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Haryana to be declared drought-hit in August
Dismiss Punjab Government, demands Chautala
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CM objects to IT relief for certain states Additional charge for 5 IPS officers Surjewala given charge of UP Haryana to centralise all
purchases made by boards Beware! this fodder is toxic Delayed session at varsity worries officials LPG to cost less in
Ambala, Panchkula Directive to
2 MLAs HIGH COURT Brother arrested for murder Army man held on rape charge 200 meet DC regarding water, power complaints Youth injured in police firing 2 criminals held after encounter
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Haryana
to be declared drought-hit in August Chandigarh, July 28 Official sources said if there was no rain by the first week of August, sowing of some of the crops would not be possible any more. In view of the damage caused to the crops such as paddy, bajra etc, the government would declare drought so that relief could be extended to the affected farmers. In the year 2002 also drought was declared in the state on August 8, the sources said. Once drought is notified, it will enable the state government to spend funds from the
Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) for the farm sector as well as other affected areas. The sources said the size of the CRF available with Haryana was Rs 224 crore. The fund could be utilised for supplying drinking water to areas facing shortage of water, for providing subsidy on agricultural inputs like seeds, gypsum, etc. The central government is supposed to reimburse upto 75 per cent of the money spent from the CRF after satisfying itself about necessity of the expenditure. According to a report prepared by the Haryana Agriculture Department on the delayed monsoon and its impact on the agricultural sector, the dry weather condition has caused maximum damage to the cultivation of paddy crop. In Jhajjar district, the loss in area under paddy in the current season has been estimated to be 40 per cent compared to what it was in the previous season. In Rewari and Faridabad, the loss in area has been estimated to be 30 per cent each. Except for Kurukshetra, Panipat, Sonepat and Hisar, paddy cultivation has been affected in all the remaining districts of the state. The weather condition has caused massive damage to Bajra cultivation too. The paddy crop may be “normal” in Hisar, the area under bajra in the district has fallen more than 60 per cent below than the previous year. Jowar is another crop which is bearing the brunt of the delayed monsoon. Compared to last year, there is a shortfall in the area under bajra in a number of districts including Rohtak, Jhajjar, Faridabad, Ambala and Panchkula. According to the report, in the month of July only 12.1 mm rainfall has been received in the state. During the corresponding period of last year 225.1 mm rain was received. In the districts of Fatehabad, Hisar, Jhajjar, Jind, Kaithal,
Mahindergarh, Rewari, Rohtak, Sirsa, Sonepat and Bhiwani there has been no rainfall at all in July this year. |
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Declare Haryana drought-hit: Bishnoi Hisar, July 28 Mr Bishnoi said the Congress MPs from Haryana would meet the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and seek a relief package for the state farmers. He expressed concern over the drought-like conditions prevailing in Haryana. The MP lamented that due to the delay in monsoon, crops had been destroyed and the financial condition of the farmers was worsening. He said if the Haryana Government did not initiate relief measures for the farmers, the Congress would launch an agitation. Mr Bishnoi asserted that Mr Ajay Chautala had no moral right to seek the resignations of the Haryana Congress MPs as his candidature for the Lok Sabha had been rejected by the people. He said there was no need for the party MLAs to resign as the Centre was taking the necessary steps in this regard. Meanwhile, the president of the Haryana Pradesh Vyapar Mandal, Mr Bajrang Dass Garg, also demanded that Haryana be declared drought-hit and relief measures be initiated. Mr Garg urged the Centre as well as the Haryana Government to provide relief to the farmers of the state. |
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Special team visits
Bhiwani villages Chandigarh, July 28 According to the Deputy Commissioner, Bhiwani, Mr. D.D. Gautam, the team comprised Dr. Jogender Singh, Additional Commissioner, Union Agriculture Ministry, Dr. G.K. Chaudhary, Director of Wheat, and Dr. Rajbir Singh, Assistant Commissioner. The team interacted with the local residents of the area and assessed the loss of crops minutely. The villages visited by the team included Bapoda, Dinond, Bajina, Dhani Mahu, Ningana Kalan, Dulheri, Sungarpur, Kairu, Lengha and Lohani. He said that in view of the prevailing drought conditions, the state Agriculture Department had prepared a contingency crop scheme. The department had recommended different varieties of seeds of bajra for its late sowing. The farmers had also been advised to sow HHB-67 variety of bajra and HG-365 variety of guar in case there was rain by July 30. He said that the farmers had also been apprised regarding preparation of their land for the sowing of oilseed crops. |
