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| Saturday,
January 6, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Ex-Gen
alleges threats from Palwal MLA Illegal
drug factory sealed
PM to visit Kurukshetra on Feb 3 Freshers
taking to crime Haryana to recruit 1,370 cops Congress
protests against hike in power tariff |
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Republic Day celebrations
‘Increase import duty on crude palm oil’ CM
ignoring Sonepat, Rohtak dists: BJP Haryana Panchayat Bhavan opened People
clearing bills: Ajay Land
earmarked for sealed Delhi units Commuters
gherao railway official ST evasion
by agents detected Haryana
dismisses 4
employees Chair
sought in MDU Hearing
on Dangi’s bail plea deferred Xen’s
bail plea rejected Body of
HAU cook found from canal HVP leader booked in
corruption case Need for
industrial safety stressed Eunuchs’
sammelan begins DHBVN
replaces old meters Parishad
alleges forcible conversion All
political parties to honour minister Stolen car recovered
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Ex-Gen alleges threats from Palwal MLA CHANDIGARH, Jan 4 — Mr R.M. Kharb, a retired Major General, his wife Mrs Hitesh Kharb, her sister, Ms Suresh Dagar, and Kuldeep, Mrs Dagar’s son, today alleged that Mr Karan Singh Dalal, MLA from Palwal, had floated the vendetta theory to cover up his land-grab activities. Addressing a press conference here, Gen Kharb, AVSM, Mrs Kharb and their relatives said Gen Kharb had written to the then state Governor, Mr Mahabir Prasad, in June 1999, urging him to intervene and check the land-grab designs of Mr Dalal. “We are appalled that Mr Dalal is trying to cover up his misdeeds by claiming that he is a victim of political vendetta “, they said. Narrating the background of the incident, they said Suresh, Hitesh and Lalita were three sisters. Their father Lieut-Col Narbir Singh had transferred more than 31 acres of land in their names. Col Narbir Singh’s wife passed away in 1972 and he got involved with Ms Sumitra Chaudhary. In 1980, Lieutenant Narbir got the girdawari of the land, given to his daughters, changed in the name of Ms Chaudhary with whom he had started living. Since the girdawari was changed without any intimation to the sisters, they move court and the court at Palwal restored the land to them (sisters) in a judgement on January 23, 1984 and subsequently, the District Court at Palwal also upheld that order in judgement dated September 23, 1986. However, 14 acres of land (out of 31.5 acres) could not be taken over by the sisters due to crops on it. Later, Col Narbir Singh got a stay from the high court on the execution of the decree in respect of this land. Meanwhile, Ved Pal, son of Karan Singh’s brother, Mr Mehar Chand married Amarendu. While Sumitra Chaudhary claimed Amarendu to be her daughter, in reality, she was her niece, Gen Kharb and those accompanying him alleged. They said in November 1998 also they complained to the Deputy Commissioner about Mr Meher Chand’s attempts to cultivate the disputed land. Since the local administration, under the influence of Mr Dalal who then was a minister, was not taking any action, the sisters approached the court at Palwal and got a stay order. However, despite the stay order, Ms Chaudhary and Meher Chand started ploughing the land in May, 1999. Following Major-General Kharb approached the Governor, through the Quartermaster General’s branch at the Army headquarters, the Superintendent, Land Revenue, writing for Financial Commissioner and the Secretary, Revenue Department of the Haryana Government, wrote to the DC of Faridabad for taking immediate action. There was a temporary lull in Mehar Chand’s activities following the letter from the Revenue Department, they said. Major-General Kharb alleged that since the time he had filed an FIR against Mr Karan Singh Dalal and his brother after the unnatural death of Ms Sumitra Chaudhary, he and his family members were being threatened constantly. “At the time of Sumitra Chaudhary’s autopsy also, Meher Chand had roughed me up inside the premises of Palwal Hospital”, Kharb said. He said that he had again filed an FIR at the local police station after the assault. |
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Illegal drug factory sealed FARIDABAD, Jan 5 — The drug control authorities have sealed a drug factory here allegedly involved in production of oxytocin veterinary injection anpoules in an illegal and unhygienic manner. A large quantity of manufactured items and raw material has been seized and the factory has been sealed. According to drug control officials, the raid was conducted on a tip off that oxytocin injections which is a controlled drug and whose production has been limited as a product, was being manufactured at a large scale mainly for commercial purposes at a factory situated near Palwal town in the district. The officials led by the Assistant State Drug Controller, Mr G. L Singhal, found that the unit, Moti Ram Pharmaceuticals, though had the licence to manufacture injections or injectibles, but had been producing the above stated product which the unit was not authorised to manufacture at a large scale and under unhygenic conditions. The factory was reported to have been authorised to manufacture the product at ground floor only and under required standard conditions which include airconditioned room, qualified technical persons, proper supervision, proper dresses, gloves and testing facilities. But the authorities claimed that not a single