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| Monday, November 13, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Gurgaon cyber capital of Haryana Crime rate drops in
Faridabad Korean offer gladdens
public Transvestites flock to
Haryana Bhadana case: warning to
others |
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Employees' body asks govt to
clarify Farmers allege water theft Rural India absent in
Cabinet: Godara
AIBEA strike against privatisation 10,000 rail men
to attend conference Teachers
flay govt apathy MCA course: team inspects institute Ex-servicemen get financial aid 2 stabbed, robbed of cash Roadways crackdown on ticketless HUDA scheme
on plot
allotment 5 occupants of van
die in mishap
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Gurgaon cyber capital of Haryana BHIWANI, Nov 12 — The Haryana Government has declared Gurgaon the cyber capital of the state to boost information technology and computer education not only in India, but also to compete at the international level. This was disclosed by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, while addressing a gathering after inaugurating a career academy here yesterday. Mr Chautala said the implementation of information technology, uninterrupted power would be required and for this purpose Panipat Refinery would set up a 360 MW power plant. The North Grid Power Corporation would also supply additional power to the state. The Chief Minister emphasised the need to promote information technology to keep pace with the world, besides offering direct and indirect employment opportunities to the youth. He said with a view to boosting information technology in the state he had visited various countries including Japan, Singapore and Korea. He said not only big companies of India, but also of international fame had shown interest in setting up ventures in the state. He said the Haryana Government was committed to provide round the clock power and efforts were being made to increase the availability of power by setting up new projects. The Chief Minister said new education policy had been implemented in the state under which English was being taught from class-1. He said although at the initial stage some political parties had opposed the introduction of English, but later they had accepted the decision of the government as it would provide more opportunities to the youth. Mr Chautala said drought-like conditions were prevailing in six districts, however the additional water and power would be made available to the agriculture sector on a priority basis at subsidised rates even at the cost of purchasing power at high rates from neighbouring states. He released a souvenir and Mr B.D. Gupta, a former Chief Minister presented a memento to the Chief Minister on the occasion. Presiding over a meeting of the District Public Relations and Grievances Committee, the Chief Minister reassured farmers that sufficient water and power would be supplied to the districts which were facing drought-like conditions. He directed the district administration to check the theft of water by undertaking intensive patrol so that water could reach the tail end. The Chief Minister listened to five complaints, out of which four were redressed on the spot. The other case would be presented during the next meeting of the committee. |
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Crime rate drops in
Faridabad FARIDABAD, Nov 12 — There has been a noticeable drop in the crime rate in the district in the past about a year. While the average decrease is over 8 per cent, the incidence of serious crimes, including murder, dacoity, rape, theft of motor vehicles and robbery has registered a decline of 20 to 28 per cent during the said period. According to the available figures, the total cases registered by the police under various sections of the IPC in 1999 were around 5353, while the number of such cases registered during the same period in the present year is about 4912. However, the cases of non-IPC nature, including those under the Excise Act, the Gambling Act, the NDPS Act and the Arms Act have shown a sharp increase this year as compared to the last year. There has been a drop of about 22.7 per cent in cases of murder this year in comparison to the same period last year. Similarly, the incidents of dacoity, rape, robbery and theft of vehicles have shown a decline of 27, 22.6, 20 and 27 per cent respectively during the period. The
burglary cases have decreased by about 37 per cent, according to the statistics prepared by the police department here. Mr Ranbir Sharma, SSP, claimed that the crime graph had gone down in the past about 10 months due to various reasons. He told this correspondent that with busting of some of the leading gangs of criminals operative for the past few years in the region, the incidents of murder, dacoity and kidnappings had declined. He said the police personnel had been activated in a way which had not only helped in checking the crime rate, but the residents had started cooperating with the police. The SSP said perhaps it was for the first time that a “round-the-clock duty chart” had been introduced and every cop had been assigned a particular duty beat and performance was appraised regularly. He said the mobile PCR vans had been
assigned a special duty of keeping vigil near school and bank premises, besides cops being given the responsibility of patrolling in residential areas. The police has also adopted a routine weekly exercise of searching and checking the identity and whereabouts of the anti-social elements in all localities of the town, he added. He said about 16 PCR vans had been on the move round the clock and all the possible entry points to the district were being monitored
continuously through nakas and mobile teams. The district police chief admitted that the incidents of the Excise Act violations and gambling had increased in the district. Meanwhile, the police department has offered help to the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam for their anti-theft campaign. |
