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June 20, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Board may penalise students for laxity Sonepat, June 19 According to information, the board has given a final opportunity to 42 such schools in the state, including over 20 in Sonepat district, directing them to bring their attendance, fee and admission registers to the board office on specified dates between June 23 and June 30. The board has made it clear that if any school does not bring the records, it would be deemed that the school did not have any such records. The board would then cancel the results of the candidates of such schools. It would also recommend to the government to cancel the recognition of the said school. In this district, the board has asked 12 schools to bring their records on June 23, three others on June 24 and five on June 26 and another school on June 27. According to the board authorities, a large number of students from the 42 schools appeared in the examinations for 10+2 classes. During spot inspections, irregularities were noticed by the board. However, after securing affidavits from principals that the school records would be produced after the examinations, the students were allowed to take their papers. The board had sent letters to these schools asking them to produce the records to judge the eligibility of the students but none of them did so. The board sent a reminder on June 9 to which also the schools did not respond. The board was, therefore, constrained to send the ultimatum, giving fresh dates for submitting the records for verification. Rattled by the threat of cancellation of recognition, the schools are considering taking the matter to court. The owner of one of the schools, on the condition of anonymity, questioned
the competence of the board in cancelling the examination results of the students. |
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BJP adds BPL families to its electoral fodder New Delhi, 19 Briefing reporters, the Delhi BJP chief Madan Lal Khurana said that a party delegation had met union Food and Civil Supplies Minister Sharad Yadav and demanded a probe into gross irregularities in the distribution of foodgrain to the poor. According to Mr Sharad Yadav, a task force has been told to go into the alleged irregularities and corruption in implementation of the Antyodaya scheme. “Since the introduction of the scheme on August 15, 2000, the state government had registered only 31,000 people,’’ Mr Khurana alleged. He added: “There are 2.25 lakh BPL families eligible for ration cards under the scheme in Delhi. But it appears that there are only 31,000 poor in the Capital.’’ He also accused Ms Dikshit of politicising the scheme, and gave Vajpayee government the credit for its introduction. ‘’She is misleading the people and trying to gain political mileage…’’ he claimed. Under the scheme, three types of cards — one providing free food to homeless, the second providing wheat and rice at Rs two and Rs three per kg, respectively, and the third providing wheat, rice and sugar – are available, but not a single card under the first category was made. The BJP chief alleged that the Chief Minister had got her photographs printed on the cards, completely ignoring the contribution of the prime minister. ``Mr Vajpayee’s photograph should also have been inserted,’’ he said. Adding the cause of the poor to BJP’s electoral agenda, which has so far been confined to power, water and corruption, Mr Khurana claimed that the Congress had done little in the past five years to mitigate their suffering. ‘’Congress claims that it has a poor and Dalit vote bank, but it does little for them,’’ he said. |
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THE
ACHIEVERS New Delhi, June 19 Born in a big joint family, she was adored and pampered by all. However, polio struck. It shattered her family members but they never left her alone. They gave her complete support and never made her feel different from others. But it affected her schooling and she lost a year when she was in class two, as she had to undergo an operation on a leg. Hope always stayed with her. Her father, especially, never treated her as a different child. There were times when she used to spend endless days in the hospital, but her love and zest for life never failed her. As if polio wasn’t enough, rheumatic fever at the age of 13 affected her heart. She had to undergo an open-heart surgery after her post-graduation that provided her temporary relief for six years. Before this, She had stayed in the hostel for three years during her graduation from Indraprastha College. Another surgery after two years gave her a metal valve and made anti-coagulants a part of her life. Polio became a secondary concern, as her heart required constant attention. Life couldn’t be normal in her college days. But then it had never been normal. She wasn’t able to participate in sports, try swimming or other outdoor activities. But her desire to achieve something made her live through these disappointments, the greatest of which came when she was told that she couldn’t take the civil services examination as physically disabled people were not allowed. That was the first time she felt devastated. But she overcame her inhibitions and continued to move forward. Her parents have been her role model. “My father especially taught me that if I became dependent on anybody, life could become real tough for me. An independent person could get huge respect from life,” she says. After scripting success at the graduation level by topping in Psychology, she went on to top in the post-graduation exams in the university. It was followed up by M Phil and PhD. She had always had a flair for teaching and it prompted her to join the university. “At my college, I am known as ‘terror’ to my students. But they also give me huge amount of respect and express awe at me being fully mobile despite physical ailments. They help me when I need help but otherwise act perfectly normally with me.” She feels that “disability in our country is taken more as a personal tragedy and the environment and the society that cause it are not given that much importance. However, for the last ten years, there is a distinct disability movement. Things are changing now. We have miles to go before any mark is made. The Indian society is at a juncture where it doesn’t treat disability with respect but instead labels it.” |
