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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Thursday, December 10, 1998 |
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Congress ‘not for |
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 Employee leaders arrested ROHTAK, Dec 9 — The police in a pre-dawn swoop all over the state, arrested prominent leaders and activists of the Haryana Sarv Karamchari Sangh, including its state president, Master Sher Singh, to foil the proposed state-wide strike by the Sangh on December 11. House tax row: Cong, BJP trade charges FARIDABAD, Dec 9 — A war of attrition has broken out in Faridabad between Congress and BJP leaders over the municipal corporation's bid to increase house tax according to the provisions of the 1994 Act. Both sides are blaming each other for the "anti-people" law. |
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Panchayat
byelections in three phases |
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Employee leaders arrested ROHTAK, Dec 9 — The police in a pre-dawn swoop all over the state, arrested prominent leaders and activists of the Haryana Sarv Karamchari Sangh, including its state president, Master Sher Singh, to foil the proposed state-wide strike by the Sangh on December 11. The arrests are continuing as district level leaders and a few state leaders of the employees have gone underground. The leaders have been arrested under Section 107/151, Cr PC. Master Sher Singh and 41 more leaders were arrested at a meeting in Hisar. The arrested included Mr R.C. Jagga, state secretary, Mrs Saroj Vashisht, Mr Dharamvir Hooda, Mr Ved Ram Sharma, Mr Harphool Singh Bhatti and municipal employee leader Poonam Chand Rati. They have been remanded in judicial custody till December 12. At least seven employee leaders were arrested at Rohtak and 14 in Jhajjar district. Activists of the Haryana Karamchari Mahasangh, who were also arrested were let off following a written assurance from the Mahasangh that it would not participate in the strike. The police could arrest only three leaders at Bhiwani with most of the leaders having gone underground. Leaders of the Karamchari Sangh and the Jan Sangathan Manch, who had gone underground, held a meeting in Rohtak and resolved to make the strike a success. They condemned the government for adopting "repressive" measures to foil the strike. Among those who attended today's meeting included state secretary Ramesh Laura, Mr Mahabir Singh of the Haryana Roadways employees union, Mr Satbir Singh (CITU), manch convener Dharamvir Chiri and SFI leader Narsh Kumar. The meeting decided to constitute 10 teams to mobilise the employees, farmers, industrial workers and agricultural labourers for the strike. The strike call, it said, had been made in protest against the steep rise in prices of essential commodities, retrenchment and dismissal of government employees, shortage of water and power, lawlessness and the "abnormal" increase in unemployment among the educated youth. The CPM, Haryana, has condemned the state for curbing the democratic rights of the people. It has said that the ruling alliance in Haryana has lost the confidence of the people and has resorted to "repressive measures" out of sheer frustration. The district unit of the CPI has supported the demands of the Jan Sanghathan Manch and alleged that the BJP government at the Centre is "destroying" the public sector in the country. Supporting the demands of the agitating sugarmill workers, the party has alleged that the government is selling molasses to the liquor industry at throwaway prices. It has demanded immediate release of BKU leader Ghasi Ram Nain. YAMUNANAGAR (FOC): The Haryana Vidyut Parasaran Nigam (HVPN) is gearing up for the December 11 strike by government employees in the state. According to reliable sources, the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police have been asked to deploy the police at vital installations, particularly sub stations. Mr R.S. Nandwani, Superintendent Engineer, HVPN, Yamunanagar, said measures had been taken to ensure uninterrupted supply of power. At least 12 technocrats had been deputed from other departments for manning the supply lines at various sub-stations under the Yamunanagar circle. Ten vehicles had been requisitioned from the district administration and a control room set up at the circle office here. SONEPAT (FOC): The Haryana Roadways Anti-Corruption Karamchari Sangathan on Wednesday opposed the call for the strike on December 11. Mr Randhir Singh Saroha, vice-president of the state unit of the sangathan, appealed to workers of the Haryana Roadways not to be misled by the "false" propaganda of political parties and trade unions whose main aim was to create a chaos in the country. Meanwhile, the Forest Department Mazdoor Union, Haryana, and the Haryana PWD Mechanical Karamchari Union have decided to join the proposed strike to register their protest against the "anti-employee" attitude of the Bansi Lal government. The police