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| Friday, January 21, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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EVMs to be used for the first time SYL issue BJP's priority: Kataria Shortlisted candidates of Haryana
Cong Loyalty card works wonders Thermal unit test on Feb 25 J.B. Chowdhury VC of G.B. Pant
varsity |
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Taoru is tehsil, Farukh
Nagar sub-tehsil Brahmin Sabha to support Sharma SUCI to field 6 candidates 5 miscreants arrested Flower show on January 22, 23 More members for BJP panel Relief truck flagged off
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EVMs to
be used for the first time AMBALA, Jan 20 — Hi-tech voting has arrived, and for the first time electronic voting machines will be utilised in the forthcoming assembly elections in Haryana. Among other assembly segments, EVMs will be put into practice at the Ambala city assembly seat. The electronic voting machines will not only speed up the vote casting and counting process but it is also going to bring in greater objectivity. Deputy Commissioner of Ambala Ram Niwas, told The Tribune, that the EVMs are going to be used for the first time ever at Ambala city assembly seat, which is one of the five assembly seats falling within Ambala district. The other assembly seats are Mullana, Naggal, Naraingarh and Ambala cantonment. Mr Ram Niwas said that EVMs will be set up at the 153 polling stations which will be spread out over Ambala city seat. “While there are going to be nine supervising officers, there will be 163 presiding officers and 514 polling officers. Each person will be trained in EVMs to ensure that there are no hiccups during the polling process,” he said. The officers to be imparted the training for EVMs have already been sounded off and the first round of training is going to start soon. The training will be staggered over a period of time so that each official who is going to deal with EVMs is well trained. The officials will have to undergo training for two hours each during morning and evening. “The supervisors who are going to impart the first round of training are already undergoing training about the EVMs. They will begin the first round of training and the officials trained by them will further teach a fresh batch of officials,” the DC said. He said that they are going to start an awareness campaign so that people learn about the EVMs. “The campaign would include seeking the assistance of the media to explain about the EVMs besides setting up hoardings,” he said. Mr Ram Niwas pointed out that the EVMs would ensure greater objectivity and transparency. “With the introduction of the EVMs, there will no longer be lengthy arguments whether a ballot paper has been correctly marked or not. This will not only save time for the counting staff, it would ensure that the results are declared at the press of a button,” he said. The Ambala city assembly seat has an electorate of 1,15,257 persons, out of which nearly 1,03,005 persons have voter ID cards. The male voters in the Ambala city seat are 60,893 while the female voters are 54,364. The local leaders, while welcoming the step to introduce the EVMs in Ambala, have sounded a word of caution regarding explaining about the new machines to the electorate. Dr K.D. Sharma, Ambala Cantonment BJP President, said that proper and exhaustive training must be imparted to all officials concerned so that there are no problems when the actual counting starts. “Besides training the officials, the people must be made aware about the EVMs so that they can exercise their franchise without any problems,” he said. He observed that the BJP is also always for positive development and the introduction of EVMs is a step in the right direction. “However, one must keep in mind that it is a new thing and no one should be allowed to draw electoral advantage from it. Some candidates tend to indicate to the voters the placement of the buttons instead of the symbol which is wrong,” Dr Sharma said. “We will also be explaining the EVMs to our polling agents so that they can be prepared to help the voters in understanding the functioning of the machine,” he added. The President of the
Kissan Congress (I) Ambala Urban, Mr Randhir Chaudhary,
said that there is a need to make people aware about the
EVMs. “The administration must hold demonstrations
about the electronic voting machines at various places so
