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Friday,
June 22, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Rajasthan
wants water share British
Council to fund development agency Crackdown
on power defaulters Move on
MBBS seats condemned |
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Haryana plan to plant 2.5 cr saplings Rehabilitation
college for Haryana TRANSFERS/ POSTINGS Drop in
number of old-age pensioners 2 Army men drugged on train Timely
help for needy must: Governor Lord Mahavira
Chair for KU Women officers’
names withdrawn from
deputation list Lok
Janshakti ranks swell Student
commits suicide Matador-truck
collision claims three lives ASI, 3
cops suspended Was the murder handiwork of criminal
tribe? Malik supports Birender’s stand Passenger train engine derails Kalka residents flay fire tax
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Rajasthan
wants water share Rohtak, June 21 Senior officials of the Rajasthan Irrigation Department led by Superintending Engineer N.R. Bhandari have been in Haryana for the past three days to study the system. The officials have so far inspected the JLN canal system and discussed alternatives with their counter parts in Haryana. As per the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the Chief Ministers of states sharing the Yamuna waters, Rajasthan is
entitled to get 3,198 cusecs. Since the Yamuna does not touch Rajasthan anywhere, the desert state depends on Haryana for its share. Haryana is supplying nearly 200 cusecs through the Gurgaon canal to Rajasthan out of its share in the Yamuna waters. It is also assisting Rajasthan in the construction of the Sidhmukh channel in Hisar which would also provide irrigation water to the neighbouring state. The message conveyed by the government to irrigation officials about the visit of Mr Bhandari and his team said they would discuss and explore the alternatives for carrying 1,500 cusecs from Tajewala to Rajasthan through remodelling the existing channels or constructing new ones. The officials said the team was keen on getting the surplus waters during the rains only. They said instead of allowing the surplus waters during the rains to cause devastation in Haryana, it should be allowed to benefit farmers of Churu and Jhunjhunu districts. The team was insisting that approximately 1,200 cusecs should be provided either through the Loharu feeder or the Mohindergarh canal so that the Rajasthan Government would have to spend less on the project. The Haryana officials suggested that if Rajasthan was keen to get water only during the rains, it could be provided through drain No 8 which has the capacity to carry 1,300 cusecs. |
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British Council to fund
development agency Nuh (Mewat), Gurgaon, June 21 It wants to open women information resource centres in Mewat. To start with, the centres will be opened at schools in Nuh in Gurgaon district and Hathin in Faridabad district. Nuh is considered to be the nerve centre of Mewat’s cultural, social and political activities. The project will cost about Rs 7 lakh. According to the Chairman of the MDA, Mr S.A. Khan, the centres will be fitted with computers and Internet. The project aims to make the centres an instrument that will give women access to new and relevant information and build their confidence to act as agents of social change. The centres will be managed by women. There will be provision for availability of relevant information on issues such as women’s health, economic activities, programmes and schemes of government and NGO. The other organisations which will collaborate for the project are Delhi Public School Society, which runs and manages three government model schools in Mewat, the Centre for Women’s Studies, Kurukshetra University and the Intermediate Technology Development Group, UK. All these organisations will function under the aegis of the MDA. Although the amount funded by the international agency is not big, significance is being attached to development in the Mewat area, considered to be one of the most backward areas of Haryana. The project has a training component for women so they could be trained on information access, usage, and multiple channels of distribution. The MDA schemes include vocational training and dairies, among other things. |
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Crackdown
on power defaulters Rohtak, June 21 According to information, power connections of nearly 400 consumers have been disconnected in the sub-urban division of this district in the past month. This number has reached 800 in Jhajjar division. Besides, hundreds of power connections have reportedly been disconnected in Jind, Sonepat and other neighbouring districts. Six executive engineers posted at different stations admitted that they had been given a go-ahead against the defaulters. However, Mr M.P. Tyagi, Superintending Engineer, Rohtak circle, denied that any direction had been issued to disconnect power connections. According to sources, 50 connections in Girawar, 12 in Sanghi and six each in Jindran and Khidwali villages of Rohtak division have been disconnected in the past fortnight. The sources in the department said those villages had been selected in the first phase of campaign which had fewer defaulters. They said the villages under the influence of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) had not been included in the first phase. The BKU had given a call to farmers not to pay their bills. Dhamar village had been excluded by the nigam where only two consumers out of a total of 616 were paying their bills. It is learnt that those whose power arrears exceed Rs 20,000 will be targeted. An amount of nearly Rs 10 lakh has reportedly been recovered. |
