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Now, Madan Lal’s kin look to Burney
HIFA leaves awardees embarrassed
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda honours advertising guru Prahlad Kakkar during an award ceremony organised by the Haryana Institute of Fine Arts in Karnal on Monday.
Tribune photo: Ravi Kumar
Labour of love leaves holy waters holier
Operation clean-up in progress on the ghats of the Sannihit Sarovar in Kurukshetra. Photo by the writer |
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Confusion marks zila parishad meeting
Gen Sandhu takes over as GJU VC
Snag hits power supply to Fatehabad
Violence mars BSP meeting
366 get employment under gramin project
Wanted criminal held after encounter
Poor Arrangements at Agro-fair
INLD protests against price rise
Robbers strike at petrol station
3 women held for obscenity
Gujjar Stir
Murder Cases
HJC to name LS nominees in July
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Now, Madan Lal’s kin look to Burney
Sirsa, June 9 Madan Lal, who was reportedly forced to cross over to Pakistan from Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, by his abductors in 1967, has not been released from Pakistan for inadvertently entering into Pakistan about four decades ago. He was 21 at that time. Lal’s family has been knocking the doors of governments of India and Pakistan and human rights activists of both the countries to affect his return since then. His brother Suraj Bhan has said he will soon meet officials of Pakistan embassy in New Delhi as Ansar Burney, member of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Advisory Committee, has assured him of his brother’s release during his recent visit to India in April. The family had met Burney with the papers to seek his help in tracing Lal. At 71, Suraj Bhan wishes to hug his brother. He said: “If he is no more then I want his mortal remains so that I perform his last rites as per family traditions.” He recalled that young and ebullient Madan Lal was an asset for the family for his contribution to the family business of rice mill. Some persons of the area were jealous of him and wanted to teach him a lesson. Therefore, they abducted him. The family got a case of abduction registered at Rania police station on June 24, 1967. They had even given some names. Bhan said they came to know of Lal’s forcible entry into Pakistan from the driver of the vehicle, in which Lal and his abductors had travelled to the international border. After much effort, he dished out a letter of the Human Rights Commission dated February 13, 2000, with his shivering hands. He said the letter stated that Lal was last seen at Bahawnagar prison in 1984. The family had even approached the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, through Prime Minister’s office before his much talked about visit to Pakistan in 1999. They are now keeping their hopes on Burney.
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HIFA leaves awardees embarrassed
Karnal, June 9 As key members of the organisation remained absent from the conference and no vital information on their professional background was made available, the moderator plainly asked the artistes to talk about their fields of excellence. Later, 20 professionals from different fields were awarded by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at the third award-giving ceremony held by the Karnal-based organisation. However, the function took political colour after organisers called local Congress leaders to share the dais with Hooda. The awardees included a real estate magnate, a bureaucrat, a journalist and artistes from
different fields. Noted Hindi film actor from Hisar Yashpal Sharma and the leading advertising professional, Prahald Kakkar, remained star attraction at the function. Incidentally, there was no sportsperson amongst the awardees. The highest HIFA lifetime honour, “Jasraj Samman” carrying cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and citation was conferred on Kakkar. “Karmayogi Samman” carrying cash prize of Rs 31,000 for excellence in respective realms of arts and services was bestowed on Karnal deputy commissioner Balbir Singh Malik, (environment), Amardeep Singh Dahiya (tourism), Baba Kashinath Almast (folk music), Dr Suresh Gopal Srikhande (classical music), Mahavir Parshad Bondwal (handicrafts), Raj Singh Gehlot (business), Raj Kishan Nain (photography), Roop Chand (fine arts) and Tarsem Kumar Garg (education). “Karambhumi Samman” of Rs 11,000 was awarded to Bhup Singh Gulia (fine arts), Daya Ram (handicrafts), Ishwar Sharma (folk music), K.B. Pandit (media), Naresh Malhotra (classical music), Rajesh Purohit (ancient heritage) S.K. Sharma (magic), Sultan Singh (agriculture), Sumer Sharma (theatre) and Yashpal Sharma (films). An entrepreneur and the relative of a sitting Congress MLA, who was earlier listed amongst the awardees, did not turn up at the ceremony. His award was not announced at the function. Lauding the role of the HIFA, Hooda said the state government was keen to rope in the NGO on certain socio-cultural programmes. He also announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh. |
