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Saturday,
March 1, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Casino Bill sent for President’s nod Cong to contest govt claim in SYL Roll back hike in urea price: Chautala Sunil Dutt for change in leadership at Centre
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LADT Act to be amended Chandigarh, February 28 In view of competition from neighbouring states, particularly Rajasthan, the Haryana Government has decided to amend the Act pertaining to the Local Area Development Tax. 250 BKU workers court arrest
BJP seeks ouster of MC vice-president HIGH COURT Set up another court at
Tohana, say lawyers
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Casino Bill sent for President’s nod Chandigarh, February 28 The Bills were passed by the state Assembly during a special session held on October 30, last year. The ruling party had rushed through the Bills, ignoring the Opposition demand for a discussion. However, after showing a great hurry in the Vidhan Sabha, the state government sent the Bills to the Governor only in the first week of December, last year. Though the Constitution has not laid down any time limit for a Governor to take a decision on a Bill passed by the legislature, Babu Parmanand took three months to study various nuances of the controversial Bills, causing anxiety to the state government, which at one stage had made the Bills a prestige issue. There have been instances when certain Governors have sat on Bills for even years. Babu Parmanand, who himself is a law graduate from Aligarh Muslim University, the sources say, felt that the two Bills were not in accordance with the Central Act or the Central policies. He also consulted the Advocate-General, Mr Surya Kant Sharma, and certain other legal luminaries, including the former Advocate-General of Haryana, Mr Mac Sareen. The sources say the objects and aims of the casino Bill stated that one of the purposes of the Bill was to invite global investment. Since it was the Union Government’s policy not to allow foreign investment in the field of gambling or lotteries, the Governor felt that the casino Bill was repugnant to the Centre’s policy. Similarly, Babu Parmanand, the sources say, was of the view that the spirit behind the Public Gambling Act, 1867, which is Central Act, was to curb public gambling. The Haryana Amendment Bill sought to negate the effect of the 1867 Act. This too, the sources say, was repugnant to the Central Act. Therefore, the Governor decided to send the Bills for the presidential consideration. Incidentally, the Governor has taken this step when the state Vidhan Sabha is to meet for its Budget session after about a week. |
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Cong to contest govt claim in SYL Chandigarh, February 28 The “direction” is found “right” by the state government even as a fresh round of litigation has started on the canal issue. The case had come up in the court on February 24 and neither the central government nor the Punjab Government reportedly gave any
clear-cut indications about taking up the work of the completion of the canal. The counsel appearing on behalf of Punjab said they had already filed a suit in the court on the issue. The judges then asked Punjab and the Central Government to clarify on the canal issue “in about 15 days time”. Asked whether Haryana’s expectations were belied with the completion of the canal getting further delayed, an official said the work of the judiciary was carried out in this pace only. The intention of the Central Government on the emotive issue of canal may have remained unclear when the case came up in the court on Monday, Ms Bijoya Chakravarty, Minister of State for Water Resources, shed light on the Centre’s approach to SYL when she spoke on the issue in the Parliament last week. She said the Central Government was working out a contingency plan for the completion of the canal, while adding that no definite date for restarting work on the canal had been decided so far. She further said that only a token provision had been kept for the SYL in the Budget estimates for 2003-04. Reacting to Ms Chakravarty’s statement, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Leader of the Opposition in the Haryana Assembly, said the Centre was only interested in procrastinating the work of completion of the canal. He asserted that starting from March 2, when the rally at Jhajjar is scheduled to be held, the Congress would go on intensifying its stir and force the NDA government in Delhi to complete work of the canal. On March 2 the Haryana Government will also organise a public meeting at Rohtak — which is adjacent to Jhajjar — to celebrate its three years in the saddle in Haryana. The SYL issue will figure in the government function as well as the court verdict on January 15, 2002, on the completion of the canal, is being projected by the state government as one of its major achievements. Mr George Fernandes, Union Defence Minister, Mr M L Khurana, chief of BJP’s Delhi unit and former Chief Minister of Delhi and Mr Y Naidu, chief of Telugu Desham Party in the Lok Sabha will take part in the Haryana Government function. |