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Central team assesses crop loss in villages Bhiwani, July 28 An official spokesman here today said the Agricultural Department had prepared a contingency crop scheme in view of the prevailing draught-like situation. The department had recommended the use of hybrid or mixed seeds for bajra crop. Besides, the farmers had been advised to sow seeds of HHB-67 bajra and HG-365 type guwar crop if rains came by July 30. Necessary information had been provided to farmers of the district to
prepare land for oily crops, the spokesman added. Talking about the crop sown during the kharif season, he said bajra in 1.5 lakh hectare, cotton in 70, 000 hectare, guwar in 15,000 hectare, pulses in 4,000 and sugarcane and rice in 2,000 hectare each had been sown. He said the delay in monsoon had adversely affected all kharif crops, particularly bajra. Cotton crop had sustained about 10 per cent loss, the added. The Deputy Director, Agriculture, and several other officers of the department accompanied the team. |
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Monsoon
failure: CM vows help Kaithal, July 28 He said no effort would be spared to help people and development not slowed down. The CM said there would be no shortage of drinking water and water would be supplied through tankers to needy people. The Chief Minister said that power worth Rs 16 crore daily was being purchased from other states and supplied to farmers at concessional rates. He also appealed to people to cooperate with the administration to face this situation. The CM promised to repair damaged roads, arrange drinking water, open Anganwadis and sewing centres on depositing needed money, arrange electricity in new colonies, replace iron poles with cement poles, to remove overhead wires from residential areas, upgrading schools which fulfil conditions. The Chief Minister announced development works and directed the DEO here to make arrangement for drinking water, toilets and desks in schools of the district. He also ordered the restoration of Sub Treasury at Siwan, construction Subyard at Budha Khera, arrange for canal water at Andhli village, construction of Manjhla minor near Sangat Pura, construction of the Siwan-Gohra road. He also announced an ayurvedic dispensary at Ramgarh road and Bhunsla and starting community health centres at Papsar, Parbhot, Ramthali, Seon Mazra, Tatiana Urlana, Theh Newal, Nhuna, Budha Khera Gohra and Daaban Kheri and construction of veterinary dispensaries at Kwartan and Theh Newal. Mr Amar Singh Dhandey, MLA, Guhla, Mr Leela Ram, MLA, Kaithal, Mr H.S. Malik, Deputy Commissioner, and Mr Ranbir Sharma SP were also present on the occasion. |
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CM seeks more power to save kharif crops Chandigarh, July 28 In his demi-official letter addressed to the Union Minister, Mr Chautala said that this additional power would be required till the monsoon supplemented the water supplies for irrigation. He also suggested that the Haryana’s allocation out of unallocated Central pool, based on actual power needs of the state, be revised by withdrawing the allocations made to the surplus states. At the same time, he suggested that Haryana might also be allocated its due share from Chamera Hydro Electric Project Stage-II, for which the state government had been representing for quite some time. In addition, he said Haryana might be allowed access for import of extra power contracted by it from North-East and eastern regions through the Power Trading Corporation and other sources. He said the water inflows in the Sutlej and Yamuna had also gone down significantly. The flows in the Bhakra system were less than half of the normal inflows while in the Yamuna system, flows had reduced to less than one-third of the normal flows. The state was also being denied its full share of the allocated Ravi-Beas waters on account of non-completion of the SYL canal. The survival of kharif crop had become dependent on tubewells for which additional electricity was required. Mr Chautala said as against the normal demand of 600 lakh units a day during this month, the current demand of electricity was 800 lakh units a day. While the state had an availability of 539 lakh units from the entitled sources, an additional 146 lakh units had been arranged through bilateral short-term contracts, leaving a shortfall of 115 lakh units a day, equivalent to 500 MW capacity, which could only be met partially through overdrawal from the grid at a very high tariff. The Chief Minister drew the attention of the Union Minister towards the fact that the state government had imposed severe power regulations including complete shut off of industrial units having load of 1 MW and above, 10-12 hours power cut in rural areas, eight hours cut in urban areas, two weekly off days for industrial consumers. |