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PUBLIC
INTEREST New Delhi, June 19 The Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Diskhit, inaugurated the facility here today. Sugam lays emphasis on consumer convenience and also makes payment through modes possible. The NDPL, a Tata Power and Delhi Government joint venture, is responsible for power distribution in north and northwest Delhi. NDPL Chief Executive Officer Anil Kumar Sardana told mediapersons that the company, which took charge in Delhi in July last year, had so far spent Rs 133 crore for upgrading various equipment, which had been in place in the areas under its charge. He said that owing to their efforts in the last few months, the NDPL had been able to improve the supply situation in areas to a major extent and this could easily be gauged by the fact that the number of complaints, which were 12,000 per day in July 2002, had fallen drastically to 3,000 per day. Among those present at the inaugural ceremony were Delhi Power, Tourism and Transport Minister Ajay Maken and several other senior officials. In her address, Ms Dikshit said the initiative would help bring about the much-required transparency in procedures apart from enabling citizens to pay their bills without hassle. Mr Sardana said apart from online payment, Sugam also provided for a host of new payment facilities, which included NDPL Consumer Care Centres, manned drop boxes at notified NDPL premises with immediate acknowledgement, payment through retail outlets in local
neighbourhoods by franchise centres, among other facilities. The company had also tied up with various banks where the bills could be paid. Mr Sardana said the company would now focus on further strengthening the system, including working on the substations and the cables. The company planned to mop up finances for further expansion through internal resources as well as loans under the Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme. |
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POWER
LINK SEVERED
Noida, June 19 The supply has been snapped as the hospital had repeatedly failed to pay its power bills. In March, of a cumulative bill of Rs 3.5 lakh, only Rs 1.25 lakh had been deposited by the hospital authorities. This is not the first time that the district hospital is without power. In March 2003, too, the UP Power Corporation had snapped the supply to the hospital. At that time, on the CMO’s request, District Magistrate Jatinder Kumar had intervened to get the supply restored. Incidentally, most of the doctors and paramedical staff are on leave as they can’t function in the pathetic conditions. Only Chief Medical officer M. A. Haq and some senior medical officers are sweating it out in the mosquito-infested hospital. Some of the senior officers had somehow “managed” to wrangle single-phase power supply for their residences. However, the Deputy General Manager, UP Power Corporation (Noida), Mr B. B. Singh, is understood to have ordered that the single-phase facility be disconnected. “The hospital must pay its full arrears first. Only then, power supply will be restored,” Mr Singh said. OC
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Naval officer on morning stroll crushed by tanker New Delhi, June 19 The deceased, Commander Nawaz Ahmed Khan (39), was hit by a private water tanker from behind in the diplomatic area at around 6.16 am near the Thailand Embassy. He died on the spot, the police said. The driver abandoned the vehicle and fled the spot soon after the incident but the police later identified him as Virender Singh, working for one Jaiprakash Saini. The police have launched a hunt for the driver and have registered a case of rash and negligent driving against him. The deceased was posted in New Delhi for the last 2 ½ years; he is survived by his wife and daughter. |
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Drying ponds cause resentment among farmers Sonepat, June 19 According to a report, this has caused much resentment among the people of the villages who are already facing difficulties to meet the requirement of water for their milch and other animals. Many farmers alleged that they had approached the authorities of the irrigation department for stressing the need to fill up the ponds with canal water but all their requests have yielded little results. Meanwhile farmers of several villages have been facing an acute shortage of canal water for the sowing of kharif crops and urged the Chief Minister to direct the authorities of the irrigation department to ensure regular supply of canal water. Many farmers were also critical for their failure to redress their grievances about the scarcity of canal water even during the rotation period. They said that crops worth several lakhs of rupees had been damaged during the rabi season due to the erratic supply of canal water. Farmers, whose fields are situated at the tail end, have always been deprived of water supplies. Some of the farmers, who do not have alternative means of irrigation, have been compelled to purchase water from the owners of tubewells who charge fancy price for it. According to informed sources, some farmers who allegedly enjoy the patronage of ruling INLD, are indulging in large-scale theft of water thanks to the failure of the authorities concerned to check the menace. As a result, the farmers at the tail end bear the brunt of the theft. The leaders of various farmers’ organisations have demanded immediate transfers of the officials who have failed to check the cases of water theft. They also demanded a high-level probe into the complaints of the farmers about the shortage and theft of canal water.
