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Saturday,
October 19, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Has govt walked into trap? Cong to take up issue of Dalits’ killing Lynching of 5 Dalits decried Banswal to probe Jhajjar killings MLA’s plea turned down in Sumitra murder case |
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Novel threat by Cong women Curbs on fire crackers IT Dept begins survey of new taxpayers DD centre opening on Nov 1 Students, parents hold protest
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Has govt walked into trap? Chandigarh, October 18 The sources say the controversial memorandum has been signed even before the state government has formally approved and made public its policy on opening of casinos in Haryana. It seems, as RPI MLA, Karan Singh Dalal alleges, the government was in a “tearing hurry” to sign the MOU. In the hurry in which the MOU was signed, the norms for signing MOUs with foreign investors laid down by the Government itself were ignored. The sources say the MOU on casinos was not vetted by either a committee of ministers or by a committee of the Chief Secretary as has been made mandatory by the government. The sources say the committees were formed about a couple of years ago when an MOU was signed by a corporation entrusted with the work of promoting industry in the state with an IT company to set up a cyber city as a joint venture. The Haryana Government was to hold 10 per cent equity in the proposed cyber city and was supposed to contribute its share in the form of land. Later, the government found that the credentials of the IT company were highly suspect and the state government had been virtually led up a garden path to a disaster. It was then decided that in future all the MOUs would be vetted by a committee of ministers to be headed by the Town and Country Planning Minister, Mr Dhir Pal, first and only then any functionary of the government would sign it. For reasons not known, the government later set up a committee of officers under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to vet the draft MOUs. In the present case, the sources say, the MOU on casinos has not been vetted by either committee. The sources say if an MOU is signed before the formation of a policy, the Government becomes bound to incorporate the terms of the MOU in the policy yet to be framed. Moreover, by signing the MOU before framing the policy, the government conduct will be open to number of questions by the Opposition. The Opposition has already began questioning the motives of the government behind calling a special session of the Vidhan Sabha, ostensibly to debate the procurement of paddy. In a statement issued here today the President of the Haryana Krishak Samaj, Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, alleged that the government had called the session not to help farmers but to pass the Haryana Casino Regulation and Control Bill and the Online Lottery Regulation Scheme. He said the Haryana State Industries Development Corporation(HSIDC) signed an MOU with Vistastar Leisure Private Limited, London, on September 28 to set up casinos in Haryana. Mr Chautala would visit London on November 9 to finalise the finer details of the agreement. Mr Surjewala alleged that the MOU had a provision for an Indian partner and “that partner would be none else than Mr Chautala’s family”. The former Haryana Congress President said the casinos, which were nothing but legalised gambling dens, “which would also lead to the opening of brothel houses”, were against the ethos of Haryana, the land of the Mahabharata. He said the devasting epic battle had its genesis in gambling. He said the people of Haryana in general and of Faridabad in particular, where the first casino was proposed to be set up, would not allow the evil designs of the INLD Government to succeed and “its sponsors would be defeated at Faridabad as the Kaurvas were defeated at Kurukshetra”. Mr Dalal alleged that the government would set up a casino in the building owned by the Jan Sandesh Trust, a “family concern” of the Chautalas, at Gurgaon. He alleged that this was a betrayal of the public confidence and amounted to embezzlement of public funds. He also opposed the opening of casinos in the State on moral grounds. |
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Cong to take up issue of Dalits’ killing Gurgaon, October 18 With four Dalits, who were killed, hailing from the district, the incident has become an added cause for murmurings within Congress leaders of south Haryana. The Vice-President of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) and former minister, Dr Kripa Ram Punia, said here today that the police personnel at the Dulina checkpoint were to be blamed for the ghastly incident. Dr Punia, who is also the chief of the Janhit Seva Sangathan, which champions the cause of the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs), was here to condolences to the bereaved families of the deceased. Dr Punia said his party’s demand was for a judicial probe or investigation by the CBI into the incident. He also demanded a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the family members of the victims. Dr Punia said police personnel at the Dulina police checkpoint were to be blamed and not the mob which had acted on hearsay about the Dalits having slaughtered a cow. He alleged that the personnel at the police post had spread the rumour and, later, ran away leaving the victims at the mercy of the mob fury. The Congress took the view that even though the incident occurred on Dusehra, the police had not yet been able to establish the theory that the victims had slaughtered a cow to skin it. He threatened that he would launch an agitation of Dalits in the state if the culprits were not booked forthwith. The Sangathan would soon convene an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation and plan its future course of action, he said. Congress MLA from Sohna in the district, Rao Dharam Pal, from whose constituency three victims hailed, visited Dulina yesterday. Dr Punia would visit there this evening. According to reports, a member of the CWC, Mr R.K. Dhawan, leader of the Congress Legislature Party, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, President of the HPCC, Mr Bhajan Lal, and Secretary of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC), Miss Sheilja also visited Dulina. |