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Dismiss
Punjab Government, demands Chautala Ambala, July 28 Talking to mediapersons here after laying the foundation stone of a floating restaurant at
Jansui, Mr Chautala said the people of Haryana were undaunted by the statement by Capt Amarinder Singh about terrorism. “We have fought against terrorism,” he said. Mr Chautala said the annulment of all water pacts reflects buffer state thinking by Capt Amarinder Singh. “Capt Amarinder Singh’s statement show that he has no faith in the Constitution. It is also clear the Bill was passed by the Punjab Assembly with the consent of the Congress high command,” he said. He stated that if the Union Government was not really aware of the Punjab Assembly decision, then it was a major intelligence failure. “Tomorrow, if the J&K government passes a Bill stating that we are separate, then what will the Union Government do. This may lead to anarchy. The Central Government must dismiss the Punjab Government and the Bill must be annulled,” he said. Mr Chautala said on August 16, the issue of nationalisation of rivers must be taken up. “There are differences over the Krishna and the Godavari rivers. At this rate, the country will disintegrate. The step taken by Capt Amarinder Singh is undemocratic,” he said. He said the Haryana Government had always strengthened the federal structure. “People must rise above politics. I request all politicians to come together so that the federal structure can be saved. I have always worked for the unity of the nation. Even if a decision has to be taken by a state Assembly in the interest of the state, they should not
trample upon the interest of the neighbouring states,” he said. Mr Chautala said although on previous occasions he had called all-party meeting on the SYL issue, the response from the Congress and the Haryana Vikas Party had been lukewarm. “If Congress MPs from Haryana resign over the SYL issue, then the INLD Rajya Sabha MPs will also tender their resignation. But, the assurance of the resignation of the Congress MPs must come from Kumari Selja,”
he said. To a query, Mr Chautala said he had sought 500 MW power from the Centre. “I have already written to Mr P.M. Sayeed requesting that we should be allocated 500 MW power to tide over the current situation. Once the seventh and eighth phase of the Panipat power station are commissioned, the situation will considerably improve,” he said. |
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BKU plans ‘rail roko’ on August 9 Panipat, July 28 Giving details, the state president of the BKU, Mr Hari Singh Khokhar, said the decision was taken after discussing the SYL canal issue with the representative of the BKU in a state level meeting held in Kisan Bhavan here. |
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CM objects to IT relief for certain states Chandigarh, July 28 He has urged the Chairman of the empowered committee of the Finance Ministry, Mr Asim Dasgupta, to devise a mechanism to eliminate “politically motivated attempts which frustrate the basic objective of implementation of uniform rate of tax so as to provide level playing field for trade and industry in the country.” In his demi-official letter addressed to Mr Dasgupta, who is also the Finance Minister of West Bengal, Mr Chautala has also drawn his attention towards the concessions given by the Central Government to several states on the issue of grant of exemption from levy of Central excise duty and income tax by the Central Government to certain states based on location criteria for industries. |
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Additional
charge for 5 IPS officers Chandigarh, July 28 Mr Mohinder Singh, Assistant Commandant, 2nd Battalion,
IRB, Bhondsi, has been given additional charge of Commandant, First Battalion of Haryana State Industrial Security Force
(HSISF), with headquarters at Ch Devi Lal Centre for Police Training and Research,
Bhondsi. Mr R.C. Mishra, Commandant, 4th Battalion, Haryana Armed Police (HAP), Madhuban, has been given the additional charge of Commandant, 2nd Battalion of the HSISF at Gurgaon. Mr Sanjay Bhatia, Commandant, 4th Battalion, HAP, Madhuban, has been given the additional charge of Commandant, 3rd Battalion,
HSISF, at Sonepat. Mr Yogender Singh Nehra, Commandant, 3rd Battalion, HAP, Hisar, has been given the additional charge of Commandant, 4th Battalion of HSISF at Hisar. Mr Sultan Singh, Commandant, First Battalion, HAP, Ambala city, has been given the additional charge of Commandant, 5th Battalion of HSISF at Panchkula. Meanwhile, Mr Darshan Singh Hooda, awaiting posting orders, has been posted as District Commandant, Home Guards, Faridabad, against a vacant post.
