32 more booked for Dec 11 strike
ROHTAK, Dec 13 — Thirty-two more state government employees have been booked under ESMA in Rohtak and Jhajjar districts for ‘taking part’ in the December 11 strike. The total number of such employees in these districts has risen to 40 as about eight employees had been booked yesterday.

Govt burdened with
Cielo cars
CHANDIGARH, Dec 13 — Though the first (and so far the last) mega bumper draw of the Haryana lotteries in 1997 failed to make anyone a "crorepati", it certainly left the state government burdened with eight Cielo cars.

Urologists to hold conference
PANIPAT, Dec 13 — Noted Urologists from India and different countries who gathered here yesterday stressed the need for training more urologists in India to meet the growing needs of the people.

Opposition misleading people: Surender
BHIWANI, Dec 13 — The Haryana Vikas Party MP, Mr Surender Singh, today said the opposition parties had no issue and were misleading the public with false promises.

Lathi charge on students decried
SIRSA, Dec 13 — Mr Ajay Singh Chautala, president the Indian National Lok Dal Youth wing in a written statement here today criticised and condemned police lathi charge on students at government college and Vaish College Bhiwani.

Amend Periphery Act: Bhajan
PANCHKULA, Dec 13 — The former Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Bhajan Lal, has demanded that the Periphery Act should be abrogated or amended in view of the changed situation and to keep pace with the changing times.

KU winter vacations cancelled
KURUKSHETRA, Dec 13 — Kurukshetra University has cancelled winter vacations in the affiliated colleges in order to compensate the loss of teaching on account of teachers’ strike in August-September last.

• 3 killed in mishaps

• Body found

32 more booked for Dec 11 strike
From Tribune Reporters

ROHTAK, Dec 13 — Thirty-two more state government employees have been booked under ESMA in Rohtak and Jhajjar districts for ‘taking part’ in the December 11 strike. The total number of such employees in these districts has risen to 40 as about eight employees had been booked yesterday.

According to police sources as many as 13 employees all belonging to Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) were booked at Meham town in Rohtak district. The employees have been identified as Om Prakash (Assistant line man), Amar Singh (JE), Ram Kumar (Line man), Ranvir (RWM), Ram Singh (RWM), Munshi Ram (Bill distributor), Raj Pal (ED), Bhagwan (ALM), Devender Kumar (ALM), Inder Singh (LM), Baljit (RWM), Main Pal (RWM), and Mata Pher (Mali). One employee of the HVPN who was booked at Rohtak town has been identified as Balwan Singh, assistant foreman.

Meanwhile it is reported that all the eight employees against whom cases were registered in Jhajjar district yesterday have been granted bail by the local court.

HISAR: Eight employees of HVPN posted at Barwala were arrested yesterday under ESMA following a complaint by the SDO at Barwala that the employees had not reported for duty on December 11.

The arrested employees — Satbir Singh, Harpal Singh, Hawa Singh, Bharat Singh, Sube Singh, Raghubir Singh, Wazir Singh and Suleh Ram were produced before a court here yesterday who released them on bail. Meanwhile all the 42 employees who were arrested on December 10 here on the eve of the employees’ strike were released by the SDM with a warning.

Govt burdened with Cielo cars
By Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 13 — Though the first (and so far the last) mega bumper draw of the Haryana lotteries in 1997 failed to make anyone a "crorepati", it certainly left the state government burdened with eight Cielo cars.

The lottery scheme had about 10 lakh tickets, each priced at Rs 100. While the first prize was Rs 1.5 crore, there were 10 second prizes of Cielo cars. Only about 2.5 lakh tickets could be sold even after the date of draw was deferred twice.

Unlike the Punjab lotteries, Haryana mixed sold as well as unsold tickets for the draw. The first prize went to an unsold ticket and thus remained with the government. Similarly, eight second prizes also remained with the government.

