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CM wastes no time, seeks Azad nod on colonies New Delhi, May 25 Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad told media persons that he would soon discuss the issue with the Government of NCT of Delhi and hoped a coordinated effort would be adopted to resolve the issue. He also promised to address the issue in consultation with the government. This was Mr Azad’s first interaction with the reporters after getting the urban development portfolio. While the minister spoke about how a coordinated approach would have to be adopted to resolve the issue, the Chief Minister had told media persons yesterday that regularisation would be taken up in line with the declared policies of the Government of NCT of Delhi. She also instructed officials to issue a public notice inviting layout/site plans from the resident welfare associations (RWAs) in all unauthorised colonies that have been enlisted till March 31, 2002 in a certain time. Meanwhile, promising early finalisation of the Master Plan for development of National Capital Region (NCR), Mr Azad hoped that expeditious decisions could be taken in this regard with the same party being in power at the Centre and in NCT of Delhi. “Earlier, there were different parties in power and there may have been delays but now with the INC in power at both the places, there should be better co-ordination which would enable us to take decisions expeditiously,” Mr Azad said. Describing the Master Plan as ‘top priority’, the minister said emphasis would be on development of infrastructure, connectivity and industrial areas for a harmonious growth of the Capital and its surrounding areas. Promising a ‘bright future’ for the people of Delhi “reflecting the prestige of the capital city”, he said the second phase of Delhi Metro would be completed by September 2005. “A detailed report will be submitted by August-end,” Mr Azad told reporters. |
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Student pushed out of bus by conductor Sonepat, May 25 The police are still investigating the case. It is stated that the student boarded the bus from Sonepat which was on its way to Rohtak. When it reached near the office of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) at Kharkhauda, the student asked the conductor to stop the bus so that he could get down, but the conductor declined. Thereupon, both the student and the conductor exchanged arguments. A livid conductor then pushed out the student from the
bus.
Panches take on Sarpanch for pocketing funds Jhajjar: The majority of Panchayat members of Mohammadpur Majra village revolted against the Sarpanch, alleging large-scale irregularities in the development work and misappropriation of public funds, today. According to information, the four panches and lone Block Samiti member, Mahender Singh furnished their affidavits to the Deputy Commissioner, containing allegations of misuse of government funds by the Sarpanch Rishipal, and decided to hand over their resignations to the Chief Minister during his visit in Jhajjar on May 28. The panches Bani Singh, Dharmender, Sheela Devi and Santosh Devi alleged that the Sarpanch of the village has embezzled the funds to the tune of Rs 10 lakh in the digging of the village pond, sale of village sand and other construction work carried out in the village school. The panches alleged that the Sarpanch has never called any meeting of the panchayat and did not give details of the income and expenditure of panchayat funds. The panches charged that they had been approaching the higher authorities for an inquiry, but the officials of the Block and Development office are in league with the Sarpanch.
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Temple heist: Brutal attack on security guard Noida, May 25 They had also threatened security guard Surinder Singh with a local revolver. As the assailants were about to decamp with the booty, the security guard challenged the intruders. The criminals then hit him with iron rods. Hearing his shouts, some labourers came running towards the temple. Seeing them, the intruders fled from the spot. The seriously injured security guard was rushed to nearby Prakash Hospital. As lots of building material, iron rods, bricks, cement etc. are stored there, a number of labourers are at the site round the clock. Surinder Singh was on duty on Monday at the time of attack at 3 am. However, it took the police more than 12 hours to reach the spot at 5 pm. The police are reportedly yet to register the
case.