Additional power for Haryana Chandigarh, July 28 While stating this here today, the Chairman of the power utilities, Maj-Gen B.S. Rathee, said the company, Global Energy, has started supplying of power to the state from midnight to 8 a.m. daily. He said efforts were on to get 500 MW of additional power from unallocated quota with the Union Ministry of Power. He said power utilities supplied the highest-ever 483 lakh units of electricity to the rural sector on Tuesday, and on an average it supplied 733 lakh units of electricity to the consumers daily during July. |
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Surjewala
given charge of UP Chandigarh, July 28 Mr Surjewala will assist the AICC General Secretary, Mr Satyavrat Chaturvedi, in managing the party affairs in U.P. According to party sources, before the recent reshuffle in the AICC, another senior Haryana leader, Mr Birender Singh, who was the special invitee to the Congress Working
Committee(CWC), was looking after the party work in U.P. However, during the reshuffle, Mr Birender Singh was not only dropped from the CWC, he was also removed from the U.P. scene. It is no secret that Mr Surjewala and Mr Birender Singh are archrivals. It is also an open secret that during the recent Lok Sabha elections, Mr Birender Singh had successfully opposed the Congress ticket to Mr Surjewala, who registered his protest by resigning from the presidentship of the Youth Congress. However, he withdrew the resignation after Mrs Gandhi spoke to him. Many felt in the party that by submitting his resignation in a huff, Mr Surjewala must have annoyed the high command. But his appointment first as the AICC Secretary and then as in charge of U.P. points to the contrary. By replacing Mr Birender Singh by Mr Surjewala, Mrs Gandhi has obviously sent a message to the party cadre. The U.P. assignment for Mr
Surjewala is also important because Mr Rahul Gandhi, the next generation leader of the Congress, would be directly involved in the party affairs in that state. Because of his young age, Mr
Surjewala will have every opportunity to work closely with Mr Gandhi. |
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Haryana
to centralise all purchases made by boards Chandigarh, July 28 If the purchase order is between Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh, it would be finalised in the standing purchase committee (higher), headed by the Chief Secretary. There will be the standing purchase committee (lower) under the chairmanship of the Commissioner and Secretary, Industry, to finalise purchase orders of less than Rs 10 lakh. Interestingly, the Officer-on-Special Duty to the Chief Minister, who is considered to be a representative of the Chief Minister, will be a member of all the three committees. Official sources say the new procedure has been adopted to streamline the purchase system of various corporations and boards. In many cases different corporations purchased same items at different rates. Therefore, it has been decided that all big purchase orders should be vetted by one agency. Once a rate contract has been entered into with a supplier for a particular item, all boards and corporations would follow that rate contract instead of calling tenders at their own level. However, critics of the government feel that the new system would centralise more power in the hands of the political leadership. It would also hit at the flexibility of the corporations necessary for them to work like a commercial organisation. The new system, they say, would lead to greater red tapism. While the corporations would purchase items of the value up to Rs 30 lakh, they would be required to communicate the details of the purchases made by them from time to time. |
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Beware! this fodder is toxic Karnal, July 28 The hydro-cynic acid concentration in sorghum
(jawar), bajra and maize has increased in the past couple of weeks due to the dry spell. Similarly, the contents of alkaloids, tannins, oxalates,
glucosides, dicumarins, prussic acid, nitrates or other substances in several weeds used as fodder and grasslands has also increased. They prove poisonous for animals. Dr Amarjit Singh
Harika, principal scientist (agronomy), National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), in an interview to The Tribune here today revealed that with the increase in the toxic level in green fodder the chances of grazing animals falling sick has increased. Extreme weather conditions might also lead to death of these animals, he feared. Adding that the toxic contents in fodder increases the chances of abortion in animals, the farmers need to be careful while feeding the animals. “The farmers generally look after the paddy crop during the dry spells fearing loss but do not care for the fodder crop. They do not water the fodder crop which blocks its growth, thereby increasing the level of hydro-cynic acid,” he added. “The Johnson Grass, commonly known as
