362 cr earmarked for healthcare
CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — The Haryana Government had earmarked a sum of Rs 362 crore to provide better healthcare facilities to the people in the State during the current financial year, said Dr Kamla Verma, Social Welfare Minister, Haryana, while inaugurating a three day dental health awareness show at Panchkula today.

HPCC gears up for Jind rally
GURGAON, Jan 15 — In an effort to increase its mass appeal, the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee plans to rope in party leaders from the Centre and the Chief Ministers of Rajasthan, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh for the Jind rally on February 13.

• Governor's visit cancelled
• Missing boys found dead
• Former MLA joins Cong
• Life term for woman

• Woman killed by husband
• 3 held for murder
• Teachers' strike
• Policy assailed

362 cr earmarked for healthcare
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — The Haryana Government had earmarked a sum of Rs 362 crore to provide better healthcare facilities to the people in the State during the current financial year, said Dr Kamla Verma, Social Welfare Minister, Haryana, while inaugurating a three day dental health awareness show at Panchkula today.

The minister said with the passage of time the old methods of dental care had become outdated and many new methods of dental treatment had been put into use.

She said the Haryana Government was committed to providing better healthcare facilities to the people and for this purpose the budget of the Health Department including Ayurveda and medical, had been raised up to Rs 362 crore during the current financial year as against Rs 173 crore during the year 1995-96. Besides nine hospitals, 10 community health centres and 29 primary health centres were being constructed at a cost of Rs 8.25 crore.

The Minister said 100 new dental clinics had been started at the primary health centres in the State. She disclosed that the government had also purchased 5 lakh doses of Hepatitis-B at a cost of Rs 1.50 crore which had been sent to the hospitals of the State. She said the government had also enhanced the budget for medicines .

Dr Sanjay Kalra, organiser of the show, said that the main aim of the show was to educate the masses by disseminating information about the prevalent dental diseases and modes of prevention and treatment of these diseases.

HPCC gears up for Jind rally
Tribune News Service

GURGAON, Jan 15 — In an effort to increase its mass appeal, the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee plans to rope in party leaders from the Centre and the Chief Ministers of Rajasthan, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh for the Jind rally on February 13.

The Jind rally will be the culmination of the HPCC padyatra from February 15. The general body meeting of the PCC, slated for tomorrow at Chandigarh, will finalise the routes to be covered by the party during the yatra.

Itineraries of senior leaders, however, have almost been finalised. HPCC President Bhoopinder Singh Hooda, a former state minister and AICC member K.R. Punia will begin the yatra from Panchkula. Another PCC leader and a former minister from the state, Dr Ram Prakash, will lead the yatra from Yamunanagar. Pandit Chiranji Lal Sharma will lead it from Sonepat. Former union minister and AICC Secretary Selja will do it from Chautala village in Sirsa district.

In south Haryana, Congress MP from Mahendragarh Inderjit Singh, will lead the yatra from Narnaul. The yatra is scheduled to reach Rewari on February 5.

Several party leaders and jathas will begin the yatra the same day and proceed to Jind, the venue for the rally.

Sources in the PCC said the party leadership in the state had already extended invitations to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh for the rally.

Veterans of the Congress in Haryana claim that the Jind rally would be "historic" in terms of turnout. In the recent past i.e. during the run-up to the last assembly elections in Haryana, the Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya) and the Haryana Vikas Party had organised mammoth public meetings in Jind. Both parties had organised their meetings as a show of strength. The Congress, which was the ruling party then, was a mere mute spectator.

According to a Congress leader, Mr P.A. Sangma and Mr K. Natwar Singh — members of the party’s Central Working Committee — are likely to address the meeting.

New phone exchange at Faridabad
Tribune News Service

FARIDABAD, Jan 15 — 12000 line telephone exchange at the Nehru Ground here has started functioning, according to Mr R.N. Prabhakar, General Manager, Telecom (Faridabad-Gurgaon).

Talking with TNS here today, Mr Prabhakar said the spare exchange at the Nehru Ground would be transferred to Ballabhgarh, Sector 23, and Badarpur by the end of March. Capacity of the Nehru Ground exchange would soon be expanded by 3,000 lines and the Sector 15 exchange by 7,000 lines.

The said it had been planned to make the waiting list current in the National Capital Region which included Faridabad and Gurgaon by March, but due to unavoidable reasons it would be made possible by December.

However, the present waiting list of 16,638 in Faridabad and 15,717 in Gurgaon would be cleared by March.

The call identification facility was now available to subscribers of the New Nehru Ground and E-10-B exchanges of Sector 15. The subscribers seeking the facility would have to pay Rs 50 per month and would have to procure equipment from market.

He said the integrated services digital network (ISDN) facility for high speed data transfer and video conferencing would also be introduced at Faridabad by the end of March.

Chander Mohan seeks action against DC
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — The Congress MLA from Kalka, Mr Chander Mohan, has demanded that action should be taken against the D.C. of Mahendragarh, Mr S.S. Prasad, and a Deputy Director of the Haryana Food and Supplies Department, Mr Baljit Kularia, for allegedly being instrumental in framing innocent persons in a false case.