Steel goods worth Rs 4 lakh looted Ghaziabad: About a dozen armed criminals raided a factory in Mussori police station area and decamped with steel goods worth Rs 4 lakh after seriously injuring two security guards who had tried to resist them. Both the guards are admitted to hospital in a serious condition. Navneet Garg, a resident of Nehru Nagar-II, has an iron factory called Garg Associates. Sarya, iron angles, channels and girders are manufactured in the factory. Police say both the security guards Shamim Ahmed and Kaamal were on duty in the factory. However, they were asleep when the dacoits who came in two mini-trucks intruded into the factory. After breaking open the shutters, they had loaded steel goods worth Rs 4 lakh into the trucks. At this point, the guards who had woken up due to commotion, challenged the intruders. The assailants then badly beat up the guards before fleeing with the goods. They had taken away a security guard’s motorcycle also. The guards immediately informed Navin Garg of the loot. Garg rushed the guards to Devya Nursing Home and informed the police. The police have registered the case and say that the dacoity will be worked out soon. |
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city scan New Delhi, May 25 The Met Department said about 1.0 mm of rain had been recorded till 5.30 in the evening today. The maximum temperature stood at 39.2 degree Celsius, two degrees below normal and the minimum was 26.4 degrees, less than the minimum recorded early in the morning at 27.1 degrees Celsius. According to the forecast, the rain is likely to continue. Thunderstorm/duststorm, accompanied by squall, is likely in some areas. The Met Department said the rains have been caused by the western disturbances, accompanied with a low-pressure area coming from the western Rajasthan side. Though the low-pressure area has now passed Delhi and gone towards North-Eastern side, it has compounded the effect of western disturbance hovering over the Capital’s sky, they added.
Dreaded criminal shot dead in encounter Ghaziabad: Bahadurgarh police have shot dead a dreaded criminal carrying a reward of Rs 10,000 in an encounter. His accomplice, however, escaped. The criminals had looted a bike and Rs 3,200 from a motorcyclist in Karimpur village in Garh Mukteshwar. The criminal has been identified as Dilshad of Muzzafarnagar. The police recovered the bike, Rs 3,200, a 315-bore rifle and eight live cartridges from the criminals. The duo had snatched the bike and Rs 3,200 from Amarpal in Karimpur village. Amarpal was on his way home in Jalalpur Sambhavali from Moradabad. Amarpal had informed the police of the incident. Accordingly, the Bahadurgarh police shot dead the criminal after barricading the area between Khera, Barka and Nangla villages. According to Bahadurgarh police, Dilshad was wanted in 25 cases of murder, dacoity, loot and kidnapping. The police are conducting a door-to-door search for the other criminal.
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When leader of House in MCD does not agree with his own govt New Delhi, May 25 He said that leaders of the corporation were not taken into confidence when the crucial decision of dividing the MCD was taken by the Delhi Government. A meeting of the councillors will be called within a day or two to discuss this issue. Their decision will be brought to the notice of the Congress high command. If the high command endorses the decision, the councillors will follow it. He issued this statement following the election of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee. Sitting Chairman and Deputy Chairman, Mr Mukesh Goel and Mr Ashok Jain respectively have been elected again. Mr Goel was elected Chairman for just three months back when Ram Babu Sharma, former Chairman had left the corporation after he was elected as MLA from East Delhi. Mr Ashok Jain has been working as Deputy Chairman for the last two years. Vijender Gupta, BJP councillor, filed the nomination for the post of Chairman but he secured only one vote, one was invalid while Mr Goel secured 16 votes and was declared elected. Ashok Jain was elected unopposed. The Mayor called a meeting of the House after election of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee in which the members sought explanation from the Municipal Commissioner for removing dairies from the Capital. The Municipal Commissioner said that the task of removing unauthorised dairies from the Capital was being taken up following the direction of the Delhi High Court. This directive was given to all agencies concerned, including the MCD. The court has directed to remove all the unauthorised dairies from the Capital by October 2004. Earlier, the authorities concerned had planned to relocate the dairies in NCR, but the neighbouring states did not agree to provide land and other civic amenities. Finally, it was decided to challan the dairy owners. If they do not shift their dairies, their buffaloes will be caught and disposed of in Madhya Pradesh and other states, wherever it is possible. The Municipal Commissioner said that no action would be taken against the dairy owners who had established their dairies in rural areas. Dairies in urban areas cannot be relocated in rural areas of the Capital. They have no alternative but to finish this work, he pointed out. However, he agreed to issue notice to all dairy owners, specifying a certain period so that they could shift their dairies. |
