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| Tuesday, September 19, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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‘Viagra’
manufactured in Haryana Constables’ recruitment ‘not on
merit’ Pyorrhoea on the rise: docs MP donates 13,000 for old-age
home
Scientists warn paddy growers One held for posing as
CM’s brother
Scientists warn paddy growers |
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Tributes paid to Balmukund
Gupt BJP to consolidate base in villages Order to remove
encroachments Bank conference concludes Two held for driver’s
murder Birthday message, pedestrian
style
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‘Viagra’
manufactured in Haryana HISAR, Sept 18 — Haryana has earned the dubious distinction of producer of fake medicines in the country. Its products are not only sold within the state but also in the neighbouring states. It is even “exporting” these drugs to Uzbekistan, it is learnt. According to reliable sources many pharmaceutical companies in Haryana are engaged in manufacture of fake medicines. As a result of its proximity to Delhi, Haryana had emerged as one of the biggest manufacturers of fake medicines. These are generally sold under the generic names of popular drugs. However, many companies are also reported to be selling these under the brand names of reputed manufacturers. They said these units were manufacturing even the much hyped anti-impotence drug Viagra, the sale of which has not yet been allowed in India. Although some of these companies are also selling fake anti-rabies and hepatitis-B vaccines, most of them restrict themselves to production of capsules, tablets and pills since these were easier to produce and pack. It is learnt these companies introduce fake versions of new drugs as soon as a reputed manufacturer launches a new drug. Since the new drugs are priced higher in the first year these companies make a hefty profit. They drop the drug as soon as the price of the original version is lowered. The sources said the Delhi police and officials of the Haryana Drug Controller’s office last week seized several quintals of fake drugs manufactured in Haryana from godowns in Delhi. These drugs were found to have been manufactured by two drug manufacturing units in Faridabad and Sonepat. Most of the seized drugs were meant for “export” to Uzbekistan through female couriers who made frequent trips to India for the purpose. The names of the drugs were printed on the wrappers in Russian. Inquiries from different districts revealed the manufacture of fake medicines was not limited to drugs meant for human consumption. The market was flush with fake medicines meant for veterinary use too. According to trade sources, it was difficult to detect fake veterinary drugs since their efficacy was hard to judge. They said in most cases the animals recovered due to their strong immune system rather than the drug. Ciprofloxin, Lansoprazole, Viagra, combinations of several strong antibiotics and some fancy tranquilisers are currently on top of the product list of manufacturers of fake medicines meant for human consumption. Likewise, many companies are also manufacturing fake sugar-free candies for diabetics. Trade sources revealed these drugs were sold through agents in Delhi. Consignments were never sent by public transport. These medicines were brought in private cars or by train. Since the package small, these fits in briefcases or shoulderbags without inviting undue attention. Official of the Health Department said they had launched a campaign against sale of fake medicines after the racket was exposed by the Delhi police. Officials has paid surprise visits to drug manufacturing units and checked the manufacturing units and stores. Reputed chemists suggest
consumers should insist on receipts with the batch number
of the drug mentioned clearly on it. The insistence on a
receipt itself is a deterrent and on retailer will pass
of fake drugs to such a consumer, they say. |
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Constables’ recruitment ‘not on
merit’ CHANDIGARH, Sept 18 — The RPI MLA and
former Haryana Minister, Mr Karam Singh Dalal, today
alleged that the ongoing recruitment of about 2,000
constables in the state was not being done on merit as
professed by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash
Chautala. Talking to newsmen here, Mr Dalal said during
the conference of DCs and SPs held last week, each SP was
told that selection list of the constables should be
finalised as per the directions of the Chief Minister and
not otherwise. He alleged that each SP was allowed to
give the names of four candidates of his choice and each
DSP was given one post of constable. The names of the
rest of the constables in the respective districts were
to be “finalised by the political masters”. Mr
Dalal said certain SPs had objected to the above
procedure. Therefore, some of them spilled the beans. The
RPI MLA said though the conference was convened
ostensibly to discuss the law and order situation, its
real purpose was to give the above directions to the SPs.
