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| Friday, April 14, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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29
honoured at end of Khalsa March Chautala a promise breaker: Bansi
Lal Anita may be Mahila Cong chief Distress sale of wheat denied |
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Dead newborn worshipped
as goddess End of Rly-Forest Dept tie-up Police fires in air to disperse
labourers Defaulters resist to pay up
arrears Man sets wife, children on fire CM inaugurates mini secretariat 2 die in mishap Four passengers robbed in train
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29 honoured at end of
Khalsa March YAMUNANAGAR, April 13 — The six-day-long Khalsa March organised to mark the conclusion of the Khalsa tercentenary celebrations in Haryana ended at Tejli Sports Stadium, which was later renamed as Guru Gobind Singh Stadium. The massive Khalsa March, which reached here after passing through historic gurdwaras in the state, was received at Bhai Kanhaiya Sahib Chowk by the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, amidst chanting of slogans like ‘Bole so Nihal Satsri Akal,’ and ‘Manas ki Jat Sabhe Eke Pehchanbo’ by a huge congregation. The Khalsa March was taken through the main bazar of the town with Mr Chautala joining it in an open decorated jeep. The march also included weapons and horses belonging to Guru Gobind Singh brought from Paonta Sahib and Hazur Sahib in Maharashtra. Mr Chautala gave a clarion call to the religious congregation to emulate the ideas propagated by Guru Gobind Singh to strengthen the secular fabric of the country and maintain brotherhood, peace and amity in society. He said that there were no differences between Punjab and Haryana, which was evident from the fact that the Khalsa March was flagged off from the historic gurdwara Nadha Sahib, near Panchkula, by the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and he was the chief guest at the conclusion of this tercentenary celebrations here today. He said that the main aim of the Khalsa Panth was to save the humanity from repression and tyranny unleashed by ancient Mughal rulers and to create a Khalsa force for giving supreme sacrifice to protect humanity from cruel rulers. Khalsa Panth was based on socialism and equality. The Chief Minister said that the Haryana Government was formulating a new education policy which would be job-oriented. He stated a committee had been constituted under the chairmanship of the Education Minister for this purpose. He announced that the state government had no objection in approving a women’s engineering college named after Guru Gobind Singh. He also said that if other societies in the state were keen to set up educational institutions in the name of the guru, the state government would have no objection in giving its approval. Mr Chautala honoured 29 personalities of Haryana who have excelled in various fields. Those honoured included, Prime Minister of Fiji Mahender Chaudhry, Baba Hanbans Singh ‘Kar sewa wale’, Subhash Ghai, Pt Tule Ram, Ustad Jamman Khan, Singh Bandhu Tej Pal Singh and Surinder Singh, Mr Lila Ram (wrestler), Mrs Santosh Yadav (the only woman to have scaled Mount Everest twice), Mrs Pritam Thakran, (International hockey player), Mr Rohit Bakar (deaf and dumb, badminton player), Ms Kalpana Chawala (astronaut), Mr Udai Bhanu Hans (Rajkavi), Dr Hem Raj Nirman (litteratteur), Raghuvinder Singh (famous builder), Mr Subhash Goel (owner of ZEE TV), Mr Ranjeet Puri (industrialist), Dr Bhaley Ram Mor, Dr R. L. Kapoor, Mr Surender Kumar, Mr J.S. Kharbanda, Mr Joginder Singh, Mr Daljeet Singh Khera, and Mr Krishan Kumar Dagar, all progressive farmers. Those who could not attend the function included wife of late Col Hoshiyar Singh, Lt General Khemkaran Singh, cricket star Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Kapil Dev, Sunil Dutt, Pt Jasraj. The others who spoke on the occasion included Mr Jaswinder Singh Sadhu, Agriculture Minister, Mr Trilochan Singh, Vice-Chairman, Minorities Commission, Mr J.P. Sharma, local MP, Mr Nishan Singh, MLA, Tohana, Sant Karam Jeet, Sant Paramjeet, Mr Bhupinder Singh Johar and Pushpinder Singh, Editor, Panthak Samachar. Mementos were presented
to Mr Jaswinder Singh Sandhu, Mr Ram Singh Brar, Press
Adviser to the CM, Mr Nishan Singh, MLA, Mr Trilochan
Singh, Sant Baba Ram Singh, Sant Paramjeet Singh and Sant
Karamjeet Singh. |
Chautala a promise breaker: Bansi