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Labour of love leaves holy waters holier
Kurukshetra, June 9 A labour of love for those involved in the clean-up operation, the entire exercise is propelled with a commitment to serve. The ghats come to life everyday at the crack of dawn. Men and women, the old, the young, the rich, the poor, samkirtan mandlis, intellectuals and labourers join hands and don the mantle of service. Armed with buckets, floor scrubbers and brooms, they come together to splash waters on the stairs of the sludgy ghats and scrub them clean, unmindful of their status. As they go about their duties, they sing hymns which are intermittently peppered with chants in praise of Lord Krishna, who is believed to have come to the Sannihit Sarovar with his family for a dip in the sacred tank during the solar eclipse before the commencement of the battle of the Mahabharata. A boat carrying a couple of volunteers moves through the length and breadth of the sarovar to pull out the discards resting at the bottom of the sarovar. Entirely relying on the public to assuage the harm done over the years, the drive began in the end of April. “The waters were dirty and foul-smelling. There were mosquitoes all over the place and sanitation was at its lowest ebb. We decided that the clean-up of the sarovars had to happen now. Since there were no funds allocated, mobilising the public was our only hope for succour,” says CEO, Kurukshetra Development Board (KDB), Sanjeev Verma. Eventually, a list of all social organisations and various institutions was drawn up and assigned days in the two-month schedule for the cleanliness drive at the Jyotisar, Bhrama, Sannihit sarovars. It gathered pace and public participation went way beyond the list as people joined in to speed up the work. “We lowered the water level in the sarovars to expose the ghats. However, we had our limitations in doing so because these tanks have fish aplenty. We wanted to go about the job without affecting the ecology which is why the idea of a complete change of waters was rejected,” Verma maintains. With less than 25 per cent task still to go and 100 truckloads of dirt already pulled out, the KDB is hoping the clean-up act by the public will also serve as an inspiration to keep the sarovars clean. “For those who fail to learn from this exhaustive exercise, we are shortly going to install CCTV cameras and appoint watchmen to dissuade the public from burying their ‘sins’ in bags and sinking them into the tanks,” the CEO holds. For now, in another fortnight, the ghats will be as good as new and the waters will be ready to take on the sin-burden of its devotees. |
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Confusion marks zila parishad meeting
Fatehabad, June 9 Additional deputy commissioner-cum-chief executive officer of the District Rural Development Authority (DRDA) C.G. Rajnikanthan placed 30 projects for the sanction. The DRDA had earlier announced that it would start providing work to villagers under the employment scheme from June 10 after getting sanction of the zila parishad. However, most of the members objected to the works included in the projects placed before the parishad for sanction. Twenty-six out of 30 projects pertained to digging of village ponds, which members felt, was a futile exercise. Many such ponds, which were dug up in Sirsa villages in the past two years, were lying useless. Further, members felt that it was not possible to dug ponds in the rainy season, said Krishan Swaroop Gorakhpuria, a member of the zila parishad. Members objected that they had not been taken into confidence before selecting works. They further objected to the claims of a block development and panchayat officer (BDPO) that works under the NREGS had already been started in Jakhal block of the district. Members said how it was possible for a BDPO to start work without the formal approval of the same. The meeting ended in the afternoon without according sanction to any of the 30 projects placed before it. It was decided that a special meeting of the zila parishad would be held on June 13 for the purpose. However, chairman of the zila parishad Balbir Singh Balli in the evening announced that he had accorded sanction to 42 projects, including the 30 projects placed before him by the ADC. He said some more projects had been added after consultation of the members. A project at Jakhal, on which work had already begun, had also been approved by the parishad and now the June 13 meeting stood cancelled, he added. However, Rajnikanthan said no project had so far been sanctioned by the parishad and maintained that June 13 meeting would be held as per schedule. He said he had directed his BDPOs to get in touch with zila parishad members for the identification of projects so that the government money was not wasted on useless projects. He further added that the payment of the works started at Jakhal without approval of the zila parishad would not be made from the NREGS accounts.