of the required conditions was fulfilled and the oxytocin ampoules were being manufactured not only at a large scale, but also in an unhygienic manner. It is suspected that the oxytocin injections whose open sale had been already banned due to ‘misuse’ were being supplied in large scale not only locally, but also to neighbouring Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The Haryana Government has already withdrawn licences of majority of the oxytocin (pituitary) injection producing units, after it was reported that it was being misused for milking milch cattle and could prove a health hazard for people consuming such milk. The state government also banned the open sale of such injections through the chemists or drug stores and its sale was allowed only on prescription by a physician or a hospital. According to officials the daily production capacity of the seized unit had been around two lakh ampoules, which was much more by any standard, A large number of oxytocin injections had also been seized in the recent past which were being sold illegally by the shopkeepers, including the kiryana shops at many places in Rohtak, Jhajjar, Bhiwani and Hisar districts. While two samples of the seized ampoules were taken, the authorities took into custody about 17,000 manufactured ampoules, two lakh ampoule labels, outer carton labels, plastic containers, burner, plasmic tubes and a nozzle. The local court has given the authorities the custody order of the seized material. A case under section 18/27 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act has been registered. It is reported that all ampoules manufactured here were being dated as March 2000. |
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PM to visit Kurukshetra on Feb 3 CHANDIGARH, Jan 5— The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, will visit Kurukshetra, tentatively on February 3, to dedicate to the nation Kurukshetra Panorama and Science Centre developed over five acres at a cost of Rs 5 crore. He will also be the chief guest at the convocation of Kurukshetra University. The Panorama and Science Centre has been built by the Kurukshetra Development Board for visitors to have a glimpse of the epic battle of Mahabharata getting answers to some of the mysteries of science haunting them. The Panorama of the battle of Mahabharata, fought on this land for righteousness, has been depicted on 34 feet high paintings in cylindrical hall. The scenes of the battle fought between the Kauravas and Pandavas emerge realistic when these mingle with the chanting of the Gita and distant war cries. One can also see geological evolution and geography of ancient India. The computer-based exhibits displayed in the gallery take one to the intricacies of the weapons and war formations. The Indian heritage of science and technology has history of 4500 years. This aspect of Indian heritage has also been displayed through documents supported by graphics, visual panels, artifacts and video shows. These make easy to understand the history of Indian heritage of science and technology. This heritage has been sound basis for future development and assimilation of new techniques and process. The fun science section enables one to explore the “how and why” of common scientific phenomena. One can also have fun with mirrors and play with musical instruments or enjoy the optical illusions. Here the rolling balls too perform acrobatics. There is enough to learn as exhibits are fully interactive and provide ample knowledge on various aspects of science. One can also see exhibition titled ‘Viswaroopa’ portraying unity in diversity and diversity in unity in nature. The exhibition inter-relates various aspects of ecology with one another to project the concept of oneness. The centre has also set up facilities where the youth can take up creative ability projects, voice views on scientific issues through science seminars or present their gadgets in a scientific manner. The portable planetarium of this centre instantaneously shows sky in Kurukshetra by the night as well as that of any other place in the northern Hemisphere as one may wish to look at. There is also a science park where parabolic reflectors send whispers to a long distance. Hollow pipes can be made to play music. One can see birds and rabbits in natural habitat. |
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Freshers taking to crime GURGAON, Jan 5 — There is palpable concern in circles of the Haryana Police over the trend of petty criminals taking to heinous crimes. The development had exposed faultliness in the traditional approach of the constabulary and has compelled the higher echelons of the force to urgently fine-tune its strategy. The new realisation in the force was today voiced by the Inspector-General of Police, Gurgaon Range, Mr Ranjeev Singh Dalal. Incidentally, Mr Dalal has been associated with a number of reform measures in the police administration in the state. Although he convened a press conference to give details with regard to his claims of overall reduction in the rate of crimes in Gurgaon range covering Gurgaon, Faridabad, Rewari and Mahendergarh districts, he voiced concern on the new developments in which freshers committed dreaded crimes. The recent kidnapping for ransom and murders of industrialist Devender Chopra and his son Abhishek here was his strongest referral point on the new trend. A number of crimes have been recently committed by newcomers in other parts of the state, raising the alarm in the force. He