Baru, found in Mahendragarh, Bhiwani, Hisar, Sirsa, Rewari districts of Haryana and many areas of Rajasthan, under drought conditions accumulates prussic acid to levels which are poisonous for grazing animals”, said Dr
Harika. He added that the toxic level of hydro-cynic acid under adverse conditions in sorghum increases up to 200 ppm (parts per million) that might even lead to death. Under normal conditions the level of hydro-cynic acid in sorghum remains below 60
ppm. “The concentration level of hydro-cynic acid increases with the decrease in the growth of the plant. It gets consumed diluted with the growth of the plant”, the scientist further said.
Advice for dairy
farmers * Do not feed dairy animals with sorghum, bajra or maize in a single lot. Distribute the fodder in three or four meals over a period of
time. * Avoid feeding sorghum before 60 days of its growth. *
Take care of fodder crops along with paddy and water them at regular intervals if irrigation facility is
available. * Avoid intake of weeds in dairy animals. * Consult your nearest veterinary official if the animals is pregnant to avoid becterial infection in the
uterus. * Control the growth of weeds in fodder crops. |
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Delayed
session at varsity worries officials Sirsa, July 28 A high-level meeting held yesterday decided to start the session from July 30 but according to the sources chances are bleak if the classes could be started. The university has already delayed the session due to slow admission process and absence of faculty members. Sources on the campus said the university had recruited 33 lecturers and 10 readers and professors but they have yet to join. At present the university has 12 faculty members as term of ad hoc members has already expired. Interestingly, the Vice-Chancellor, Dr R.P. Dahiya, has flown to Brazil for about 20 days to attend an “important” conference about which the officials are tight-lipped. With 17 different departments the varsity needs total 215 faculty members (31 professors, 62 readers and 124 lecturers) whereas less than 50 persons have been appointed in different teaching departments. And so only two faculty members have joined the Department of Mass Communication, confirmed the sources. Meanwhile, officials are worried if the session could be started in time. “Ideally the session should have stared in the mid of July but we are already late by fortnight and chances are bleak if we could start taking classes by July 30 as decided in the meeting,” remarks an official. Sources on the campus said that though letters to the newly selected faculty members was on Wednesday but doubt if they could join and commence the classes. From this session, the university has introduced several new postgraduate courses in science but with no laboratories. As on now, the university has only one building. The universities is constructing makeshift laboratories. The “temporary” place earmarked for the science labs were used by the Public Administration department. “The authorities should have waited till the infrastructure for the science department is ready as science department without proper and full time lab oratories sounds strange. It will take weeks to complete the labs,” says an official. |
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LPG to cost less in
Ambala, Panchkula Ambala, July 28 Talking to mediapersons here today, District Congress Committee (Urban) Ambala Cantt president Ashok Jain said the prices had come down after efforts were undertaken by the Congress through Union minister Selja and the LPG Distributors Association. “The prices of LPG cylinders have been reduced and the prices will be effective from tomorrow,” he said. Mr Jain said the reduction in price was about Rs 8 per cylinder. “It is a significant reduction. Residents of Ambala Cantt, Ambala City, Panchkula, Kalka and Naraingarh will be benefited from this reduction,” he said. “We have succeeded in correcting an anomaly which was affecting the people here,” he added. He said a delegation of LPG distributors briefed Ms Selja about the pricing anomaly which had led to higher prices for Ambala and Panchkula areas as compared to the surrounding areas. “Ms Selja took up the matter with the Petroleum Ministry and it decided to immediately reduce the price and bring it at a par with the neighbouring areas,” he said. Mr Jain explained that the pricing anomaly took place since the price fixation point for Ambala and Panchkula area was
