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Thursday,
October
16, 2003,
Chandigarh, India
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Cong campaign: top Jats being BJP rally a flop, claims Bhajan Lal Next BJP rally in Dec, says Kataria Chautala urges RBI to cut interest on farm loans Viral
fever toll crosses 60 |
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Arhtiyas looting farmers, alleges kisan union Rs 8.5 cr for court complex in Panipat
Dairy institute adopts village 3 cops suspended for links with liquor mafia Dharna by municipal committee staff Haryana to have another IRB More sugar quota for BPL families Helpline for dengue suspects Community latrines in villages planned
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Cong campaign: top Jats being roped in Gurgaon, October 15 The Haryana angle has crept in the election campaign of the two states, especially Rajasthan, in a major way on account of Jat dominated Assembly constituencies. Out of 200 Assembly seats in Rajasthan about half of them are decisively influenced by the Jat community. In outer Delhi there are about 21 Assembly segments and about 16 of them are considered to be influenced by the Jats. The INLD is certain to field its nominees in Rajasthan and Delhi, especially in the Jat-dominated areas of the two states. According to sources, the Pradesh Congress Committees in the two states are in the process of giving final touches to the schedule of the leaders from Haryana and the same would be sent to the AICC for necessary action. A section in the Haryana Congress is of the firm view that the nominees of the Om Prakash Chautala-led INLD must be opposed in the neighbouring states of Rajasthan and Delhi. The leaders who hold this line are credited with the view that Haryana would have election, a few months after the elections in the four states going to polls in November-December. Any possible chances of INLD nominees winning in the two states must be scuppered to prevent the party getting mileage among the voters in the subsequent Haryana-round of Assembly election. Outer Delhi and a good portion of Rajasthan have cultural affinity with Haryana. Hence, the primacy in the Congress camp, especially Haryana unit, is to pre-empt any possible odds from its arch rival, the INLD, in the state. According to sources in the Haryana Congress, a section in the AICC also holds a similar view and it feels that pressing in top leaders from the Jat community from the home state of Mr Om Prakash Chautala would help kill two birds with one stone. One, the move would help counter Mr Chautala and curb the growth of his INLD in the two states, and secondly, obliquely preparing solid ground to take him on in Haryana-round of election. |
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BJP rally a flop, claims Bhajan Lal Yamunanagar, October 15 He said the BJP had been working for the past month for the success of the rally and even announced that Hema Malini and Vinod Khanna would be attending it but in spite of the propaganda it was a disappointing show. Mr Bhajan Lal also lashed out at Mr Bansi Lal and Mr Om Prakash Chautala who came to power on “false” promises. He alleged that industrialists were migrating to other states because of the poor law and order situation in Haryana. He said value added tax would be abolished and employees who had been retrenched would be absorbed if he came to power. He said the Congress would give ticket to a local person. He was given Rs 1 lakh by the Chhachhrauli Block Congress. |
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Next BJP rally in Dec, says Kataria Ambala, October 15 Talking to mediapersons here today, the BJP state President, Mr Ratan Lal
Kataria, said the next rally would be held in December. “We are yet to decide on the venue of the rally. In the meantime, we are going to retrospectively look at various aspects of the Panipat rally,” he said. He said the five remaining Lok Sabha seats would be covered soon. “The stretch from Kalka to Hodal will be taken up and we will cover Ambala, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Sonepat and Faridabad,” he said. Mr Kataria stated that the BJP and before that the Jan Sangh had always won once each of the Lok Sabha seats in Haryana. “We informed the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr
L.K. Advani, that the BJP had a significant presence in the Lok Sabha seats about three decades back. But ever since we entered into an alliance, we have lost out,” he said. He stated that in 1967-68, there were 13 MLAs of the Jan
Sangh. “In each alliance, we have been the junior partner and in 38 years, we have not been able to shake off the tag of junior. We still continue to remain the third force,” he said. “We have sought that we should be given 10 years’ time so that we can show results,” he added. Mr Kataria said the nomination for state President would take place on October 28 and the new president would take over on October 29. The former Governor, Mr Suraj
Bhan, said the BJP rally in Panipat was a success. “The rally has shown that the BJP is a strong force in Haryana and the morale of the party workers has gone up,” he said. |
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Chautala urges RBI to cut interest on farm loans Chandigarh, October 15 Mr Chautala made this request to the Governor of the RBI, Mr Y.V. Reddy, who had called on him, here this evening. Mr Chautala said while the rate of interest on house loan was 8 per cent, it was 11 per cent in case of the agriculture sector. The agriculture sector should be the priority area and the rate of interest should be slashed, he added. Mr Reddy said he would look into the matter in the larger interest of the farming community and the small-scale industries. He appreciated the manner in which the finances were being managed in Haryana, which resulted in accelerated pace of development of finances. Mr Reddy was accompanied by the Regional Director of the RBI Mr D.P.S. Rathore. The Haryana Chief Secretary, Mr A.N. Mathur, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Mr B.D. Dhalia, and Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Finance, Mr Chander Singh, were also present in the meeting. |
