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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Wednesday, July 22, 1998 |
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Public opinion forced Haryana to end prohibition CHANDIGARH, July 21 — The Haryana Government today admitted in the Vidhan Sabha that it was forced to withdraw prohibition in the State by the public sentiment against it... Contraband, poppy husk seized FATEHABAD, July 21 — The district police has found a rich haul of poppy husk in the past few days. Cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Prevention) Act have been registered... |
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 Teachers go on leave ROHTAK, July 21 — College and university teachers here went on a mass casual leave to demand immediate implementation of the UGC recommended pay scales, promotional avenues and better service condition... |
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Power theft by 30 tubewell owners FATEHABAD, July 21 — Complaints by the residents of Boswal, Bhirrana and some other villages regarding the erratic supply of power in their villages has led to the detection of large-scale theft of power by some farmers of the area... Phone exchanges damaged AMBALA, July 21 — The general manager of the Ambala telecom district, Mr C.R Kataria, said yesterday that the 1000-line ILT and 256-line CDOT exchanges had been damaged due to sudden high voltage... HLD (R) campaign against inflation, corruption SONEPAT, July 21 — The Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya) has decided to launch a campaign against the "anti-people" and "anti-employee" policies of the HVP-BJP government, led by Mr Bansi Lal... Bootlegging in Gurgaon GURGAON, July 21 — Bootlegging in popular brands of Indian-made foreign liquor continues in this district... Protest march by SUCI ROHTAK, July 21 — Activists from Rohtak and Jhajjar units of the Socialist Unity Centre of India today took out a protest march in the town to highlight the problems of the people... DD kendra: minister 'bows' to pressure AMBALA, July 21 — The chairman of the Ambala Cantonment Traders Federation, Mr N.C. Jain, has expressed surprise at the setting up of a Doordarshan kendra at Chandigarh...  |
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| Public
opinion forced Haryana to end prohibition Tribune News Service CHANDIGARH, July 21 — The Haryana Government today admitted in the Vidhan Sabha that it was forced to withdraw prohibition in the state by the public sentiment against it. Answering a question by Capt Ajay Singh (Cong), the Minister for Prohibition, Excise and Taxation, Mr Siri Kishan Dass, said despite stringent measures taken by the state government, the state agencies had to face an uphill task in ensuring complete stoppage of smuggling of liquor into the state. It also did not get the desired cooperation from social organisations. When he fumbled while answering supplementaries, the Food and Supplies Minister, Prof Ganeshi Lal, who previously held the Prohibition Department, intervened and said the government had not imposed any tax to offset the loss caused by the prohibition. The Cooperation Minister, Mr Narbir Singh, told Mr Ram Pal Majra (HLDR) that 10 cooperative sugar mills in the state had imposed a penalty of over Rs 4 crore on those farmers who had not supplied the bonded quantity of cane to the mills in 1997-98 against the penalty of Rs 28.36 lakh in 1996-97. He said the penalty amount would be returned to the farmers. The Home Minister, Mr Mani Ram Godara, told Prof Sampat Singh (HLDR) that 40 persons had died and four were disabled in 14 incidents of hooch tragedy in the state in the past two years. When Prof Sampat Singh wanted to know how many persons had been arrested in this connection, Mr Godara mistook the "note for pad (documents for the assistance of the Minister)" for the statement laid on the table of the House and insisted that the information was given in the statement. The Local Government Minister, Dr Kamla Verma, told Mr Anil Vij (Ind) that a proposal was being examined to lease out or sell land belonging to the Ambala civic body to residents of Bazigar Colony, Balmiki Colony, Moora Basti, Rangia Mandi, Gujarati Colony, Ghasiara Colony and Dera Basti, who were in unauthorised possession of this land. Earlier, the House paid homage to Mr Ishwar Singh, former Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha; Mr E.M.S. Namboodiripad, former Chief Minister of Kerala; Mr Mohd. Aslam Khan, former MLA; Mr Harchand Singh, former Deputy Minister of joint Punjab; Mr Nanhu Ram, Mr Teja Singh Dardi and Kanwar Rani Jagdish Kaur, all former MLAs of joint Punjab; Mr Nikhil Chakravartty and Mr Sushil Bali, journalists; Capt Anil S. Dayal, Major Neeraj Malik and Mr Vijay Ahuja, all members of the defence forces; Mr Abhey Singh, freedom fighter; Dr Ganpati Chandra Gupta, former Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University; Mr Dharamvir Singh Dahiya, former Olympian; and victims of the Mecca, Yamuna boat, Kalka, cyclone and tornado tragedies. Mr Kuldip Singh Bishnoi (Congress), the younger son of the former Chief Minister, Mr Bhajan Lal, was sworn in as a member of the House following his election from Adampur. |