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LG for felling of old trees, wants audit on survival rate New Delhi, June 19 Mr Kapoor expressed concern over the gap of 60,000 trees in the achievements set for 2002-03 and laid emphasis on the need for an audit on their survival by associating with NGOs and other voluntary bodies and said that targets should be made public. The LG went on to add that species conducive to the climatic conditions of Delhi should be planted. The Forest Department pointed out that a target of planting eight lakh trees had been set for 2003 and in addition to this 2.5 lakh trees would be supplied free of cost to eco clubs, RWAs and other bodies. Mr Kapoor directed that old trees should be felled and new saplings planted along the roads should also be launched, especially in the NDMC areas, and instructed that the interpretation centre at the biodiversity park should be ready by October 2003. Reviewing the performance of the DDA, he advised that block plantation should be done and monitored. The LG also advised that areas like Astha Kunj and Bhalaswa Lake should be taken up for plantation. The DDA had announced developing shopping malls and commercial spaces at Vasant Kunj on Nelson Mandela Road. These malls will be part of the overall scheme of development of Vasant Vihar Phase II. |
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SPECIAL
FOCUS ON ROHTAK Rohtak, June 19 A large number of residents, of various sectors developed by HUDA in the State, have not paid the water and sewerage bills for the past several years, and jointly owe several crores of rupees to the government owned coloniser. In Rohtak alone, the outstanding amount is Rs 3.68 lakh out of which Rs 1.4 lakh is due towards residents of Sector-I. The residents of the Housing Board Colony in sector I have to pay Rs 56,802 towards water and sewerage charges, while the sector 14 residents owe Rs 23,000 to HUDA. The sector I, HUDA has 2,642 houses, including nearly 1,000 houses of housing board colony. The perusal of the defaulters list revealed that few occupants of ‘VIP plots’ (two Kanal and one Kanal) are also among the non-payers of water and sewerage bills. While one of these plot holders owe Rs 15,840, an amount of Rs 11,205 and Rs 12,508 are due from another two holders of such plots. A senior functionary of the HUDA told NCR Tribune that certain occupants of ‘VIP plots’ have unauthorized water connection. These people had not even applied for a regular connection, the official said. However, no action had been taken against these defaulters so far. Though houses have been constructed in almost 80 per cent of the plots in sector I, many occupants have not yet received the “occupation certificate” from HUDA. Such residents are required to pay at the rate of Rs 4 per kilolitre for metered supply. Those who do not have metered supply are charged at flat rates, Rs 825 in case of occupants of 250 square yard house and Rs 1,200 for 350 square yard house. Those who have taken completion certificates are charged according to the consumption - Rs 1.25 for consumption upto 15 kl, Rs 2.50 upto 30 kl and Rs 4 above 30 kl consumption.
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SAVE THE TREES... PLEASE Rohtak, June 19 According to information, the foundation of six houses, to be constructed near type 2 A houses, has already been laid on the campus. Several trees have already been cut down for laying the foundation of houses while nearly 150 such trees are expected to meet the same fate within the next few days. Some environmentalists, staying on the campus, agitated by this exercise, have argued that the houses could be constructed at some other place. They said most of these trees had been around for over seven years and several parts of these trees had herbal value. Col RS Malik, Estate Officer of the university, said there was no plan to construct houses in this part of the campus when the trees were planted by the university authorities nearly six years ago. He said that these houses were supposed to be constructed near the same type of houses in order to maintain symmetry. The trees falling in the courtyards of the proposed houses, however, would be spared, he said. The Forest department officials expressed their inability to take any action in this regard, on the plea, that one is not required to take permission from them for felling trees in Rohtak, as the Punjab Land Conservation Act was not in force here. |
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HSIDC gets 300 acres vacated Sonepat, June 19 The officials HSIDC, armed with a duty magistrate and a large contingent of police, got the land vacated yesterday. According to a report, this land was in the possession of Mr JS Pannu, retired Captain of Indian Army, for the last six years and it was acquired by the HSIDC to set up an industrial sector. The hurried action by the officials was reportedly taken, to avoid the possible stay order from the Supreme Court, as a writ petition has been filed by Mr Pannu against the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in favour of the State Government and the HSIDC. The Supreme Court has accepted the writ petition of Mr Pannu for hearing. Mr Pannu has alleged that the authorities did not issue any prior notice to him before his residence was got vacated and the household articles were thrown outside. Mr Pannu, it may be recalled, had fought the enemy in 1965 conflict with Pakistan. Capt Pannu was posted at Haji Peer post in Jammu and Kashmir. He alleged that the district and police authorities have rendered him homeless inspite of his bravery shown by him in the Indo-Pakistan conflict in 1965.