candidly submitted that the police had dossiers and information on known criminals. Thus it could anticipate their moves or do follow-ups after a crime was committed. In the eventuality of freshers taking to crime the police has to face a new kind of challenge. In the case of Devender Chopra-Abhishek murders the kidnappers kept eluding 40 police teams exclusively constituted to nab them for about a week. Moreover, the police learnt about the murders only after the criminals confessed to them after they were arrested. In fact, they had been murdered on the day they were kidnapped even though the kidnappers unsuccessfully kept negotiating for the ransom money with the family members and friends of the Chopras. At the dawn of the new year, the view emerging in higher circles of the force appears to be loaded in favour of a strategy envisaging a right balance of a priori and a posteriori methods of reasoning in tackling crime from unexpected quarters. As part of the strategy for effective crime control, emphasis has been placed on investigation and collection of evidence to give more teeth to the prosecution part. The Gurgaon police has taken the lead by assigning a quota of major cases under trial to the gazetted officers to monitor the prosecution. Coordination between the government attorneys and the police has been further effected. Also, the police has listed the criminal cases pending since 1995 for speedily taking them to their logical conclusion. Commenting on the Gurgaon zone, specific challenges emerging before the police are the culture of absentee landlordism. Big farmhouses and buildings are set up in places like Gurgaon and its nearabouts and left to the Keepers and domestics for management. This trend is fraught with danger as often the owners are not familiar with the antecedents of their employees. He also appealed to industrialists to keep complete details of their employees and ensure best possible relationship with them. He disclosed that a formal request had been made to the state government to increase the manpower of the Gurgaon district police by 600 personnel in various ranks. The present manpower of 1180 was short in the face of rapid expansion and industrialisation of Gurgaon, he added. Mr Dalal claimed the crimes in Gurgaon Range had decreased in 2000 in comparison to the preceding year. According to him, crime under Section 302 of the IPC (relating to murder), Section 307 (relating to attempt to murder) and Section 376 (relating to rape) came down, respectively, by 19, 18 and 13 per cent. Crime under Sections 395 (relating to dacoity), 392 (relating to loot and robbery) and 457/380 (relating to burglary) of the IPC came down, respectively, by 7, 16 and 18 per cent. Similarly, crime under Sections 458/459, 382, 363, 356 and 354 of the IPC has also reduced. However, there is status quo in incidents of burglary with murder under Section 460 of the IPC. But there has been increase in road accidents resulting in hurt, even though the occurrence of deaths in accidents had reduced by 4 per cent. The local police in the districts concerned along with the CIA staff has been able to nab members of 104 gangs, especially the notorious D-gang and Fauji gang. |
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Haryana to recruit 1,370 cops CHANDIGARH, Jan 5 — The Haryana Government will recruit shortly 1,100 traffic constables and 270 women constables. This was disclosed by Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala while addressing a meeting of INLD ministers, MLAs, chairpersons of Zila Parishads and Block Samitis and district presidents of the INLD, here today. The Chief Minister also told the gathering that the party would launch a monthly magazine to acquaint people about the party’s policy, programmes and achievements. He said every village at least two INLD life members must be made to spread the content of the magazine among the inhabitants. The Chief Minister also disclosed that to check theft of power, a team of officers of the power utilities, police and SDO (Civil), would conduct joint raids for three hours daily during peak hours in their respective areas. He said that 41 per cent line losses in Haryana was amazing and added that line losses due to technical problems could not be more than 15 percent. The remaining line losses must be due to power theft in connivance with employees of power utilities, he said. He urged the INLD members to cooperate with the officials and stop people from stealing power. Mr Chautala said that already he had visited 45 constituencies under the “Sarkar Aapke Dwar” programme. The remaining constituencies would be visited by him by March, this year, he said. He also said that in the next phase of the programme, funds would be given to the panchayats for implementing the announcements which would be made by him during his interaction with the public. The Chief Minister said the state government would soon constitute market committees with representations from all sections of the society. Improvement Trusts would also be revived soon, he said. While stating that the Opposition parties’ attempts to discredit the government on issues such as the ST form-38, the village development committees, etc, did not evoke any response, Mr Chautala asked the INLD members strengthen to further the base of the party at the grassroot level. He also directed the ministers and the MLAs to visit party offices whenever they tour a particular area. They should also spend at least one hour with the local people and hear grievances during such trips, he said. |