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Korean offer gladdens
public YAMUNANAGAR: The residents of Yamunanagar are delighted at the Korean offer for a power plant at Yamunanagar. The Yamunanagar Super Thermal Power Plant (YSTPP) which has been hanging fire for the past 24 years, will see the light of day. This came about during Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala’s recent visit to Korea. Land measuring 1132 acres was acquired during the regime of Mr Devi Lal in 1997. The National Thermal Power Corporation spent Rs 5 crore on building a helipad, office complex, two godowns and 52-house complex. Mr Chautala during the visit made an offer to Hanjung, a Korean public sector company, to participate in the setting up of the proposed thermal power plant at Yamunanagar. The offer was made by the Hanjung’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Yaung Suk-yoon. It was agreed that the company would soon send a delegation to Haryana to make an in-depth study of the project. The company is already in the process of setting up a 280 MW power plant at Kundapalli in Andhra Pradesh and a 440 MW power plant at Palghat in kerala. The foundation stone was laid through remote control by the then Prime Minister, Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao, in 1993 but nothing much was done after that. Mr V.K. Sachdeva, president of the Saraswati Sugar Mill, Yamunanagar, said it was the first step towards power reforms. This mega-power plant would be a revolution in the power sector. He congratulated the Chief Minister on his getting Korean collaboration for YSTPP. Mr A.N. Pathak, vice-president of Ballarpur Industries’ local plant, said there was shortage of power in Haryana and the setting up of this thermal plant would vastly improve the power position in the state. |
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Transvestites flock to
Haryana HISAR, Nov 12 — The self-styled guardians of the feudalistic Haryanvi society are in for a rude shock. Unknown to them, Haryana has suddenly emerged as a haven for transvestites from Delhi, Chandigarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana itself. The gatherings at nightlong noisy transvestite parties in tourist resorts and banquet halls on major highways in the state on the weekends are giving headaches to event managers of the five-star hotels of Delhi, which are steadily losing this business. This correspondent who attended one such party in the guise of the manager of a banquet hall located about 70 km from here last night found that the motley gathering of transvestites from the region included industrialists, chartered accountants, computer professionals, lawyers, marketing executives and even a young mahant of a dera. They came in groups of two to four in a variety of swanky cars, station wagons and sporty mobikes. Each of them carried a bag containing the dress, jewellery and makeup kit for the night. The normal looking men went straight into one of the six rooms booked for them and emerged from them completely transformed. They came out as tall but slim and attractive young ‘women’ wearing flashy brightly coloured gowns with long side slits which appeared straight out of a fashion TV clip. They wore heavy makeup, imported wigs, expensive perfumes and shiny jewellery. Many wore black or navy blue saris with backless blouses. While they were dressing for the big night, a Delhi disc jockey was busy supervising the fixing of fibreglass floor with laser controlled strobe lights underneath. There were two sets of coloured spotlights overhead and two six-feet high loudspeakers, which blared the latest Daler Mehndi, Harbhajan Mann and Sardul Sikander numbers. The fibreglass dance floor was surrounded on three sides by about 100 chairs. The party got off to a start around 9 p.m. with two early birds taking to the dance floor with gay abandon. Soon, the big lawn was full of ‘ladies’ holding glasses of whisky and expensive imported cigarettes. As the party progressed many ‘couples’ retired to dark corners and their vehicles, emerging from there every half an hour or so later to refill their glasses and join others on the dance floor. The routine continued till late in the night. I managed to talk to a few of them. I gathered that there were about 20 transvestites each from Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Ludhiana in Punjab alone accounted for 17 while Delhi was represented by more than 40. Among them was a young mahant who confided he always wore saffron at his dera but freaked out once a month to such a party on his trendy mobike. They said their biggest regret was that they were mistaken as eunuchs, though in fact nature had only trapped the psyche and sexual preferences of the opposite sex in their bodies. They said they walked on the razor’s edge all their lives and felt rather unfortunate despite the fact that they had accepted their freak minds. One of them said he was married with two kids and his wife was not aware of his transvestism. However, he said his parents knew about him but they never objected because he continued to be a dutiful husband and father. Yet another party guest said he worked as an accounts manager and did not plan to marry. They said they had carefully chosen many private tourist resorts and banquet halls along highways in Haryana because Delhi parties had become rowdy with anti-social elements forcing their entry even on gala occasions in starred hotels. The same was the case with Gurgaon. However, they felt safer and tension free in complexes located away from towns. While the resort owners provide adequate security, entry to the party lawn is regulated strictly by at least three transvestites who on that particular day just manage the show. They do not drink until after the party is over. The guest list is carefully chosen and every guest pays Rs 500 to Rs 1000 depending on the day’s choice of drinks and food at the entry itself. For last night’s bash, the complex had been