that voters know about the EVMs. Its functioning must be
fully explained so that there is no confusion in the
minds of the voters. Even our polling agents have to be
told about the new EVMs so that they are not over-awed by
it.” |
SYL issue
BJP's priority: Kataria PANCHKULA, Jan 20 — The BJP will harp on getting the issue of the SYL project resolved at the earliest and will use this as its poll plank in the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state. This was stated by the chairman of the manifesto committee, Mr R.L. Kataria, Member of Parliament from the Ambala constituency, while addressing mediapersons here today. "We will ask the Prime Minister to get the issue resolved just like he intervened in the Cauvery water dispute and managed to work out a solution. The SYL project is the lifeline of the state as it will supply water to places which are perpetually in a state of drought", he said. He added that top priority would be given to providing a clean and outward-looking administration which would work out ways for generation of funds and proper utilisation of these for development purposes. Also, corruption would be reduced to its minimum if not completely eliminated. He added that the Lokpal Bill would be made more effective in the state. The manifesto would also contain a demand for setting up more industrial units to ensure that farmers are duly compensated and that the raw material produced is utilised within the state, he said. Mr Kataria asserted that their party and the manifesto would be committed to providing a prosperous state by encouraging floriculture, plant-tissue culture, sugarcane farming. "We want the development of agro-based industries and want agriculture and industry to grow in tandem. We will work on providing subsidy on seeds and utilising the wastelands in the state by making them fertile," he said. The MP further said the challenge of providing 24-hr electricity in the state had been taken head-on and the Chief Minister had assured the party officials that he would welcome hydel projects in his state if that could help in sorting out the problem. Speaking of the high level of drop-outs at the primary levels, he stated that Chandigarh was a role model for them and they would try to follow their pattern in reducing the drop-out levels. Also, they would propose a hike in the budget earmarked for education while ensuring it is at least twice its present sum. He added that health, social welfare programmes and problems of minorities would also be taken up by the party on priority basis. "We will approach the Centre to give a special package to our state for the development works," he said. Among others, the project of Kalka bypass, Ghaggar dam and the Panchkula-Chandigarh overbridge would also be considered for implementation. Besides speaking on the
main points which the party manifesto will entail, Mr
Kataria said the BJP government was working on making the
Constitution of the country more effective in modern
times. "For this, we will not be required to alter
the basic structure but will block loopholes existing in
the present one. We are expecting a lot of confrontation
from other political parties who have been unable to
understand the spirit behind the idea," he said. |
Shortlisted
candidates of Haryana Cong CHANDIGARH, Jan 20 — The election committee of the Haryana Congress, which has recommended that all the 12 sitting party MLAs should be renominated in the coming Assembly elections, has been able to shortlist candidates for about 40 constituencies, according to informed sources. The panels of candidates for various constituencies will be sent to the high command, which would take the final decision. The following candidates have been shortlisted for various constituencies: Ambala City — Mr O.P. Aggarwal, Mrs Kiran Bala Jain, Dr (Mrs) Kailash Bhatt, Mr Balwant Gupta, Mr Dalip Chawla and Mr Raj Kumar Gama. AMBALA CANTT— Mr Hira Lal Yadav, Mr Brij Anand, Mr Arjun Lal Kalra, Mrs Sudershan Dua and Mr Randhir Choudhary. SADHAURA — Ms Raj Bala, Mr Deep Chand, Mr Ravi Bhushan and Mr Amar Singh Balti. CHHACHHRAULI — Mr Sat Pal Singh, Prof Rati Ram, Mr Thakur Singh, Mr Naresh Kumar Kamboj and Mr Raghbir Singh, advocate. YAMUNANAGAR — Dr J.P. Sharma, Mr Rajesh Sharma, Mr Raj Kumar Tyagi and Mr Ashwani Nanda. JAGADHARI — Mr Nand Kumar, Mr Brij Mohan, Mr Nilay Saini, Mr Devinder Chawla, and Mr Bal Krishan Goel. MULLANA — Mr Phool Chand, a former minister. INDRI — Dr Ram Prakash and Mrs Prassini Devi. KARNAL — Mr Kuldip Sharma, Mr Jai Prakash Gupta, Mr Suresh Kumar Gupta and Mr Narinder Choudhary. GHARAUNDA — Mr Rajinder Kalyan, Mr Harvinder Kalyan, Mr Sohan Lal Gupta, Mr Surinder Singh Kunjpura and Mr Ram Krishan Chauhan. PANIPAT