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Roll back hike in urea price: Chautala Chandigarh, February 28 The increase in the prices of diesel, urea and DAP would be a harsh blow to the farmers who were yet to recover from the ill-effects of the recent drought, Mr Chautala said adding in the context of the WTO, the government should introduce measures to encourage farmers to go for diversification of agriculture instead of increasing the prices of urea, diesel and other agricultural inputs. Mr Chautala said the proposal for reducing 1 per cent interest rate on small savings and general provident fund should also be reconsidered because it would affect the middle class and the working class. The Chief Minister appreciated Budget proposals laying more stress on social indicators like housing, human resource development and medical care. Tax rebate on education expenses up to Rs 12,000 per child would help promote education facilities, he said and added that incentives announced for the health sector were also praiseworthy. He also welcomed the thrust on development of physical infrastructure under roads, power and drinking water which he said would give impetus to creation of economic activities generating employment opportunities. The salaried class, senior citizens and pensioners would stand to gain considerably as a result of the tax rebates and concessions announced in the Budget. The policy to compensate the states for revenue loss due to introduction of VAT needs to be further amended to fully compensate the loss of states, he said. He, however, added that the fiscal reforms would lead to higher devolution of resources to the states. |
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Sunil Dutt for change in leadership at Centre Pehowa, February 28 Mr Dutt was addressing a well-attended “swabhiman bhachao” rally organised by the Haryana State Youth Congress in the grain market here. Mr Dutt maintained that there was a dire need to change the leadership in the country and provide new direction to the policies of the government. While expressing concern at the lot of farmers in the country, he demanded that the farmers should be given maximum facilities. Mr Dutt alleged that while stocks of grain were rotting in godowns, people in Bihar and Orissa were “dying of hunger” due to the wrong policies of the NDA government. Talking about Haryana, he questioned the state government’s move to open casinos. Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, President, All India Youth Congress, said the Youth Congress would launch a movement against the move to open casinos and corruption during the Chautala regime. While talking about the lot of the farmers, he demanded a minimum support price of Rs 1000 per quintal of wheat. He alleged that prices of fertilisers, pesticides, diesel, kerosene oil etc had increased manifold in Haryana since 1996. Mr Satwinder Singh Timmi, president of the Haryana Youth Congress, threatened to take to roads, if the oppression of farmers and
labourers continued in Haryana. Mr Tejinder Pal Mann, president of the Haryana Pradesh Khet Mazdoor Congress, while recounting the difficulties being faced by farmers and farm labour, alleged that the Chautala government was acting with vengeance against its political opponents. |
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LADT Act to be amended Chandigarh, February 28 Official sources said the high-powered committee to consider customised package of incentives for prestigious projects met here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, today and decided to exempt all such new projects from paying the LADT for which an investment of Rs 30 crore or above would be made. The proposal would come up before the Cabinet at its next meeting following which it will be introduced in the Assembly session coming up from March 5. The sources said the high-powered committee also decided to reduce stamp duty as well as registration fee by 50 per cent each for buyers of industrial plots in low potential zones (LPZ). The whole state had been divided in high potential and low potential zones, the sources said and added that instead of 12 per cent of the cost of the plot as stamp duty and 2 per cent as registration fee, the buyers would be required to pay 6 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively, if the plot fell in the LPZ. Officials of the Revenue Department had been already given instructions to this effect, the sources said. It was learnt that the paint major Goodlass Nerolac Ltd of Japan, which was planning to set up a unit at the Bawal Industrial Estate (BIE) of Haryana, was likely to be among the first beneficiaries of the concessions as the BIE fell in the areas identified as LPZ. The sources said apart from investment of Rs 30 crore or above, several other factors were also kept in view while working out the package of concessions. “Particular attention would be paid to revenue generation and ancilliarisation aspects of a project so that the benefits accruing from the project outweighed the concessions given to it”, the sources said. The high-powered committee also cleared a proposal to give land on lease to the Container Corporation of India(CONCOR), a Government of India undertaking, for the setting up OF state of the art Control Atmosphere Warehouse Facility in the HSIDC Industrial Estate at Rai in Sonepat district. Official sources said the state government decided to deviate from the established policy of selling industrial plots and decided to lease the land to the CONCOR due to some of the features of the project which were expected to give a boost to horticulturists. Apart from storage facility for vegetable and fruits, the project, involving an investment of Rs 70 crore by CONCOR, would also offer facilities for picking up the produce from farms in refrigerated vans, the sources said and added that Union Railway Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar would lay the foundation stone of the project tomorrow. |