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Move on MBBS seats condemned Rohtak, June 21 This was resolved at a meeting of the ex-servicemen cell of the state unit of the party held here yesterday. Lieut Col Bhagat Singh Rohilla (retd.), president of the cell, alleged that it was an insensitive decision on an important issue. The government decision was not only a step towards the commercialisation of education, but had also hurt the interest and sentiments of the ex-servicemen and kin of the freedom fighters, he added. He alleged that the government was hatching a conspiracy to privatise education and health services in the name of economic reforms. |
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Haryana
plan to plant 2.5 cr saplings Chandigarh, June 21 This was decided at a meeting here last evening under the chairmanship of Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, to review afforestation programme in the State. The Chief Minister directed the officers of the Forest Department that under beautification scheme of the cities, at least, 500 tall plants of species like gulmohar, jakranda, amaltas, cassis siamea, neem, papri, kachnar, sheesham, peepal, bar and imli be planted in 30 major towns of the State during the current year. He said that a scheme had also been prepared to make the Morni hills greener. The road from Panchkula to Morni would be beautified by planting bougainvillea, hibiscus, acacia gluca and laser stomia indica. Besides these plants, flowery trees like silver oak, kachnar, acacia nodosa, amaltas and gulmohar would be planted there. It was decided that 11,079 hectares of land would be brought under afforestation during the current year, for which Rs 31.50 crore had been earmarked. Last year, 9325 hectares of area of the State was brought under the afforestation under various schemes. The target of Ninth Five Year plan is to bring 1.06 lakh hectares of land under afforestation at a cost of Rs 274.95 crore. It was also revealed that with the assistance of European Union, the eucalyptus clones of high quality would be developed in the green houses set up for this purpose at Siyonthi village in Kurukshetra. These plants would give two to three times more wood than the plants developed by the needs. During the current year, four lakh such plants would be developed. Three districts, Gurgaon, Sirsa and Yamunanagar, have been selected for the development of forests and integrated development in rural areas. |
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Rehabilitation
college for Haryana Chandigarh, June 21 The Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Mrs Maneka Gandhi, has written to the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to allot a suitable piece of land for the proposed college somewhere near the Union Capital. Mrs Gandhi wants the proposed college to integrate rehabilitation sciences with allied disciplines by providing comprehensive training programmes for human resource development in the field of rehabilitation of the disabled. The college will offer certificate, diploma and postgraduate programmes in rehabilitation sciences and technology and track programmes on various aspects of rehabilitation. It will be a centre of excellence, fulfilling the objective of training professionals in subjects like special education, speech therapy and audiology, rehabilitation engineering, prosthetics, orthotics and communication disorders besides promoting research in special education and rehabilitation. It will also aim at training 1,000 professionals in the field of rehabilitation over a period of five years. The college will gradually become a full-fledged university. |
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TRANSFERS/
POSTINGS Chandigarh, June 21 Mr Pradeep Kasni, District Transport Officer, Kaithal, has been given additional charge of ADC-cum-CEO, DRDA, Kaithal vice Ms Neelam Pradeep Kasni, who has been appointed Secretary, Haryana Agro Industries Corporation, against a vacant post. Mr Yash Pal, General Manager, Haryana Roadways, Delhi, has been given additional charge of CEO, Shri Mata Sheetla Devi Shrine Board, Gurgaon. The government has also ordered that Mr P.K. Das will continue to work as Joint Secretary, Finance Department, and Director, Lotteries, and Mr O.P. Langayan will continue as Deputy Secretary, Sports, Students and Youth Welfare Department. |
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Drop in number of