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Lynching of 5 Dalits decried Fatehabad, October 18 Mr Ram Kumar Bahbalpuria, state president of the ABKMU alleged here today that law and orders situation in the state was the worst and
due to poor governance the state has been witnessing lawlessness. He said the killing of the five youths near the Jhajjar in the presence of the police had exposed anti-Dalit face of the INLD government. He castigated the BJP and its outfits like the RSS, the VHP and the Bajrang, who, he alleged, were out to spread hatred in the name of religion. He demanded Rs 10 lakh compensation for each of the lynched victim and said that a team of the union led by Mr Vijay Raghvan, member of Parliament and national president of the ABKMU had gone to Jhajjar for an on the spot assessment of the situation. |
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Banswal to probe Jhajjar killings Chandigarh, October 18 Mr Chautala has also directed the Commissioner, Rohtak Division, Mr R.R. Banswal, to inquire into the circumstances leading to the Jhajjar killings. Mr Chautala said the guilty would be dealt with sternly. He claimed the police had identified certain culprits. |
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MLA’s plea turned down in Sumitra murder case Faridabad, October 18 It is learnt that nearly all witnesses produced by the prosecution have deposed before the court and it is a matter of fact that two of them had turned hostile. While one of the witnesses, who is reported to be a police official was to depose in the court, the prosecution including the state represented by the District Attorney moved an application in the court of the District and Sessions Judge, seeking transfer of the case to another court. But the sessions court in its decision turned down the petition. It may be recalled that Mr Karan Dalal, his elder brother Meharchand and son and daughter-in-law were booked on September 6, 2000, on an FIR lodged by Mr B.S. Dagar and Ms Chanderkanta, sister of the deceased Sumitra Devi. The complainants had alleged that Sumitra Devi was murdered as the accused wanted to `take over’ the property of the deceased. While Mr Karan Dalal, who was booked for hatching a conspiracy, and his elder brother are on bail, his nephew Vedpal and Amrinder are in judicial custody. |
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Novel threat by Cong women Bhiwani, October 18 The state general secretary of the wing, Ms Kusum Sharma, said here today the administration had already been apprised of the decision. She said they had gone to the Deputy Commissioner’s office and camp office to submit a memorandum but he was not available. She said although sanitation drive was launched in the town on October 2 but the fortnight witnessed more insanitary conditions. She alleged that the administration was capable of maintaining cleanliness as was evident during Chief Minister’s visit here last Sunday. She alleged that the administration had failed in solving the problems of sweeper employees of the municipal council who had been on agitation for wages for the past five months. |
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Curbs on fire crackers Chandigarh, October 18 The spokesman added the state government had also debarred the sale or use of fire crackers generating a noise level exceeding 125 dB(A1) or 145 dB(C) pk at a distance of four metres from the point of bursting. These steps had been necessilated following directions of the Supreme Court, asking state governments to take all precautions under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, to control noise pollution during Divali. |
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IT Dept begins survey of new taxpayers Fatehabad, October 18 Mr G.D. Goyal, Joint Income Tax Commissioner, Sirsa, headed a meeting organised here
yesterday for creating awareness among the businessmen regarding the survey. Mr A.K. Dheer and Mr H.S. Saini, both Income Tax officers, and representatives of various business associations were present on this occasion. Mr Goyal appealed to the people to cooperate with the department in gathering the information. |
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DD centre opening on Nov 1 Hisar, October 18 This was disclosed here last evening by Mr S.Y. Quarshi, Director-General of the Doordarshan. He was here to address a meeting of officials and inspect preparations for the kendra. He informed that the kendra would start functioning just after the inauguration. The kendra would relay for half an hour, programme on the Haryana Day. |
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Students, parents hold protest Hisar, October 18 The students have been on strike for the past 10 days. Later, they organised a meeting in front of the Vice-Chancellor’s office and raised slogans against the university authorities. Student leaders alleged that the university had raised the fees of the B.Tech course to double that of other engineering colleges in the state though no basic facilities were provided to them as promised on the time of admission. They were forced to attend their classes in the adjoining Polytechnic College. Apoorva Kumar
Singh Chandigarh, October
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