arrested six persons, two of Haryana Roadways and four of the Haryana State Electricity Board Workers Union, as a precautionary measure. Mr Sheel Madhur, Superintendent of Police, Yamunanagar, said six persons, including Mr Kashmiri Lal, state vice-president of the Haryana Roadways Workers Union and Mr Jaswant Singh, also a roadways worker and four members of the Haryana State Electricity Board Workers Union — Mr Daya Ram, Mr Rajnish Kumar and Mr Dilsad from Chhachhrauli and Mr Gian Chand from Bilaspur — had been held under Sections 107/151, Cr P.C. According to sources, the state executive of the PWD employees has decided not to join the strike. KURUKSHETRA (FOC): Mr Bal Krishan Gupta, district president, Haryana Rajkiya Adhyapak Parishad, in a statement has appealed to the Haryana Government to shun "rigidity" and accept the demands of the government employees by negotiating with representatives of various employees' organisations. Mr Gupta has also appealed to leaders of various unions to create an amicable atmosphere for such negotiations. FATEHABAD (FOC): The state president of the Nagarpalika Karamchari Sangh, Mr Poonam Chand Ratti, has announced that the municipal employees would participate in the December 11 strike. Mr Ratti alleged that the
HVP-BJP government in the state had adopted a
"repressive" attitude towards the government
employees. |
Congress ‘not for
horse-trading’ AMBALA, Dec 9 — A former Congress minister, Mr Birender Singh, said here yesterday that in case the HVP-BJP government fell under its own weight in Haryana, his party would not join hands with any communal force to form a government in the state. Addressing a press conference here, Mr Birender Singh said the Congress had no intention of coming to power in the state by indulging horse-trading. He said there was resentment among many ruling party MLAs and ministers and, therefore, the situation was fluid. But at the moment the BJP was not in a position to ditch the Chief Minister in view of the recent elections in the four states. The Congress leader condemned Mr O.P. Jindal, who recently quit the HVP to form his own forum, for his reported move to sideline the Jats. Such casteist policies were anti-democratic and unfortunate. He denied that there was any move on the part of Mr Bansi Lal to join the Congress in the near future. He said he was not against any "Lals", but was against their promoting the culture of autocracy, criminalisation and commercialisation in politics. He said some important changes would be made in the party's constitution in the next session for which a committee had been formed at the Panchmarhi session. Among the changes proposed were raising the number of working committee members to 30, increasing the membership fee to Rs 2 and membership term to three years and a proportional representation in the elected bodies. Mr Birender Singh said the
party would raise the issue of the Saha industrial
complex in the next Assembly session. The state
government should declare its industrial policy and the
plans about the Saha project. Such an important project
for Ambala should not be ignored, he added. |
House tax row: Cong, BJP trade
charges FARIDABAD, Dec 9 — A war of attrition has broken out in Faridabad between Congress and BJP leaders over the municipal corporation's bid to increase house tax according to the provisions of the 1994 Act. Both sides are blaming each other for the "anti-people" law. The issue was raked up after Mr Krishna Pal Gujar, Transport Minister, who belongs to the BJP, blamed Mr A C Chowdhary, Mr Mahendra Pratap and Mr Dharamvir Gaba, the then ministers in the Congress Government headed by Mr Bhajan Lal for drafting the Bill and getting it passed in the Vidhan Sabha. Mr Chowdhary said he had not drafted the Bill but it had been adopted by the assembly as sent by the Central Government it was the responsibility of the general house of the corporation to formulate the rules and bylaws of the Act within six months but it had failed to do so even after four years. He claimed that Mr Gujar who was the councillor at that time did not raise his voice against the provisions of the Act. Mr Chowdhary said when he was a councillor of the municipal committee in 1967 a similar attempt was made to increase tax but had to be given up due to stiff opposition by the Congress. Mr Anand Sharma, a BJP MLA and president of the district unit of the party, regretted that Congressmen were now critical of the Act for which they were responsible. They were unnecessarily making the issue in view of the coming elections to the corporation. The BJP councillors have been directed not to participate in the dharna from Monday called by Subedar Suman, Mayor, to press the demand for an amendment to the Act and the discontinuation of the survey till a new taxation policy is formulated. Meanwhile Congress councillors reacted sharply to the statement of Mr Gujar that they had themselves passed the resolution to increase house tax three months ago. It was only for undertaking the survey and not increasing tax. A corporation spokesman said the survey was being made as stipulated in the Act. If the civic amenities were to be maintained there was no alternative but to increase house tax, by the corporation which was having an acute financial problem. On the other hand the
