The Tribune – Punjab to SC: Haryana has no right to benefit from Ravi and Beas

R Sedhuraman, Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, March 9. Punjab has rejected Haryana’s objection to its control over the Shahpur Kandi Dam, Modhopur Headworks and Thein Dam/Ranjit Sagar Project contending that the neighbouring state has no legal right to any benefit from these projects.

“Haryana has not been able to demonstrate the existence of its legal right, much less the violation of any alleged legal right,” Punjab said in a statement filed in the Supreme Court in response to the suit filed by the neighbouring state.

The Haryana had pleaded with the SC to restrain Punjab from going ahead with the execution of the Shahpur Kandi project, pending disposal of the case.

Haryana claims the construction of the Shahpur Kandi Dam, the third on the Ravi, would further reduce the flow of water downstream, affecting the lower riparian states. Punjab was going ahead with the work without the consent of Haryana and other states that would be affected, it said.

In the 155-page statement filed by KBS Sidhu, Principal Secretary, Irrigation Department of Punjab, maintained that Haryana had no right to intervene in the matter as it “is neither riparian nor basin to Ravi or Beas, nor a part of the larger Indus basin, as no part of Haryana drains into the said rivers and therefore it has no legal right to be the beneficiary of electricity”.

Haryana was producing hydro power through the Tajewala Hydel Project and Western Yamuna Canal (WYC) I and II “without giving any share in the power to any other riparian or basin states”, Punjab pointed out while rejecting its neighbour’s claim to a share in the electricity generated through the Thein Dam and Shahpur Kandi projects.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130310/main6.htm

The Tribune – Railway Budget : North smiles, after long

Chandigarh gets connectivity to Bangalore, Goa, Amritsar
Coach factory to come up at Sonepat
New line to Talwandi Sabo in Punjab
Multi-mode travel package for J&K

Vibha Sharma, Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 26. Railway Minister Pawan Bansal, an MP from Chandigarh, today gave his home town, as also other northern states, something or the other to cheer about.

The “Rai Bareli” Budget, as the Opposition chose to christen Bansal’s maiden effort, in fact carries a distinct North Indian touch, but to be fair to him, unlike his predecessors, he seems to be fairly equitable in treating various regions.

Perhaps, it is after a long gap that northern states have been looked after with announcement of new projects and trains. The poll-bound Haryana finds favour with a coach-manufacturing unit at Sonepat, while Chandigarh has been bestowed with a bonanza of new trains, increase in frequency and connectivity to Amritsar (the Amritsar Intercity Express (daily) via Mohali), Goa (extension of the Madgaon-Hazrat Nizamuddin train to Chandigarh) and Bangalore (extension of the Yeshvantpur-Hazrat Nizamuddin Sampark Kranti Express to Chandigarh, two days).

Bansal also promised a traffic survey for a new line between Patiala and Jakhal.

The minister has also tried to include the much-neglected Himachal Pradesh in his plan. The Bilaspur-Manali-Leh, identified by the Planning Commission as a strategically important link, found mention in his speech. Apart from announcing a new line between Dharamsala and Palampur, he promised to actively pursue the link.

But as far as new projects go, he has been the most generous towards Chandigarh that sends him to the Lok Sabha, obviously to keep his prospects intact ahead of the next General Election, and also Haryana. So while he announced a modern signalling equipment facility through the PPP route and a skill-development centre for the City Beautiful, Sonepat district in Haryana got a coach-manufacturing unit in collaboration with the state government. Haryana got three new rail lines out of the total 22 announced today. Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda has thanked the Railway Minister for the factory and new lines.

For Jammu and Kashmir, he has mooted two important projects, which will take care of interests of Vaishno Devi pilgrims besides other tourists. For the benefit of Sikhs, the minister proposed to take up the construction of a new line from Rama Mandi to Maur Mandi via Talwandi Sabo. Among the five Sikh Takhts, only the Takht Damdama Sahib that was not connected by a rail link, he said.