old-age pensioners Chandigarh, June 21 The decrease may be used by the Opposition parties to reiterate their charge against the Chautala-led government that it offered the pension to all and sundry to woo voters before the mid-term Assembly poll and subsequently took away the carrot once the elections were over. The INLD government, it may stated, soon after coming to power, decided to increase the old-age pension to Rs 200 from Rs 100 per individual. The government also gave arrears to more than 6.50 lakh persons who were receiving the pension at the old rate. It also abolished some of the eligibility criteria under the old-age pension scheme relating to land holdings in the rural areas and income limits in the urban areas. In December, 1999, the state government conducted a survey to identify new beneficiaries under the pension scheme and incorporated 2.56 lakh names in the list of recipients. Earlier, in February, 1999, before Mr Chautala had come to power, 99,000 persons were identified as eligible for receiving the benefit. All names were included in the fresh list of beneficiaries under the scheme. However, after the victory in the mid-term poll in February last year, the government decided to weed out the names of ineligible persons from the list of pensioners. Stringent methods were adopted, such as subjecting the recipients to medical examination, to ascertain the genuineness of the claims. If someone did not turn up for the examination, officials were asked to visit the person’s house to find out whether it was due to old age or the beneficiary was actually trying to dodge the process. The latest figure of the number of recipients under the old-age pension scheme, stated by the Haryana Minister of State for Social Welfare, Mr Risal Singh, yesterday, was 9.55 lakh. The total number of recipients under the scheme was 33,000 less than what the figure before the survey to remove the names of the ineligible persons from the list was completed. Official sources said that 9.88 lakh persons received the benefit when the government was in a generous mood and offered the pension without verification during the run-up to the Assembly poll. The state government was spending Rs 19.76 crore per month on the 9.88 lakh pensioners. The reduction in their number would enable it to save Rs 66 lakh every month. Surprisingly, the state government is not interested in finding out how the names of so many ineligible persons figured in the pensioners’ list. The Chautala government, after coming to power by toppling Mr Bansi Lal, also increased the pensions of widows and handicapped persons from Rs 100 to Rs 200 per month. However, unlike the old-age pension scheme, the state government had refrained from including too many fresh names in the list of beneficiaries under these two schemes. According to the figures released by Mr Risal Singh yesterday, there has been a moderate increase in the number of beneficiaries under the pension schemes for widow and the handicapped. While 2,73,580 widows and 52,900 handicapped persons were receiving the benefits under the two schemes last year, their numbers have gone up to 3 lakh and 61,878, respectively, in the current financial year. |
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2 Army men drugged on train Ambala, June 21 The incident took place on the Swaraj Express when two armymen, along with other Army personnel, boarded the train at Jammu. The two were bound for Gujarat. After the train left Jammu, the two armymen were befriended by four persons, including a woman who began to hold an animated conversation with them. A little later, one of the gang members, reportedly offered biscuits to his associates and then offered biscuits to the two armymen. Not suspecting anything, the two armymen ate the biscuits but soon began to feel drowsy. They then fell into deep slumber. Other armymen who were in different parts of the same coach noticed that something was amiss and they became suspicious. Seeing that the two armymen had suddenly fallen asleep, the other armymen realised that something was seriously wrong and they questioned the persons who had been conversing with them. While two of the gang members were nabbed, the two others, including the woman, could not be caught. The gang members who were caught by the faujis were given a sound beating, and they reportedly admitted that they had drugged passengers and then decamped with their goods. When Swaraj Express reached Ambala Cantt railway station last evening, the two gang members were handed over to the Army authorities here, who in turn handed them over to the Railway Police. The two armymen, who had fallen unconscious, were disembarked from the train and rushed to the Ambala Cantonment Military Hospital. A senior railway police official said that the two gang members were handed over to the GRP from Punjab since the incident had taken place in the Punjab jurisdiction. “Regular patrolling is done and there is a marked decline in the number of such cases. We stress that railway passengers must take precautions so that they do not fall prey to such gangs,” he said. It may be recalled that a few months ago, there had been several incidents of labourers travelling on trains being drugged and their goods being looted. The modus operandi in the cases was similar. The gang would first start a conversation with a labourer and after winning his confidence, they would offer tea or biscuit laced with a drug. After some time, the victim would feel drowsy and fall asleep. The gang would then decamp with the goods of the labourer. A police official said that the gang would first zero in on the victim and they would speak the same lingo so that the victim would feel comfortable talking to them. “After we stepped up
patrolling on particular trains which are utilised by the labourers, there had been a sharp drop in incidents of drugging and looting,” the official said.