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‘Increase import duty on crude palm oil’ AMBALA, Jan 5 — The Haryana Chamber of Commerce and the Industry and Haryana Solven Extraction Association have jointly demanded that the government should increase the import duty on crude palm oil to be at par with refined palm oil to protect the interests of the domestic cooking oil industry as well as farmers. Owing to WTO agreement, agricultural products from developed countries are flooding the domestic market, affecting local traders and farmers, a statement said. “The Central Government has levied an import duty of 35 per cent on crude palm oil where as on refined palm oil, it is 75 per cent. It is observed that refined palm oil is being passed off as crude palm oil, thereby defrauding the exchequer and causing loss to the domestic market,” the release claimed. The domestic demand for cooking oil in India is 1.08 lakh tonnes while the import totalled 1.80 lakh tonnes. “The Indian market is flooded with imported palm oil, which is adversely affecting the domestic cooking oil trade and farmers in the country. 75 per cent of oil industries in India has already pulled down its shutters because it cannot bear the heavy losses due to defective government policies,” it stated. |
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Republic Day celebrations CHANDIGARH, Jan 5 — A state-level Republic Day function will be held at Narnaul on January 26, where the Haryana Governor, Babu Parmanand, will unfurl the National Flag. The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, will hoist the National Flag at Jhajjar. The Speaker of the Haryana Assembly, Mr Satbir Singh Kadian, will unfurl the National Flag at Sonepat, Deputy Speaker Gopi Chand Gahlot at Kurukshetra, Finance Minister Sampat Singh at Rewari, Town and Country Planning Minister Dhirpal Singh at Bhiwani, Transport Minister Ashok Kumar at Gurgoan, Cooperation Minister Kartar Singh Bhadana at Hisar, Agriculture Minister Jaswinder Singh Sandhu at Faridabad. The Minister of state for Health; Dr M. L. Ranga, will hoist the National Flag at Jind, Minister of state for Animal Husbandry Mohammad Ilyas at Panipat, Minister of state for Social Welfare Risal Singh at Yamunanagar, Minister of State for Local Government Subhash Chand at Sirsa, Minister of state for Education Bahadur Singh at Rohtak and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Ram Pal Majra at Karnal. The Commissioner, Ambala division, will unfurl the National Flag at Ambala and the Commissioner, Hisar division at Fatehabad. The Deputy Commissioners of Kaithal and Panchkula will unfurl the National Flag on this occasion in their respective districts. |
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Congress protests against hike in power tariff HISAR, Jan 5 — Congressmen of the district took out a procession and staged a demonstration here today in protest against the hike in power tariff and lawlessness in the state. They submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner. Addressing the protesters, Ms Shailja, Secretary of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC), alleged that the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, had put a heavy burden on farmers by raising the power tariff. She alleged that though Mr Chautala was projecting himself as a pro-farmer leader during the assembly elections but just after assuming power he had taken many decisions against them. She alleged that in the garb of checking power theft, officials of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitram Nigam (DHBVN) were terrorising consumers. They were imposing heavy fines without any fault. Many persons had committed suicides due to harassment by the nigam officials. Mr Jai Prakash, Congress legislator, alleged that the Chautala government had failed to maintain law and order in the state. He said people in Haryana were feeling insecure as the crime graph was on the rise and businessmen were hesitant to travel even on the national highway in daylight in the state. |
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CM ignoring Sonepat,
Rohtak dists: BJP SONEPAT, Jan 5 — Mr Kishan Singh Sangwan, a BJP MP from Sonepat, has accused the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, of adopting discriminatory attitude towards the residents of Sonepat and Rohtak districts in the allotment of funds for various development schemes and alleged that it was a calculative move on the part of Mr Chautala to weaken the political importance of these districts. Addressing a series of public meetings in the Rai Assembly constituency in the district yesterday, Mr Sangwan said if Mr Chautala continued to implicate the BJP and other opposition parties leaders in false cases the party would not remain a silent spectator. He criticised Mr Chautala for the unprecedented hike in the power tariff and predicted that Mr Chautala would meet the fate which Mr Bansi Lal had faced for his anti-people and anti-farmer policies. He claimed that people in the rural areas were dissatisfied with the style of functioning of Mr Chautala. Mr Sangwan said it was not a political fight for which he was criticising the Chief Minister but it was the question of importance of these districts in the political scene of the state. Meanwhile, the Haryana Pradesh Janata Dal (U) president, Mr Ved Parkash Vidrohi, has urged the Central Government to set up of two inquiry commissions to investigate the wealth amassed by the state legislators, MPs and bureaucrats of the state. In a signed press statement issued here, he demanded a CBI probe to find out the property and wealth which the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, and his family members had amassed after Mr Chautala assumed power in the state. |