For J&K, there is a multi-modal travel package with cooperation of the state government that would enable passengers to travel from Jammu through Udhampur, Qazigund to Srinagar and Baramulla on a common rail-bus ticket. Officials say the move intends to facilitate and provide hassle-free travel for tourists visiting the region.

Apart from commissioning of the railway line to Katra, which, Bansal said, would happen very soon, he also mooted a proposal for issuing “yatra parchis” to pilgrims travelling by rail at the time of booking of the ticket itself. This, he said, would be done with the help of the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board.

He promised to take up the Udampur-Srinagar-Baramulla national project and the projects of strategic importance on priority. Apart from pursuing the Bilaspur-Manali-Leh link and Jammu-Poonch via Akhnoor, he also announced a new line between Ferozepur and Patti for providing a direct rail link between border areas in Punjab-Ferozepur, Amritsar and Attari.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130227/main2.htm  

The Asian Age – CBI meets Italian judge, prosecutors

Pramod Kumar, Asian Age Correspondent

New Delhi, 21 February 2013. The CBI officials met the Italian judge and public prosecutors, who are part of probe into alleged kickbacks paid to clear the `3,600 crore AgustaWest-land helicopter deal, in Milan on Wednesday.

Sources in the agency said, “Meeting with the Italian judge was very useful. Officials had a separate meeting with the prosecutors who probed the `3,600cr VVIP helicopter deal also”. The agency officials requested the Italian judge to provide them certified copy of the probe-related documents, including report filed by public prosecutor Eugenio Fusco, sources added.

The CBI officials, a CBI DIG and a legal adviser are part of a joint Indian team along with a senior ministry of defence official that is currently in Italy to seek legal assistance in conducting the agency’s probe.

“If required, the agency officials will meet the Italian judge again on Thursday. The CBI has also engaged two legal firms in Italy for liaisoning with the authorities to get legal assistance in probing the role of Indians in connection with the alleged kickbacks in the `3,600 crore deal,” sources said.

Sources further said Chiomenti law firm and Grippo law firm have been engaged by the CBI to help in coordinating with the Italian authorities for getting documents and other relevant material pertaining to the deal for supplying 12 helicopters to India. Chiomenti law firm was established in 1948 and has 270 attorneys in six countries, including in London. Grippo law firm with 360 attorneys has a presence in five countries, including the UK.

The legal firms will represent India’s case with the Italian government and the local courts to find out the role of Indians in the alleged `3,600-crore VVIP helicopter deal scam in which Giuseppe Orsi, the chairman of Italian air defence group Finmeccanica, was arrested there.

In February 2010, India had inked the `3,600 crore deal to acquire the 12 three-engine AW-101 helicopters from AgustaWest-land for IAF’s elite Communication Squad-ron, which ferries the President, PM and other VVIPs.

http://www.asianage.com/india/cbi-meets-italian-judge-prosecutors-714

The Tribune – Sharjah Case, Tears, joy, resolve as 17 youths meet kin

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 12. It was an emotional reunion for 17 youths – who returned to India from the United Arab Emirates – with their families at the Golden Temple here on Tuesday.

A majority of them met their families, who were camping in Amritsar since Monday evening, after a gap of five to seven years. The youths, facing death sentence for the murder of a Pakistani, were released by UAE authorities after they paid Rs 5.3 crore as blood money to the victim’s family.

The youths — 16 from Punjab and one from Haryana — landed at New Delhi on Tuesday morning and reached Amritsar in the evening. Most of them are school dropouts who had gone to the Arab nation to augment their family’s income.

Dressed up in a bright yellow salwar kameez, Ranjit Kaur from Jhoke Tehal Singh Wala village in Ferozepur district, screamed with joy after seeing her husband Dharampal Singh. She was accompanied by her five-and-a-half -year-old son. “It’s for the first time that he (Dharampal) is meeting his son,” she said.