tastefully decked up with coloured lights all over the walls, roofs and all plants. However, only the dance floor’s strobe lights and the spotlights above lighted the lawn itself. The party came to an end around 2 in the morning. All the guests changed to their normal clothing and looks and left as quietly as they had come. None stayed overnight. The sexual behaviour of dressing up in the opposite sex clothing is called transvestism. It is a fetishistic sexual behaviour and is usually practiced by the male. This kind of behaviour usually becomes a problem if it involves a particular object or behaviour in order for the individual to achieve sexual arousal and satisfaction. It would thus interfere with the development or maintenance of an intimate relationship between a couple. Usually transvestites are male who are heterosexual and the dressing up is part of their sexual act. However, there are also homosexual transvestites and their percentage in the cross-dressing community is the same as the homosexual percentage in the normal population. |
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Bhadana case: warning to
others FARIDABAD, Nov 12 — The decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court regarding the unseating of the state Cooperation Minister, Mr Kartar Singh
Bhadana, from the Samalkha assembly seat seems to have sent a warning message to several other political leaders who are having a stake in the mining-business in the district. According to political circles, some other influential persons may be included this category, which had become the basis for the unseating of Mr
Bhadana. According to sources, more than half of the total lease holders of mines in the region are influential politicians or their
kins. Some of them have even started enquiring whether they came in the same category as that Mr
Bhadana. The mines here have attracted many politicians, during the past two or three decades. Some ministers and influential persons during the regimes of the Bhajan Lal and Bansi Lal governments had reportedly owned or taken such leases directly or indirectly, while some of them got it leased against their names. Some others, got it in the
kins’ name. The state government has reportedly initiated a move to identify the persons who could come into this category. Meanwhile, the general secretary of the Haryana unit of the Samajwadi Party, Mr Surender Singh
Bhati, has welcomed the decision of the court.
CM to retain
Bhadana JIND, Nov 12 (PTI) — Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala today said he would retain his ministerial colleague Avtar Singh Bhadana whose election has been set aside by the Punjab and Haryana High
Court. However, he told mediapersons that the final decision can only be taken after reading the Punjab and Haryana High Court
judgement. He said Bhadana has also decided to appeal before the Supreme Court against the High Court judgement declaring his election "illegal and unconstitutional". |
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Employees' body asks govt to
clarify CHANDIGARH, Nov 12 — Relations between the Haryana Government and its employees belonging to the general categories and the backward classes have again become tense following the publication of an assertion on behalf of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, in a news report. In the report Mr Chautala was quoted as saying that he had not given any assurance to these employees before they withdrew their 24-day-old pen-down strike on November 9. He was also quoted to have said that the employees returned to work on their own and the government would deal with the strikers firmly. The Haryana General Category and Backward Class Employees Welfare Sangh, which had led the strike, held an emergency meeting of its executive committee here today and adopted a resolution asking the government to clarify the published statement of Mr Chautala. Otherwise, it said, the employees, too, were not bound to wait till November 16. The employees are demanding the implementation of the Supreme Court judgement in the Ajit Singh Janjua case regarding accelerated promotion to the Scheduled Castes employees. The sangh leaders had claimed before they withdrew the strike that Mr Chautala had assured them that the government would implement the judgement immediately after November 13 when a contempt petition against a former Chief Secretary, Mr R.S. Varma, and certain other officers was scheduled to come up before the apex court. According to the president of the sangh, Mr Desh Raj Lamba, the executive committee also raised certain doubts about the news report. |
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Farmers allege water theft SONEPAT, Nov 12 — Farmers in Gohana subdivision of the district have not been receiving their share of irrigation water for the past few months due to erratic canal water supply. They have alleged theft of irrigation water as a result of which water does not reach the tailend of the distribution system. As the sowings of rabi crops, particularly oilseeds and wheat, is going on, the farmers are facing the shortage of canal water. Most of the farmers who do not have alternative means of irrigation have been compelled to plough their fields in the hope of winter rains or canal water to be supplied to them during the rotation period. Water from the Khanpur, Gamri and Katwal minors is not reaching the fields tail-end. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Sudhir Rajpal, has directed officials of the Gohana Water Service Division to take steps for ensuring the supply of canal water to the tail-end villages by November 15. Farmers have demanded that the authorities should remove the illegal barrages raised at different places and check the water theft. Meanwhile, representatives of various farmers organisations, sarpanches and panches and the members of block samitis today expressed their anguish over the inadequate supply of irrigation water and urged the state government to direct the authorities to take steps for ensuring the adequate supply of irrigation water. They demanded action against the officials found responsible for the mess. |