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Haryana Panchayat Bhavan opened CHANDIGARH, Jan 5 — The Union Development Minister, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, today regretted that in the past 50 years the country had been divided into two distinct worlds. While one was the “developed urban India”, the other was “the backward rural Bharat”. While the former enjoyed all facilities, the latter was deprived of even basic amenities like education, healthcare, roads, power and drinking water. Mr Naidu, who was speaking after inaugurating the Rs 5-crore Haryana Panchayat Bhavan in Sector 28 here, said the Union Government had taken a principled stand that 60 per cent of the funds earmarked for development would be spent in the rural areas so that the urban bias could be reversed. Appreciating the performance of the Haryana Government in the field of rural development, Mr Naidu said the programme of computerisation of land records initiated by the state government was laudable. He announced that his Ministry would release Rs 96.20 lakh to Haryana for completing the computerisation of land records in the remaining 42 tehsils also so that the state could become a model state in this project. Mr Naidu also sanctioned Rs 2.74 crore to provide potable water to the remaining 55 villages in Haryana. Having a dig at the Planning Commission, he said Haryana was being given merely Rs 20 crore for village roads because the state had done well in this field. He said the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, had brought to his notice that the Centre could give up to Rs 50 crore per annum for the upgradation of village roads. He said he had asked the state government to spend the Rs 20 crore already released to it and sent a proposal for an additional Rs 30 crore to his Ministry. However, Mr Naidu reserved his comments on the constitution of the controversial Gram Vikas Samitis (GVS) by the Haryana Government. He said since the concept of the GVS was new, it needed to be studied in depth. It was also to be examined if the GVS in any way infringed on the authority of the panchayati raj institutions. The Haryana unit of the BJP, along with other parties, has criticised the GVS, describing them as extra-constitutional bodies, meant to usurp the powers and functions of the panchayats. He said his Ministry had prepared a four-point programme to expedite the implementation of the rural development schemes. These were: making people aware about various schemes, transparency in the implementation, people’s participation, third-party audit and monitoring. Mr Naidu said the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, had directed that there should not be any politics in rural development. The foundation stone of Panchayat Bhavan was laid by Mr Chautala about 11 years ago but it could be completed only after he again became the Chief Minister. The Union Minister of State for Rural Development, Mr Subhash Maharia, Mr Chautala and the Haryana Chief Secretary, Mr L.M. Goel, were among the speakers. |
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DSP misbehaves with
newspersons CHANDIGARH, Jan 5 — Newsmen covering the inaugural function of Haryana Panchayat Bhavan in Sector 28 today, where the Union Rural Development Minister, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, and the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, were present, had to put up with misbehaviour by a Haryana police Deputy Superintendent of Police. When the newsmen wanted to meet Mr Naidu for seeking a clarification on his comments on the constitution of the controversial Gram Vikas Samitis by the Haryana Government, the DSP, Panchkula, Mr Jag Pravesh Dahiya, arbitrarily stopped the entry of some of them to the room in which Mr Naidu along with several others was having tea. Mr Dahiya had earlier allowed certain newsmen to enter the room and talk to Mr Naidu. A Chandigarh police DSP, who was in plain clothes, at the asking of his Panchkula counterpart, even kicked the reporter of a Delhi-based English daily. A message was sent to Mr Ram Singh Brar, Press Adviser to the Haryana Chief Minister. Mr Brar came to the door, but turned his back on the
newsmen. Interestingly, after entry to the newsmen was denied, several workers of the INLD and the BJP were allowed to go in. |
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People clearing
bills: Ajay BHIWANI, Jan 5 — Mr Ajay Singh Chautala said today that the INLD was reviewing the works it had done during the past over one year. Talking to The Tribune during his weeklong tour of villages in the Bhiwani parliamentary segment, which he represents in the Lok Sabha, Mr Ajay Singh said there would be no scarcity of money for development works both in rural and urban areas. He claimed for the first time the people in the state were clearing their outstanding bills which ran into hundred crores of rupees just on a single appeal of the Chief Minister. The INLD leader said the government was not discriminating against any area as alleged by the Opposition. The MP said the restoration of grant to the Agroha medical college, abolition of the octroi system, double pension for the aged, besides those widowed and the handicapped and a special grant of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of martyrs from the MP fund were some of the achievements of the government. Mr Chautala said the INLD government had provided electricity to the agriculture sector by spending Rs 600 crore on buying electricity from other states. This had resulted in a record crop. On the statements by opposition parties, he clarified that no promise of free water and electricity supply was made in the manifesto of the INLD. He said the state government was determined to introduce transparency in every area. This had been proved in the recruitment of policemen and teachers recently. |
