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Traffic on
national highway blocked Verbal duels in
Assembly Sonia to visit
Haryana Cong to field
young leaders, says Bhardwaj |
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Centre to provide
welfare information The District Rural Development Agency will soon set up an information centre here through which welfare schemes of all departments will be conveyed to people and information exchanged from experts and other agencies through the Internet. Dahiya to be VC
of Sirsa varsity Decks have been cleared for the appointment of Professor R.P. Dahiya as Vice-Chancellor of Ch Devi Lal University at Sirsa. Ambala, Sirsa
named airfield towns Ambala and Sirsa have been declared as airfield towns by the IAF which will now look after solid waste management of these towns, Mr Subhash Goyal, Minister of State for Urban Development said, during a question hour today. Kaithal, February 17 The Sikhs in Haryana will not tolerate discrimination at the hands of the SGPC and will constitute a separate Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. This was the conclusion reached at the meeting of representatives of the community from different parts of the state at the local Neem Sahib Gurdwara here today. Husband, in-laws
booked for dowry death The police today booked four members of a family in connection with a dowry death case. Karnal, February 17 Four persons died today morning at Kurukshetra while the condition of at least five others was said to be critical. Fatehabad, February 17 The police today arrested five persons for trafficking in illicit liquor. The police arrested Nanak Singh from Guru Nanak Mohalla here for possessing five bottles of liquor. Residents protest
over youth’s murder Hundreds of residents, including a large number of women, today blocked traffic and staged a dharna in front of the local bus stand in protest against police inaction in connection with the alleged murder of a youth. Cash collection
centres open today Keeping in view public convenience the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) will keep its electricity collection centres in 11 districts open tomorrow. 3 get judicial
remand in murder case The Judicial Magistrate, Ms Ranjna Aggarwal, has remanded three persons in judicial custody for 14 days against whom the police had registered a case under Section 302, IPC, when the body of Ansul, a girl of Ambala cantonment, was found in their factory on Valentine’s Day. 3 years’ jail
for Naib Tehsildar Promoting
girls’ education via bikes
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Traffic on national highway blocked Karnal, February 17 However, the situation was under control claimed Mr R.S. Doon, Deputy Commissioner, Karnal. No one was arrested. He told TNS over the telephone that the Shiv Mandir Committee had not obtained formal permission to set up decorative gates and dig poles along the road. Mr Doon said the Shiv Mandir Committee had violated the established rules and regulations that make it mandatory for anyone to obtain prior permission to set up decorative gates and poles along roads to raise flags. He said the committee members were asked to seek formal permission from either the local administration or the municipal council in the morning. The situation became tense when local leaders came out on the streets to support members of the Shiv Mandir Committee in protest against the local administration. The protesters blocked traffic on the national highway for at least half-an-hour. Police force was called up to handle the situation. The Deputy Commissioner, the SSP, the SDM and senior civil and police officials negotiated with the agitators to diffuse the situation. The traffic was restored on the national highway. However, the agitators moved into the city and again gathered at the Committee Chowk. They also forced shopkeepers of the main bazaar and other main markets to close their shops. The situation became normal after the permission to set up decorative gates, dig poles along roads to raise flags and hold religious procession was granted to the Shiv Mandir Committee. |
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Verbal duels in Assembly Chandigarh, February 17 Incidentally, Mr Barwala and Dr Kadiyan were suspended from the House on February 11 for the rest of the Budget session. However, after one day, their suspension was revoked on the request of the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and other opposition leaders. The trouble started when the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2004, was moved in the House. The Bill aimed at fixing the lower and upper age limits of Gram Vikas Sahayak at 32 and 50, respectively. Speaking on the Bill, Mr Hooda said the government should provide for reservation for the Scheduled Castes. Intervening, Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala said the Opposition should not beyond the subject-matter of the Bill, which was an amending Bill. He said the Opposition was not aware of the rules. He also provoked Mr Hooda by saying that if he raised his eyebrows, he (Mr Chautala) would open his mouth and expose him. The Congress members were immediately on their feet. The Speaker did not allow them to speak till Mr Chautala requested him to let the Congress MLAs have their say but at the same time he repeated his opinion about the Opposition’s ignorance about the rules. With the Speaker’s permission, Dr Kadiyan rose to speak. But when he was midway, the Speaker cut him short. While Mr Barwala was seeking the Speaker’s permission to speak, the Speaker named him and told him to “get out”. Dr Kadiyan walked into the well of the House, protesting against the Speaker’s action and the remark. He, too, was named. The Marshal was called to take the named members out of the House. Mr Hooda and other Congress members said the Speaker had used “unparliamentary language” while addressing Mr Barwala. They demanded that Mr Kadian should withdraw his words. The ruckus continued till the Congress MLAs walked out of the House. Mr Karan Singh Dalal
