Page 33 - Haryana

Hisar airport in Haryana to be operational by April, says official

Maharaja Agrasen Airport in Hisar, Haryana will be open for commercial operations from April this year, a senior bureaucrat of the state government said here on Friday. At a media briefing, Additional Chief Secretary (Civil Aviation department) Sudhir Rajpal said that the state government held talks with Alliance Air to start flights from Hisar to cities like Chandigarh, Jaipur and Ahmedabad and that the carrier has already obtained necessary licences from DGCA (Director General of Civil Aviation) for the operations from the airport. "Now we are in the process of obtaining licences for the airport and we hope that we will be able to start commercial operations as early as April this year. This airport is situated just about 230 km to the west of New Delhi and therefore it is very advantageously located," he told reporters. According to him, it will be a greenfield airport conceived in an area over 7,000 acres which will be implemented in three different phases. Phase 1 was already

Cold weather conditions persist in North India; Bathinda, Sirsa coldest

Cold weather conditions continued to persist in Punjab and Haryana, with Bathinda and Sirsa being the coldest places in the two states on Friday. According to the Meteorological Department here, Bathinda in Punjab recorded a minimum temperature of 4 degrees Celsius while Sirsa in Haryana recorded a low of 4.2 degrees Celsius. Several other parts of the two states were also under the grip of cold weather and experienced dense fog in the morning. In Punjab, Amritsar, Faridkot, Gurdaspur, Ludhiana, Patiala and Pathankot recorded respective minimums of 6.8 degrees Celsius, 5 degrees Celsius, 5 degrees Celsius, 6.8 degrees Celsius, 7.7 degrees Celsius and 6 degrees Celsius. In Haryana, Bhiwani and Fatehabad reeled under severe cold recording respective minimum temperatures of 4.3 degrees Celsius and 4.6 degrees Celsius. Hisar, Karnal, Rohtak, Narnaul and Ambala recorded respective minimums of 5 degrees Celsius, 7 degrees Celsius, 7.6 degrees Celsius, 6 degrees Celsius and 8.6 degrees .

Haryana, UP begin screening of job seekers wishing to travel to Israel: MEA

Randhir Jaiswal, MEA spokesperson, while addressing weekly press briefing, highlighted that India labour mobility partnership with several countries across world, and now with Israel too

Thousands of Indian workers queue up for jobs in Israel, undeterred by war

"There is unemployment here and its because of it that people want to leave," said Lekharam, a mason who was among the workers gathered at a recruitment camp in Rohtak, 66 km (40 miles) from Delhi

Haryana declares dry day on January 22 to mark Ram temple consecration

The BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Chhattisgarh have already announced a ban on liquor sale on January 22

Ranji Trophy 2023-24: Haryana humble defending champions Saurashtra

Haryana humbled defending champions Saurashtra in their own backyard by four wickets in a low-scoring Ranji Trophy game here on Sunday. Resuming day three at 148 for six, Saurashtra stretched their second innings to 220 all out with the help of skipper Jaydev Unadkat (23) and Parth Bhut (47), setting a 166-run target for Haryana. Haryana did experience some anxious moments before getting home in the final session, having lost three quick wickets. Ashok Menaria (58 not out) anchored the chase with Rahul Tewatia (10 not out) staying with him at the other end. Saurashtra let the game slip away from them on the opening day when they were bundled out for 145 with Jayant Yadav taking a five-wicket haul. Haryana had made 200 in their first innings with Saurashtra doing well to dismiss the opposition after the visitors made a strong start. The game was dominated by spinners including Jayant and Nishant Sindhu from Haryana. From the hosts' side, veteran Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Parth Bhut an

'Lohri' celebrated with traditional fervour in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh

The festival of 'Lohri' was celebrated in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh with traditional fervour on Saturday. Bonfires, an important part of the festivities, were lit as families danced to the tunes of famous festival songs like 'sundar mundriye ho'. The sky was dotted with colourful kites of different sizes and shapes as children and youths engaged in kite-flying competitions at many places. Jaggery, peanuts, and popcorn -- the three edibles associated with Lohri -- were distributed among people. Girls in traditional attire performed the 'Gidha' folk dance. People at many places danced to the beats of 'dhol' to celebrate the festival. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his counterpart in Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar greeted people on the occasion. "Congratulations to all the Punjabis on Lohri, the festival of happiness. May this Lohri bring joy and happiness to everyone's home," said Mann in his post on X. Khattar, in his post on X, said, "On this auspicious occasion, I wis

NIA raids 32 places in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab in terror-gangster case

The raids began early this morning and multiple teams of the anti-terror agency conducted searches in close coordination with state police forces

ACC gets full ownership of Asian Concretes for Rs 775 cr enterprise value

Asian Concretes (ACCPL) was earlier an associate company of ACC, in which it already held a 45 per cent stake. ACC had first invested in Asian Concretes in 2010 for an undisclosed value

Cong will win all seats in Haryana in upcoming LS polls: Deepender Hooda

"Lord Ram belongs to everyone. Ram is our adorable ideal and we are his children. The BJP should not politicise the Ram Temple consecration ceremony," Hooda said

NIA attaches 4 properties of Lawrence Bishnoi syndicate members in 3 states

The properties were attached in a coordinated swoop by the NIA teams in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967

Centre asks UP, Punjab, two other states to tap saline land for aquaculture

The Centre on Wednesday directed Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh governments to take steps to tap the potential saline land resources not suitable for farming purposes for promoting aquaculture. In a virtual review meeting, Fisheries Secretary Abhilaksh Likhi said Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh should focus on adopting shrimp aquaculture in identified 25 districts to generate employment and livelihood. The four states should include the project proposals for development of their saline affected areas in the Annual Action Plan for the next year for requisite support under a central scheme. "Saline affected areas are not suitable for agriculture. However, there is huge potential to convert these saline affected areas into aquaculture areas," an official statement said. It was agreed in the meeting that there are a number of challenges for saline land aquaculture in these States. To address these challenges, it is felt that an awareness campaign may be ...

Haryana approves waiver of outstanding water charges for rural households

In a decision aimed at providing relief to rural households, the Haryana cabinet on Wednesday approved to waiving off outstanding water charges, including surcharge and interest, amounting to Rs 372.13 crore. This decision will extend relief to a substantial 28.87 lakh water connection holders in rural areas across the state, an official statement said. The cabinet meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. However, this waiver does not extend to institutional, commercial or industrial consumers falling under the Public Health Engineering Department, the statement said. The cabinet has approved the waiver of water charges amounting to Rs 336.35 crore, accumulated from April 1, 2015, to December 31, 2022, for all types of consumers in villages and rural areas. This encompasses the general category as well as the Scheduled Castes categories, it said. "In addition, the cabinet has accorded approval for the waiver of surcharge and interest totaling Rs 37.93 crore on wa

Karni Sena chief murder case: NIA raids 31 places in Haryana, Rajasthan

Multiple NIA teams carried out these searches in close coordination with the state Police forces.

Haryana CM announces one-time settlement scheme for pre-GST tax liabilities

Addressing a long-standing request from Haryana's trader and business community to settle pre-GST tax liabilities, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday launched the One Time Settlement-2023 (OTS) Scheme. The scheme will be operational from January 1, 2024, to March 30, 2024. According to an official statement, from January 1, 2024, to March 30, 2024, businesses have the opportunity to settle pre-GST tax liabilities under the OTS-2023 scheme. Taxes are categorized into four groups, with exemptions from interest and penalties for cases related to seven tax acts in effect before GST. Additionally, Chief Minister Manohar Lal announced the opening of a GST Training Institute in collaboration with HIPA, Gurugram. During the inauguration of OTS-2023 at Gurugram, on Sunday, the Chief Minister also extended New Year wishes to the state. Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, who oversees the Excise and Taxation Department, also addressed the programme. Under the OTS scheme, the t