He said the Chief Minister did not want to convey these
directions on the telephone because last time when Mr
Chautala’s party was in power, telephonic talks with
SPs regarding the recruitment of constables were
taperecorded and published in The Tribune. He said if
the government was sincere in its assertion that the
recruitment would be done on merit, it should display the
marks secured by each candidate in the physical test. He
also alleged that persons close to the powers that be and
who belongs to Punjab and Rajasthan would be recruited in
all districts, though earlier Mr Chautala had declared
that in each district persons belonging to that
particular district would be recruited. Alleging that
the “current rate” for the constable’s
post was Rs 3 lakh, Mr Dalal said large amounts had been
withdrawn from rural bank branches by farmers to pay to
middlemen. He said the former Chief Minister, Mr Bansi
Lal, should first verify the facts before issuing a clean
chit to the Chautala government. Mr Dalal also alleged
that since he had been relentlessly exposing the
“misdeeds” of the Chief Minister and his
family, the government was implicating his (Mr
Dalal’s) family members in false cases. He said the
police forcibly procured an affidavit against his younger
brother, Prem, for production before the Chahal
Commission set up to investigate the imposition of
prohibition in the state. However, the person from whom
the police had procured the affidavit had now given
another affidavit stating that the previous affidavit was
obtained by the police forcibly and that he never met
Prem and that he never indulged in the illegal liquor
trade. Mr Dalal said the police had also registered a
murder case against his elder brother, Mr Mehar Chand,
his nephew and the nephew’s wife. The RPI leader
said such acts of the Chautala government would not cow
him and he would continue to expose the government’s
“misdeeds”. Meanwhile, an official spokesman
has rejected the allegations made by Mr Dalal and
described these as a figment of his imagination. He
said the recruitment process was transparent and based on
merit. He also denied that any instructions were given to
the SPs regarding the finalisation of the list of the
selected candidates on the directions of the Chief
Minister. The spokesman said due to the legal position,
no candidate could be debarred from appearing for an
interview from any district of his choice. He also
denied that the government was intimidating Mr Dalal or
his relatives. |
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Pyorrhoea on the rise: docs ROHTAK, Sept 18 — Pyorrhoea, a dental disease, has assumed alarming proportions worldwide, especially in India, where 98 per cent people above the age of 30 years are affected by it. Similarly, over 90 per cent of the population in the country is suffering from dental caries. These revelations were made by Dr H.S. Chawla, Professor and Head, Pedodontics Department, PGDMS, Chandigarh. Dr Chawla was here yesterday to deliberate on a lecture in continuing the dental education programme. The programme was organised by the state and district branches of the Indian Dental Association (IDA) for the benefit of dentists practising all over the state to enable them to update their knowledge in the field of dentistry. Around 300 delegates from the state attended the programme. In an exclusive interview, Dr Chawla told The Tribune that the main cause of periodontitis was improper cleaning of teeth by people which resulted into exponential growth of bacteria on teeth. He said the disease started from interdental areas which could never be cleaned by the ordinary tooth brushes. He suggested that the dental floss ( a rough silk thread) or interdental brush must be used for proper cleaning of teeth. Emphasising the
importance of preventive dentistry, Dr Chawla said the
dental problems could be reduced considerably by setting
up preventive dental clinics. He stressed such programmes
should be started at the national-level. In preventive
dentistry, he said one should know the importance and
proper manner of brushing and cleaning the proximal
surfaces of teeth. Secondly, he suggested that one must
use fluoride toothpaste regularly to check the spread of
bacteria. Thirdly, he forbade people to eat sugary items,
including fruits, more than thrice a day. |
MP donates 13,000 for old-age
home FATEHABAD, Sept 18 — The Indian National Lok Dal member of Parliament from Bhiwani, Mr Ajay Singh Chautala, has said that the party MPs would make efforts and pool in resources for the construction of old-age homes in all villages in the state to honour the wish of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal. He was addressing a gathering at Dariyapur village in the district today where he had come to inaugurate a primary school built under the Haryana Rural Development Programme at a cost of Rs 2.44 lakh. Mr Ajay Chautala donated Rs 13,000 which was offered to him by villagers in the form of garlands for the construction of an old-age home. The party MP from Sirsa, Dr Sushil Indora, announced that he would sanction the remaining amount required for the purpose from his MP quota. The youth leader said that ever since his father, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, took the reins of the state government 13 months ago, a new impetus had been provided to the development works in the state. He said despite a resource crunch, the Chief Minister visited all 90 Assembly segments of the state under the Sarkar Aapke Dwar programme and solved day-to-day problems of the people on the spot. He said the second phase of the programme would begin from October 2. He asked the villagers
to form village development committees to keep a watch on
the development activities. |