| Contraband, poppy husk seized From Our Correspondent FATEHABAD, July 21 — The district police has found a rich haul of poppy husk in the past few days. Cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Prevention) Act have been registered. According to the district police chief, Mr Rajbir Deswal, the police found 39 bags of the contraband from a mini-truck at Bonderwas near Rattia in this district. The occupants of the vehicle managed to escape. Earlier the police seized 891 kg and 600 gm of poppy husk in eight different cases during the past one month. Eight persons have been arrested so far in these cases. Giving details of the achievements of the district police during the past one month. Mr Deswal said the police has registered 26 cases under the Arms Act and arrested 26 persons. The police has seized a single-barrelled gun, two double-barrelled guns, 9 unlicensed pistols of .315 bore, six unlicensed pistols of .12 bore, one pistol of .32 bore and .303 and 54 live cartridges. Under the Excise Act, the police has arrested 62 persons and registered 53 cases. The police has detected three working stills, 203 bottles of illicit liquor 425 kg of lahan, 282 bottles of country made liquor, 18 bottles of IMFL and 270 pouches of country made liquor during the corresponding period. In 40 cases of theft, the police has arrested 12 persons recovered stolen property worth Rs 1.31 lakh from their possession. The recovered property includes a Yamaha motor cycle and copper coil stolen from the store of the local telephone exchange. In three different cases of murder, the police had arrested six persons and produced them before the court. Weapons used in the crime had also been found, 43 persons had been arrested in connection with 37 cases of minor scuffles, 169 others had been arrested under section 107/151 of the Cr PC while three persons had been arrested under Section 109 of the Cr PC. Thirty two Marutas (makeshift vehicle) have been confiscated by the police as per the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, 25 maxi cabs had been challaned, when they were found plying illegally while 13 persons have been arrested and 13 vehicles impounded for obstructing vehicular traffic. |
| College teachers go on leave Tribune News Service ROHTAK, July 21 — College and university teachers here went on a mass casual leave to demand immediate implementation of the UGC recommended pay scales, promotional avenues and better service condition. The call for the agitation was given by the All India Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation (AIFUCTO). Most of the agitating teachers went to Delhi in chartered buses to participate in the 'march to Parliament' organised by the AIFUCTO to protest against the adamant attitude and procrastination of the union government concerning the demands of the university and college teachers. The "mass casual leave" by the teachers affected the teaching activities in almost every college in the city which wore a deserted look. Most of the departments on the campus of Maharshi Dayanand University remained closed on the opening day of the new academic session. Dr Sudha Jain, spokesperson for the M.D. University Teachers Association, said the university and college teachers from Punjab and Haryana would jointly stage a dharna at Chandigarh on August 4 to press for the acceptance of their demands. SONEPAT: On the call of the Haryana College Teachers Union lecturers of Government College, Gohana, in Sonepat district went on a mass casual leave and joined the march to Parliament. A spokesman for the HCTU told mediapersons here that the lecturers would again proceed on mass casual leave on August 4 next and stage a dharna in front of the office of the Director of Higher Education, Chandigarh. |
| Power theft by 30 tubewell
owners From Our Correspondent FATEHABAD, July 21 — Complaints by the residents of Boswal, Bhirrana and some other villages regarding the erratic supply of power in their villages has led to the detection of large-scale theft of power by some farmers of the area. Residents of these villages had been making complaints of erratic power supply for the past one month. The villagers had met senior officials of the HSEB and had also complained to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr P.C. Bidhan. They had even threatened to gherao the officials of the power board if their demand was not met. Responding to these complaints, officials of the HSEB conducted surprise checks of the tubewells installed in the fields. Thirty out of the 56 tubewells were found to be operating on a load much higher than that allowed by the board. The HSEB has imposed a fine of Rs 11.24 lakh on the erring tubewell owners. Fortyeight farmers have now applied for an enhancement in their load. The department has recovered and additional security deposit of Rs 2.52 lakh. The Deputy Commissioner has assured the villagers that sufficient power would be supplied to them in the current season. He said that the HSEB officials had launched a special drive to check power theft in view of the villagers' complaints. |