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Land earmarked
for sealed Delhi units JHAJJAR, Jan 5 — The district administration has earmarked 500 acres near Bahadurgarh to be carved up in two industrial sector, with a view to providing plots for units which have closed in the Capital after the Supreme Court’s orders to seal them. According to official sources, the administration, after notifying the land, has sent the proposal to the state government. The land is situated near Sankhol, Kasar and Jakhoda villages and along the Delhi-Hisar highway. The Deputy Commissioner said the proposed industrial sectors would be transferred to the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) which would offer plots to entrepreneurs for setting up their units after developing the sectors. The sources said the plan to make available another 500 acres in the Badli block, bordering Delhi, for the units was also in the pipeline. Property dealers were also offering industrial plots along the Delhi-Hisar highway from Bahadurgarh to Rohad, a 10-km stretch. Mr Anil Chaudhary, President, Bahadurgarh Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said there were very few plots available in the modern industrial estate so industrialists from Delhi were opting for plots located on the outskirts of the town. |
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Commuters
gherao railway official SONEPAT, Jan 5 — A large number of commuters, including government servants, teachers and students, gheraoed the Station Superintendent, Mr Om Parkash Premi at the railway station here today to register their protest against the late running of suburban trains and to press the demand for the stoppage of all mail and superfast trains at Sonepat railway station. The irate commuters shouted slogans against the Union Railway Minister and the authorities of the Northern Railway. They said if their demands were not met immediately, they would resort to an agitation, including the picketing of the railway track. According to another report, the police foiled an attempt of villagers to picket the railway track near Jahri village on the Sonepat-Delhi section of the Northern Railway today. They were protesting against the non-repair of the Sonepat-Purkhas road despite repeated representations made to the Deputy Commissioner and other authorities. Hundreds of villagers assembled at the site and started raising slogans against the government and the district authorities. As their agitation was pre-planned, a large contingent of the police, headed by Dr Sultan Singh, SDM and Mr Hardeep Singh Doon, DSP (Headquarters), arrived on the spot to control the situation. The protesters dispersed after getting an assurance from the authorities that repair work would start by February 15. |
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ST evasion by
agents detected SIRSA, Jan 5 — A sales tax evasion racket has been busted in which wheat from Haryana was being sold to merchants in other states without paying sales tax and market fee to the state government. According to an estimate, wheat worth Rs 8 crore had been sold by some arhtias to their counterparts in Gujarat without paying 4 per cent sales tax which amounts to Rs 32 lakh and an equal amount of market fee had also been evaded in the transaction. The loss of revenue to the government stands at around Rs 64 lakh. The Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Mr J.S. Dhankhar, had received the information about the sales tax evasion through an anonymous call about three months ago. He constituted special checking squads for this purpose. Two trucks full of wheat being taken from Ganga village in Sirsa district to Gujarat without proper documents were impounded. Investigation revealed that some arhtias of Dabwali and nearby areas were operating “fake” firms from Mandi Killianwali in Punjab. They purchased wheat from farmers in Haryana and stored it in houses of farmers. After the prices of wheat in the neighbouring states had shot up, they had started selling the wheat. Mr Dhankhar checked bank accounts of the arhtias who were said to be involved in this illegal selling of wheat and found that the wheat was sold to merchants in Ahmedabad. He also went to Ahmedabad for collecting proof in this regard. |
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Haryana
dismisses 4