Lal CHANDIGARH, April 13 — The former Chief Minister of Haryana and President of Haryana Vikas Party, Mr Bansi Lal, has said that the heavy municipal taxes imposed recently and the massive campaign to recover arrears of power from farmers launched by the Chautala Government in the State has vindicated what he (Mr Bansi Lal) had been saying all along. Mr Bansi Lal said here today that true to his family traditions the INLD President, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, made false promises to the people and led them up the garden path to grab power. He said he had been saying that given the financial situation of the state it was not possible to abolish octroi or give free power. But the INLD leader, like what his father did in 1987 when Mr Devi Lal falsely promised to write off loans, promised to provide free electricity till the time he was out of power. Once Mr Chautala grabbed power through backdoor, he changed his tracks. Though he abolished octroi and promised that no new taxes would be imposed, among the first taxes undertaken by him after the polls was to raise municipal taxes enormously. Similarly for years Mr Chautala had been instigating the farmers not to pay electricity charges because he promised to waive them on coming to power. This resulted in accumulation of huge arrears, which, now Mr Chautala was recovering by use of force. Mr Bansi Lal said had it been possible to provide free power or abolish octroi without increasing other levies, he would have been the first person to allow these benefits to the people. But everyone knew that he (Mr Bansi Lal) never made impossible or false promises. The HVP leader said Mr Chautala, who used to criticise him while in the Opposition, was now following the same administrative and other policies as were enunciated by him. After promising to fill 60,000 posts, supposedly left vacant by Mr Bansi Lal, Mr Chautala had imposed ban on all recruitment. He had launched the campaign to recover electricity dues. Even otherwise Mr Chautala is now continuing with the same set of reforms in the power sector as were adopted by the HVP Government. Mr Bansi Lal cautioned
the Chautala Government that if it went ahead with the
calculation of house tax in municipal areas as per the
new formula adopted by the Cabinet recently, many
households would be ruined. The house tax as per the new
formula would exceed Rs 100 crore in the State. He said
the poor, the senior citizens and several other
categories of households should be exempted from the new
formula of house tax. |
Anita may be Mahila Cong chief CHANDIGARH, April 13 — While there seems to be near unanimity in the Haryana Congress on the new head of its women’s wing, the search for the President of its youth wing still continues. The Haryana Mahila Congress has been headed by Mrs Prassini Devi, a former minister, for about three decades. It is being felt strongly in the party that the Mahila Congress in the state has not been as effective as it should have been. The party leaders feel that a fresh face should be brought to activate the Mahila Congress. Mrs Anita Yadav, Congress MLA from Sahlawas, seems to be the unanimous choice of senior state party leaders for the post of President of the Haryana Mahila Congress. Mrs Yadav is not only young but has also won a seat for the party which eluded the Congress for the past 30 years. Her performance in the Vidhan Sabha was appreciated by the senior party leaders. According to informed sources, the President of the Haryana Congress, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has already spoken to the AICC General Secretary in charge of Haryana, Mr Moti Lal Vora, who sought the bio-data of Mrs Yadav. The former Chief Minister and Leader of the Congress Legislature Party, Mr Bhajan Lal, too is in favour of Mrs Yadav. Another senior party leader, Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, whose son, Randeep, has recently been appointed President of the All-India Youth Congress, is also believed to be of the view that Mrs Yadav should be made the President of the State Mahila Congress. These leaders feel that by appointing Mrs Yadav as the head of the Mahila Congress, the party would be appreciating the response received by it from the voters of the Ahirwal which returned six of the Congress candidates in the last Assembly elections. However, the party has not been so far able to decide on the head of the Haryana Youth Congress, which has been without a President for the past several years. In fact after Mr Nirmal Singh ceased to be the President of the Haryana Youth Congress, the party slowly became inactive. The party had been inactive for so long, that as the new AIYC, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, finds it hard to nominate a suitable person as its head. When Mr Munish Tiwari was made the President of the AIYC, he could not constitute the Haryana unit because of severe infighting among senior leaders of the Haryana Congress like Mr Bhajan Lal and Mr Hooda, who wanted their own nominees to head the youth wing. The issue became so complicated that even Mrs Sonia Gandhi could not take the final decision and the party remained headless. According to the
sources, Mr Surjewala has now called a two-day meeting of
the district units of the Haryana Youth Congress in Delhi