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Gen Sandhu takes over as GJU VC
Hisar, June 9 General Sandhu
served the Army for 40 years. He retired as Director-General, Ordnance Services. He was awarded the honoris causa degree of DLitt by Rani Durgawati University, Jabalpur. He did his PhD in Defence and Management from Punjabi University, Patiala. He was received by senior university functionaries and teachers on his
arrival here. |
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Snag hits power supply to Fatehabad
Fatehabad, June 9 People here are reeling under and unprecedented power crisis and the authorities see no possibility of improvement in the situation for the next six to seven days. Long power cuts at regular intervals are being experienced since Saturday, when the snag developed due to a thunderstorm. “During the past 48 hours, power has played truant at least 20 times. It has become difficult to have a sound sleep during night,” said Rishabh Sachdeva, a student. “Two towers of the 220 kV transmission line that supply power to Fatehabad fell due to strong winds on Saturday. The line supplies electricity to the 220 kV power station, Fatehabad, from where the supply goes to Ratia and Sirsa,” said D.P. Dhull, manager, Public Relations, Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam, Hisar. Though the power supply to Ratia and Sirsa has also been affected, Fatehabad has been the worst affected, where people are getting less than 12 hours of supply in a day. “The DHBVN has made arrangements to supply power to these areas through the 220 kV Narwana substation for the time being as these areas were already connected to Narwana,” Dhull added. He said repair work on the towers was on but it might take six to seven days for revival of normal supply because one of the two towers that had fallen had been totally damaged while the other needed repairs. Dhull maintained that due to better availability and lesser demand of power these days, the impact of the snag has been mild and the nigam had been able to supply power to all affected areas by rotation. |
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Violence mars BSP meeting
Kaithal, June 9 Some workers sustained minor injuries in the scuffle, which took place after the meeting that was held in a banquet hall on the Ambala road. The meeting was held to nominate the candidate of the party for the next Lok Sabha elections and office-bearers of the district unit of the party. Everything went on smoothly till the announcement of the candidature of former MP Gurdial Singh Saini for Kurukshetra constituency in the next Lok Sabha election. However, problem arose when the party observer for Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, Maan Singh Manhera, started announcing the names of the office-bearers of the district unit towards the fag end of the meeting. Some workers stood up and protested against their nomination arguing that they had never worked for the party and that “genuine” party workers had been ignored. The organisers tried to pacify the crowd but with little success. The irate workers then walked out of the hall and started shouting slogans against Manhera. Later, Manhera and state president of the party Prakash Bharti faced the workers’ wrath. The protesters mobbed the vehicles of the two leaders. Some of them tried to stop Manhera’s car while others started throwing stones at Prakash Bharti’s car. A worker, Om Prakash from Kalayat block, who sat on the bonnet of Manhera’s moving car, sustained injuries. Some other workers also sustained minor injuries amid chaos that prevailed on the Ambala road. Manhera said the people who tried to disrupt the meeting were not even primary members of the party. On the other hand, Prakash Bharti announced the expulsion of Om Prakash, Baldev Bahuriya, Pratap Thekedar, Mahipal and Satyavan Sismaur from the primary membership of the party.
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366 get employment under gramin project
Jind, June 9 The project was launched with the help of Dr Reddy’s foundation, a rural-oriented NGO based at Hyderabad, under the supervision of the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA). Jind is one of the four districts of the state where such a scheme was launched this year. The aim of the project was to train educated youths in various short-term professional courses in order to make them eligible to get employment in the private sector. The DRDA recently held a programme here to award certificates of the training course completed successfully by the youth. No fee was charged for the course. The authorities and programme coordinators expressed their satisfaction after 366 trainees of 439 revealed that they had already been selected by various service sector companies for job. The companies, which had offered placement to these candidates, included Reliance Fresh and McDonalds, said additional deputy commissioner B.B. Kaushik. Claiming that almost 80 per cent of the trainees had got instant employment, he said majority of the candidates, including 60 girls, were from rural areas. It is reported that while a total of 439 candidates were admitted in these courses, 35 students could not complete the course for various reasons. There were less than 15 candidates who had come from the urban background, said the department. The initial average salary offered to the selected candidates was between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000. The candidates had been placed in Faridabad, Chandigarh and Jalandhar. The DRDA had announced to invite applications for the next batch of courses and the last date for the same was June 30, said the ADC.