employees CHANDIGARH, Jan 5 — The Haryana Government today dismissed four employees accusing them of creating indiscipline inside the Secretariat on Thursday. Subhash, store clerk, Raj Kumar of the Irrigation Department, Rajvinder Kumar of the Ways and Means Branch and Kesar Singh, an employee of GS-1 Branch were dismissed under Article 311 of the Constitution in view of their actions in the Secretariat yesterday, a state government press note stated today. According to the press note, the Chief Secretary of Haryana also asked the Chandigarh Administration to register criminal cases against such employees who were being dismissed for indulging in slogan shouting and preventing others from discharging their duties and misbehaving with them. The Chandigarh Administration was also asked to provide adequate police protection to the employees who did not join the pen-down strike and were being prevented from discharging their duties in the Haryana Civil Secretariat, the new secretariat and the 30-Bays Building at Sector - 17, Chandigarh. The Chief Secretary also asked the Home Secretary to stop demonstrations. The press note claimed that a large number of reserved and general category employees had complained that caste based slogans were being raised by a section of the
employees. |
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Chair sought in MDU FARIDABAD, Jan 5 — The Soor Sahitya Parishad, Haryana, has asked the state government to set up a Chair in the name of an intellectual and writer Babu Bal Mukund Gupta in Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak. The parishad has also alleged that the higher authorities were indifferent towards promotion of mass communication and its studies. In a statement here today, Dr Keshwanand Mamgain, convener of the parishad, said that Babu Bal Mukund Gupta was a doyen of journalism in Haryana and was a leading name in field of Hindi literature as well. He said Gupta’s contribution and writings as editor of several Hindi and Urdu papers was well known. Born in Gudiani village of Jhajjar district, Gupta was a close associate of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya and worked with him in ‘Hindostan’ (now Hindustan). Later he also worked with ‘Bharat Mitra, published from Calcutta. Dr Mamgain, who has done his doctorate in journalism, said that Gupta set new standards in Hindi journalism and literature as earlier Brij ‘bhasha’ was being used in Hindi writings. According to Dr Mamgain, Gupta had written many books. Dr Mamgain regretted that the authorities had done nothing so far to honour his contributions. |
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Hearing on Dangi’s
bail plea deferred rohtak, Jan 5
(uni) — A special court today adjourned till January 17 the arguments on the bail application of former Haryana Revenue Minister and senior Congress leader Anand Singh Dangi in connection with a multi-crore government land allotment case. Mr Dangi is currently in judicial custody. Special Judge Shiva Sharma ordered adjournment of the hearing on Mr Dangi’s bail application after defence counsel Raghubir Singh Hooda said an application had been moved in the Supreme Court, seeking an interim order on clubbing different firs filed against Mr Dangi at different places in the state. Mr Dangi had prayed that hearing on his bail plea be fixed for January 15 as the application filed before the apex court was likely to be heard before that date. |
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Xen’s bail plea
rejected ROHTAK, Jan 5 — The Special Judge, Mr Shiva Sharma, today rejected the bail application moved by Mr R. K. Garg, a suspended executive
engineer (Xen), HUDA. The Petitioner is alleged to have misused the funds earmarked for the repair of flood-hit roads in connivance with the then Town and Country Planning Minister, Mr Siri Kishan Dass, and the then Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anil Kumar, during the tenure of Mr Bansi Lal as Chief Minister. Rejecting the bail application, the judge said: “It is not a fit case for enlarging the petitioner on bail to enjoy the fruits of his ill-gotten money?” Seeking bail, the petitioner denied conniving with Mr Dass and Mr Anil Kumar, stating that they were not minister and Deputy Commissioner, respectively, at that time and that construction work was undertaken by HUDA during the Chief Ministership of Mr Bhajan Lal. He said substandard material and estimates were duly sanctioned by the then superintending engineer and the then chief engineer. He further stated that he was implicated in the case. |
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Body of HAU
cook found from canal HISAR, Jan 5 — The police today found the dead body of Narayan Singh, a cook of the Haryana Agricultural University, who had been missing since December 31. The body was found from a canal at Tokas Patan village near here. There were several injury marks on the body. The body has been sent to the local Civil Hospital for a post-mortem examination. The deceased, alongwith another cook, Gopal Singh, was called by some university officials to prepare dinner for a party on the New Year eve. He had been missing since then. Meanwhile, the Haryana Agricultural University Non-Teaching Association has launched an
agitation on this issue. The association today staged a dharna in front
of the administrative block of the university and took out a procession. Later, they submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner and alleged that the cook had been murdered after being kidnapped. They demanded registration of a case of murder and arrest of those responsible for his death. Mr Dharamveer
Shashtri, Secretary of the association, said an 11-member Joint Action Committee had been formed to decide further action. He said office-bearers of Teachers, Non-Teaching employees and Student’s Associations had been included in the committee. |
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Need for