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Rural India absent in
Cabinet: Godara FATEHABAD, Nov 12 — Former Haryana Home Minister Mani Ram Godara, talking to mediapersons here today, said most ministers in the Vajpayee Cabinet did not have their roots in villages. He said some of these ministers were intelligent in their respective fields, but they did not represent the pulse of the real India which was in villages. He said this adversely affected the interests of rural people. The former minister criticised the Central Government for what he called “poor management of the agriculture sector.” He said lakhs of tonnes of wheat and other food grains were rotting in godowns, but policy managers had not been able to evolve a strategy to meet the challenge. This, he said, was due to poor management at the top level as those who made policies had no idea about the problems of the rural people. He said experts advised the farmers to grow fruits and flowers but they did not realise that the farmers did not have the wherewithal for the purpose. The experts were ignorant of the ground realities, he said. Every year, hundreds of persons were sent to Israel and other countries to study the agriculture system there. Nobody realised that the conditions in those countries were different from that of India, he said. The drip irrigation scheme which was followed in Israel could not be used in wheat and paddy crops as it was effective in floriculture and horticulture only. He suggested that instead of wasting large amounts of money on these tours, the government should evolve methods for mitigating the problems of the farmers by appointing at the top level, persons who could understand the problems of the farmers and were from rural background. |
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AIBEA strike against privatisation AMBALA, Nov 12 — The All India Bank Employees’ Association will observe a nationwide strike on November 15 in protest against the proposed privatisation of the banks by the Union Government. It was stated by Mr Tarkeshwar Chakraborti, General Secretary, AIBEA, while addressing the fourth annual conference of Haryana Bank Employees’ Federation today at Ambala cantonment. Mr P.L. Syal, vice-president AIBEA, president, HBEF Mr N.K. Jain and general secretary, Mr N.P. Munjal, were also present. Mr Chakraborti said if the government brought the Bill in this regard in the winter session of Parliament the bank employees would organise a protest march at Parliament to press their demand. He said around 13 lakhs bank employees would join the proposed strike which would paralyse the bank service in the country. Mr Chakraborty said representatives of various bank unions jointly had met the Prime Minister and the Union Finance Minister to lodge their protest against the proposed privatisation of the banks but the government had not cared to redress their grievances. He said the bank unions had also met Leader of the Opposition, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, who assured them that the Congress would oppose the Bill in Parliament. He said the CPI, the CPM, the RSP and the Forward Bloc had also assured them to oppose the proposed Bill. Addressing the delegates he said that the government had been planning to reduce its share from 51 to 33 per cent in the banks which would automatically lead the banks toward privatisation. He said that there should be a provision of prosecution for the bank defaulters like Pakistan. Various bank had submitted lists of bank defaulters, including some big business houses to the Union Government. The list should be published publicly and such defaulters should be banned to contest the Assembly or Parliament elections, he said. The other speakers in the conference opposed the voluntary retirement scheme and reduction in the retirement age. A large number of delegates were present in the conference. |
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10,000 rail men
to attend conference AMBALA, Nov 12 — Around 10,000 railway employees from all the railway divisions of Northern Railway will participate in the three-day annual conference of Northern Railway Men’s Union to be held from November 15 to 17 at Ambala cantonment. It was stated by its Divisional Secretary, Mr C.S. Bajwa, here today. He said that beside the Chief Minister, Haryana, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, Mr J.P. Dube, general secretary, All-India Railway Men’s Federation, Mr Umraomal Prohit, secretary, International Transport Workers Federation and Mr S.G. Mishra, president, Northern Railway Men’s Union would be present on this occasion. Mr Bajwa said there would be an opening session on November 15 where the union leaders would apprise the workers about the privatisation, liberalisation, globalisation and the political scenario toward the allocation of funds to improve the infrastructure technology in the railway planning. In November there will be a delegation session in which various anomalies of Fifth Pay Commission, other labour problems and other sensitive issues will be discussed. The decision so concluded would be laid down in the form of memorandum required to be implemented by all the branches. The memorandum will further be put up in the All India Railway Men’s Federation’s Convention being held at Jalpaiguri on November 26. Mr Bajwa said that out of 2,52,000 total employees strength over Northern Railway, 1,60,000 enrolled in the membership strength of men’s union and on the grassroots level a total 156 branches of NRMU were functioning over the northern zone, Mr Bajwa added. |
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Teachers