Haryana govt doctors go on strike for 2nd time in a week, patients suffer

Government doctors in Haryana went on a strike on Friday to press their demands for formation of a specialist cadre and a reduction in the bond amount for postgraduate courses, impacting outpatient department (OPD) services in some hospitals. This is the second time this week that government doctors in the state have gone on a strike. They first went on a strike on Wednesday. They resumed emergency duties after they were assured that a meeting will be arranged between the health minister and representatives of the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association (HCMS), a body representing government doctors in Haryana which is leading the protest. The HCMS had on Wednesday said that doctors would go on an indefinite strike from Friday with a complete shutdown of all services if the government did not accept their demands. Among the doctors' demands are formation of a specialist cadre for doctors, reduction in the bond amount for postgraduate courses and a dynamic assured career progress

Thick fog blankets large parts of Punjab, Haryana; visibility compromised

A thick blanket of fog enveloped most parts of Punjab and Haryana on Friday morning, reducing visibility, meteorological department officials said. Fog also impacted visibility in Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states. Minimum temperatures hovered close to normal limits at most places in Punjab and Haryana. In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a minimum temperature of 9.9 degrees Celsius, Ludhiana 9 degrees Celsius and Patiala 9.5 degrees Celsius. Pathankot recorded a low of 8.8 degrees Celsius and Faridkot 8.6 degrees Celsius. In Haryana, the mercury settled at a low of 9.8 degrees Celsius in Ambala and at 8.2 degrees Celsius in Hisar. Karnal recorded a minimum temperature of 9.4 degrees Celsius, Rohtak 9.6 degrees Celsius and Sirsa 9.8 degrees Celsius. Chandigarh recorded a minimum temperature of 8 degrees Celsius.

'Wheat sown in 30.86 mn HA, climate resilient seeds planted in 60% area'

After facing loss due to terminal heatwave last year, more farmers are cultivating climate resilient wheat varieties which has been sown in more than 60 per cent of the planted area of 30.86 million hectares so far, according to agriculture commissioner P K Singh. Wheat is the main rabi (winter) crop, sowing of which normally begins in November and harvesting is done from March-April. As per the agriculture ministry data, wheat sown area stood at 30.86 million hectares till December 22 of the ongoing rabi season, slightly lower than 31.44 million hectares in the year-ago period. "This is because there was a delay in wheat sowing in some parts where paddy harvesting got late. Otherwise, wheat sowing is progressing well," Singh told PTI. Keeping in mind the terminal heat problem that wheat farmers faced last year, the government this year has promoted climate resilient wheat varieties and kept a target to cover 60 per cent of the total cropped area, he said. "We have exceeded the ta

Maruti Suzuki to set up second JIM in Haryana, boosting skills training

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Friday said it has inked a pact with the Haryana government to set up second Japan-India Institute for Manufacturing (JIM) in the state. The new institute would come up at Kansala in Rohtak, Haryana and will be operational next year. Spread over five acres, the existing ITI Kansala will be upgraded to a JIM with an investment of 5.8 crore, the auto major said in a statement. The Haryana government has provided the land and building for the JIM, Kansala, while the company will provide equipment, training modules, trained teachers, and will manage this institute for 15 years, it added. "The Indian passenger vehicle industry is now world's third largest and growing. It is our responsibility to prepare human capacity corresponding to manufacturing capacity to meet this growth," MSI Executive Director Corporate Affairs Rahul Bharti stated. Skilling youth with industry ready skills will help in realising the vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat, he added. MSI ..

Haryana govt set to introduce comprehensive city gas distribution policy

For the installation of CNG stations, storage facilities, pumping stations, etc., the licensee will need to independently obtain NOCs or permissions from the appropriate