industrial safety stressed YAMUNANAGAR, Jan 5 — Ms Navraj Sandhu, Labour Commissioner, has stressed for a cordial relation between workers and the management. Speaking at a seminar on industrial safety which was organised by the Haryana Safety Council here today, she stated that strikes had been averted earlier because of good relations between the workers and the management. She said the directorate was creating awareness about industrial safety by organising seminars and workshops in major industrial towns of the state. Mr S.M. Madan, Additional Director, Industrial Safety, Haryana, said as per the International Labour Organisation, every two minutes a worker died and every four seconds a minor or major accident took place in the industries of the world. But the disturbing aspect was that almost 80 per cent of the accidents were reported from developing countries. Mr A.N. Patak of BILT said the accident rate in Haryana was one per 1000 as compared to 13 per 1000 at the national level. Mr Lalit Saluja of Oriental Engineering Works and member, executive committee, Haryana Safety Council, stressed on safety and a healthy environment. Mr V.K. Sachdeva, President, ISGEC, stressed on the need for fire safety measures. About 150 delegates from industries of Yamunanagar and Jagadhri participated in the
seminar. |
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HVP leader
booked in corruption case ROHTAK, Jan 5 (UNI) — Minister and Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) leader Jagbir Singh Malik, who is facing charges of abetment to suicide, has also been booked in a corruption case. The case against Mr Malik, a former Chairman of the State Khadi Board, had been registered under Section8/11 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), the police told District and Sessions Judge R.S. Madan while anticipatory bail plea of Mr Malik was being taken up yesterday. As the cases under the PCA are tried by the special court, the bail plea was transferred to special judge Shiva Sharma. The hearing would take place on January 9. |
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Eunuchs’ sammelan
begins ROHTAK, Jan 5 — Eunuchs from all over the country will discuss various issues for the welfare of the their community in the first of its kind sammelan which started here today. Large groups of eunuchs from different parts of the country have thronged the town to attend the sammelan which will go on for 10 days. Leelo, a eunuch and organiser of the sammelan, said a “kailash yatra” would be taken out and competitions would be held on January 9. He said the eunuchs would share their views in a panchayat to be held from January 10 to 13. Accommodation for the eunuchs has been arranged in two hotels in Huda complex here, he said. |
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DHBVN replaces
old meters FARIDABAD, Jan 5 — The Dakshin Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (DHBVN) has launched a campaign to replace old meters of consumers in the district. This move however, is being opposed by local residents who allege that the new meters were fast and would inflate their electricity bills very much. According to the DHBVN sources, the nigam has already procured over 4,000 new meters. The campaign to replace old meters is already on in several residential colonies in the NIT area here. According to information in the first stage, those areas had been selected where line loss was very high. The DHBVN authorities have demanded about 1 lakh new meters for the purpose. |
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Parishad alleges
forcible conversion SIRSA, Jan 5 — A delegation of the VHP will meet the Union Minister of State for Home alleging a case of forcible conversion by a Christian missionary. According to Secretary of the Hisar zone of the VHP, Mr Amar Goyal, Ms Krishna Sharma, a teacher in a stitching school, had lodged a complaint, alongwith four others, accusing the management of the stitching training centre being run by a Christian missionary for pressurising them to change their religion promising them free accommodation and food. According to Mr Goyal on their refusal, they were threatened that they would be sacked. Mr Goyal said the delegation would submit a memorandum to the minister in this regard. |
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All political parties
to honour minister SIRSA, Jan 5 — The Union Minister of State for Home, Mr I.D. Swami, will be honoured by local units of almost all the political parties and various social organisations at a function, which will be organised at the local Spar Banquet Hall on January 6. Though Mr Swami is coming here for a “jan jagran abhiyan” of the BJP and would be addressing a number of gatherings under this programme. It is for the first time that all political parties will share a common stage to publicly honour a dignitary in power. Mr I.D. Swami has served the district as SDM and later as Deputy Commissioner. |
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Stolen car recovered AMBALA, Jan 5 — The police has nabbed a person who wanted to sell a stolen Maruti car. Rajesh Kumar, a resident of Ferozepore Cantonment has been arrested and the police has recovered car (MP-09/8299) from him, a release said. The Ambala range police has also recovered 217 kg chura post from three persons. Two of them, Mahendra Singh and Jogi Ram, were arrested on the spot. |
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