In a statement issued here today, Mr Chander Mohan said the Mahendragarh police had registered a case under the Essential Commodities Act against certain persons, including the then DFSC of Mahendragarh, Mr Dharam Pal Jangra, at the instance of Mr Prasad. However, the premier investigating agency of the country, the CBI, which investigated the case on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, did not find any substance in the FIR.

Mr Jangra is a nephew of the Rajya Sabha member, Mr Ramji Lal, who is a associate of the former Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Bhajan Lal.

Mr Chander Mohan said the CBI report and its acceptance by the High Court was a classical example of how the HVP-BJP Government was harassing innocent persons to settle political and personal scores. He said justice and propriety demanded that the two officers should be suspended and a criminal case be registered against them.

He said the CBI report clearly showed that the case was registered with pre-conceived notions because Mr Prasad got it registered even before he had received a fax message in this regard from the then Director, Food and Supplies, Mr P. Raghvendra Rao. Similarly, pressure was exerted by Mr Kularia on witnesses to give false affidavits against Mr Jangra.

Mr Chander Mohan also demanded a CBI inquiry into the circumstances under which a witness in the case, Mr Basudev Gupta, died. He alleged that Mr Gupta's death had remained an unexplained mystery and was connected with the case against Mr Jangra.

Pigs roam wool market
From Ashwani Dutta

YAMUNANAGAR: Yamuna-nagar, a city of parks, is being neglected because of poor civic amenities. Developed after partition, the city attracted a number of people from outside because of it being situated on the bank of the Yamuna. During the time of terrorism in Punjab and Kashmir a large number of migrants shifted here.

Recently a wool market has come up at Vishavakarma Mohalla near the main road of the city. There are about 50 shops where all types of wool is available. The market attracts people from all walks of life.

Buyers come even from Saharanpur area because the wool is available at competitive rates.

Despite the heavy rush of buyers the market lacks proper civic amenities. Stray pigs roam around shops. The Municipal Council has failed to provide a clean environment.

Yamunanagar city, which is scattered in an area of 11.86 km has only 490 safai karamcharis. Pigs, buffaloes and stray dogs can be seen on the main road but there is no separate pig farm an assurance for which was given by the administration.

Although the area is represented by the Local Bodies Minister of Haryana, garbage heaps can be seen anywhere.

Woman killed by husband
From Our Correspondent

KAITHAL, Jan 15 — Jagdevi, a resident of Chanchak village under Guhla police station, was murdered allegedly by her husband, Amrik Singh, on January 11, according to a delayed report received here.

Kalaram, brother of the victim, alleged in a complaint that his brother-in-law was a man of loose character and indulged in activities which were not liked by his wife. She objected to his actions a number of times, following which he planned to kill her with the help of a friend, Sikander.

The victim was attacked with sharp edged weapons and killed. Later the suspects tried to cremate the body secretly. But the matter was reported to the police by victim's family following which the police took the body into custody and brought it to a hospital here on Wednesday for an autopsy. The autopsy report revealed that there were injury marks on head and neck of the deceased. The police has registered a case under-Sections 302 and 34 of the IPC.

Action against 4 recommended
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — The Haryana State Vigilance Bureau has recommended departmental action and recovery of funds from four gazetted officers who have been found guilty in two cases of revenue leakage involving over Rs 2.81 lakh.

A spokesman of the bureau said the bureau had recommended registration of criminal cases against three gazetted officers, 10 officials and nine others. It had also recommended departmental action and recovery of money from one gazetted officer, three officials and seven others.

He said the roadways wing of the bureau had checked 187 buses of the Haryana Roadways and 92 passengers were found travelling without tickets. A sum of Rs 6,770 was realised from them as penalty.

CM to lay stone of old age home today
From Our Correspondent

AMBALA, Jan 15 — The district Red Cross Society has decided to construct a home for senior citizens during the International Year of the Aged. The Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, will lay the foundation stone of the home tomorrow at Mathura Enclave in the city. The home would be built at a cost of Rs 50 lakh. The Chief Minister would also lay foundation stone of Rs 5 crore judicial complex and inaugurate the surgery block at Apna Hospital.

The Deputy Commissioner, Mrs Navraj Sandhu, said the old age home had been on the agenda of the Red Cross Society since long but lack of funds had delayed the project. The society had succeeded in getting a grant of Rs 30 lakh from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

The Deputy Commissioner said in the first phase the home would provide accommodation to 30 persons and will have single and double occupancy rooms for single persons and rooms with kitchenette for couples.

Pathology conference inaugurated
Tribune News Service

HISAR, Jan 15 — A two-day annual conference of the Indian Pathological Society (northern zone) started at CCS Haryana Agricultural University here today. Farm scientists from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir attended the workshop.

Dr B.M. Singh, Director Research, Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, inaugurated the conference. He said despite tremendous developments in plant pathology many plant diseases had still been posing a threat to sustainable agriculture. He stressed the need for developing techniques that would help farmers in controlling diseases.

Dr. I.J. Singh, Director, Academy of Agriculture Research and Education Management, while speaking at the inaugural function of the Post-graduate diploma course in agricultural journalism here yesterday said the communication gap between farmers and scientists needed to be bridged.