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250 BKU workers court arrest Jind, February 28 The call for the andolan was given by the State Executive Committee of the state BKU to press its demand for the release of BKU leader Ghasi Ram Nain, arrested in Ambala district a few months ago in connection with farmers agitation. Earlier, BKU workers assembled near the local Rani Talab and raised slogans demanding the release of Mr Nain. Later, they marched in procession, led by Rampal Kandela, state general secretary of the state BKU, and Mr Nafe Singh lgrah, district secretary of the BKU, Jind, and reached at the Mini Secretariat where they courted arrest. The police had rounded up 52 BKU workers yesterday, who were later released on the same day. KAITHAL: As many as 130 BKU activists courted arrest outside Mini Secretariat, here on Friday. They were demanding immediate release of Mr Nain. The arrested workers were taken to the Sadar police station and released after a few hours. Earlier, the BKU workers assembled at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Park where Mr Jia Lal, district general secretary, Mr Pala Ram, block president, Mr Udham Singh, propaganda secretary, Mr Bhure Ram Pabnawa and other local leaders expressed resentment over the delay in the release of Mr Nain, presently lodged Ambala jail. They said if the government continued its anti-farmer policies, the organisation would be forced to intensify its agitation. They also refused to clear their power bills till the matter was amicably settled. |
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BJP seeks ouster of MC vice-president Ambala, February 28 A delegation of the BJP led by the Ambala Cantt mandal president, Mr Shish Pal
Bhola, met the Deputy Commissioner and submitted an application seeking no-confidence motion under Section 21 of the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973. NOTICE TO MC CHIEF: According to sources, the Director, Urban Development Department, Haryana, has issued a show cause notice to Mr Shankar Dass following the registration of a case against him under the corruption Act by the State Vigilance Bureau, Ambala, in which the Punjab and Haryana High Court had stayed the arrest of Mr Dass and a few others, till April 28. The action has been taken following the submission of a memorandum by the Vikas Parishad with the Deputy Commissioner, who forwarded it to the Director for necessary action. The local MLA, Mr Anil Vij, had demanded the dismissal of Mr Shankar Dass following the registration of a corruption case against him. The sources said the Director had issued a seven-day notice to Mr Dass to clarify his position on the issue. Meanwhile a senior leader of the BJP said they were not aware of any such notice. As per the application the councillors have requested the Deputy Commissioner to convene a special meeting of the municipal councillors Ambala Sadar as per rules. The signatories include Bimal Prakash, Jasbir Jassi, Narinder Sharma, Rajiv Gupta, Nirmal Aggarwal, Bhagwati Devi, Angoori Devi, Veena Sehgal, Pandit Shankar Dass, Surinder Bindra and Gokulesh Awasthi. The MC president, Pandit Shanker Dass, said March 5 had been fixed for the meeting in which the no-confidence motion would be moved. The move by the BJP municipal councillors to seek no-confidence motion against the vice-president, Mr Suresh Garg, of the Vikas Parishad comes a day after the Vikas Parishad demanded the dismissal of the Municipal Council president, Pandit Shankar Dass. A delegation led by the Ambala Cantt MLA and Vikas Parishad chief, Mr Anil Vij, had yesterday submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr
D.D. Gautam, seeking the dismissal of Pandit Shankar Dass and a high-level inquiry into “irregularities”. The Vikas Parishad memorandum stated that under Section 14A, the director could suspend any member of a committee where a case against him in respect of any criminal offence was under investigation, inquiry or trial. |
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HIGH COURT Chandigarh, February 28 Pronouncing the orders in the open Court, the Bench, comprising Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr Justice S.S. Grewal, ruled: “This is a petition for directing the respondents to pay compensation of Rs 6,30,000 to the petitioners on account of the death of the bread winner, Birbal Singh, due to electrocution”. Fixing March 27 as the next date of hearing in the case, the Judges observed: “While adjourning the case, we deem it necessary and appropriate to award interim compensation to the petitioners because it is an undisputed fact that Birbal Singh had died due to electrocution caused when he came in contact with an overhead electric line which had snapped without his fault. Hence, we direct the respondent to pay Rs 50,000 as an interim compensation to the petitioners”. |
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Set up another court at Tohana, say lawyers Fatehabad, February 28 He said the Supreme Court had taken a serious view of the large number cases pending in various courts and it was with this in mind that the apex court had decided to constitute fast track courts. |
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POSTINGS Chandigarh, February 28 Mr Surjit Singh, has been posted Zonal Administrator, Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board, Hisar, against a vacant post. |
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BDS results declared Kurukshetra, February 28 The result is also available in the offices of colleges and the Dean of Colleges, Kurukshetra University, said a university spokesman here today. He said counselling for admission would be held as per the schedule given in the information brochure. |
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HUDA to hold spring fest Kurukshetra, February
28 Rathore’s plea dismissed
Ambala, February 28
Mr Rathore had filed an application to hold the proceeding of Ruchika molestation case in camera alleging that the media was prejudiced against him. While announcing the dismissal order on the
application. |
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