Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Wednesday directed Housing Board officials to undertake construction of 50,000 dwelling units in the State within the next three years so that poor people living in urban areas could have their own house. Laying the foundation stone of a group housing scheme at Panchkula, he disclosed that the Haryana Housing Board had reduced the prices of houses up to 15 to 20 per cent for the poorer sections.

Haryana Chief Secretary Dharam Vir said on Wednesday that there was no ban on purchase of wheat by private traders or big companies in the State. However, the companies purchasing wheat above 10,000 tonnes would have to file returns to the State Government. Addressing media persons, he disclosed that earlier the limit for filing the returns to the Central Government on purchase of wheat was 50,000 tonnes which had now been reduced to 25,000 tonnes. The farmers were free to sell their products to private parties in case they got better prices, he added.

The Chandigarh Administration will underwrite 50 per cent of the cost of the Metro Rail Project (Common Mobility Plan) and Detailed Project Report (DPR) while the proportion for Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh would be 20, 20 and 10 per cent respectively. The division of the entire cost was prepared during a joint meeting chaired by UT Adviser Pradip Mehra, Haryana Chief Secretary Dharam Vir, Punjab Chief Secretary Ramesh Inder Singh and Himachal Pradesh Principal Secretary (Transport) Ashok Thakur, held last week.

Punjab National Bank is worried about the recovery of credit extented under the government sponsored schemes in Haryana.

Hi-tech investments: The Minister for IT & Communications, Mr A. Raja, addressing a press conference in the Capital on Thursday. New Delhi, April 3 Marking the largest-ever project under the new semiconductor policy, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has approached the Government with plans to set up a semiconductor wafer fabrication plant and solar PV module unit, at a total outlay of over Rs 30,000 crore.

The ongoing Haryana-Delhi "jal yudh' has taken a new turn. For the first time, Haryana has been able to convince the centre of the genuineness of its grievance about Delhi drawing the Yamuna water much in excess of its bona fide needs, leaving the people and fields of Haryana thirsty. T.K. Nair, principal secretary to the Prime Minister, has asked the Central Water Commission (CWC) to assess the domestic water needs of Delhi within three months. The commission has also been asked to find out from what other sources the non-domestic water needs of Delhi can be met.

The government's semiconductor manufacturing policy guidelines announced last September appear to be paying off. In one of the largest investments in the sector, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has submitted to the government proposals for two semiconductor units at a combined cost of Rs 30,152 crore. With this, communications & IT minister A Raja told FE, the government has so far received seven proposals envisaging investments totalling Rs 62,915 crore over the next ten years from six leading Companies.

The Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) has earned the highest-ever gross income of Rs.100.90 crore during the just concluded financial year 2007-08 as per the

Chief Judicial Magistrate Sukram Pal has sentenced three hoteliers - Chaman Lal, Ram Singh and Suchha Singh - to imprisonment for one year each, holding them guilty of adulteration in foodstuff.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), Rs 560 crore would be incurred in the state during 2008-09 so that ample employmen