Norms for processing CLU cases specified Chandigarh, June 9

The government has specified the procedure for processing the change-of-land use (CLU) cases within the limits of the Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and committees. A spokesman of the Urban Local Bodies Department said a letter had been issued in this regard to all Commissioners of the Municipal Corporations, Executive Officers of the Municipal Councils and Secretaries of the Municipal Committees In view of the orders passed by the High Court in the Rajat Kuchhal case and the recent amendments to the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994, cases relating to grant of permission for change of land use in controlled areas within the municipal limits are to be processed in the Urban Local Bodies Department.  TNS

Jind farmers root for pesticide-free produce

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service Jind, June 9

Theres a novel experiment underway in an acre-and-a-half at Jinds Nidana village. A group of farmers, most of them illiterate, are out to prove a point to scientists and experts: agriculture is possible without pesticides and more profitable than with the use of pesticides. Scientists of the Delhi-based National Centre for Integrated Pest Management New Delhi (NCIPM), with the help of the state Agriculture Department, have taken an acre-and-a-half on lease near the village bus stand, divided it into three parts and are growing cotton using different methods. On one part, scientists have sown cotton as per their own technique, while on the second, farmers using pesticides are growing cotton. On the third part of land, the illiterate farmers of Nidani village are cultivating cotton to prove right their anti-pesticide stand right. Farmers from Nidani, who shun the use of pesticides and have identified 204 insects (vegetarian and non-vegetarian), are out to prove that pesticides are not needed to keep insects away from crops. They have registered increase in produce ever since they shunned pesticide five years ago. We have repeatedly proved non-vegetarian insects eat the vegetarian ones and then leave the crop when they do not find their food. This way, there is no need for pesticide. NCIPM scientists say its not possible, but we want to prove them wrong by getting more yield from our part of the land without using pesticide, said Ranbir Malik, a member of the Insect Literacy Mission (ILM). The Know Insects Before Killing Them movement was launched in 2008 by former Nidani Agriculture Development Officer Surender Dalal, who died in 2013. Farmers have been organising camps and spreading awareness about insects and how to identify vegetarian and non-vegetarian insects on their own. A trained group of villagers can count insects on one acre in just three hours. Several farmers of 14 villages, including Nidana, Nidani, Joura, Lalit Khera, Radana, Egra, Rajpura Bhain, Ital Kalan, Gulkani, Aleva, Mohangarh Chapda, Kharkram ji, Chabri and Lakhamajra, have stopped using pesticide in 2,200 acres. They have logged an increase of over 20 per cent in profit than their pesticide using counterparts in the last some years. Agriculture Development Officer Dr Kamal Saini, who is coordinating the experiment, vouched for the Nidana farmers claims. He said he had been in touch with them for nearly five years. Now, the scientists wanted to verify the veracity of their claims though this experiment. Showing the way Farmers from Nidani village, who shun the use of pesticides, have identified 204 insects (vegetarian and non-vegetarian) to keep pests away from the fields

They claim the non-vegetarian insects eat the vegetarian ones and then leave the crop when they do not find their food. This way, there is no need for pesticide

widening of nh-2

600 trees on divider axed in Faridabad

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service Faridabad, June 9

Development comes at a cost. This appears to be true in case national highway 2 that is being widened. More than 600 trees on the divider from Sarai Khwaja to the YMCA face the axe as the plan is to reduce its width. Nearly 625 trees on the divider will be felled soon as the authorities concerned have approved the move of decreasing the dividers width, said an official with Reliance Infrastructure, tasked with the project of six-laning the highway popularly known as Mathura Road. The company has the Forest Departments approval to cut the trees, the official said. The width of the divider is reported to be between 4 and 8 metres and it will be reduced to around 2 metres. The demand for more space cropped up owing to the construction of Metro stations between Badarpur border and YMCA Chowk. Nearly 25,000 trees on the Haryana stretch of the NH-2 were identified to be axed when the six-laning project took off last year. The project of widening the NH-2 was conceived a few years ago due space not commensurate with the rising number of vehicles plying on it. Frequent traffic jams and accidents were a cause for concern, district officials said.

Consumer Forum orders Reliance Insurance to pay Rs 4.3 lakh along with 9% interest

Tribune News Service Panipat, June 9

Reliance General Insurance Company was taken to task by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Panipat, for denying the claim of an insured vehicle on the ground of delay in intimation. The Forum directed the firm to pay the insured amount to the complainant Raj Singh of Nara village with interest and litigation costs for the stolen Maruti Swift. In a significant decision, the Forum President Joginder Nandal and its member Veena directed Reliance Insurance to pay Rs 4,33,912 to Raj Singh with nine per cent interest from the date of filing the complaint till realisation. The Forum also asked the company to pay cost of litigation quantified at Rs 2,200, to the consumer within 30 days of the order. In its order, the Forum stated Reliance Insurance after getting an information registered the claim and appointed the investigator if there was any in-ordinary delay insurance company should have rejected the claim immediately on the ground of delay, but they were ready to pay the claim amount to the complainant on non-standard basis, but the complainant was not ready to get the claim because he demanded the full insured amount. After going through the documents presented before it and hearing arguments of Raj Singhs counsel RP Saini and Relaince Insurance counsel AK Vij, the Forum further stated FIR was lodged by the complainant immediately after the theft hence there was no in-ordinary delay in lodging the FIR. The complainant also produced the letter in which opposite parties offered the complainant to settle the claim on Non Standard Claim Settlement; if the claim was not payable what was the need to obtain the consent letter from the complainant? This all shows that opposite parties was just tracing the ground to repudiate the claim of the complainant. In the present case, FIR was lodged immediately after two days of the occurrence. Hence it cannot be held that there was any in-ordinary delay in breach of the policy condition. The opposite parties not make it clear and not produced any documents that why they settled the claim on non standard basis. Hence in our view complainant is entitled for insured amount as per the policy. There was no breach of condition and any terms of the policy. In the present case repudiation of the claim and denial of the amount by the opposite parties on the fictitious ground is unjustified and amounts to deficiency in service on the part of the opposite parties. The vehicle was insured for the sum of Rs 4,33,912. Hence opposite parties are liable to indemnify the loss to the sum of Rs 4,33,912, the forum added.