Cong, INLD leaders trade charges over Jharsa poll violence Gurgaon, May 25 Jharsa falls in Gurgaon Assembly segment of the Mahendergarh parliamentary constituency. It may be recalled that there was a clash between the relatives of Mr Gehlot and Mr Khazan Singh outside a booth in village Jharsa on the polling day. While Mr Singh alleged that Mr Gehlot’s relatives, including a Delhi Police personnel, manhandled voters, the other side registered a case against Mr Singh and his five brothers. Mr Singh also filed a complaint. Two Congress functionaries, residents of Civil Lines, complained to the police today that three unidentified persons came to their house on Sunday evening and abused them. Mr Singh has demanded that the police take immediate action on his complaint against Mr Gehlot and his brothers. The issue was also raised before Chief Minister here while he was presiding over the District Grievance and Redressal Committee a few days ago. Mr Singh and Mr Gehlot are native of village Jharsa and nurse old political rivalry between them. |
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Row over presidentship of
DCC persists Bhiwani, May 25 In a press conference held here today, he asserted that the appointment of Mr Jangbir Singh as the working president of DCC (Rural) was “unconstitutional.” Justifying his claim, Mr Singh observed that there was no provision of a working president in the party constitution. He asserted that according to the constitution only the national president of the party was competent enough to appoint or remove a president or general secretary. Since his appointment was done through the constitutional process, the Pradesh Congress Committee could serve notice to him but could not replace without procedural action. “How can a person be appointed in my place even as I have not been removed from this post,” he asked. The Congress leader said that a notice was sent to him on May 17 and given fifteen days to reply. Replying to a question, Mr Singh said that his political opponents were out to humiliate him. He said that the party high command had been informed of the incident and was sure that he would receive justice. He further asserted that he was being victimised on the charge of working against the party candidate Kuldip Bishnoi during the parliamentary election. However, the truth is that Kuldip has received overwhelming support from his villages Kharak and Kalinga, he added. Instead of taking action against those who worked against the party, false allegations are being put against me, he said. |
DPCC president meets DJB officials to solve water crisis New Delhi, May 25 Mr Prem Singh has asked the officials to activate the tubewells that are dysfunctional and to make available water tankers from Khanpur so that no time is wasted providing water relief to the residents, a statement said. The interaction was held at his residence, where commoners were invited to put forth their grievances. In response to some of their problems, Mr Singh asked the officials to connect the booster in Madangir with a line of the Chaupal. Ambedkar Nagar is not alone in facing an acute shortage of water. Scarcity of potable water is a common problem across the Capital and with it, rampant power-cut too. South Delhi is the worst hit with a persistent water and electricity crisis. Meanwhile, compounding the woes of the
Delhiites is the rising incidence of cholera. According to Principal Secretary (Health) S. P. Agarwal, a steady number of cases of cholera were being detected. Although no casualty had been recorded so far. The department of health has instructed officials to ensure that potable water is supplied to areas where there is an acute scarcity of water so that the residents did not consume contaminated water and the further spread of cholera could be prevented. Mr Agarwal has also instructed officials to seize the stalls selling ice, cut fruits and contaminated water, which are known to aid the spread of cholera. Officials have also been told to increase the raids of such properties establishments. Also on the immediate agenda of the department of health is the cleaning of drains and sewers. It is learnt that the officials concerned have been asked to complete the task by June 15. |
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CITU leader to stage ‘Matka Phod’ demo in front of CM Sonepat, May 25 Mr Howa Singh, president of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) Sonepat district, today expressed his grave concern over the drinking water crisis in the city and threatened to stage a `Matka Phod’ demonstration in front of Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala, who is visiting the city on May 27, to review the causes of the crushing defeat of the INLD in the Lok Sabha elections. In a press statement issued here, he alleged that most of the residential colonies and areas had been facing water crisis since the onset of the summer season and the officials of the Public Health Department (PHD) had failed to take concrete steps for the improvement in the