(RPI) also staged a brief walkout after his plea to call the named MLAs back to the House was turned down by the Treasury Benches. The Bill was later passed by voice vote after a brief reply by Mr Chautala. Mr Dalal again walked out of the House after he was not allowed to speak on the Punjab Ayurvedic and Unani Practitioners (Haryana Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2004, extending the life of the Ayurvedic and Unani Board till November, 25, 2006. In the absence of the Opposition, all Bills were passed by voice vote in a jiffy. The Haryana Appropriation (No.1) Bill, 2004; the Haryana
Appropriation(No. 2) Bill, 2004; the Haryana Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas (Amendment) Bill, the Indian Stamp (Haryana Amendment) Bill, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, the Haryana Public Service Commission (Additional Functions) Amendment Bill, the Punjab Courts (Haryana Amendment) Bill and the Punjab Passengers and Goods Taxation (Haryana Amendment) Bill were passed by the House. However, the government withdrew the Punjab Scheduled Roads and Controlled Areas Restriction of Unregulated Development (Haryana Amendment) Bill following a directive from the President to the Governor. The President had asked the House to reconsider the Haryana Amendment Bill, 1996, amending the Punjab Act to provide that no construction could take place within 30 metres of either side of the space reserved for any road. The President suggested that the Act should not allow any construction within 60 metres of the space reserved for a national highway. The House was later adjourned sine die. |
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Sonia to visit Haryana Chandigarh, February 17 Haryana Congress President Bhajan Lal said Mrs Gandhi was expected to visit eight Lok Sabha constituencies to interact with the people. These constituencies were Faridabad, Mahendragarh, Rohtak, Bhiwani,
Hisar, Sirsa, Sonepat and Karnal. Mr Bhajan Lal said he was not interested in contesting the Lok Sabha elections because he wanted to remain free to campaign in all 10 constituencies of the state. However, he said his younger son, Kuldip, might contest the Lok Sabha election. If the party high command asked him to contest, he would not hesitate, Mr Bhajan Lal said. |
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Cong to field young leaders, says Bhardwaj Karnal, February 17 A close confidant of the Gandhi family, the Congress leader ruled out the possibility of a clear majority for any party in the elections. He said the Congress would go in for pre-poll alliances with like-minded parties. He said Ms Priyanka Wadhera and Mr Rahul Gandhi would play an important role in the poll campaign for the party. “This time you will see more than 50 per cent of the candidates from the younger generation being fielded by the party”. The Congress leader when asked whether his son Arun Bhardwaj, legal advisor of the AICC, was interested in contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the Karnal constituency, said it would depend upon the party high command. |
BJP misleading people:
CITU Sirsa, February 17 Delegates from various workers’ unions were also addressed by CITU general secretary Vijay
Dukra. Expressing concern over the condition of labourers he said that they were not getting even minimum wages and facilities announced by the government. The fear of retrenchment of haunting 4500 forest labourers. The claim of the BJP government to eradicate, fear, hunger and corruption and provide employment to one crore people has proved facile. The district unit of Centre of Indian Trade Union was also constituted and Krishan Lal Khurian and Vijay Dukra were nominated president and general secretary while Baldev Raj and Ratnesh Kumari were made vice-president and assistant secretary. Raj Kumar Shekhupuria was nominated the treasure of the unit. |
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What led to INLD-BJP split Chandigarh, February 17 Talking to newsmen after the Assembly session, Mr Chautala said he held Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee in high esteem and would continue to do so. However, he added that it was not necessary for his party to choose between Mr Vajpayee and Mrs Sonia Gandhi. It could support a third prime ministerial candidate after the elections. For the first time Mr Chautala revealed what soured the relations between the INLD and the BJP at the first instance. He said within a month of his becoming the Chief Minister in July, 1999, Mr Ram Bilas Sharma, a senior BJP leader, started making efforts to topple his government because Mr Sharma nursed the ambition of becoming the Chief Minister. Mr Chautala said the moment he came to know about Mr Sharma’s efforts, he sacked two Ministers, Mr Brij Mohan Singla and Rao Narbir Singh, from his Cabinet. He also brought the matter to the notice of senior BJP leaders, including Mr Vajpayee. A meeting of the INLD had been convened tomorrow at Bhiwani to chalk out a strategy for the Lok Sabha elections. Though no talks were being held with the BSP at present, the possibility of an alliance with the BSP could not be ruled out. The INLD would contest the Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh also. A big rally would be organised on March 2 to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the INLD Government. |