Come to us for ration cards, HSLSA chief tells people

Tribune News Service Rohtak, June 9

The ambit of the legal services authority has been increased and it now covers services such as issuing ration cards, Aadhaar cards, LPG connections, handicap and caste certificates, and addressing electricity-related issues. Haryana State Legal Services Authority (HSLSA) executive chairperson Justice SK Mittal said this while talking to the media here on Saturday. Apart from ensuring free-of-cost and prompt delivery of justice, the legal services authority will now provide people-centric services to spare them the hassle of making unnecessary rounds of government offices, Justice Mittal, who is also a judge at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, said. The judge exhorted the media to popularise welfare facilities such as free legal aid, permanent lok adalats, victim compensation scheme, legal aid clinics and mediation centres to save people from harassment. Justice Mittal said cases pertaining to day-to-day concerns could be brought before the permanent lok adalats, where an aggrieved person is not required to pay any money. The victims of any crime can get financial relief under the state governments victim compensation scheme, he added. Bar doesnt cooperate: Judge The Punjab and Haryana High Court judge, Justice SK Mittal, says that the non-cooperative attitude of the Bar (lawyers) becomes a roadblock in the disposal of old cases and, thus, delaying justice. More judges are being appointed at the district level to take care of the ever-increasing number of litigations, he told the media here on Saturday. - TNS

Home guards to work as watchmen as police fail to check crime

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service Hisar, June 9

Unable to check the crime graph that is steadily heading north, the police have decided to deploy home guards as night watchman in the markets across the town and replace the private watchmen. This was decided in a meeting headed by SSP Sibash Kaviraj and the Hisar Vyapar Mandal, where traders agreed to pay the salaries of the home guards. Besides, the police have also asked the traders to form a five member committee in all three police station areas - City police station, Sadar police station and Civil Lines police station - that would work in tandem with the cops in their respective areas. President of Hisar Vyapar Mandal Ramesh Kumar Lohia expressed concern over the inability of the police to the SSP in a meeting last evening. It was decided that the police will assign the areas to home guards, who would remain in constant contact with the police and the traders. Earlier, we had employed private watchmen, but we were not convinced whether they will stay on duty during the night, Lohia said. He said the traders had also decided to form a five-member committee that would cooperate and exchange information with the police in criminal cases that were under investigation. Police spokesperson Harish Bhardwaj informed that the police had sought cooperation from the traders to make the town free of crime. Meanwhile, many banks in the town had decided to keep their ATMs close at night in view of the rising crimes in the town. According to information, the police had asked the banks to either deploy security guards at night or keep the shutters down. Since most of the banks have no provision for security at night, they have decided to keep the ATMs close from 10pm to 6am, said a bank official.

Construction firm staff raise slogans against management Karnal, June 9

Protesting over the termination of several employees and non-payment of their salaries for the last few months, engineers, supervisors, foremen and other construction staff of the Supreme Infrastructure India Limited, one of the construction companies of the Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College (KCGMC), today stopped work and raised slogans against the management of the company. Pardeep, one of the construction company employees, alleged that the company had terminated their colleagues without any reasons and without issuing any notice to them. Not only this, the company failed to pay their dues since the last five months. He demanded the company should revoke the termination of their co-workers and should also provide their pending dues.  TNS

Man concealed HIV positive status: Wife

Shiv Kumar Sharma Yamunanagar, June 9

A Yamunanagar-based woman, lodged a complaint with the superintendent of police (SP), alleging that her husband was HIV positive before marriage and that he transmitted the disease to her. The couple was married around two years ago, but the woman came to know about the disease when she got pregnant and had gone to get a routine check up at the local Civil Hospital. I was shocked when the doctor told me that I was HIV positive, said the victim. On the advice of her doctor, the couple got their tests conducted at the PGI, Chandigarh, where doctors found that both of them were HIV positive. In her complaint to the SP, Shashank Anand, on Monday, she said her husband was HIV positive before marriage. Her husband and in-laws knew about his disease, but failed to tell her the truth. The victim alleged, My husband always administrated medicines. But, he never told me about his disease. Whenever, I questioned him, he started beating me up. She added her husband and her-in-laws also tortured her and forced her to get dowry. She added that her father had fulfilled their (in-laws) demands several times, but whenever her father failed to meet their demands, they tortured her. She asked the SP to take stringent action against her husband and her-in-laws.

Govt subsidy for Haryanavi films Chandigarh, June 9

The Haryana Government has decided to promote Haryanavi Film Industry in the state, and therefore a subsidy would be provided on Haryanavi films. A decision to this effect has been taken in the governing body meeting of Haryana Kala Parishad held under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. In the meeting, a budget of Rs 1.5 crore of Haryana Kala Parishad for the financial year 2014-15 was also approved. With a view to promote the folk culture, the Haryana Kala Parishad has started the documentation of different forms of folk dances, folk music, Ragini and Saang. Hooda was informed a minimum of two cultural events were organised by the Parishad every month to create awareness about forms of folk culture of the state. Appreciating the Parishads activities, Hooda announced increase in the monthly salary of its director from Rs 35,000 to Rs 50,000.  TNS