| Phone exchanges damaged From Our Correspondent AMBALA, July 21 — The general manager of the Ambala telecom district, Mr C.R Kataria, said yesterday that the 1000-line ILT and 256-line CDOT exchanges had been damaged due to sudden high voltage. The power plant and both the exchanges had become faulty. Mr Kataria said the repair work was in progress. The power plant had been temporarily repaired and the CDOT exchange had been restored. Functioning of the remaining numbers linked to the ILT exchange was expected to be restored by tomorrow. He added that PCOs were being opened to the exchange premises to help the people make local calls. |
| HLD (R) campaign against
inflation, corruption From Our Correspondent SONEPAT, July 21 — The Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya) has decided to launch a campaign against the anti-people and anti-employee policies of the HVP-BJP government, led by Mr Bansi Lal. Mr Kishan Singh Sangwan, MP, told mediapersons here today that the main issues on which the party would go to the people included inflation, corruption, unemployment and deteriorating law and order situation in the state. The party, he said, had already convened a meeting of the party workers here on July 25 to work out the detailed programme of the agitation. He said the party would hold rallies at all district headquarters to mobilise people against the price rise and hike in power tariff. The present state government, he alleged, had failed on all fronts and the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal had gone back on all promises, including round-the-clock power supply, he made to the people before the assembly elections in the state. Mr Sangwan condemned the repression let loose on the agitating nurses and appealed to the state government to resolve the crisis through negotiations. He said party MPs had already urged the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, to order a high-level probe into recruitments of police constables in Haryana. |
| Bootlegging in Gurgaon Tribune News Service GURGAON, July 21 — Bootlegging in popular brands of Indian-made foreign liquor continues in this district. The firms, which have formed a consortium to sell liquor, are said to have made several complaints to the authorities about bootlegging by mafias and the consequential harm to their business. Inquiries reveal that the gangs, who were active in liquor business during the prohibition period have stepped up their activities. According to sources, the firms constituting the consortium — which become the government contractor after offering the highest bid in the auction for running liquor vends were also responsible for the upsurge in bootlegging. It is alleged that their vends keep limited stocks of popular brands preferred by low and middle income groups. Even if some of the vends keep the brands, but the stock fall short of the demand. The reason cited for the illegal sale is the big margin of profit in the sale of brands preferred by these groups. According to the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Gurgaon Mr K.S. Malik, more than a dozen criminal cases of bootlegging have been registered with the police in the last fortnight. |
| Protest march by SUCI From Our Correspondent ROHTAK, July 21 — Activists from Rohtak and Jhajjar units of the Socialist Unity Centre of India today took out a protest march in the town to highlight the problems of the people. Later, they assembled at Chhotu Ram Park and then approached to the Commissioner's office to stage a dharna. They submitted a memorandum to the Governor through the Commissioner. Addressing the protestors, Mr Anoop Singh, secretary of the district unit of SUCI, demanded immediate withdrawal of the hike in power tariff and effective steps to check the rising prices. He criticised the "erratic" power and water supply, "deplorable" condition of roads and commercialisation of education. He also expressed concern over the "rising" crime graph in the region and suspected connivance of the police in carrying out these crimes. |
| DD kendra: minister 'bows' to
pressure From Our Correspondent AMBALA, July 21 — The chairman of the Ambala Cantonment Traders Federation, Mr N.C. Jain, has expressed surprise at the setting up of a Doordarshan kendra at Chandigarh as the Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Mrs Sushma Swaraj, had promised that a kendra would be set up at Ambala contonment. In a statement issued here yesterday, Mr Jain said while local MLAs, Mr Anil Vij and Mr Nirmal Singh, were trying to arrange suitable land in the area for the kendra, the Minister had already decided to have one at Chandigarh presumably "under pressure" from the Chandigarh MP, Mr Sat Pal Jain. |
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