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Centre to provide welfare information Fatehabad, February 17 Presiding over a meeting of the District Counselling Committee here today, Mr Nitin Kumar Yadav, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Fatehabad, said the centre would provide important information to the farmers. Mr Yadav asked officials to apprise the farmers of the ‘watershed’ schemes of the government so that maximum farmers could be benefited. He said 52 “watershed” schemes were being implemented in the district and 14 more such schemes would be started this year. He also informed that camps would soon be organised in various villages for soil and water testing. These would be organised with the help of Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar. Mr Ajmer Singh Arya, Regional Manager, Indian Federation of Farmers Cooperative (IFFCO), said the cooperatives planned to set up computerised “dhabas”, where latest information regarding agriculture would be provided to farmers through satellite. He said Rs 3 crore would be spent in each district of the state for this purpose. After the setting up of these “dhabas”, farmers would be able to get computerised information about quality seeds, pesticides and fertilizers. |
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Dahiya to be VC of Sirsa varsity Chandigarh, February 17 The name of
Professor Dahiya, according to sources, was cleared by Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala on the last day of the Vidhan Sabha session here today. The recommendation will now be sent to the Governor, Babu Parmanand, for formal approval and notification. The Governor is the Chancellor of this new University. A search committee set up by the Haryana Government had at its last meeting held in New Delhi on February 14 recommended a panel of three names for selection of the first regular Vice-Chancellor of Sirsa University. The search committee had solicited recommendations and nominations from all universities and technical institutions of North India. The committee received 200 nominations of
which three were shortlisted. The search committee comprised Vice-Chancellors of GJD University (Hisar), Mr Vishnu Bhagwan, and Haryana Agricultural University, Mr M.K. Miglani, besides Prof A.K. Dhan of Ranchi University. The search
committee had recommended names of Prof R.P. Dahiya (IIT, New
Delhi), Professor Desh Bandhu Goel and Prof Ravi Bhushan (both from IIT,
Roorkee). Immediately after the Vidhan Sabha session ended, the Chief Minister cleared the name of Professor Dahiya. At present, Commissioner of Hisar Division, Mr P.K. Das, an IAS officer, is the officiating Vice-Chancellor of this new University. |
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Ambala, Sirsa named airfield towns Chandigarh, February 17 While a solid waste management project was under implementation in 26 towns of the state, a proposal had been submitted for launching the project in 23 more towns. Answering a supplementary question, Mr Goyal said the staff salaries had been withheld in only five of the 68 municipal committees in the state. Replying to Independent MLA, Rajinder Singh Bisla, Mr M. L. Ranga, Minister of State for Health, said regular sampling was carried out by the Health Department to check food adulteration. The government had recently bought equipment worth Rs 27 lakh to check such samples. |
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Sikhs to form separate body Kaithal, February 17 Briefing mediapersons after the meeting, Mr Jagdish Singh Dhindsa, president of the Haryana unit of the SGPC said the SGPC had failed to do anything constructive for the Sikhs in the state. The money collected from Haryana was not being spent by the SGPC in setting up educational institutions in the state. Majority of the employees serving in Sikh shrines here were also from Punjab. An 11-member body has been constituted to decide if support should be extended to any political party in the coming Lok Sabha elections. The members of the committee are: Mr Jasbir Singh (Ambala), Surjit Singh (Yamunanagar), Jagdish Singh Dirda, president, SGPC Haryana, Jarnail Singh Jodan (Kurukshetra), Baldev Singh Ballu (Kaithal), Mukhtiar Singh (Dabwali), Gurcharan Singh (Sirsa), Satpal Singh (Barara), Harbans Singh Dachar and Didar Singh Kamboj. Prominent Sikhs who attended this meeting were Jagjit Singh, Balwinder Singh
Sandha, Sarup Singh and Angraj Singh Guraya. |
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Husband, in-laws booked for dowry death Hisar, February 17 Inder Singh, a resident of Raipur village, had complained to the police in this regard. In his complaint, he alleged that he had married his daughter Indu Devi with Kali Charan of Saniana village near here two years ago. After the marriage her in-laws started harassing her for more dowry. He alleged that her husband Kali Charan, mother-in-law Bimla, brother-in-law Ramesh Kumar and another relative Meera Devi yesterday allegedly set her on fire after murdering her. A case under Section 304 of the IPC has been registered against them. |