— Mr Balbir Pal Shah, Mr Kasturi Lal Ahuja, Mr Prem
Prakash Sachdeva and Mrs Shashi Luthra. |
Loyalty
card works wonders CHANDIGARH, Jan 20 — Even as speculation is rife that Mr Om Prakash Chautala, Chief Minister of Haryana, may drop some of the former HVP members from his Cabinet whom he does not want to give the party ticket these ministers are trying their best to exhibit their loyalty to the Chief Minister. Mr Chautala has reportedly made loyalty to him and winning chances as the criteria for giving the party ticket for the coming Assembly poll on February 22. Five former HVP legislators, including the Social Welfare Minister, Ms Krishna Gehlawat, were earlier expelled from the INLD on the loyalty score. The remaining legislators, those who had deserted Mr Bansi Lal and joined Mr Chautala's camp, are keen on demonstrating their loyalty to the Chief Minister. As they cannot do much on what the Chief Minister's assessment is regarding their chances of victory, they want to ensure that they do not miss the bus on the count of loyalty. Mr Jaswant Singh, Food
and Supplies Minister in Mr Chautala's ministry, who was
earlier the Public Health Minister in the Bansi Lal-led
Cabinet, for instance, said he would abide by any
decision taken by Mr Chautala regarding his nomination.
Incidentally, the BJP has staked claim over Mr Jaswant
Singh's constituency, Narnaund, which falls in Hisar
district. Despite this threat, the minister, who has a
clean image, refused to exhibit any reaction as any
outburst against the BJP will be a violation of Mr
Chautala's directives to his Cabinet colleagues. |
13 p.c.
voters still without I-cards AMBALA, Jan 20 — In spite of the repeated efforts of the district administration, 13 per cent of the voters in the district still have not got their photo-identity cards made so far. The Election Commission has reportedly made it mandatory for casting the vote in the forthcoming Assembly poll in the state. According to official information, the number of such voters is almost equal in urban and rural areas. Upto December 31 past year in Ambala Cantt, there were 87,616 voters registered with the election office, while only 65,535 identity cards were issued for this constituency. In Ambala city, there were 1,15,257 voters and as many as 1,00,305 identity cards were made. In Naraingarh, 97,997 cards were issued against a voter strength of 1,09,918. In the Mulana constituency, 1,06,169 cards were issued. In the Naggal constituency the number of voters was 1,20,862 and the number of those who had identity cards was 1,03,436. According to the information, in the first three weeks of January, 10,494 voters have got their photographs clicked at the Election Office for the new identity cards and most of them belong to rural area. Some persons complained that they got their photographs clicked at the Election Office three to four times, but, had not got their cards so far.Krishan Kumar Billa of Rajoli village said six of his family members got their photographs clicked four times but he received only three cards. For the other three cards once again they had to go to the Election Office for getting the photographs clicked. Some of the villagers said their cards which were issued about three years back, not used in past two Lok Sabha elections. Following the possibility of the identity cards being made mandatory the prospective candidates are trying hard to ensure that all their supporters have voters’ identity cards. Some of the urban voters have also been approaching the Election Office for this purpose. Meanwhile, the District
Electoral Officer, Mr Ram Niwas, said every possible
arrangement had been made by the administration in the
district for making the photo-identity cards. |
Thermal