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Scientists warn paddy growers AMBALA, Sept 18 — Scientists of the Krishi Gyan Kendra has warned the paddy growers to beware of the possibility of heavy attack of rice stem borer in the district. Earlier, the borer was considered to be regular pest of the Basmati variety, but now its attack has been reported from other varieties also such as HKR-120, HKR-126, Pusa basmati, PR-106 etc which ranges from 15 to 20 per cent. It appeared in the epidemic from during August 1990 and in serious from in certain packets during September. The scientists said, “caterpillars alone are destructive and when full grown, measure about 2 cm in length, dirty white or greenish-yellow, having brown head. Small caterpillars go into the stern from leaf sneath and feed inside, resulting into drying of central leaf whorl commonly called ‘dead heart’. The plants attacked in early stages are killed are together due to drying, where as those infested at an early stages produce ears with out green”. The scientists have suggested that the infested fields may be sprayed immediately with 500 ml, methyl parathion (Metacid) 50 EC or 500 ml monocrotophos (Nuvacron/ Monocle) 36 SL or one litre chlorpyriphos (Bursban) 20 EC per acre in 200 litres of water per acre depending upon age of the crop or apply 7.5 kg cartap hydrochloride (Padan) 4G per acre after mixing in 10 kg fine sand. Repeat the spray after 20 days if necessary.  |
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One held for posing as
CM’s brother SONEPAT, Sept 18 — Santosh Misra, a youth of Maharashtra, was arrested by the police on charges of cheating and impersonation here yesterday. According to the police, the accused, who was posing as the brother and personal secretary to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Chander Babu Naidu, approached the SP, Mr A.S. Chawla, and recommended the name of a candidate for recruitment as a police constable. He told the SP that his belongings were stolen while he was going to Sonepat by a train. When he went to the Government Railway Police (GRP) for getting his complaint registered, he was allegedly maltreated and his complaint not registered, he added. The SP, suspecting his
identity took him to his residence for interrogation,
where it was revealed that he was an impersonator.
Thereafter, the SP handed him over to the GRP. |
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Civil hospitals beyond
poor man’s reach AMBALA,
Sept 18 — The people living below the poverty line and those who do not have any means of earning now have no place for their treatment as most of the services earlier available to the poor patients free of cost in the civil hospitals in the district have been commercialised by the health department. Now the patients have to pay a sufficient amount for all kind of blood tests, X-ray, ECG and for some other tests too. The only free service which is available in the government hospitals in the OPD service for which one has to wait in a queue for hours. Since a large number of private hospitals and nursing homes having specialised medical facilities have developed even in the small towns in the district, the people having sufficient sources of income especially the businessmen prefer to get the medical treatment in private hospitals instead of civil hospitals. Basically the civil hospitals were established for the poor who could not afford the costly private treatment. But now even the civil hospitals are getting beyond their reach. According to the latest circular of the Health Department, the laboratories existing in the civil hospitals will not provide free testing facilities even to the common man. Now one will have to pay at least Rs 10 to Rs 100 for various blood tests. If the doctor advises the patient to get his haemoglobin, TLC, DLC, cholesterol and blood sugar tested, the patient has to pay around Rs 50 for it. Similary for the different X-rays the patient has to pay Rs 50 to 100. For the ECG one has to pay Rs 25. The patients are of the views that the hospitals should provide the testing facilities free of cost. But if it is not possible it should be available on a no profit no loss basis. According to a doctor, the blood bank charges Rs 500 for the testing of one unit of blood while the tests conducted by them do not cost more than Rs 300. The department pleads that the testing facilities are made free for the people having the yellow card. According to information only 20 to 25 per cent people living below the poverty line have the yellow card. Beside them there are hundreds of rickshaw pullers, labours and financially backward people who cannot afford the new charges imposed by the
department. |
Tributes paid to Balmukund
Gupt REWARI, Sept 18 — Journalists, writers, poets and freedom fighters from various parts of Haryana participated in the Shradhanjali Samaroh organised to mark the 93rd death anniversary of Babu Balmukund Gupt, a journalist, writer and freedom fighter of the 19th century, at his native village Gudiani, 30 km from here, today. Former minister and veteran freedom fighter Mr Balwant Rai Tayal presided over the function. The Haryana Health Minister, Dr M.L Ranga, was the chief guest. Paying tributes to Babu Balmukund Gupt, Dr Ranga said it was unfortunate that Haryana had forgotten the freedom fighter who relentlessly and fearlessly wrote against British as the editor of Bharat-Mitra in Calcutta at the end of the 19th century. He was even jailed. Besides Hindi and Urdu his literature is also available in Bangla. A memorial or library should be set up in his 100-year old haveli Gudiani. In response to the demand of residents Dr Ranga announced that a dispensary or hospital would be opened in his name at Gudiani and Government High School here would also be named after him. Noted historian Dr K.C.