drinking water supply system. He also alleged that a major party of the city did not get water on time fixed for the supply of drinking water, and this has caused widespread resentment among them. According to a report, no reason has been given in this regard by the officials of the Public Health Department. The areas including Mohalla Kalan and Ram Bazar got the supply of drinking water around 11.35 am, but the supply was stopped at noon. Thereafter, the supply was restored around 2.30 pm. However, the entire city remained waterless between 4 am and 11.30 am. This caused inconvenience to thousands of the residents who have to fetch water from the distant places to meet their requirements. Large number of women carrying pitchers on their heads were seen fetching water from the distance places. The CITU leader blamed the officials of the PHD for not redressing the grievances of the people about the inadequate and erratic supply of water. |
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Greater Noida beautification plan gathers dust Greater Noida, May 25 The work was withdrawn from a number of officials of the concerned department and payments to contractors were also stopped forthwith. An inquiry has also been ordered in the matter by the Chief Executive Officer, GNIDA. The Greater Noida officials had allegedly paid to contractors ten times the price fixed by state government for seeds, plants, saplings, etc. Some contractors have been blacklisted in this connection, which is giving sleepless nights to the concerned officials also. The CEO Greater Noida Authority, Mr Dinesh Singh, handed over the responsibility of maintaining some of the parks to the Forest Department. Interestingly, the budget for greening of the town had been increased from Rs 6 crore to Rs 18 crore by the GNIDA Board. It was too tempting a prospect for some contractors and officials to let go. They thus connived to pocket fat amounts of cash by deciding to extend the green belt in the area in the Authority files only. Unfortunately, it did not take the CEO long to understand the ramifications of scam, when he personally inspected ‘black spots in green belt’ of Greater Noida recently. As many as 12 parks, including Children Park, Japanese Park, and City Park, have been developed by the authority officials. Authority was being made to pay a very liberal compensation for their maintenance and upkeep to the contractors, which were on a much higher rate than provided in the budget. Even though tubewells had been provided with each park, contractors were being paid separately for water tankers. Incidentally, as many as 50 percent of plants and sapling were planted in GNIDA files only, for which contractors were reportedly being paid at about 10 times higher than market rate. According to the GM, Mr S S A Rizvi, some lacunae have been discovered in the system during inquiry. Further action will be taken for improving the system soon. The erring officials will be punished, he added. |
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Representatives demand vigilance probe into PDS scam Sonepat, May 25 According to a report, they demanded immediate transfers of the officials from the inspectorate staff to the District Food and Supplies Controller to ensure an independent and impartial probe. Hitherto, they pointed out, an inquiry by the officials of the Chief Minister’s Flying Squad had been conducted, but it has been reportedly hushed up on the political ground despite the recording of the statements of the owners of the fair price shops and other relative officials. The then Deputy Commissioner, Mr Balwan Singh, had conducted surprise raids on the ration depots, but most of them were found closed and the inquiry ordered by him had been met with the same fate as had been made by the officials of the Chief Minister’s Flying Squad. The representatives of these organisations have alleged that the bulk quantity of the PDS kerosene oil is diverted to the petrol pumps and halwais shops regularly thanks to the failure of the authorities concerned to check it effectively. They also alleged that the subsidised wheat, atta (flour) and levy sugar had not been reaching the BPL families every month and all complaints made to the authorities concerned in this regard have fallen on deaf ears. They also pointed out that the claim of the authorities about the release of kerosene oil, levy sugar and wheat to the fair price shops for distribution among the BPL families was not true, as these families were deprived of their monthly ration of these commodities. |
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Concern India exhibition New Delhi, May 25 The revenue generated from the sale of the clothes will be used for social welfare. Chief executive officer Kavita Shah will inaugurate the exhibition. According to one participant designer, Manish Gupta of “Ashri” fame, traditional weaves, prints, a wide range of embroidery, applique, pin tucking etc. have been used to great advantage on a variety of fabrics, which are going to be displayed, creating a range of clothes for the contemporary men and women. Started in 1991, Concern India Foundation is a charitable trust working with the vulnerable sections of the society. |