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Wanted criminal held after encounter
Yamunanagar, June 9 According to police sources, the team, lead by inspector of Kurukshetra police Yashwant Singh got information that Manjesh, along with others, was travelling on a motorcycle. The team spotted the motorcycle and asked the riders to stop, but they ignored the police and turned towards Sarjonni Colony. In a chase that ensued, the motorcycle riders fell. Hait Ram, DSP (Yamunanagar), while addressing a press conference here today, said Manjesh fired a shot on the inspector, but the latter escaped unhurt. The police also returned the fire. At this point, Manjesh and the other rider, identified as Davinder, alias Bablu, of Chhachhoruli, ran in two different directions. Manjesh was arrested on the spot while Davinder was arrested after sometime. Another case under section 307 of the IPC has been slapped against Manjesh. The two were produced in a local court which remanded them in police custody till June 12. Manjesh was also produced in another court which sent him in police custody till June 13. Manjesh and some others, including a woman, were arrested on January 25 for allegedly robbing a plywood manufacturer of Rs 24 lakh on January 13. Manjesh had fled while he was in police custody. Three cops were suspended following the incident. The police had announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for providing information on Manjesh. After fleeing from police custody, Manjesh made several visits to the house where he was living prior to the arrest, but the local police could not arrest him, said sources. |
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Poor Arrangements at Agro-fair Tribune News Service
Sirsa, June 9 The district administration pressed in civil and police officials to bring the situation under control. After much persuasion, the agitating farmers lifted the blockade. They were demanding adequate supply of food and water at the five-day fair, which kicked off here today. Earlier, the farmers had to struggle to secure meal from the stalls. They had to scramble to get a glass of water, as great rush was visible at its stalls. K.V. Singh, OSD to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, inaugurated the exhibition in the morning. He said in the current financial year Rs 415 crore would be spent on agriculture. The central government had included Haryana in the national agriculture plan in which it would make finance available as per the presentation of the plan. In order to enhance fertility of land, nutrients like zinc sulphate, copper sulphate and ferric sulphate would be provided to the farmers on 50 per cent subsidy. Besides, Rs 4 crore micronutrients would also be made available for them.He said for proliferation of horticulture, Rs 32 crore would be spent in the district in the current financial year.
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INLD protests against price rise
Sonepat, June 9 Accompanied by senior party leaders, including Brig O.P. Chaudhary (retd), state youth president Surender Singh Dahiya, district president Padam Singh Dahiya and Dr K.C. Bangar, Sampat Singh handed over a memorandum, addressed to the President, to deputy commissioner Ajit Balaji Joshi. Earlier, addressing the protesters, Sampat Singh pointed out that even by giving a rebate of Rs 1 per litre in the increased prices of diesel, the Haryana government was still making additional income of 89 paise per litre in the shape of VAT on petrol and diesel. He criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for expressing his inability to control the inflation. |
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Robbers strike at petrol station
Ambala, June 9 The robbery took place around 6 pm and manager Gian Chand was also injured in the incident. According to Mangu Ram, Baljeet and Harjeet, helpers at the petrol station, three youths on a black bike came to get fuel worth Rs 500 filled. Two of the youth disembarked and went into the cabin where the manager was seated. They brandished a knife at the manager and asked him to hand over the cash. When the manager refused to budge, they took out a pistol and fired shots into the air, breaking windowpanes of the cabin. The manager then handed over the cash. Before the youths left the petrol station, they allegedly fired more shots into the air. A case has been filed in the Mullana police station. |
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3 women held for obscenity