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4 hooch deaths in Kurukshetra Karnal, February 17 The tragedy occurred in a slum area of the Gandhinagar locality in Kurukshetra. Narsingh (40) and his wife Lakshmi (35) had allegedly purchased pouches of liquor from unauthorised liquor sellers last evening to serve to their guests. The couple and their guests drank till late in the night. All guests slept in Narsingh’s house after consuming liquor and meals. But, in the wee hours today, the host couple was found dead on their bed. Later, two other guests Tarsem (30) and Karam Singh (25) also died after complaining of vomiting. |
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Fatehabad, February 17 |
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Residents protest over youth’s murder Hisar, February 17 There were long queues of vehicles on both sides of the road as the block continued for an hour. The protesters alleged that the deceased Vijay Kumar, a resident of Ambedkar Colony, had been murdered after kidnapping by the owner of a local finance company and his accomplices but the police was trying to shield them. Later, the SDM, Mr Bal Raj Mor and senior police officials reached the spot and assured the protesters that appropriate action would be taken against the guilty. The protesters later lifted the dharna. According to reports, the police had found the body of an unidentified youth from the Saharwa minor in the district yesterday. The police brought the body to the local Civil Hospital for post mortem. When the post mortem was being conducted today, an employee of the Health Department found the body to be of the missing youth Vijay Kumar and informed his family. Vijay Kumar’s father Daleep Singh said his son was an employee in a local private finance company. The owner of the company had recently sacked him from the service on the charge of keeping Rs 28,000 with him instead of depositing it with the company. He alleged that the financer and his accomplices had kidnapped his son on February 12. After this, he complained to the police in this regard but the police did not register the case on his complaint. Instead the police put pressure on him for a compromise with the financer. |
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Cash collection centres open today Panchkula, February 17 According to a UHBVN spokesman the cash collection centres of the nigam would remain open in Panchkula, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat, Jind, Rohtak and Jhajjar districts of the state on February 18, which otherwise is a holiday on account of Mahashivratri. The spokesman disclosed that the nigam had earned a revenue of Rs.135.42 crore during January this year as against Rs.120.06 crore in January last year. |
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3 get judicial remand in murder case Ambala, February 17 Later, on the complaint of the father of the
deceased, the police had registered a case against V.B. Jain, Vishal Jain and Vikas Jain, owners of the factory. The police produced all three suspects in the court this morning and they were sent in judicial custody by the court. |
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3 years’ jail for Naib Tehsildar Kurukshetra, February 17 The state Vigilance Bureau on April 17, 1997, registered a case under Sections 409, 468, 420, 467 and 120B of the IPC against the then Naib Tehsildar of Shahbad, Mr Rishi Prakash Sharma, registry clerk Sushil Kumar, Jaidevi and her husband Karmchand, residents of Kalsana village in Kurukshetra district. The Vigilance Bureau had alleged that the said Naib Tehsildar and the registry clerk disbursed grants meant for flood victims among their known persons on fake documents. After hearing the case, Mr B.B. Prasun, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Kurukshetra, on Monday sentenced the Naib Tehsildar Rishi Prakash Sharma to a three years’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 9,000 on him. However, the court acquitted the other three. |
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Promoting girls’ education via bikes Chandigarh, February 17 Mr R.K. Khullar, Director of the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan(SSA), says he came upon the idea one day when he noticed groups of young girls walking to their school. As the Director of the Centrally sponsored universal education programme, he has access to funds meant for an innovative scheme at the state level. The scheme would facilitate girls education in Haryana. Mr Khullar expects that if girl students are provided cycles free of cost, it will bring down the school drop-out rate. “Many girls must be dropping out of school because of the distance involved. Once they have cycles, they will find it easier to commute”, he reasons studies. As the SSA covers students up to the middle school level, only those studying in middle classes will get these cycles. While the students will have to look after the maintenance of the cycles, they will retain these even after finishing their studies. According to a rough estimate prepared by the Education Department, there are about 4000 schools in Haryana offering middle-level education. To begin with, the SSA is purchasing 20,000 cycles for distribution in April. Four companies, including Hero Cycles and Avon cycles, have responded to the tenders floated by the SSA. |
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DIG Jowel promoted Chandigarh, February 17 Mr Sheel Madhur, Chief Vigilance Officer, Western Coal Fields Limited, Nagpur (on deputation), has been given proforma promotion as an IGP. Mr C.P. Bansal, ADGP, Headquarters, has been given additional charge of the post of ADGP, Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam, during the leave period of Mr John V George. |
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