Yadav, former poets, Halchal Haryanvi and Ghamandi Lal
Aggarwal, the village sarpanch, Mrs Meenakshi Khanna were
among eminent persons who attended the function. |
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BJP to consolidate base in villages REWARI, Sept 18 — The Haryana
unit of the BJP has decided to constitute 1,400
“shakti kendras” to consolidate its base in
villages in the state. Each kendra will comprise four to
six villages. A resolution in this regard was adopted at
a two-day state executive committee meeting which
concluded at Khot village, 28 km from here,
yesterday. Addressing a press conference, the state BJP
chief, Mr Rattan Lal Kataria, said party activists had
been directed to launch a campaign to make Dalits,
Muslims and members of other Backward Classes support the
BJP en bloc. Referring to the BJP’s position
vis-a-vis the Chautala government, he said his party was
giving it outside support but was free to criticise the
latter’s “anti-people” policies. He said
the BJP had urged the Chautala government to get a survey
conducted in southern Haryana in view of the severe
drought conditions prevailing there and to provide
financial help to drought-affected farmers. The party
also urged the state government to provide infrastructure
to small-scale units. |
Order to remove
encroachments FATEHABAD, Sept 18 — The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anil Malik, today issued directions for the removal of all encroachments on public land in rural and urban areas of the district. The Deputy Commissioner convened a meeting of senior administrative officers of the district at his office here in this regard. The meeting was attended by the SDM, Fatehabad, Mr R.K. Chaudhary, the SDM, Tohana, Mr Shakti Singh, the SDM, Rattia, Mr Shiv Prasad Sharma, the District Revenue Officer, the District Development and Panchayat Officer, tehsildars and secretaries of various municipal committee and market committees. Mr Malik directed the officers to start afresh the drive for removal of encroachments. He said the drive would be carried out under the directions of the SDMs concerned and asked the secretaries of the municipal committees and the market committees to issue notices for the removal of encroachments. Directions were also issued to remove encroachment from state highways, link roads, and the village common land. The police has been asked to provide the requisite force for the purpose. Later, in a press note
issued here today, the DC said 206 acres, six canals and
16 marlas of land were identified as under illegal
occupation. |
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Bank conference concludes YAMUNANAGAR, Sept 18 —The third
two-day conference of the All-India Allahabad Bank
Employees Steering Committee concluded here
yesterday. Speaking on the general secretary’s
report placed by Mr Ashok Das, delegates from West
Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana
condemned the “pro-imperialist, anti-people and
anti-working class policies” of the Central
Government. A call for a struggle against the
“repressive measures” of the Allahabad Bank
management was also given on the occasion. It was also
pointed out that while a scale-III officer became General
Manager in 10 years, part-time sweepers in spite of the
existence of a promotion policy were refused promotion to
peon even after 20 years. |
Two held for driver’s
murder FARIDABAD, Sept 18 — The police has arrested two youths in connection with the murder of a Tata Sumo driver on December 8 last year. It is learnt that the accused Kuldeep, a resident of Kharkhoda in Sonepat district, and Braham Singh of Gautam Budh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh — had hired a Tata Sumo for Okhla in New Delhi. They took the vehicle to Dabua Colony here and allegedly strangled its driver Devender. The deceased was a resident of Bahadurgarh Town. The body was thrown in a jungle near Bhadkhal. The police has arrested Ajit and Arvind who had allegedly “helped” the accused in the crime. Meanwhile, two persons were crushed to death by a tanker on the national highway near Gorata Chowk today. The victims, identified
as Kailash and Prahlad of Shiv Colony, Hodal, were going
on foot when they were hit by the tanker. A case has been
registered under Section 279, 304 of the IPC. |
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DC’s mother
cremated FARIDABAD, Sept 18
— Shakuntala Sharan, mother of the Deputy
Commissioner, Mr Anand Mohan Sharan, was cremated here
today. Shakuntala (65) had died of a heart attack in
Escorts Hospital last night. She is survived by her
husband, three sons and a daughter. A large number of
local residents and senior government officials attended
the cremation. |
|
Birthday message, pedestrian
style KURUKSHETRA, Sept 18 (UNI) — An unprecedented
scene was witnessed by residents of this dormant city
this morning when drivers saw at least 15 messages of
“Happy birthday to you” on different road turns
from Mohan Nagar Colony to a girls’ college on
Salarpur Road. The messages written with white powder
also had a sign of arrow indicating a turn to follow. The
arrow signs ended at the gate of the girls’ college.
It could not be known whether the love bug wished his
friend on her 15th birthday by writing happy birthday at
15 places on roads or not. But one thing was sure that
the wishes were for his friend living in Mohan Nagar
Colony.
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