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Meter replacement drive annoys residents Faridabad, June 19 The meters are being replaced in case of residential as well as non-residential consumers. The State power department had earlier started the meter replacement campaign way back in 1996. However, the department was able to attain only 50 per cent of its target of replacing the meters and the process had to be stalled as the new meters were found to be defective and could be easily tempered with. The second such drive was launched in year 1999-2000, as per the department sources. But it is reported that these meters, which were of Chinese make, were also not upto the mark could not also check the tempering methods. The third campaign, which is the latest one, was started in 2001. Consumers, however, allege that these meters are 80 to 100 per cent faster than the old meters. Though the Nigam Authorities deny it and claim that new meters are perfect, these claims are not acceptable to the residents. Rajender Singh, a resident of Ajronda village here said that his monthly electricity bill had jumped to three times after the installation of the new meter, five months ago. He said he had to pay about Rs 3,000 per month now, against the earlier bill, which used to be, on an average, around Rs 1,100 every month. Mahesh of the same village also said that he had to shell out Rs 2,400-2,500 every month after the installation of the new meter, against the earlier bill of around Rs 1,000 a month. Another resident, Jagdish Singh, of sector 15A also said that he was now paying about two and half times more than what he used to pay earlier. The residents had even resorted to violent protests several times, against this drive. The Janata Dal leader, Mr Raj Kumar Gaur, has demanded that electricity bills of all the district officials including those of all IAS and HCS, DHBVN engineers and police officers be made public, so that people should know, how much bills the officers were paying themselves after using air conditioners and other electronic gadgets.
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Sonepat a hub of lottery business
Sonepat, June 19 According to a report, men, women and even school-going kids buy lottery tickets and scan newspapers and draw sheets dished out everyday to find their fate. Several shops have mushroomed in different parts of the towns of the district selling lotteries. The areas in Sonepat where lottery trade is flourishing are the railway road, Taran-Bawa road, Subzimandi road, Murthal road, bus stand and Model Town. It is a big business not only for private lottery sellers and their agents but also the government. The losers are mostly labourers, small businessmen and professionals and some sections of the middle class who try their luck too often. Boys and elders can be seen selling tickets at the bus stations, railway stations and markets. Social organisations here want the central government to enact a law to stop the growth of lotteries. Lotteries, which are becoming brisker by the day, may augur well for those in the trade but threaten to become a menace and casts an evil spell on greenhorns. Persons who buy lottery tickets gradually become die-hard gambling addicts and consequently ruin themselves. They generally comprise poor rickshaw-pullers, labourers and schoolchildren. The most popular lottery is the single digit one, which has a draw everyday. OC
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Fragile
peace as tension persists in Dasna Gate Ghaziabad, June 19 The police have, meanwhile, appealed to both the communities to maintain peace. The police had called a meeting of representatives from both the communities in the area. All shops have opened though tension persists in the area. There had been a clash between two brothers and some other youths on the issue of loud music being played outside their house in Pakka Serai at 11 pm on Tuesday night. As the Dasna police post was nearby and SP (City) Gyneshwar Tiwari and the CO and the SO Kotwali were able to reach the spot quickly the situation was brought under control. The injured youth, Hasan, was rushed to Yashoda Hospital immediately. The accused Sonu and his brother Dhiraj were immediately arrested and the former’s licensed revolver was seized. Hasan is admitted in the Intensive Care Unit of Yashoda Hospital but is reported to be stable and out of danger now. Sonu said when his younger brother Dhiraj told those people to stop playing shrill music they tried to forcibly drag his brother away. He had to fire a shot to save his brother, he said. Mr Tiwari said once earlier also Sonu had fired shots from his revolver. The DM is being requested to cancel his arm licence. Both the brothers, the SP (City) said, had been sent to jail. |
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Girl falls from roof while flying kite Sonepat, June 19 Case under Arms Act
registered:
According to a report, a case under the Indian Arms Act has been registered against him. |
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NCR
BRIEFS Sonepat, June 19 According to a report, the arrested persons were identified as Sanjay, alias Mauji, Jagdish, alias Ajit, Vijay Kumar and Jagdish. The police also recovered some cash and satta parchis from their possession. A case under the gambling Act has been registered against them.