Though the scheme was more or less a break-even proposition for the government as the major prizes, including Maruti cars and Hero Honda motor cycles, remained with the government, the Lotteries Department is in a quandary as what to do with the Cielo cars it had purchased for the bumper draw.

According to sources, manufacturers of the luxury car lowered the price of each vehicle by about Rs 1.25 lakh in view of the bulk order. However, the manufacturers put the condition that the company should be paid 98 per cent of the cost of the cars and the offer should be accepted before the end of September, 1997.

Sonia wrests initiative from Vajpayee
From Our Correspondent

HISAR, Dec 13 — Making a significant shift in the politics of India the Congress president Mrs Sonia Gandhi has wrested initiative from Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee with the performance of the Congress in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, Mr Verendar Singh, a former Irrigation and Power Minister Haryana said here today.

He said that the party had established its vote getting potential while the people had clearly signalled their preference for peaceful life and issue of better governance over the emotive rhetoric factors like religion caste and ethnicity become inanifest only when governance takes a back seat. Such issues are unimportant in a vastly complex country like India. Mr Verender observed that no party in government could establish its legitimacy on the basis of disproportionate appeal to nationalism and religion. This was because the Indian voter thinks not merely in terms of nation alone but in terms of his village locality, community and personal identity.

He said that the minorities and increasingly also the Sikhs, Christians dalits and the upper castes now acknowledge that it was the Congress which was best placed to safeguard their interests. The party would remain steadfast to its commitment to secularism and keep a 'respectable distance from parties which had thrived on casteism and those wedded to economic dogmatism and regional parochialism. He said it was to the credit of the Congress that it chose not to go about its victories in the polls. The party's refusal to bring down the Vajpayee government revealed a statesman like quality of the leadership of the party if results of polls in the three states were any indication.

Mr Verender Singh said voters in general had made up their mind not to allow anybody to play around with the spirit of integrity, secularism and social unity of the country so the future of regional parties was dismal as such Haryana too was once again beginning to go the Congress way while the Bharatiya Janata Party had no base in Haryana.

The Haryana Vikas Party and the Indian National Lok Dal would now find it tough to sail against the wind the HVP gained during last elections from the erosion of the support base of the Congress which were now in deep disenchantment with the HVP-BJP combine but wait and watch and work hard in unison was the most sensible approach for the Congress party, Mr Verendar Singh said.

Urologists to hold conference
Tribune News Service

PANIPAT, Dec 13 — Noted Urologists from India and different countries who gathered here yesterday stressed the need for training more urologists in India to meet the growing needs of the people. At an International workshop on Ureterorenoscopy, organised by the North Zone Chapter of the Urological Society of India last night, Mr Avinash Paliwal, Chairman of the Paliwal group of industries stated that more and more surgeons should be trained in urology for the benefit of the country and the community. He felt happy that Panipat had become a premier centre in Haryana for the treatment of stone disease in human body.

In his inaugural address, he said that conference like the one should be frequently held and such occasions should be used for exchange of ideas by the doctors. He desired that such activities should be frequently carried out for benefit of society.

Dr T.N. Kala, President of the North Zone of the Urological Society of India, stressed the need for encouraging the development of new technologies in urology in North Zone.

Dr Pawan Guptan, Organising Secretary of the conference and a pioneer in introducing ureterorenoscopy in Haryana said that attention should be focused on flexible ureterorenoscopy which was yet to gain momentum.

About, 200 delegates from different parts of the country and urologists from the USA and Germany are attending the two-day conference.

Opposition misleading people: Surender
From Our Correspondent

BHIWANI, Dec 13 — The Haryana Vikas Party MP, Mr Surender Singh, today said the opposition parties had no issue and were misleading the public with false promises.

He was addressing party workers at the local PWD Rest House after his tour of Badhra and Charkhi Dadri. During his tour he invited people for the rally of the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, to be held on January 3 at Bhiwani.