starting from April 15 in search of a suitable candidate
for the President’s post. |
Dead newborn worshipped as
goddess AMBALA, April 13 — Twenty-first century? Not in village Mullana near here. The villagers are convinced that the infant born on Ram Navami morning to parents belonging to a reserved category caste residing in Manglai village, was/is a devi. Pious, or perhaps just curious, people are pouring into this place for darshan of a devi in the form of a dead, deformed female infant. And it's not just the folks of Mullana and nearby villages, the spectators have come from as far as Panchkula, Yamuna Nagar, and Ambala. They have dug a large pit behind the local Ravidas mandir and placed the tiny corpse in it in a sitting position, its forehead smeared with sindur and a gota-trimmed red chuuni over the head. Believers jostled to get a look, plant burning agarbattis in the soft soil and toss in offerings. Ashok Kumar, the child's father, sat inside the pit slowly fanning the body. The fact that the corpse was sitting "unaided" was advanced as further proof of it's "divine" nature. To prove that the corpse was not propped up, the father removed the chunni to reveal the absence of any support to the body. He also moved the fingers on its hand to show that the body was supple as though the infant were alive. The infant's head was grotesquely malformed and the corpse appeared to be slumping forward. "She was alive when she was born," asserted Ashok Kumar, adding: "Now also her nose is running. Who can say that she is dead? She is a devi. We are thinking about building either a temple or a samadhi for her. I will go along with whatever the village decides." Gulshan Devi, the infant's mother, who was recuperating in their hut, said that she had been blessed with two sons earlier. "When my sons were born I was in a lot of pain, but this birth was not so painful," she said. She too is convinced of the divine nature of the child: "From the moment she was born, she assumed a sitting position. I prayed to her," she said. At this, close relatives attending on the mother, began to repeat how "blessed" Gulshan Devi is to have given birth to a goddess. A relative, Ram Lakhan, echoed the parents' claim that "the devi has been sitting comfortably since the moment of her birth". He feels there is a possibility that the child may be alive. Alive or not, the corpse will be buried today evening and the village will construct either a temple or a samadhi on the spot. Local residents said that a doctor came yesterday and declared the child stillborn "but we don't believe him as the girl had milk and water after she was born which means that she was alive then." Among the devotees was
Ram Vir from a nearby village. He said he had heard of
the birth of a goddess in Manglai and brought his entire
family to the village to seek blessings. |
Distress sale of wheat denied CHANDIGARH, April 13 — The Haryana Government today denied that procurement agencies in the state had not made adequate arrangements for purchase of wheat. It may be recalled that Mr Karan Singh Dalal, RPI legislator from Palwal, pulled up the state government yesterday for allegedly not making proper arrangement for purchase of wheat. Mr Dalal said that this was resulting into distress sale of wheat by the farmers. He also released to the press copies of a letter written by him to the Prime Minister in this connection. An official press statement said 59,648 tonnes of wheat had arrived in the markets up to April 12, out of which the procuring agencies purchased 47,958 tonnes at the minimum support price of Rs 580 per quintal. The remaining wheat was purchased by private traders at prices ranging between Rs 581 and Rs 600 per quintal. The statement claimed that there was no distress sale by the farmers and added that arrival of wheat in the markets of Haryana was slightly late this time due to weather conditions. The statement also said as per directions of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, control rooms have been set up at all the district headquarters for collecting first hand information regarding arrival of wheat. Also, the procuring agencies have been asked to make payments to the farmers for their produce within 72 hours, the press note stated. The official statement
also clarified that as far as paddy procurement in the
last kharif season was concerned, the prices were
determined by the market forces and only when there was
possibility of the prices tumbling below the minimum
support price, the government agencies intervened to
protect the interest of the farmers. The agencies
purchased 3.47 lakh of paddy which was highest in the
history of Haryana, the statement claimed. |
End of Rly-Forest Dept