unit test on Feb 25 PANIPAT, Jan 20 — The crucial hydraulic test to check the critical pipeline system of the boiler of the sixth unit of the Panipat Thermal Power Plant will be conducted on February 25. The test, regarded as a milestone in the commissioning process of the 210 MW sixth unit of the plant, will be conducted by throttling water down the pipelines at a pressure one and a half times more (about 180 kg) than the normal pressure to check for leaks and other flaws. Talking to TNS, the Chief Engineer (Construction), Mr J.C. Kinara, said that going by the current progress of the project, the sixth unit would become functional within the current year. The sixth unit would produce about 50 lakh units of electricity when commissioned. "Besides the completion of the cooling tower, a major part of the boiler unit has been erected. The installation work of turbines is on," he added. At present, the thermal plant has five units — four of 110 mega watts each and the fifth one of 210 MW — producing about 130-140 lakh units of electricity everyday. The refurbishing work of the old unit is also being undertaken and currently the second unit is being overhaulted and augmented. The Planning Commission had given clearance for the construction of the sixth unit in 1989. The cost of the project was estimated at about Rs. 239 crore then and it was scheduled to get commissioned by 1994. However, owing to financial constraints, the work on the project was held up in 1995. Later, it was decided that funds would be borrowed from the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and other sources. At present, the estimated cost of the project stands at Rs 645 crores. Technicians said that during the three years when the project was stalled, equipment and material worth crores got damaged as the government had already procured this material from BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited). After the government gave a nod for restarting the project, the technicians started reassessing the quality of the damaged equipment and raw material. "The material had got rusted and about 500 tonnes of the material out of a total of 1000 tonnes had got damaged due to stalling of the project. A review of the material was must as the equipment has to operate on high pressure and no risk can be taken," said a technician. The revised project cost of 645 crore, besides an additional Rs 209 crore as interest, has been imposed on the state exchequer owing to the three-year suspension of work on the sixth unit. The government will
borrow Rs 300 crore from the Power Finance Corporation
(PFC), the intended market borrowing will fetch Rs. 170
crore and the government will generate Rs 175 crore from
its own sources. So far about Rs. 321 crore has been
spent on the project. |
J.B.
Chowdhury VC of G.B. Pant varsity HISAR, Jan 20 — Prof J.B. Chowdhury, former Vice-Chancellor of CCS Haryana Agricultural University, has been appointed the Vice-Chancellor of G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Nainital (UP). He will assume office on February 18, after the term of the present incumbent, Dr S.B. Singh, expires on February 17. Prof Chowdhury, who served as Vice-Chancellor of HAU for about three years, was instrumental in giving new thrust to all activities of the university, including teaching, research and extension. It was during his tenure, that the varsity received the national award for best agricultural university. The Alumni Association of Pakistan Farm Scientists had conferred upon him the highest award, Mian M. Afzal Hussain Award, last year. Prof Chowdhury, who
resigned from the post of Vice-Chancellor, after Mr Om
Prakash Chautala took over as the Chief Minister, is the
15th scientist from the HAU to become the Vice-Chancellor
of a university outside the state. |
Taoru is
tehsil, Farukh Nagar sub-tehsil TAORU (Gurgaon), Jan 20 — Full-fledged tehsil headquarters started functioning at Taoru today and Farukh Nagar started as sub-tehsil from today. The Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Om Prakash Chautala had promised to the residents here and in Pataudi on January 2 while presiding over the "Apki sarkar, apke dwar" function. The Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon, Mr T.C. Gupta, while inaugurating the tehsil and sub-tehsil said development works in villages had been initiated in all the villages. According to an official version,a sum of Rs 4 crore have already arrived at the district headquarters and an equal amount was in the pipeline. The amount is in addition to the funds to be made available to the Public Health and the B & R departments for the development works. The district administration is also expecting arrival of Rs 2 crore for works in the Mewat area assured by Mr Om Prakash Chautala during his visit to Ghaseda village on the day of Iftaar party hosted by him in Nagina. The administration has