Dharna in front of DC’s office The Haryana Government PWD Mechanical Workers Union has decided to organise a daylong dharna in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office on June 24 next to register its protest against the anti-employee attitude of the General Manager, Haryana Roadways, at Hisar.
Rohtak: With a view to promote Haryanavi culture, a ‘Saang’ festival will be organised at the Chhotu Ram College ground here from June 21 to 24.The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, will inaugurate the festival. A spokesman for the district administration on Thursday said the objective behind organising Saang was to highlight Haryanavi culture and popularise it. He said four renowned artists, Dharambir Saangi, Pawan Kumar Gaur, Suraj Bhan Saangi and Tohfa Gayur had been invited.
MDU law entrance exam
on June 22 Maharshi Dayanand University will hold the entrance examination for admission to the five-year integrated law course (semester system) of MDU National Law College, Gurgaon, on June 22. At least 600 candidates are likely to appear in this examination.
MDU to begin coaching for PMT The university centre for competitive examinations of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) will start a three-month coaching programme for pre-medical Test (PMT) from August 4. A university press release on Thursday stated candidates from Scheduled Castes, backward classes and minorities interested in availing the coaching-cum-consultation facilities might apply on prescribed application forms available at the centre on payment of Rs 10. The application forms should be submitted to the centre latest by July 10.
LLB entrance exam results declared Maharshi Dayanand University has declared the result of LLB entrance examination held on June 15.The result is available at the inquiry counter of the university.
Baby health show results Narnual: Mona, daughter of Kishan Lal of Surani village, was declared first and Snehlata of Saluni stood second whereas Seema bagged the third prize in a rural baby health show at a mahila seminar and health camp organised by the Programme Advancement of Gender (PAGE) at Anaj Mandi, Ateli, in Narnaul subdivision. Mrs Santosh Yadav, an INLD leader, gave away the prizes. |
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DELHI
DIGEST New Delhi, June 19 He went on to add the Chief Minister, Ms Shiela Diskhit, was unaware of the hardships faced by the people inhabiting the slums and that she should make a visit to these areas. The newly built Mother Dairy booth is the 25th in the Chandni Chowk constituency with a capacity of 1500 litres. It was pointed out that two more booths would be opened in the constituency. Sonia attends prayer
meeting: The programme comprising recitation of the Koran and prayers for salvation were held at the residence of Avtar Singh Badana, MP, on June 16. The meeting was also attended by his widow Lajwanti Yunus, Dr Manmohan Singh, Mr Ahmed Patel, Mr K.Natwar Singh, Mr R.K. Dhawan, Mr Avtar Singh Badana, Ms Tajdar Babbar and Mr Safdar H. Khan. The programme was arranged by Mr S.H. Khan, General Manager of the India Trade Promotion Organisation. |
Fake visa, licence racket unearthed New Delhi, June 19 According to the police, Anti-Extortion Cell Sub-Inspector Arvind received information that a racket in making fake licences and other documents was thriving in Naraina village. After working on the information, he sent a decoy customer and a deal was set to get a driving license and RC made on June 18. When the deal was fixed and the money had exchanged hands, the police team in plain clothes raided the premises from where the racket was being run and arrested the suspects. During interrogation they disclosed that they knew each other for a long time and worked in the printing field. Their printing activity was hardly remunerative and finding dealing in fake documents easy with the advent of computers and high-quality scanners they got lured into the world of crime. They had planned to become millionaires by increasing the scope of the racket as they found the demand for fake documents huge, the police said.
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Eight injured in clash, assailants at large Sonepat, June 19 The injured persons were identified as Dhan Ram, Ram Raj and Khillara, all real brothers and Ramesh, their nephew, all belonging to one group. Four others from the rival group, Raj Singh, Hari Om, Surinder and a woman Krishna, were also injured. The police have registered a case and no arrest has been made in this connection, as all the alleged assailants were still at large. In another clash occurred at Rohna village, atleast six persons were injured and they were identified as Jatinder, Joginder, Sandeep, Dharamvir, Narinder and a woman Krishna. All the injured persons have been identified and are stated to be out of danger. The police are still investigating into the case. According to another report, Mr Fateh Singh, a resident of Garhi Brahmanan village, was assaulted with knives by a Youth, Satinder, of the same village, on the Sonepat-Mehlana road here last evening. The injured man was immediately hospitalised and he is stated to be out of danger. The police has registered a case and launched a hunt to apprehend the alleged assailant who is still at large. Priest attacked:
The police have registered the case and further investigations are in progress. However, no arrest has been made in this connection. |
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