tie-up AMBALA, April 13 — The Ambala Railway Division is planning to terminate a decade-old contract between the Railways and the Haryana Forest Department, by which the Forest Department was allowed plantation on vacant railway land lying waste on the either side of the tracks. Initially, the scheme was planned to improve the environment by planting more trees on the wasteland of the railway. The different divisions of the railway had also convenanted the similar contracts with forest departments of several states, including Punjab. It was settled in the agreement that the ownership of the land would remain with the railway and the forest department would be entitled to plantation on the wasteland beside the tracks. Like other states, in Haryana it was resolved that the profit earned through the sale of the trees planted on the railway land would be shared between the two. The railway official said one of the reasons to allow plantation by the forest department was that some of the residents villages had started to encroach the railway land beside the railway tracks and the railways did not have sufficient manpower to get it vacated. According to railway sources, the state Forest Department had not paid a single panny to the railways for using about 500 hectares for plantation for the last one decade. In Ambala Railway Division, 500 hectares had been occupied by the department far plantation. The Deputy Forest Conservation, Ambala, Mr GS Virak, said there were around 400 hectares on which the department had planted cucalyptus. keekar and other trees. He stated that it had not proved profitable to the department. The Railway Manager, Ambala Division, Mr Vijay Kumar, said the division had not got any amount from the Forest Department. He said correspondence had been made with the department in this regard but no positive result had come out so far. He disclosed that the railways had planted trees in several acres close to railway stations and railway yards in the division. Recently, the railways had sold that plantation to the Haryana Forest Department for Rs 80 lakhs out of which the department had paid Rs 44,14,174 lakh. In 1999, the division had earned Rs. 9,97,801 by selling trees to the Forest Department. He stated that the department had not given them any share of profit. One of the reasons for terminating the contract was that whenever the railways needed to fell some trees for any extension work on its land, it had to face problems in getting the permission from the Forest Department. The railway authorities
have also decided not to renew the contract of the state
Forest Department on the 350 hectares on the Jakhal-Hisar
sections, which expired recently. |
Police fires in air to disperse
labourers AMBALA , April 13 — The police last might to fire three rounds in the air in Kurali village near Naraingarh, 40 km from here, last night to disperse agitated kiln labourers, who reportedly made an attack on the police party which had gone there to arrest some of them involved in a clash that occurred on Tuesday between kiln-owners and labourers. According to information, the police has arrested five kiln labourers in this regard. One of the constables of the police party sustained injuries, as a labourer attacked him with some arm. On Tuesday evening, 12 persons, including three owners of the kiln, were injured in the clash between the labourers and the kiln-owners. Later they were admitted to Civil Hospital at Ambala City. The clash occurred when the kiln labourers, led by a trade union leader, urged the kiln-owners to accept their demands, including increase of bonus, provident fund, medical facility, washing allowance and school for their children. Later the labourers held
a demonstration in front of the office of the SDM,
Naraingarh, alleging that the administration was
favouring the kiln-owners. Meanwhile, some persons
entered the premises of Haryana brick-kiln and ransacked
the office. They allegedly beat up the kiln-owners and
escaped with some money. The Shahjadpur police has
registered a separate case in this regard on the
complaint of a kiln-owner, Mr Krishan Lal. |
Man sets wife, children on
fire KAITHAL, April 13 — In a bizarre incident an enraged man yesterday reportedly set fire to his wife and minor son and daughter in Peedal village of the district after pouring kerosene over them after noticing his three-year-old son chewing a photograph of his paramour. The police has registered a case under Sections 302, 307 and 304-B against Tarsem, the accused, on a complaint lodged by Nanki, sister of his wife who is married to the younger brother of the accused. In her complaint Nanki said her sister married Tarsem six years ago, but the accused continued to maintain illicit relations with another woman putting a strain on their marital relationship. Yesterday evening his son, Lovely, inadvertently chewed up the photograph of Tarsem’s girlfriend after yanking it free from an album lying nearby. This led to a quarrel between Tarsem and his wife, following which Tarsem began to beat his wife and subsequently set her and the children afire. The complainant alleged that Tarsem used to beat his wife frequently and pressured her for dowry. Talking to mediapersons in the presence of Mr Amir Singh, DSP (HQ), Nanki alleged that her brother in-law had burnt his wife and two children in her presence. Eight-month-old Shakeela died on way to the hospital while Nanki’s sister succumbed to her injuries at the Civil Hospital, Kaithal. Lovely, who was admitted to Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, with burns died today. The police has