Lalru, while it should have been Karnal. “This anomaly has been corrected by making Karnal the price fixation point,” he said. |
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Directive
to 2 MLAs Chandigarh, July 28 The petition has been filed by an INLD MLA, Mr Nafe Singh Rathee. Mr Kadian yesterday recorded evidence against the two Independent MLAs. Mr Rathee submitted a CD to the Speaker wherein some Congress leaders had admitted that these Independent MLAs had joined their party. Mr Rathee had lodged a complaint against six Independent MLAs who had announced their entry into the Congress last month. |
HIGH COURT
The High Court on Wednesday asked the Haryana Government to provide details of all the medical reimbursement cases cleared by it in the past three years. Giving this direction during the hearing in a petition filed by Mr Anand Diwan, Librarian, Government College, Tohana, the Bench headed by Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi gave one month's time to the government to furnish the details. Seeking directions to the Haryana Government to clear his outstanding medical reimbursement case for over Rs 5 lakh, the petitioner has stated that despite repeated representations, the government has failed to clear his dues. The petitioner has stated that he got his kidney transplant done at the CMC, Ludhiana. |
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Brother
arrested for murder Sonepat, July 28 The suspect was Chaudhary’s younger brother, the police said today, adding they had also recovered a foreign made .32 bore revolver and a car used in the murder from the possession of the culprit after his arrest. A team of the GRP officials, led by Ram Phal, conducted a surprise raid on the hideout of the culprit in Ghaziabad in UP yesterday and arrested the suspect. After the arrest he was brought to Sonepat for further interrogation. The GRP officials informed the wife of the deceased about the arrest of the prime suspect. A dispute over the property and money was stated to be the main cause of the murder, according to the police. |
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Army man held on rape charge Sonepat, July 28 According to a report, the suspect is employed in 65 Engineering Unit (Army) at Roorkee and was brought to Gohana by four of the Army jawans and they handed him over to the police last evening. He belonged to Jauli village in this district. The police, it may be recalled, had already arrested his namesake Rakesh of the same village in this connection. The woman was stated to have been kidnapped on May 14. |
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200 meet DC regarding water, power complaints Fatehabad, July 28 Mr Mangat Ram Goyal, of Jakhandadi Road, Rattia said that the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam had wrongly claimed monthly rent of Rs 219 per month. The Deputy Commissioner directed the nigam authorities to look in to the complaint. Residents of Lali road complained that power lines passing over their houses posed threat to their lives. Residents of Rattakhera village complained of low voltage in the Harijan Basti of the village and demanded additional transformer in the area. The DC directed the executive engineer of the DHBVN to take necessary steps. Earlier addressing officers the Deputy Commissioner asked Public Health Department to ensure supply of potable water to residents. He also told the Health authorities to distribute chlorine tablets in villages. He denied reports of a death due to gastroenteritis. He assured supply of potable water and electricity. |
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Youth injured in police firing Hisar, July 28 Mr Attar Singh Ahlawat, SP, said the expenses on the treatment of Happy would be borne by the district administration. He said Krishan was not able to escape. |
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2 criminals held after encounter Sonepat, July 28 The Superintendent of Police, Mr Kuldip Singh, told mediapersons here today that the arrested criminals were identified as Sanjay and Naresh, alias Neshi, both residents of Nangal Kalan village. The police has seized two country-made pistols, five live cartridges and two empty cartridges from them. Both the criminals were accompanied by Anil, alias Bhagta, during the encounter with the police and the police succeeded in arresting them after the encounter.
— OC |
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