constituted people's committees, comprising sarpanches
and former sarpanches, to ensure transparency in spending
the funds. |
Brahmin
Sabha to support Sharma PANIPAT, Jan 20 — The Brahmin Sabha, Samalkha, has decided to support the candidature of Mr Rishi Prakash Sharma a former IPS officer from Haryana, from Samalkha in the coming Vidhan Sabha elections. According to president of the Sabha, Krishan Vashishta, a panchayat of poeple from 84 villages of the Samalkha constituency was convened for January 16 at Aggarwal Dharamsala to decide on a representative from Samalkha and Mr Sharma’s name was approved unanimously. Mr Vashishta said that
the Brahmin Sabha would seek the Congress ticket from
Samalkha for Mr Sharma. But he would contest as an
Independent if denied the Congress ticket. |
SUCI to
field 6 candidates ROHTAK, Jan 20 —
The Haryana unit of the Socialist Unity Centre of India
(SUCI) has announced that it will field six candidates in
the coming assembly elections. The party will hold a
state-level workers meeting at Rohtak on January 23 to
discuss poll preparations. |
5
miscreants arrested SONEPAT, Jan 20 — The Rai police raided hideouts of criminals at Khundli village, about 25 km from here, last night and arrested five persons who were planning to commit a robbery in a factory in the HSIDC complex near the village. Mr K.P. Singh, SSP, said
here today that the arrested persons had been identified
as Ajay and Naresh of Pooth Kalan jhuggi clusters
(Delhi), Dina Nath of Janakpuri jhuggi clusters (Delhi),
Abhishek of Rithal village and Rishipal of Mangolpuri
(Delhi). |
More
members for BJP panel AMBALA, Jan 20 — The Bharatiya Janata Party's Ambala district election chief, Mr Atam Prakash Manchanda, has added a some more new members to the district election campaign committee. The new members include Dr K.D. Sharma, Mr Raj Kumar, Mr Kehar Singh, Mr Mange Ram, Ms Pushpa Gupta, Mr S. Ram and Mr Arun Kumar, a press note said. The BJP district chief,
Dr Bharat Bhushan Jathwad, has also set up a district
election committee. The committee to be headed by the
district General Secretary, Mr Som Chopra, includes Mr
Jagdish Goyal, Mr Sushil Aggarwal, Ms Deepa Datta, Mr
Virendra Aggarwal and Mr Shubhadesh Mittal. |
Relief
truck flagged off AMBALA, Jan 20 — A truck carrying relief material worth Rs 3 lakh was today flagged for the displaced persons of Jammu and Kashmir residing in Delhi. Five displaced women from Anantnag, Ms Ram Pyari, Ms Sunita, Ms Sapna, Ms Sonia and Ms Jyoti, yesterday, met the Deputy Commissioner of Ambala and apprised him of the difficult condition of the about 3,500 displaced Kashmiri families living at Shahdara in Delhi, a press note said. The relief material dispatched to Delhi was collected by the Red Cross Society and it contained food grains and utensils worth Rs 1 lakh and clothes worth Rs 2 lakh. The displaced women told
the DC that despite each family being given Rs 1,000 per
month and other amenities like a tent for each, they had
to seek help from other quarters. |
Flower
show on January 22, 23 CHANDIGARH, Jan 20 — The first national flower show is being organised by the Department of Horticulture, Haryana in coordination with the Haryana Tourism Department on January 22 and 23 at the popular Oasis tourist resort at Uchana in Karnal district. Stating this to reporters here today, Mr Naseem Ahmad, Commissioner and Secretary, Agriculture and Tourism, said that Haryana was one of the important flower growing states. It had the locational advantage of being in close proximity to the national market of Delhi. The volume of flower trade had grown manifold in the past decade. The Horticulture department had taken advantage of this fact and was working hard to encourage floriculture in the state. He said the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, would give away the prizes at the closing ceremony on January 23. Mr J.N.L. Srivastava, Special Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, would inaugurate the show on January 22. Mr Ahmad said the national flower show has a display and competition section. The show is open to institutes, farmers, amateurs and housewives who have grown flowers in their own garden, land and farm. Entries will be received
on January 22 at the venue from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.. Judging
and secreening will be held on the same day from 1 p.m.
to 3 p.m. |
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