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Viral
fever toll crosses 60 Karnal, October 15 The medical authorities of the state Health Department and the PGI, Chandigarh, are busy analysing the case history of patients even as more and more people continue to visit hospitals having symptoms of acute viral fever. The death toll in the state has crossed 60, with 10 more deaths reported in the past two days. According to a senior official of the Health Department, 17 new cases of viral infections with symptoms of dengue have been reported in Faridabad and one each in Karnal, Rewari, Panipat, Ambala, and Kurukshetra. In Karnal district, Mohinder Kaur (4), a resident of Indri block, and Shalu (5) of Nilokheri died of viral infection. Today, Anju (7) of Nigdu village (Karnal) died at a hospital in Kurukshetra, taking the death toll in the district to 17. Meanwhile, Amit Arora (13) of the Ramnagar area, Karnal, was admitted to the Civil Hospital at Karnal today following symptoms of viral infection. His blood samples have been taken by an expert from the PGI, Chandigarh, for medical examination. He was stated to be out of danger. Gulshan (6), a resident of Ismailabad village (Kurukshetra), who was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh, has reportedly died while another child of Mathana village (Kurukshetra) has been referred to the PGI. More deaths have been reported in Kurukshetra district, Arti (5), daughter of Pawan Kumar, Komal (3), daughter of Sewa Singh, and Sunita Devi, a resident of Jainpur Jattan, have reportedly died due to acute viral infections in the past 24 hours. In Ambala, Paras (40) has been reported to have died of a viral infection. Three more cases have been reported in the district today with symptoms of viral infection. As per figures available, the death toll in Ambala district has reached 6, Kurukshetra 6, Mahendragarh 4, Bahadurgarh 1 and Gurgaon 20. The
Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Karnal, Dr O.P. Mittal, said the
fogging operation in the district had been intensified today. He said
the department had 10 fogging machines in the district while one
bigger machine had been brought from Panipat. |
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Two more
suspected encephalitis cases Ambala, October 15 The Health Department has declared red alert in the district following the report of the PGI, Chandigarh, that a patient referred from Ambala Civil Hospital was diagnosed as dengue patient. The Civil Surgeon, Ms Avinash Sharma, said an emergency meeting of doctors was summoned today in which a strategy was chalked out to take preventive measures to check dengue disease. She said special ward had been set up for the suspected dengue cases in the Civil Hospital. She said though no confirmed case of dengue was detected in the district and a fogging campaign had been launched in villages. According to Health Department sources, reports of blood samples of 22 suspected patients sent to the
NICD, Delhi, was expected within two days. The department had also collected blood samples of over 20 persons from a number of villages of the Naggal constituency. Meanwhile, the Patron of the Haryana unit of the
IMA, Dr D.S. Jaspal, said prevention was the only cure in dengue cases. He said water and air coolers should be cleaned once in a week and dried before reuse. |
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Arhtiyas looting farmers, alleges kisan union Karnal, October 15 Mr Sewa Singh Arya, General Secretary of the state unit of the BKU said yesterday that commission agents were putting additional weight of 1100 gm against 655 gm for the weight of bag. This practice was prevalent in the state, he claimed. Adding that the enforcement agencies had not taken any action against the commission agents for the ‘loot’ he said that farmers were losing Rs 6 per quintal due to this unfair practice of commission agents. He also criticised the commission agents for illegally charging Rs two per quintal against ‘cleaning’. The BKU leader also said that certain varieties of paddy were procured at less price than that of the previous year. The BKU has demanded the state government to look into the problem of farmers and take action against the irregularities by the commission agents and the officials of procurement agencies. |
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Rs 8.5 cr for court complex in Panipat Chandigarh, October 15 Appearing before the Bench headed by Chief Justice Mr Justice B.K. Roy, the AG added that maps had been submitted to High Court’s building committee regarding the construction of sessions houses at Panchkula, Rewari, Jhajjar, Fatehabad and Yamunanagar. Counsel for the State of Punjab, Ms Charu Tuli, said sites for constructing complexes at Moga, Muktsar, Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr had been approved by the building committee. The case would now come up for further hearing on December 3. The Bench, acting on a petition filed by Panipat’s District Bar Association, had earlier asked the Haryana Government and all concerned to complete the construction of judicial complexes in five districts by the financial year-end. Issuing the directions, the Bench had said the houses of the District and Sessions Judges should also be completed during the period. The judges had directed that site plans should be submitted to the building committee for approval. In its petition, the association had asserted that orders regarding the construction of a judicial complex were passed way back on March 27, 1996, but till date nothing concrete had emerged. |
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Ambala residents pay