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Delhi resident hits jackpot Gurgaon, May 25 The online lottery gaming has been introduced by Playwin, which represents Sikkim, Karnataka and Arunachal Pradesh in this business. ‘Thunderball’ is part of the package offered by Sikkim. According to the vice-president (Sales) of Playwin, Mr Mathur, the jackpot was drawn on May 18, a few days after Mr Solanki purchased his ticket from an outlet in Gurgaon. A regular at this outlet, Mr Solanki, a marketing manager with an export firm, admitted that he never expected that he would take home even close to a crore of rupees from online gaming. Mr Mathur said that prior to Mr Solanki hitting the jackpot, Playwin’s previous highest jackpot was Rs 8.61 crore won in August 2002. This jackpot was part of the Superlotto games of Palywin. Playwin has been in the online gaming business for a little over two years, having started its operations in March 2002. Since then, Playwin has produced 44 crorepatis and over 2000 lakhpatis, Mr Mathur added. |
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ncr briefs Rewari , May 25 The police also informed that three other accused – Bohari ( mother-in-law of the deceased ), Jaipal ( brother-in-law ) and Mukesh ( sister-in-law ) had gone into hiding to avoid arrest. It is further reported that when Monika hung herself to death, her body was quietly taken to the cremation grounds at Sola Rahi here early next morning for funeral rites by her in-laws. But the city police, which had a tip-off in this regard, rushed to the cremation ground and took possession of the body before it could be cremated. The body was brought to the local civil hospital where a post-mortem examination was conducted by the doctors. Meanwhile, the parents of the deceased also made a complaint alleging that Monika, who belonged to Ladhuwas village near here and who was married to Dharambir about four years ago, had been persistently subjected to brutal harassment by her in-laws to fetch enhanced dowry following which the police registered a case of dowry death and criminal conspiracy under sections 304-B, 120-B of the IPC against the husband, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law and sister-in-law of the deceased.
Youth assaulted Sonepat: A youth, Rajinder of Kailana village, was waylaid and assaulted by six-seven Maruti car-borne persons near Purkhas village about 20 km here last night. The victim was rushed to the local civil hospital for treatment and he is stated to be out of danger. The alleged assailants, however, managed to escape after snatching Rs 8,000 from the youth. The youth was going on his bike when the incident occurred. The injured youth stated that he had a dispute with the owner of the liquor vend on Sunday and he had sent the alleged assailants to take the revenge from him. The police are investigating into and a hunt is on to apprehend them.
HSIDC factory burgled Thieves struck in the industrial complex of the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) at Bari village about 15 km from here last night and decamped with a variety of goods from the premises of the factory under construction. According to a report, the stolen goods include electricity wires, electricity meters and other building materials. The thieves, it may be recalled, had already stolen 12 tonnes of iron rods from the premises of another factory last week. These thefts have caused panic among the entrepreneurs who are constructing their units on the complex.
Man arrested A youth, Braham Singh, was arrested by the Ganaur police in connection with a theft of a motorcycle. The police also recovered a stolen motorcycle from his possession. A case of theft was registered against him. |
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DELHI DIGEST New Delhi, May 25 An office-bearer of the Shiv Sena and the ‘People’s Rights Front’, Mr Abhimanyu Gulati, said that a sit-in would be held at Jantar Mantar on June 3 – a day after the 14th Lok Sabha meets for the first time – at 11 in the morning. Mr Gulati demanded that residential areas with 60 per cent or more of concentration of industries be declared as industrial areas, plots be made available to them quickly and banks made to extend loan with zero per cent interest.
Police-public interface stressed The Delhi Police Commissioner, Dr K. K. Paul, today ordered to designate Grievance Officers in police stations to attend to the complaints of the public and also to inform them about the follow up action taken by them on the complaints. Dr Paul, who was addressing the law and order meeting at the police headquarters, also said that the Vigilance Branch will view the recordings of the CCTV’s installed in the police stations and give a feedback in order to improve the performance and behaviour of the police station staff. He also stressed the need for special courses for beat officers to make the police-public interface smooth and pleasant. Besides, he has ordered the District DCsP and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) to identify the states in which stolen vehicles were disposed off. Dr Paul also asked the manufacturers of motor vehicles to install tamper proof standard safety devices in all vehicles to avoid the vehicle theft in the future.