mayor is of the opinion that there is no need to increase
tax heavily if the officials recovered the arrears which
had accumulated to Rs 13 crore. |
Panchayat byelections in three
phases CHANDIGARH, Dec 9 — The Haryana State Election Commission has decided to hold panchayat byelections later this month to fill up vacancies of 234 panches, 37 sarpanches and 13 members of panchayat samitis. These vacancies had occurred till October 31 this year in the gram panchayats and panchayat samitis. A spokesman of the Election Commission today said in the first phase 21,700 voters would exercise their franchise in 119 polling booths of Ambala, Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Panipat and Yamunanagar districts on December 24. In the second phase, 86,000 voters would exercise their right to vote in 273 polling stations of Bhiwani, Fatehabad, Hisar, Jhajjar, Jind, Rohtak and Sirsa districts on December 27. In the third phase, he said 39,000 voters would vote in 158 polling booths of Faridabad, Gurgaon, Panchkula, Rewari and Sonepat districts on December 30. The election schedule in respect of Mahendragarh would be issued later after the voters list had been printed. He said notifications for
the byelections for all the three phases would be issued
on December 11, 14 and 17, respectively. The nomination
papers would be received between December 12 and 14 for
the first phase, December 15 and 17 for the second phase
and between December 18 and 21 for the third phase.
Scrutiny and withdrawal of nomination papers, in all the
three phases would be held on December 15 and 17,
December 18 and 21 and December 22 and 24, respectively. |
Gen Rahman inspects Indian
arms AMBALA, Dec 9 — Stressing the need for a close coordination among the armies of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Chief of Army Staff, Lieut-Gen Muhammad Mustafiz-ur-Rahman, lauded the Indian Army for its professionalism. General Rahman, who inspected an array of weapons displayed by the Indian Army at the Kharga Stadium here today, heads a high-powered delegation which is on a five-day visit to India. He was accompanied by his wife, Begum Rashida Mustafiz. The delegation, which arrived here by a special aircraft from Delhi, left for paying a visit to the Army ITI and the Corps Headquarters. A highly decorated soldier, General Rehman, actively participated in the freedom struggle of Bangladesh in 1971. He is a graduate of the prestigious National Defence College, Delhi. During a brief chat with mediapersons, the General said he personally felt that close coordination and cooperation among all three neighbouring countries was the need of the hour. He did not elaborate. While praising the Indian Army for its defence preparedness, the General described it as a self-reliant organisation." Having seen all equipment and hardware, I feel the Indian Army bears a very pragmatic and professional approach". He said his visit to India was extremely educative. Asked whether there was any possibility of the two countries holding joint training sessions or exercises in the near future, General Rehman said such events had been taking place between the two countries since 1971. Asked whether he was in India for arms purchase, he said there was an independent defence organisation under the Defence Minister of Bangladesh for the purchase of arms for the Bangladesh Army. When a reporter persisted for more details on the issue, he said: "My wife can give a better answer on anything regarding shopping," provoking a chuckle among mediapersons and the officers accompanying him. At the Kharga stadium he showed a keen interest in weaponry used by the Indian Army. General Rehman, who was accompanied the Corps Commander, Lieut-Gen GS Sihota, and other senior officers, enquired about the capability of 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm medium machine guns and T-72 tanks. He particularly enquired
about the fibre glass magazine used in machine guns and
the versatility of the all-terrain BMP-II tanks. |
2 cops, sarpanch remanded in
judicial custody FARIDABAD, Dec 9 — A local court on Monday remanded two policemen and the sarpanch of Kushak Badoli village to judicial custody for 14 days after their arrest by the CBI. They were arrested by the CBI in connection with the murder of Bharat Bhushan Arora near Surajkund in September 1996. The arrested have been identified as Abdul Wahid and Kamal Singh, constables and Dharmpal, sarpanch. It is stated the three allegedly killed Bharat Bhusan after depriving him of cash, a gold chain, a ring and a wrist watch and tried to make it look as a case of accident. Earlier, the
CBI produced them in a Delhi court for remand but it
transferred the case to Faridabad. |