more for LPG Ambala, October 15 The anomaly in pricing has had an impact within the Ambala district as well since the price of an LPG cylinder in Ambala City and Ambala Cantonment is higher than that in Barara. The maximum retail price of a 14.2 kg domestic LPG cylinder, which is issued by the oil companies i.e. IOC, BPCL, HPCL and IBP, varies from place to place. Mr Sen, Senior Manager of IOC at Karnal, assured that he was looking into the matter. “We have taken up this anomaly with our seniors,” he said. “The pricing of LPG cylinder is carried out on an all-India basis. The pricing for Ambala City and Ambala Cantonment is based on Lalru, so Central sales tax and local sales tax has to be paid,” he added. Similar assurance was given by the IOC nearly a year back, yet no corrective measure had been taken to bring relief to the residents of Ambala. In Ambala City and Ambala Cantonment, the price of a cooking gas cylinder is Rs 258.12, while in Barara it is Rs 252.76. In Karnal, a cylinder is priced at Rs 248.36, while in Kurukshetra and Shahbad it available at Rs 248.36. In Yamuna Nagar, which neighbours Ambala district, a gas cylinder costs Rs 250.56. In Punjab, the price is much lower for an LPG cylinder. In Rajpura the price of a gas cylinder is Rs 244.65, while in Chandigarh it costs Rs 253.36. Lalru is cheapest with Rs 235.42 per cylinder. An office-bearer of the All-India LPG Distributors Federation, North-Western region, said: “It is clear from the prices that the consumers in Ambala City and Ambala Cantonment are paying more because of faulty LPG pricing.” “Gas agencies are not in a position to satisfy the consumer when posed the query of discrepancy in rate. Due to this reason, a large number of rural consumers now prefer to take LPG cylinder from Shahbad, Barara or Lalru. This is causing a loss to gas agencies in Ambala,” he observed. He stated that there should be a uniformity in prices in Ambala and other neighbouring areas like Karnal, Kurukshetra and Shahbad. “The anomaly in pricing needs to be corrected immediately,” he stated. |
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Dairy institute adopts village Karnal, October 15 Stating this here on Monday, Dr Nagendra Sharma, Director of the NDRI, said an inter-disciplinary team of scientists under the chairmanship of Dr Ram Chand, Head, Dairy Extension Division, had been constituted to carry out the extension activities in coordination with the staff of Dairy Development and Animal Husbandry Departments of the Punjab government. Meanwhile, Dr Ram Chand told TNS that a benchmark survey had been conducted and a programme had been chalked out to carry out systematic frontline extension activities for adoption of improved dairy technologies in this village. |
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3 cops suspended for links with liquor mafia Fatehabad, October 15 The district police chief, Mr Des Raj Singh, told mediapersons here today that he had suspended Sub-Inspector Kanwar Singh, in charge of Jakhal police station, ASI Chhelu Ram, in charge of Nagpur village police post and ASI Atma Ram, in charge of the Nanak Pura police post, for conniving with perpetrators of illegal trades. He said a departmental inquiry had been ordered against the suspended
policemen. Meanwhile, the police today claimed to have seized a still, 22 bottles of illicit liquor and 120 kg of lahan and arrested a suspect, Gulzar Singh, a resident of Mohammadpur Sottar village, in this connection. The police also arrested two persons for betting and booked them under the Gambling Act. The suspects have been identified as Banarsi Dass and Pawan Kumar, residents of Bhattu Kalan and
Bhuna, respectively. |
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Dharna by municipal committee staff Fatehabad, October 15 Mr Poonam Chand
Ratti, president of the state unit of the sangh, addressing the employees said that the anti-municipal employee policies of the state government had ruined not only the municipal committees of the state but had also put the Municipal employees in hardship. He said that the steps like the abolition of octroi, closing some Municipal Committees and transferring the employees of the closed committees to far-off places had harmed the municipal committees and their employees. He said that the government had not paid arrears of the hike in salaries following the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission
even after 39 months. He also said that the government owed Rs 20 crore to the employees that it had to deposit in the Provident Funds account of the employees. He said that there was resentment among municipal employees against the policies of the government. |
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Haryana to have another IRB Chandigarh, October 15 Stating this here today, Mr M.S. Malik, DGP, said in addition to the annual recurring expenditure on the IRB, the state would incur capital expenditure for providing basic infrastructure. If the battalion was deployed outside the state, the expenditure would be borne by the borrowing state. When the battalion remained un-deployed as reserve for the Central Government, the expenditure would be borne by the Centre. A selection board would recruit 1007 personnel for the IRB. |
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More sugar quota for BPL families Chandigarh, October 15 A spokesman of the department said here today that 962 metric tonnes of additional levy sugar quota had been allocated to the state government. At present, 625 grams of levy sugar was being distributed per unit in the state. |
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Helpline for dengue suspects Chandigarh, October 15 Dr M.L. Ranga, Minister of State for Health, said the Health Department had set up a helpline at the Director-General, Health Services, Haryana, office at Panchkula at telephone No. 2585504 and Fax No. 2585501. |
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Community latrines in villages planned Chandigarh, October 15 As many as 10 community latrines would be constructed for women at an estimated cost of Rs 1.5 lakh in each village, the press note said. |
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Christians meet
Bhajan Lal
Ambala, October 15 The delegation was led by Deputy spokesperson for the HPCC, Dr Pradeep Chauhan. Dr Chauhan said the Congress was the only party in the country, which had clear policies for each section of society. |
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