He said the state had been struggling with grave financial problems and the then electricity board had to pay its dues of Rs 2,800 crore. He said during HVP-BJP rule the state electricity had improved much.

He claimed that the state would become self-dependant in the power sector in the midst of the ensuing year. Regarding developmental works being taken up in various districts, he said, the State Government had been providing sufficient funds for the repair of roads and other developmental work.

Mr Chhattar Singh Chauhan, Speaker, Haryana Vidhan Sabha, Mr R.B. Aggarwal, State Minister for Home, and Mr Satpal Sangwan, MLA, also spoke on the occasion.

Lathi charge on students decried
From Our Correspondent

SIRSA, Dec 13 — Mr Ajay Singh Chautala, president the Indian National Lok Dal Youth wing in a written statement here today criticised and condemned police lathi-charge on students at government college and Vaish College Bhiwani. Mr Chautala alleged Chief Minister Haryana Bansi Lal, had ruined democracy in state and imposed a ban on elections of students' union in Haryana. Students in the state had been deprived of their democratic right. He alleged that peaceful procession of students in support of their demands was lathicharged and the police also harassed and victimised students in their houses at Bhiwani.

He alleged that law and order situation in Haryana had deteriorated after the installation of the Bansi Lal government. Everybody in the state was feeling insecure and the politicians in power were looting people . The police has become a silent witness. Criticising the state government, Ajay Singh Chautala alleged that businessmen in state had been forced to launch an agitation as they were not given relief by authorities and not even a single election promise has been fulfilled.

He also alleged that farmers in the state were also running from pillar to post for DAP as henchmen of politician.

Amend Periphery Act: Bhajan
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Dec 13 — The former Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Bhajan Lal, has demanded that the Periphery Act should be abrogated or amended in view of the changed situation and to keep pace with the changing times.

Speaking at the annual function of Valley Public School here last evening Mr Bhajan Lal said the 46-year-old Act had become meaningless after the creation of Punjab and Haryana as separate states and Chandigarh as a union territory. He said his government had written thrice to the Centre on this issue.

Mr Bhajan Lal said the Haryana Government should also regularise the construction of buildings in the area covered by the Act, as Punjab had done, to mitigate the difficulties of the people.

He said special attention should be paid to educate girls. Teachers should keep in mind that they were entrusted with the duty to mould the future of the country by society.

Mr Bhajan Lal, who gave away prizes to outstanding students, announced a grant of Rs 11,000 to school students.

KU winter vacations cancelled

KURUKSHETRA, Dec 13 (UNI) — Kurukshetra University has cancelled winter vacations in the affiliated colleges in order to compensate the loss of teaching on account of teachers’ strike in August-September last.

The winter vacations were scheduled from December 25 to January 3 next.

According to a notification issued by the registrar, the winter vacations from January 1 to 3 next at the university teaching departments will remain cancelled.

However, the teachers will avail themselves of the vacations from December 25 to 31.

The university teaching departments will continue teaching work on Sundays and holidays except January 26 next during the months of January and February next year.

While the summer vacations in all the affiliated and maintained colleges as well as the university teaching departments will be postponed by 10 days. The teaching departments will reopen as scheduled thereby having 10 days less vacations next year. The teachers have been advised to take extra classes to make up for the loss of teaching days.

3 killed in mishaps
Tribune News Service

FARIDABAD, Dec 13 — Three persons were today killed in separate accidents in Faridabad, the police said.

Two persons — Raju (45) and Rohit (14) — who were riding a scooter were killed when they were hit by a truck near the Hanuman Mandir on the national highway. Virendra who was sitting in the stationary car was killed when a truck hit it from the rear.

Body found
From Our Correspondent

AMBALA, Dec 13 — The body of an unidentified male was found near DAV School in the cantonment area here yesterday. A case of murder has been registered in this connection. It is suspected that the was murdered around 1 a.m. yesterday, according to the F.I.R.