Jhajjar resident dies of AIDS ROHTAK, Dec 9 — An AIDS patient of Sondhi village in Jhajjar district died at a hospital in Delhi where he was undergoing treatment for the past many months. His wife, who has also been infected, is struggling for life in the same hospital. The deceased was a farmer. His father has approached the district administration for financial assistance for the family. The Deputy
Commissioner, Jhajjar, Mr Arun Kumar, said the
administration planned to launch a drive in the district
to educate the people about the dreaded disease. He
disclosed that three cases of AIDS had been detected in
the district. |
Five killed in 3 accidents GURGAON, Dec 9 — In three separate accidents five persons were killed and five injured in the district. According to the police, Abhey Singh, Kailash and Shri Bhagwan were killed when their jeep collided with a tractor at Janola village. Five persons Shri Bhagwan, Same Singh, Krishan Kumar, Raj Kumar and Roop Chand who were travelling in the tractor were injured. They have been admitted to Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi. In another incident at
Kheda Jhangrola, a scooterist Santram was killed when a
truck hit his two-wheeler. An unknown person was killed
in a road accident at Nuh. The body is yet to be
identified. |
Jaundice cases reported from Hisar HISAR, Dec 9 — Panic has gripped several localities of the old city here following several jaundice cases reported during the past few days. Doctors attending the patients say they have been infected with "water borne hepatitis". Although the Chief Medical Officer was not available for comment, a survey of private nursing homes reveals that over 20 such patients have been admitted with symptoms of the disease. According to Dr Krishen Singhal who runs a private nursing home here, seven such cases have been registered in his clinic. He says the disease may have been caused by consumption of contaminated water supplied through taps. Two patients undergoing treatment in hospital, Madhu Jain and Shiv Kumar Singh, claim that they have been taken ill after consuming contaminated tap water. According to sources pipes supplying drinking water have been leaking. Most of them are laid along side sewer drains. The sources say the matter has been brought to the notice of the authorities on several occasions, but the damaged pipes have not been repaired so far. The health authorities
have advised the people to use only boiled water and sent
samples of tap water for examination. |
Potato output to be 2.5 lakh
tonnes CHANDIGARH, Dec 9 — Despite damage to the potato crop due to untimely rains, Haryana hopes to maintain its annual production of 2.5 lakh tonnes. A spokesman of the Horticulture Department of Haryana today said during the current year the potato crop was damaged in the initial stage, yet it was hoped that the area would increase to 15,500 hectares and it would yield estimated production of 2.50 lakh tonnes. He said that potato was
known as the king of vegetables. Though it was grown
throughout the State yet its area was mostly confined to
Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Ambala, Karnal, Panipat and
Sonepat districts. The area under potato varied from
14,000 to 15,000 hectares with annual production of 2
lakh to 2.50 lakh tonnes. The crop was sown during
October and November and was harvested during February
and March, he added. |
Sarpanch held for assault SIRSA, Dec 9 — Kartar Singh, sarpanch of Darewala village and his associate Jagdev Singh were arrested by the Rania police yesterday in a criminal case registered against them under Sections 323/148/149/34 of the IPC, for beating up and posing threat to the life to Hazari Lal of Darewala village, giving this information the police chief, Mr B.S. Sandhu, said here today that Hazari Lal Jat alleged that he had filed a complaint to the police against Kartar Singh for misappropriation of panchayat fund and a criminal case was registered against him under Sections 409/379 of the IPC and the matter was being investigated. Hazari Lal alleged that
the sarpanch was pressing him to withdraw the complaint
and on his refusal to do so he was beaten up. |
Blood camp in memory of Dabwali
fire victims SIRSA, Dec 9 — A four-day blood donation camp will be organised at Mandi Dabwali in the district from December 20 in memory of Dabwali fire victims in which more than 450 persons had died. Giving this information, Mr Surinder Singla of the Blood Donation Society, said here today that with the help of the district administration and in collaboration with the district Red Cross Society, Nehru Yuva Kendra, and social organisations, including Sant Nirankari Mission, Shri Ram Sharnam Mission, Dera Sacha Sauda, and Vishvas, a camp was being organised. Ms Pradhan Kaur, wife of a
former President of India, late Giani Zail Singh, Prof
H.L. Bansal, Chairman, Punjab and Haryana Blood Bank
Donors Council, and Mr Om Parkash Mahajan, Health
Minister, Haryana, would participate, he added. |