Dharampal says he will now till his five-acre land to earn a living. “I went in search of greener pastures and avoided this easily available option (farming),” he said. He moved to Dubai in September 2007 after paying Rs one lakh to a Jalandhar-based agent to work as a carpenter. “The initial few months were okay. I used to earn Rs 15,000 per month. But soon the private company, which had hired me, ran into some trouble and I was rendered jobless,” he said.

Tears rolled down the cheeks of Jaswinder Kaur of Kukrana village in Moga as she hugged her son Kuldeep Singh (28) after a gap of five years.

Holding her son’s hand firmly, she said she would never allow him to travel out of the country for a job. Kuldeep said his first priority would be to clear the debt lakh his family had taken to send him abroad.

Kuldeep, also a carpenter, said he was fleeced by the private company that had hired him. “They had promised to give me Rs 12,000 per month, but they paid only half the amount,” claimed Kuldeep.

Kashmir Singh of Rattu Ke Village in Tarn Taran says he wants to give his daughters a quality life. A skilled mason, he flew to Dubai with the help of a relative to increase his monthly income in 2007. His hopes, however, were dashed as the company where he was employed failed.

As many as 14 out of 17 youths were staying together in a villa when they were arrested on January 26, 2009. In total, 70 persons from different countries, including, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, were living together to curtail their expenses.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130213/main3.htm

The Tribune – Sukhbir accepts Hooda’s offer of talks on water disputes

Tribune News Service

Moga, February 9. The Punjab Government has welcomed the initiative by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for exploring a political solution to the water disputes pending for decades between the two states.

Sukhbir said, “I welcome the initiative of the Haryana Government. We are ready to sit together and solve the issues pertaining to water disputes. However, he did not divulge any details.”

Hooda had expressed his desire to solve the water issues with Punjab at a function held in Gurgaon yesterday.

Disputes relating to the Hansi-Butana canal, Dashmesh canal, Sutlej-Yamuna link canal and channelisation of the Ghaggar have been pending between the two states for the past several decades.

The Congress government in Punjab headed by the then Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had, in 2004, annulled all water agreements between the two states by bringing in the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act 2004.

It also resulted in termination of agreements related to the Ravi-Beas waters, which was signed by the chief ministers of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan in 1981. Haryana has long been maintaining that due to this, the state was not getting its share of 3.5 MAF of water due to non-completion of construction work on Sutlej-Yamuna link canal.

There is another dispute between the two states on the construction of Hansi-Butana canal by the Haryana Government. The apex court has stayed the linking of this canal with the Bhakra Management Line (BML) on a case filed by the Punjab Government.

Punjab went to the apex court because Haryana had gone to the Central Water Commission against the proposed Dashmesh canal, which was also to be linked with the BML and was meant to irrigate thousands of acres of land in Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala districts.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130210/punjab.htm#1

The Tribune – In Haryana heartland, criminals call the shots; Sonepat district witnesses highest crime rate; Panchkula among safest districts

Pradeep Sharma, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 1. Crime continues to be a way life in the land of khaps and honour killings with Haryana recording three murders, two rapes, four kidnappings and three dacoities daily last year.

In fact, the state reported 983 murder and 687 rape cases last year, slightly less than the 2011 figures of 1,061 murders and 723 rapes.

Other crimes, including kidnapping (1,313 against 960 in 2011), dowry deaths (258 as compared to 256 in 2011), dacoities/robberies (915 against 797 in 2011), and dowry cases (3,138 against 2,739 in 2011) also soared, a major cause for concern for Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who faces Assembly and parliamentary elections next year.

Sonepat topped the list of districts with the highest crime rate in the state, registering 86 murders, as against 81 last year, says official data collected by The Tribune. In 2011, millennium city Gurgaon was at the top with 89 murders.