Yamunanagar, June 9 A large crowed had gathered when a scuffle took place between the Bengali woman and two local women near the bus stand here last evening. The local women were allegedly trying to take away the Bengali woman (later identified as Lahila Bibi, a resident of Notima district, WB) “somewhere”. Lahila Bibi told the crowd that the two women had drugged her and brought her from WB to Yamunanagar. The police had a tough time understanding her language as no one among the cops knew Bangla. Earlier, the woman was dropped near the bus stand in a three-wheeler. The three-wheeler driver said she had asked him to drop her at the bus stand. Later, the two women - Savitri Devi and Jaswinder Kaur - tried to take away the Bengali woman. After investigations, the police said the three women were involved in obscene activities. The police booked them under sections 294 and 34 of the IPC. Savitiri Devi and Jaswinder Kaur were later released on bail but the Bengali woman was sent to judicial lockup as no one came forward to furnish her bail bond, said sources. |
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Martyr status sought for firing victims
Tribune News Service
Pattikalyana (Panipat), June 9 The meeting was attended by a large number of Gujjars, including state and national leaders of the community. Addressing the gathering, former Chief Minister and INDL supremo Om Prakash Chautala said both Papan and Kuldip had made a sacrifice for their community and they should be given the status of martyrs. He accused the police of using force against Gujjars who were holding a peaceful protest to express solidarity with the struggling Gujjars in Rajasthan. He said every individual had a right to express himself in a democracy. He made an appeal to the community that they should follow the path of peace even as the protest met with violence. He reiterated his demand that the state government should give government jobs to the kin of those who had been killed in police action. Besides, the compensation to the aggrieved families should be doubled to Rs 10 lakh. Farmer leader of Uttar Pradesh Mahinder Singh Tikait accused the Rajasthan government of backtracking on its promises made in the election manifesto. Karnal Member of Parliament Arvind Sharma said in a democracy people had the right to hold protests in support of their demands.
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Panchayats seek SP’s help
Our Correspondent
Bhiwani, June 9 They said the police had adopted lenient view towards the case and no arrest had been made so far. Some armed persons had fired upon an old man and his brother’s wife when they were sleeping in their house. In another incident, the panchayat of Tigrana village also met the SP here today. It said the persons booked by the police in Krishan murder case were innocent and had nothing to do with the case. Krishan was killed during a scuffle last week and police had booked several persons in the case. The panchayat said the police should make an independent inquiry into the case and cases registered against innocent persons should be withdrawn.
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HJC to name LS nominees in July
Chandigarh, June 9 There has been speculation that the HJC might go in for an alliance with the BSP or the BJP, though the BSP leadership in the state has always maintained that there is no question of any tie-up with the newly formed political party.
HJC supremo Bishnoi yesterday declared that he would announce his party’s candidates for all 10 Lok Sabha seats by July next. This was announced by him at an impressive rally organised in Gujjar-dominated village of
Ritho, near Sohna, in Gurgaon district. He said the candidates would identified after holding conferences of party workers in all blocks. If the HJC announces its candidates for the Lok Sabha elections by July, obviously the chances of it entering into electoral alliances become bleak. |
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Discount for girl child
at tourism resorts
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 9 The minister was interacting with participants at a summer adventure camp organised by the tourism department in collaboration with the department of sports and youth affairs at Solang Nullah, near Manali, today. She said the 17th Mango Mela would be organised on July 5 and 6 at Yadavindra Gardens, Pinjore, near here. Similarly, the third Pinjore Heritage Festival would be organised from October 3 to 5 at the same venue.
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The family of a local resident, Madan Lal, has been running from pillar to post to know about his whereabouts since 1967.
Madan Lal, who was reportedly forced to cross over to Pakistan from Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, by his abductors in 1967, has not been released from Pakistan for inadvertently entering into Pakistan about four decades ago. He was 21 at that time.
Much to the discomfort of several performers, artistes of the national and international repute were asked to make presentations on their professional achievements at a press conference organised by the Haryana Institute of Fine Arts (HIFA) here today.
It is an effort to clean up the sarovaras of the land of the Gita, defiled in “purging the sins of the mankind” over the years.
Hisar, June 9