flay govt apathy AMBALA The union leaders said the delegation of the union had met the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, and briefed him the problems of the college teachers. They said the Chief Minister had assured the delegation that he would take up the matter but nothing has done in this regard so far. They said around 7,000 teachers of 115 colleges in the state had not received their salaries since August. Most of them had been facing a great financial crisis. Instead of teaching the students they had to visit the offices of the Education Department for their salary. They said that the state government had issued a notification on May 11, 1998, for providing pension to the teachers of
recognised colleges in the state. But the notification was not implemented. They said after announcement of the pension of government had discontinued to deposit its share of provident fund in the teachers account. Some of the teachers who had retired recently had neither received their provident fund nor the pension. The union leaders said that it was a serious matter and government should take it up seriously. The union urged the government to release the pending grants of the colleges so that these may be able to give salary of their teachers. The Government had earlier agreed principally to provide pension facilities to the recognised college teachers which should be implemented without any delay at every cost, the union leaders added. |
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MCA course: team inspects institute FATEHABAD, Nov 12 — The Manohar Memorial Institute of Management and Technology is likely to start masters of computer applications (MCA) course from the next academic session. A team of experts, sent by the state government, visited the institute yesterday and inspected the infrastructure. The team was led by Dr N.P. Mehta, Principal, Regional Engineering College, Kurukshetra, and included Dr P.P. Gupta, Principal, YMCA, Faridabad, Dr Ashok Kumar, Principal, College of Engineering, Murthal and Mr Ashok Sharma, professor of computer engineering, YMCA Faridabad. The team completed its inspection today. The team will submit its report to the state government who will make its recommendations to the All-India Council of Technical Education for the grant of permission to run the course. The college Principal Dr A.P. Madan, said the institute planned to start many more technical courses like the B.Pharmacy and different trades of engineering in the coming
years. |
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Ex-servicemen get financial aid SONEPAT, Nov 12 — The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Sudhir
Rajpal, told mediapersons here today a sum of Rs 53.10 lakh had been given as financial assistance to 1,600 ex-servicemen, including disabled and widows of Army men, in the district during the current financial year. The state government, had also announced the amount of
ex-gratia grant for the families of those Army personnel killed in the Kargil conflict. These families are also being allotted petrol stations and LPG retail depots on the priority basis. He said 645 ex-servicemen, who were not entitled to get any pension and were above 60 years of age, had been provided financial assistance to the tune of Rs 8.53
lakh. The Sainik Board had spent Rs 17,250 on the marriages of seven daughters of widows of ex-servicemen. A sum of Rs 43,790 was given as scholarships to 57 children of the ex-servicemen during the current year, he added. |
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2 stabbed, robbed of cash FARIDABAD, Nov 12 — Two persons were stabbed and cash and valuables looted from them by around five masked youths near Mewla Maharajpur village in the district yesterday. The injured have been admitted to a hospital. The incident took place near a railway crossing when the victims, identified as Yashpal and Lalit, were going in a car from a nearby factory. While the victims were waiting for the railway-crossing barrier to open, at least five masked youths attacked them with knives. The assailants snatched cash and valuables from them and fled from the scene. The condition of the injured is stated to be serious. Miscreants had also looted Rs 22,500 from Harish, who was an employee of same factory. A case has been registered. |
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Roadways crackdown on ticketless SONEPAT, Nov 12 — Haryana Roadways has intensified its campaign against ticketless passengers in the Roadways buses in the district. Mr Harish Chander Jain, General Manager, of the local depot of Haryana Roadways, told mediapersons here today that officials of the checking wing detected as many as 900 passengers travelling without tickets in the Roadways buses during surprise checking and they were fined Rs 74,560 on the spot. The amount of he fine was recovered on the spot, he added. He further said. checking staff had caught 4,174 passengers travelling without tickets during the past six months and collected Rs 3.56 lakh in fine from them. |
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HUDA scheme
on plot
allotment CHANDIGARH, Nov 12 — The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has floated a scheme for the allotment of freehold residential plots at Panchkula, Panipat, Karnal, Ambala, Jagadhri and Pundri. An official spokesman said here today that booking for the general and other categories under the scheme would commence from November 17 and close on December 18. However, for defence personnel, ex-servicemen, paramilitary forces personnel and NRIs, the booking period would extend up to January 18, 2001. The plots would be allotted through draw of lots. |
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5 occupants of van
die in mishap ROHTAK, Nov 12 — As many as five persons were killed on the spot when a Maruti van carrying them collided with a train at an unmanned railway crossing between Lahli and Kalanaur stations on the Rohtak-Bhiwani section of the Northern Railway, 25 km from here, today. According to reports, the mishap occurred at about 5 p.m. when a Maruti van (HR26 H-1922) hit the Bathinda-bound 2 BBR passenger train. |
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