Bhiwani, which accounted for 74 murders in 2011, was bracketed with Gurgaon with 81 murders. Mewat with just 12 murder followed by Panchkula (15) and Fatehabad (17) continued to be the least “crime-prone” districts in the state.

Karnal along the GT Road continued to be the “rape capital” of the state, registering 63 cases – one more than 2011.

It was followed by Faridabad (46), and Hisar and Gurgaon (44 each). The Hooda government drew a lot of flak last year for rising number of rape cases.

Sonepat continued on the crime trail with 30 dowry deaths (23 in 2011) followed by Karnal (23) and Bhiwani (19).

Soaring crime graph has provided fresh ammunition to the Opposition to target the beleagured Hooda government, which is fighting on several fronts. “There is a complete jungle raj in the state with crime against women and the downtrodden on the rise,” alleged BJP president Ram Bilas Sharma.

Sources claimed the police had succeeded in containing crime to some extent.

In spite of claims by the Hooda government about improved law and order situation in the state, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) of the Ministry of Home Affairs has dubbed Haryana, having a national population average of 2 per cent, the 12th “most criminal” state in the country.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130202/main3.htm

BBC News – Om Prakash Chautala: India politician jailed over corruption

Tuesday 22 January 2013. The former chief minister of the Indian state of Haryana Om Prakash Chautala and his politician son Ajay have been sentenced for 10 years in jail in a corruption case.

Last week, the politicians and 53 others were convicted for illegally hiring more than 3,000 school teachers.

Chautala is the leader of the Indian National Lok Dal party and the son of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal.

Earlier, his supporters clashed with the police outside the court.

Police used batons and fired teargas shells to control the thousands of protesters who had gathered outside the court complex on Tuesday morning.

The scandal came to light in 2008 when the federal Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed charges against Chautala and the others.

The CBI said father and son had forged documents to appoint 3,206 teachers between 1999 and 2000.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-21137875

The Tribune – Mercury to dip, but cold to be less severe

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 19. Cold weather will persist over the northwest and central India over the next two to three days, but the intensity of cold will not be as severe as it was in the first week of January when plains of the North reeled under almost sub-zero temperatures.

Indian Meteorological Department director SC Bhan said temperatures would fall further by 2°C to 3°C during the next two to three days and stabilise thereafter.

“Fog will also occur over Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, north Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh over the next 48 hours. The temperatures will also go down but the weather will not be as severe as it was in the first week of January,” he said, adding that a western disturbance is expected to hit the region from January 23, bringing the temperatures back to the normal levels.

Whenever western disturbances approach, temperatures rise followed by rainfall or snow, depending upon its intensity, track and gap between two consequent systems. Moreover, the normal temperatures for this time of the month are higher than they are in the beginning of the year.

Currently, cold day conditions are prevailing over most parts of Punjab, and Haryana and isolated pockets of north Rajasthan.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130120/main2.htm

The Tribune – Post RTE, reading ability takes a hit; Haryana sees steepest fall, Punjab, HP pupils weaker in maths

Aditi Tandon, Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 18. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) has failed to positively impact learning outcomes of students across government schools in the country with more than half the class V students now unable to comprehend class II texts.

This marks the steepest decline in children’s reading levels over the past three years, putting a question mark over the employment of continuous and comprehensive evaluation of students as a strategy under the RTE Act.

The major drop – of five percentage points as compared to 2011 – in reading abilities of students has been seen in Haryana, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Kerala. The decline is true of students in both government and private elementary schools, indicating a significant challenge for school education.

The Annual Status of Education Report-2012 published by community building organisation Pratham further shows that despite being the year of arithmetic, 2012 hardly brought any good news for the subject.

Arithmetic abilities of students have in fact dropped sharply. In 2010, of all children enrolled in class V, 29.1 per cent could not solve simple two-digit subtractions with borrowing. The percentage rose to 39 in 2011 and is 46.5 pc this year.

Such has been the drop that comparing a cohort of children in government schools in class V in 2011 with that in the same grade in 2012, there is evidence of over 10 percentage point drop in the ability to do basic subtraction in all states.

