating in the festival. Talking to mediapersons,
Mr Rajan Gupta, Managing Director, Haryana Tourism, said
a hotel and a restaurant was being set up at the fort to
attract tourists on their way to Agra. The festival was
not a commercial venture but an effort to promote tourism
in the state. Haryana Tourism was also developing the
Website to provide information of tourist interest on the
Internet. |
4 dead, 30 injured in collision KARNAL, Nov 16 (PTI) — Four persons were killed and 30 injured, six of them seriously, in a collision between a private bus and a truck near Nilokheri, about 17 km from here, today, the police said. The ill-fated bus of Bhalla Transport in Delhi, on its way to Manali in Himachal, collided with a truck on the National Highway, resulting in the death of the drivers of both vehicles and two persons belonging to Gujarat. The dead have been identified as Ashok Kumar (truck driver), Vinod Kumar (bus driver), Ramesh Bhai son of Mr Ganju Bhai (Batsar in Gujarat), and Mr Ramesh Bhai son of Mr Sagir Bhai (Surat). The six seriously
injured have been referred to Delhi in
"critical" condition. A case has been
registered. |
60 scholarships awarded SONEPAT, Nov 16 — Students who topped in B.A., B.Sc., B.Com, and B.Ed final examinations conducted this year by Maharshi Dayanand University and Kurukshetra University as well as toppers of class X and 10+2 of the Board of School Education, Haryana, were honoured at a function organised by Atlas Cycle Industries here yesterday. Mr Sudhir Rajpal, Deputy Commissioner, who presided over the function, gave away a bicycle and a certificate of appreciation to the toppers. He complimented the Atlas management for encouraging students in the state. The company awarded 60 scholarships for a period of two years up to matric level on the basis of examination conducted by them. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Arun Kapur, senior Vice-President of the company, outlined the various social welfare schemes initiated by the company. Earlier, a cultural
programme was presented by students of Jankidas Public
School. |
Traffic jam after mishap PANIPAT, Nov 16 — Thousands of vehicles were stranded at the G.T. road near Pasina Kalan village in Samalkha area of this district last night, following an accident between a truck and Maruti car. In this accident, the car driver was killed, the truck was overturned, causing a traffic jam. According to sources, due to construction of a culvert on one side of the road, the traffic was diverted to the other side. Following the head on collision and subsequent overturning of the truck, the traffic was jammed. Superintendent of Police Manoj Yadav spent the whole night in clearing the traffic. However, it could be restored at around 10 a.m. today. The car driver, Baljeet
Singh, was brought to hospital in serious condition where
he succumbed to his injuries. The police has registered a
case under Sections 279 and 304A of the IPC. |
Plying of heavy vehicles banned SIRSA, Nov 16 — To effectively regulate the traffic in the city plying of heavy vehicles in main bazars has been banned from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. According to the information received here today, this decision was taken at a meeting presided over by the district police chief, Mr K.K. Mishra, and attended by the SDM, Mr Vikas Yadav, the ASP, Mr M.S. Malik, besides some traders. To restore the beauty of
the city a check on the encroachments has also been
imposed and any violators of the new instructions will be
fined with Rs 200. Parking of ‘rehries’ on the
main crossings and bazars too has been banned. The police
chief has expressed hope that the citizens will abide by
these rules and coordinate with the administration to
make the city beautiful. |
Two die in accident SIRSA, Nov 16 — Two persons were killed and four others were injured in an accident at Kharian village in the district today. According to the
information received, they were killed when a bus (HYN
6386) collided with a jeep. In this accident Balwant and
Makkhan were killed whereas Pawan, Daria, Sukhdev and one
other received injuries. They were admitted to the local
Civil Hospital. Condition of Pawan is stated to be
serious. |
Mill starts cane crushing YAMUNANAGAR, Nov 16 — Saraswati Sugar Mills started its crushing operations for the season 1999-2000 today morning. The inaugural ceremony was performed by Mr Aditya Puri, Joint Managing Director, in the presence of a large number of sugarcane growers, senior officers of the company and agents. Mr V.K. Sachdeva, president, informed that the capacity of the factory had been increased to 1,20000 quintals per day at a cost of Rs 32 crore. Simultaneously, modernisation of the plant had also been undertaken. The new process was environment friendly. Its solid waste would be used as manure in the fields. Mr Sachdeva also
informed that the expansion-cum-modernisation of the
project had been completed in a record time. The
expansion in its capacity would enable the growers to
supply the surgarcane speedily. The target of crushing
was 155 lakh per quintals of sugarcane for the current
season as against 130 lakh quintals during the last
crushing season. |
Three die after taking liquor KAITHAL, Nov 16 — Three persons were reported to have died and three others fell sick after consuming liquor at Kakot village of the district. According to reports reaching here, Romeshwar, a Dalit, had organised a dinner to celebrate his engagement on Sunday night. Six persons consumed liquor and went to sleep. Mohinder (21) was found dead on Monday morning. Two other persons — Bhagat Ram (65) and Sita, son of Ram Kala (28), — died last night on their way to a hospital. Sharwan, son of Anant Ram, who was stated to be serious, was admitted to the local Civil Hospital. Suraj Bhan and Mai Lal, who had also consumed liquor, said Sharwan, a member of their group, had brought the liquor and they consumed it on the bank of canal. Mr Amir Singh, DSP,
visited the village. Later, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr
Mahaveer Singh, and Mr K.K. Sharma, SP, reached the
village. |
Two killed in accidents FARIDABAD, Nov 16 — Two persons, including a child, were killed in separate road accidents here yesterday, reports added. While Poonam (5), was
run over and killed by a tanker at Hodal on the National
Highway, Ram Pal was crushed under a dumper near
Surajkund. |
Murder accused nabbed FARIDABAD, Nov 16 — A murder case accused today made an unsuccessful attempt to escape from police custody from the court complex here. Reports said Ram Dayal
who was brought from Rohtak jail to be produced in a
local court ran away as soon as the police van stopped.
But, he was overpowered |
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