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Timely help for needy must: Governor Hisar, June 21 The Governor was speaking at a disabled relief distribution function organised jointly by the District Red Cross Society and Sri Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahayata Samiti Jaipur at the local Red Cross Bhavan here today. Mrs Sudesh Kumari, wife of the Governor, was also present. The Governor and his wife also distributed artificial limbs, aids and appliances among the disabled. |
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Lord Mahavira
Chair for KU Chandigarh, June 21 Mr Chautala, who was presiding over the first meeting of the state-level committee constituted to celebrate the 2600th birth Kalyanak Mahotsav here today, said the birth anniversary of Lord Mahavira would be celebrated in a befitting manner by the state government. A state-level function would be organised to highlight the teachings of Lord Mahavira, whose message of non-violence inspired Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. He said seminars on the life and teachings of Lord Mahavira would also be organised in all universities in the state. The first such seminar would be held at Kurukshetra University. He urged the Jain community to create an awakening among the masses to eradicate social evils like consumption of liquor and smoking, especially in public places, and cruelty towards animals. He said Yog Sadhna kendras would be set up at the district level. He urged the Jain Samaj to provide information and artefacts concerning Jain culture so that a mobile exhibition could be organised in the state to apprise the people of the rich cultural heritage of the samaj. He said that Mahavira Park at Ambala would be improved. Mr Chautala said the state government would urge the Centre to run a Bhagwan Mahavira Express train touching all major places of Jain pilgrimage from Bihar to Punjab. |
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Women officers’
names withdrawn from
deputation list Chandigarh, June 21 According to informed sources, the
Centre has not cleared the names of 11 officers, who will continue to
serve the State. The officers, whose services the Centre has refused
to accept are Mr Sanjiv Kumar, Mr G.S. Sarot, Mr V.S.Kundu, Mr M.P.
Bidlan, Mr D.R. Dhingra, Mr J.P.S. Sangwan, Mr Saroj Siwatch, Mr P.R.
Bishnoi, Mr Anand Sharma, Mr Ashok Khemka and Dr(Mrs) G. Anupamma.
The names of 18 IAS officers are believed to have been cleared for
Central deputation. These are Mr S.S. Prasad, Mr R.P. Chander, Mr P.
Raghavendra Rao, Mr R.R. Jowel, Dr Avtar Singh, Mr Mahavir Singh, Mr
Krishan Kumar, Mr P.C. Bidlan, Mr Sudhir Rajpal, Mr Anand Mohan Sharan,
Mr Raja Sekhar Vundru, Mr Balraj Singh, Mr H.P. Chaudhary, Mr S.P.
Gupta, Mr Sandeep Garg, Mr R.K. Rao, Mr J.P. Kaushik and Mr D.P.S.
Nagal. |
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Lok Janshakti
ranks swell Faridabad, June 21 The activists who joined the Lok Janshakti on Tuesday, include Mr Prem Mehta of the youth wing of Bahujan Samaj Party, Mr Ram Lakhan Chaudhary of the INLD and Mr Rajkumar of the Congress. They said their several supporters had also decided to join the Lok Janshakti, headed by Union Minister, Mr Ram Bilas Paswan. The chairman of the Parliamentary Board of the party, Dr Lal Singh and district unit chief, Mr Dinesh Malik, were present at the function. Dr Lal Singh claimed that while the party base was getting strengthened, some prominent personalities were also likely to join the party in near future. |
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Student
commits suicide Faridabad, June 21 The victim identified as Vinod Kumar (18) of Janoli village took this step after announcement of the result. It is learnt that Vinod, who also failed to clear his matric examination in first attempt did not talk to anybody, before the incident. In another case a married woman was raped allegedly by youth at Rupadaka village yesterday. The victim was going to fields at that time. Jamshed, a suspect, has been booked. |
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Matador-truck
collision claims three lives Hisar, June 21 According to the police, the mini truck, in which they were travelling hit a tree along side the road after hitting a matador coming from the opposite direction. The impact was so powerful that the front part of the ill-fated vehicle was completely damaged. Two persons died on the spot while one succumbed to his injuries on the way to hospital. The deceased have been identified as the driver, Subhash (30), Pardeep (13) of Barwala and Prabhati Ram of Hansi. A case has been registered. |
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ASI,
3 cops suspended Faridabad, June 21 According to information, these officials had ‘failed’ to discharge their duty in connection with theft of a car. While no official version could be available, it is learnt that the senior police official had got conducted a probe into a complaint and found that role and