Class-V graders have been found to be much weaker at problem solving this year than in 2011 particularly in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Other states have recorded declines but not that sharp.

In J&K, for instance, only 17.3 per cent elementary school students (classes I to VIII) can do divisions as of 2012. The ability of students to divide is the lowest in smaller grades.

In class III, only 6.8 per cent of all students in government and private schools in the state can divide and the percentage is 20.9 for those in class V.

Around 30 per cent students of classes I to VIII in the state can do subtraction but no division. Punjab and Haryana are slightly better than J&K but struggling to improve nevertheless.

In Punjab, 35.4 per cent of all elementary-level students can do divisions; 23.9 per cent can do subtractions but no divisions. Corresponding percentages for Haryana are 33.8 and 22.8.

“The continuous comprehensive evaluation mandated under RTE Act has not really improved the learning ability of students. The practice has actually led to declines. That poses a question mark on the merit of the strategy,” says Madhav Chavan of Pratham.

So far as reading goes, in 2010, the year of RTE’s implementation, nationally 46.3 per cent students of class V enrolled in both government and private schools could not read basic class II text. The percentage rose to 51.8 in 2011 and further to 53.2 in 2012.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130119/main3.htm

The Tribune – The big chill: At -3°C, Narnaul (Haryana) coldest place in plains

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 7. The cold wave condition intensified with the minimum temperature plummeting sharply, throwing normal life out of gear in many places of the North. According to weather office, the lowest minimum temperature of minus 3.0 degree Celsius was recorded at Narnaul (Haryana) in the plains of the country.

With cold wave conditions raging, Delhi continued to shiver as mercury remained below normal by five notches to settle at 2.4 degree Celsius. The maximum temperature too dipped to seven degrees below normal to settle at 13.4 degree Celsius.

In the neighbourhood, Hisar reeled with a low of minus 0.8 degree Celsius, two degrees below normal, followed by Bhiwani with 0.5. Minimum temperature in Amritsar settled at a low of 1.8 degrees Celsius while Patiala and Ludhiana recorded the minimum temperatures of 2.4 and 2.7 degree Celsius, respectively.

The entire Kashmir Valley continued to reel under intense cold with night temperature hovering several degrees below freezing point. The minimum temperature recorded in Srinagar was minus 4.9 degree Celsius, down by 0.3 notches from yesterday’s minus of 4.6 degrees Celsius.

The Met office said the Kargil town in frontier region of Ladakh was the coldest place in the state with a low of minus 16.4 degree Celsius, while mercury in Gulmarg plunged further to minus 9.8 degree Celsius. Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh, shivered at a low of minus 0.6 degree Celsius.

Rajasthan continued to remain in the grip of severe cold, with Churu being the coldest place at minus 2.7 degree Celsius followed by Karauli at zero degree while in UP Muzaffarnagar shivered at minus 0.7 degree Celsius. Agra recorded 0.6 degree Celsius, Najibabad (Bijnor) 1.0, Lucknow and Aligarh 1.4 each and Kheri 1.6 degree Celsius.

In Uttarakhand, the Tehri district was the coldest at 0.5 degree Celsius followed by Mukteshwar at 0.4 and Pithoragarh at 0.2 degree Celsius. Capital Dehradun also shivered at 1.3 degree Celsius.

According to the IMD, cold wave conditions would prevail over some parts of Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar during next 48 hours. While dense fog would abate from many parts of Indo-Gangetic plains during next 1-2 days, strong northwesterly winds from tomorrow onwards could worsen chill conditions.

Chandigarh’s coldest day in history

Chandigarh on Monday recorded its coldest day in history with a maximum temperature at 6.1°C, as piercing cold conditions swept Punjab and Haryana.

The minimum temperature recorded in Srinagar was minus 4.9°C

Hisar reeled with a low of minus 0.8°C

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