Appointment Lieutenant Governor of Delhi has appointed Mr Bhagwan Das Goyal as the Director of Prosecution of the National Capital Territory. Mr Goyal, who took over from Mr S K Datta, had joined the Delhi prosecution department in 1971 as Prosecuting Sub Inspector, five years after he took a law degree in 1966. He had been serving as Chief Prosecutor since 1997 and was appointed Public Prosecutor Delhi in January this year.
Power shutdown North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL) has announced planned power shutdown on Wednesday May 26 in some areas owing to maintenance work at sub stations. There will be no power supply between 10 am and 4 pm in Manak Pura, Hari Chand Chowk of Shakti Nagar and Mubarak Bagh, Model Town Police Station, Gandhi Vihar and Punchwati Azadpur of Model Town district. Power supply will remain suspended between 10 am and 5 pm in parts of BA, BC block, B Block Lok Vihar, Shiva Enclave, Sant Nagar and Multani Mohalla of Pitampura and in Civil Lines parts of R P Bagh will have no supply between 10 am and 4.30 pm. |
Two persons held for diverting canal water Sonepat, May 25 According to a report, the farmers also seized pipes used in diverting the canal water from their possession. However, their third associate managed to escape on a motorcycle. The theft of canal water was continuing unabated in the Katwal minor due to the apathy of officials of the Gohana Water Service Division. It is alleged that the officials had failed to check the unscrupulous farmers engaged in diverting canal water. A number of residents alleged that the executive engineer along with other officials of the Gohana Water Service Division were in league with those involved in diverting the water. Mr Dharampal, a former sarpanch of Farmana village, stated that the water crisis in the villages of Farmana, Nizampur Majra, Ridhao and Mauzam Nagar had led to the destruction of crops. Moreover, the village ponds had fully dried up and the owners of milch animals were facing hardships in arranging water for their animals. He also said that most of the cultivable land had turned barren for want of canal water. The villagers had complained to the executive engineer regarding the diversion made in the embankment of the minor. Subsequently, the farmers apprehended the two persons engaged in diverting the canal water during patrolling of the minor. The farmers have demanded a high-level probe and the suspension of the executive engineer and other officials
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Vehicle theft cases solved, autolifters held New Delhi, May 25 Based on a secret information, the police nabbed the accused Pradeep (22) and Deepak (21), residents of Dakshinpuri, while they were going to meet a contact to dispose of the stolen vehicles in Dakshinpuri. While Pradeep is pursuing BA from Delhi University, Deepak is doing his 12th in National Open School. During interrogation, the duo disclosed that they used to dispose of the stolen vehicles to a notorious autolifter Shiva, resident of Sangam Vihar. Subsequently, Shiva used to dispose off the vehicles in Nepal. Pradeep, who is an expert in making the forged documents through computers at his house, also developed contacts in Agra and Mathura to dispose off the vehicles stolen from Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Satta racket busted With the arrest of four persons, the Crime Branch has claimed to have busted a satta racket in the Prashant Vihar area. The sleuths also claimed to have recovered Rs 1,300, two notebooks with satta details to the tune of Rs 15 lakh, seven mobile phones, a landline phone and a colour television from the hideout. The sleuths, based on a secret information that satta is going on in Prashant Vihar area the culprits. |
Herbal Bar inaugurated in Capital New Delhi, May 25 The first ‘Herbal Bar’ was inaugurated by Mr Amitabh Kant,
The herb drinks help in rejuvenation, stress relief or treatment of any ailment like arthritis, rheumatism, frozen shoulder, backpain, paralysis and skin diseases. According to Harshjeet Kuroop, director, Kerala Vaidyashala, “Ayurveda as a health and a healing concept has appealed to many outside India. Ayurveda and herbal concepts have already been approved in European countries like Germany”. There is a growing awareness among the people, which has resulted in the establishment of many Kerala Ayurvedic Spa. Upset with the side effects of allopathic drugs, which offer pain relief but no cure, more and more people are turning to Ayurveda for a solution. |
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