behaviour of the constables had been improper and unjustified. Meanwhile in another incident, the police has arrested a youth at Palwal subdivision on charges of abducting a 14-year-old girl of Ferozepur village. |
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Was the murder handiwork of criminal
tribe? Ambala, June 21 The police is not ruling out the possibility of the attack on Ramu, who was killed and his wife Sita Devi, who was seriously injured, being the strike of a denotified criminal tribe. Such kind of brutal attack has probably taken place in Ambala for the first time. Sources said that while parallels can be drawn from the similarities in the modus operandi of the denotified criminal tribe, there are certain facts which show that it could also have been an attempt by the unidentified assailants to ‘show’ that the attack took place by a denotified criminal tribe. A police official said that the similarities are that the attack took place on a ‘dark’ night which is preferred by the tribe members. “Also, the gang members eat at the place where they strike. In this case, apparently they had a soft drink. The location of the strike area close to the GT Road with the railway line running
paralled is also typical of the denotified criminal tribe since it is easy for them to escape,” he said. However, what has foxed the police is the attack on poor people who were barely able to make both ends meet. “It is still not clear why would any denotified criminal tribe attack poor people. Also, the criminal tribe members do not prefer to carry weapons. They pick up weapons from near the spot and bludgeon their victims to death. In this case, Sita Devi was not killed, although she was seriously injured,” he said. Also, a particular denotified criminal tribe always defecates at the scene of the crime. In this case, there was no such thing. “It cannot be said with certainity that the attack has been carried out by any denotified criminal tribe. There are some similarities but they are not conclusive,” he added. The police is also looking into the aspect of whether there was any enmity or ‘problem’ concerning Ramu or his wife, Sita Devi. “We are investigating various aspects of the case and we are hopeful of solving the case soon,” a police official said. |
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Malik supports Birender’s stand Ambala, June 21 A press note said that Mr Birender Singh had rightly taken this stand for bringing unity in the party which was the need of the hour as the masses of Haryana are fed up with the present government and wanted the Congress to replace it. Mr Malik said that the people of Haryana wanted to get rid of the present government since its policies were anti-people and the law and order situation was deteriorating. |
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Passenger
train engine derails Ambala, June 21 The empty train usually reaches Ambala city from Ambala cantonment at around 5 a.m. and departs for Saharanpur at 5.30 a.m., railway sources said. When the engine was being shunted for being attached to coaches, it derailed. A railway crane put the engine back on the track. The train departed around two hours late from Ambala city. A few months back, too, this train on this route met with an accident when the Howrah Mail collided with it while this train was stationary. The driver and the co-driver of the Howrah Mail were killed in that accident.
PTI |
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Kalka residents
flay fire tax Kalka, June 21 The residents add that the Municipal Committee is charging 1 per cent of the property tax which is very heavy. They say that Kalka subdivision does not have a Fire Brigade Station. The nearest Fire Brigade Station is either in Pinjore in Haryana or Parwanoo in Himachal Pradesh. The residents add that the streets in the town are so narrow that Fire Brigade vehicle cannot ply there. |
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Admission
to diploma courses Chandigarh, June 21 Applications should be submitted to the Principal of the polytechnic, latest by July 11 upto 5 p.m. |
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Stray cattle irk residents Sonepat, June 21 The tehsil complex and the local mandi are the worst-affected areas. The market committee dumps its garbage on the premises of the mandi and the place is seldom cleaned by the contractor. Similarly, the municipal council also dumps its garbage close to the wall of the mandi, which attracts stray animals. Arhtiyas and retailers have been demanding the shifting of the garbage dumping places for the past few years, but in vain. A few months ago the municipal council had started a campaign to control the cattle and pigs in the city but was discontinued due to political pressure. |
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Shiv Sena meeting Ambala, June 21 He said that the meeting would be attended by the office-bearers. The meeting would be presided over by president of women’s wing Saroj, a press release said. |
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