registered a case. |
Defaulters resist to pay up arrears CHANDIGARH, April 13 — Loola Ahir, a village in Kosli subdivision of Rewari district, is reportedly tense following an attempt by the authorities to recover arrears of electricity from villagers today. According to Mrs Anita Yadav, Congress MLA from Sahlawas, the constituency in which the village falls, a party of powermen and policemen headed by the SDM, Kosli, Mr Inder Singh, visited the village today. They asked the former Sarpanch, Mr Ram Kumar, to pay the arrears of about Rs 24,000 or face consequences. Mrs Yadav told TNS on the telephone from Kosli that Mr Ram Kumar expressed his inability to pay immediately and sought time till April 25. When the authorities, Mrs Yadav said, insisted on immediate payment, the outgoing sarpanch offered them his harvested mustard crop. He also said that the party could disconnect his power line. Mrs Yadav alleged that Mr Ram Kumar was manhandled by the SDM for not paying the arrears. The officer also tried to take the sarpanch away forcibly in his jeep but had to abandon his plans in the face of popular mood. When contacted Mr Inder Singh denied that he or any other party member manhandled Mr Ram Kumar. He said the atmosphere in the rural side was such that no official could come back unharmed after manhandling anyone. The SDM said Loola Ahir had about 400 households out of which about 128 had not paid electricity bills. He said Mr Ram Kumar, who was defeated in the recent panchayat elections, did not want to pay his arrears. The outgoing sarpanch, he said, was trying to instigate other defaulters also not to pay their dues. He said he had only stopped Mr Ram Kumar from instigating the other defaulters. He also alleged that the outgoing sarpanch was trying to make political capital and wanted to somehow avoid paying electricity dues. Mrs Yadav said a
criminal case should be registered against the SDM for
assaulting the outgoing sarpanch. |
CM inaugurates mini
secretariat YAMUNANAGAR, April 13 — The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, inaugurated the building of mini secretariat here today. The secretariat built at a cost of Rs 4.14 crore would have offices of the Deputy Commissioner, the SDM, the City Magistrate and the Treasury Officer. A large number of various government offices are also accommodated in the building. A judicial complex is also coming up near the secretariat. The complex will have 15 courts, a library, a bar room and malkhana. Among others who were
present on the occasion were Mr Jaswinder Sandhu,
Agriculture Minister, Mr Ashok Arora, Transport Minister,
Dr M.L. Ranga, Health Minister and Mrs Kailash Rattan Lal
Kataria, Faquir Chand, both MPs. |
2 die in mishap ROHTAK, April 13 — Two persons were killed in two accidents in the district in the past 24 hours. According to police sources, Rohtash was killed on the spot when a jeep in which he was travelling collided with a tree near Kiloi village. It is learnt that the accident took place when the jeep driver lost control and it rammed into the tree. A case has been registered against the driver. In another accident an
unidentified youth aged about 20 years was killed after a
vehicle hit him near Shantmai Chowk on the Civil Road
last night. The police recovered the body this morning
and sent it for the post-mortem examination. A case has
been registered. |
Four passengers robbed in
train ROHTAK, April 13 — Four passengers travelling in a train from Rohtak to Delhi were robbed by two persons last night. The victims were relieved of Rs 2100 when they became unconscious after taking some eatables offered to the two. According to police sources, the incident took place at about 10 last night when the train was to depart from Rohtak station. Two youths who also boarded the train with them got friendly and offered some biscuits and namkeen to Mohammed Alam, a resident of Bihar, and his friends. A case has been
registered by the railway police. |
Demand for defence academy AMBALA, April 13 —
The Sarv Hind Shiromani Akali Dal, Haryana and the
management committee of Gurdwara Paonta Sahib have
demanded that the Union Government should establish a
defence academy at Paonta Sahib in the name of Baba Ajit
Singh. The demand was made on the occasion of the
tercentenary celebrations of the birth of Khalsa which
concluded recently. |
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