3 die in jeep mishap HISAR, Dec 9 — Three persons were killed and seven others injured when a jeep carrying them collided with a truck near village Bass, on Jind-Bhiwani road yesterday evening. The ill-fated jeep was on
its way towards Jind when the accident took place. The
deceased have been identified as jeep driver Baru Ram,
Ram Mehar and Bhima. The injured were hospitalised. A
case has been registered by the police. |
ESI Directorate set up CHANDIGARH, Dec 9 — The Haryana Government today set up an independent Directorate of Employees State Insurance (ESI). The new directorate will function under the administrative control of the Labour Department, says an official spokesman. The new directorate will construct three new ESI hospitals at Gurgaon, Sonepat and Bahadurgarh. Conceding the demand of industrial labour, the Bansi Lal Government has created this new directorate. He said that incumbents of medical, para-medical and ministerial staff would be taken on permanent absorption basis or on deputation from the Health Department. Till the new directorate formulates its own service rules and conditions, the prevailing rules and conditions of the Health Department would be applicable for the employees of the new directorate. He said the existing
infrastructure and institutions like hospitals,
dispensaries, vehicles, moveable and immovable property
had been transferred to the new directorate. The new
directorate would have a Director, one Deputy Director,
two Civil Surgeons, one Medical Inspector, eight Senior
Medical Superintendents and 19 Senior Specialists, he
added.
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Students block traffic BHIWANI, Dec 9 — Students of the local Government College today blocked traffic on the Hisar-Bhiwani road for three hours in protest against the expulsion of two students by the college authorities. The agitating students broke window panes of the Principal office and of a state roadways bus. They also stopped the car
of the State Minister for Home, Mr Ram Bhajan Aggarwal,
who happened to pass through the same route which was
blocked by the students.
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Varghese is chief of environment
society HISAR, Dec 9 — Dr Thomas M. Varghese, Professor of Botany and former Dean, Basic Sciences and Humanities, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, has been elected president of the International Society of Environmental Resource Management. Dr Varghese told TNS that the society would set up its offices in Germany, the USA and Japan to work in closer coordination with various similar agencies in those countries. The society had its headquarters at Trivandrum, Kerala. He said the main thrust of the society would be in exploring the ways and methods to boost the economy of developing countries and that too with the judicious utilisation of natural resources. Dr Varghese, who has
served as member of the Advisory Board of the Union
Ministry of Environment, Forests and Wildlife, is also
holding the office of the vice-president of the
International Society for Research on Tropical Crops.
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Urologists' meeting from Dec 12 PANIPAT, Dec 9 — Experts in the field of urology from all over the world will meet here on December 12 and December 13 to discuss the latest techniques in the management of upper urinary tract diseases and stone. Dr Pawan Gupta, organising secretary of the two-day meeting told TNS here today that the international urological meeting was being held under the aegis of the north zone chapter of the Urological Society of India. Dr Gupta stated that in
Haryana roughly two lakh patients were suffering from
kidney stones out of the state's population of over two
crore. There are 5,000 stone patients for a population of
5 lakh. The male, female ratio is 3:1.
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Chandigarh rail commuters
hassled AMBALA, Dec 9 — A large number of employees working at Chandigarh and Panchkula commute by the Himalayan Queen and the Ekta Express which normally leaves the Ambala cantonment railway station around 9.30 a.m. Because of the damage to the track, the Ekta Express has been terminating at Panipat after starting from Bhiwani and the Himalayan Queen has been diverted via Saharanpur. The diversion has led to the late arrival of the trains here by about three hours for the past one week. Railway officials,
however, revealed that those commuting to Karnal,
Kurukshetra, Rajpura, Patiala and Ludhiana had not been
facing much problem. The trains normally used by daily
passengers like 1 UL, 3 UL, 1 UP have been running on
time. However, those using the passenger trains from
Kurukshetra side have been facing problems due to the
late arrival of trains which have been running at a low
speed. The EU shuttle from Panipat to Ambala has also
been arriving late. Those commuting to Chandigarh by the
passenger train which start at 7.30 a.m. daily are not
experiencing any problem. |
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