The duration of the course is of one year, according to Dr R.S. Dalal, course coordinator.

Former Congress Secretary dead
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — A former General Secretary of the Haryana Congress, Col R.S. Sodhi (Retd), who died on Thursday was cremated here today amidst a large number of his admirers and friends.

Col Sodhi was an uncle of a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Mr Justice N.K. Sodhi.

He is survived by his wife and two sons.

Among those who attended the cremation were the former Chief Justice of India, Justice M.M. Punchhi; a former Judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Kuldip Singh; and a large number of Judges and advocates of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Wreaths were placed on the body on behalf of 63 Cavalry Regiment and the Haryana Congress.

The President of the Haryana Congress, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said the party had been deprived of the services of a selfless and dedicated worker.

Former MLA joins Cong
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 15 — A former Haryana MLA, Mr Kitab Singh Malik, has joined the Congress along with his supporters, according to a spokesman of the party.

The spokesman said here today that a General Secretary of the Haryana unit of the BSP, Mr Tara Chand Balmiki (Gohana), Mr Mahender Singh Malik (HVP), Dr Bir Singh (Lok Dal) and Mr Jitender alias Babloo, Municipal Councillor of Sonepat, had also joined the Congress at a function held at Gohana yesterday. The function was presided over by the Haryana Congress President, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Teachers' strike
From Our Correspondent

KAITHAL, Jan 15 — Teachers of the local Om Prabha Jain Modern Senior Secondary School went on a strike here today in protest against low salaries.

The President of the school managing committee, Mr Mohan Bahadur Khurania, said the authorities were not in a position to pay higher salaries due to the financial constraints imposed by the state government on charging fees from students.

Later, the management agreed to increase the salaries of the staff.

Governor's visit cancelled
Tribune News Service

HISAR, Jan 15 — Governor Mahabir Prasad today cancelled his visit here due to foggy weather. The Governor was scheduled to inaugurate a computer centre, university library and a book exhibition at Guru Jambheshwar University.

The GJU Vice-Chancellor, Mr Dharamveer, said the Governor had to cancel the visit as his helicopter developed a technical snag. He said the visit would be rescheduled.

The Vice-Chancellor inaugurated a two-day book exhibition on the campus. Hundreds of books were displayed at the exhibition. One of the main attractions in the exhibition was the collection of newspapers by Manu Prakash Jindal. He had about 3,200 newspapers published in about 25 languages from across the world in his possession.

Policy on power theft assailed
From Our Correspondent

ROHTAK, Jan 15 — The HSEB Workers Union, affiliated to the Haryana Karamchari Mahasangh, has assailed the state government for what it called "reversal of its policy on regarding the power theft cases."

The Secretary of the union, Mr Dhara Singh, said here today that the decision of the state government to delay the lodging of FIR against those indulging in power theft had been its "moral" defeat.

The union asked the government to withdraw all cases registered against common people as it should extend to all and there should be no discrimination.

Missing boys found dead
From Our Correspondent

ROHTAK, Jan 15 — The police today recovered the bodies of two minor boys of Dighal village (Jhajjar) from a pond in Gangtan village, on the Dighal-Sampla road.

The victims — Sandeep (7) and Amit (6) — had disappeared on Sunday when they had gone to view television at a neighbour's house.

According to the police, the bodies had no injury marks and the clothes were intact.

According to a post-mortem examination report, which was conducted at the Civil Hospital, Jhajjar, the boys had died due to drowning.

The district administration has announced an ex gratia grant of Rs 10,000 each for kin of the deceased.

3 held for killing taxi driver
Tribune News Service

FARIDABAD, Jan 15 — The police has arrested Iqrar, Guddu and Irfan for allegedly murdering Ravindra, a taxi driver of Mathura. Their two other accomplices, Biru and Tare, however, escaped. All criminals hail from Ferozabad district in UP.

The five had hired a Tata Sumo from Mathura yesterday for going to Delhi. As the taxi reached Bamni Khera near Hodal, they beat up the driver and took control of the vehicle. When the victim resisted, he was shot by Guddu. He died on the spot.

While they were going towards Karman village to dispose of the body, their vehicle got stuck in slush. There upon, they threw the body in the fields.

However, policemen on patrol managed to overpower the culprits with the help of villagers.

Two country made pistols, four cartridges and a knife were seized from the possession of those arrested.

The SP today announced cash rewards to Sewa Ram, Javed Khan, Naresh Kumar and Hem Raj, all policemen, and Ravinder and Rohtash, both villagers, who helped in the arrest of the criminals.

Life term for woman
Tribune News Service

FARIDABAD, Jan 15 — Mr K.C. Gupta, District and Sessions Judge, today sentenced Mamta, wife of Dalip of Dabua colony, to life imprisonment for murdering her sister-in-law Aradhna on May 15, 1997.

According to the prosecution story, Mamta sprinkled kerosene on Aradhna and set her on fire. She was rushed to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi where she made a dying declaration before a magistrate that she had been set on fire by Mamta.

The judge also ordered Mamta to pay a fine of Rs 1000 or to suffer another six months' RI in default.