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| Thursday, March 8, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Chautala-Badal friendship ‘harming Haryana’ Chautala’s detractors ‘silenced’ by rally Left rally against anti-people policies People for alternative politics: CPM Bhajan
rally “a political show” QUESTION HOUR IN ASSEMBLY |
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‘Check’ investment in power sector Convention of power workers organised SYL: Haryana to await SC decision Settle SYL issue, says Bansi Lal SUCI activists stage dharna Narnaul first dist to launch IVR system Man ‘conned’, loses Rs 5 lakh, legs 3 killed, 1 burnt in various mishaps Steps to check lawlessness
on Holi Illicit petrol station unearthed Woman ‘sells’
daughter Two run over by train
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Chautala-Badal friendship ‘harming Haryana’ Chandigarh, March 7 While participating in the debate on Haryana Governor Babu Parmanand’s Address to the Assembly, Mr Bhajan Lal boasted that the construction work on the canal was started on his initiative. “ In the name of his friendship with Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister of Punjab, Mr Om Prakash Chautala was causing harm to the state “, Mr Bhajan Lal alleged. He added that the SYL issue had hardly found mention in the Governor’s Address. The Congress leader also accused the INLD of doing a volte face on the issue of power. “Earlier the INLD asked people not to pay their power bills resulting in massive arrears. Now they are taking action against those who did not pay their bills”, he said while alleging that no new power project had been taken up by the INLD regime. Mr Bhajan Lal said the frustration of the people of Haryana against the INLD was reflected in the “massive gathering” at the rally organised by the Congress in Bhiwani on Sunday. Mr Bhajan Lal further claimed that the Bhiwani rally was much bigger than the rally at Kurukshetra yesterday which was attended by the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister. Ruling party legislators, however, protested against Mr Bhajan Lal’s claim as they asserted that the Kurukshetra rally was bigger than the one at Bhiwani. Mr Bhajan Lal also alleged corrupt practices in the recruitment of constables. He critised the government for the closure of various units and retrenchment. He said thousands of people were losing their jobs because of such steps by the INLD regime. He also pointed out that the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat was yet to be announced by the Centre and accused the state government of not taking any initiative in this regard. On this, however, he was challenged by Mr Chautala, who said that whenever non-Congress governments were in power in Delhi, the increase in the MSP had been more than the increases announced by Congress-led Union Governments. “If the MSP is not revised this year, the state government will pay an amount to farmers to ensure that they got profit”, the Chief Minister said. Mr Bhajan Lal, who was the first speaker to participate in the discussion on the Governor’s Address, after INLD member Bhagwan Sahai Rawat moved the motion for expressing thanks to the Governor, also attacked the INLD regime for failing to get any compensation for the paddy farmers of Haryana. “ The Centre announced a package for the Punjab farmers but remained silent on Haryana”, he said. Mr Bhajan Lal’s speech was followed by some noisy scenes in the House as the Speaker invited Congress member Dharampal Singh to speak, ignoring another Congress member, Mr Jai Parkash, a former Union Minister, whose name was ahead of that of Mr Dharampal Singh on the list of speakers submitted by the Congress to the Speaker. Mr Jai Parkash as well as Mr Bhajan Lal demanded that Mr Jai Parkash should be given a chance to speak first. This was, however, firmly objected to by both Mr Chautala and Finance Minister Sampat Singh . Mr Sampat Singh, who is also the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, referred to the rules and said that it was the discretion of the Speaker to decide which MLA he would invite. Finally, Mr Jai Parkash had to sit down and let Mr Dharampal Singh speak. While participating in the debate, a senior Congress leader, Mr Inderjit Singh, who emerged as the star speaker on the Opposition Benches, alleged that the peasantry of Haryana was being systematically destroyed. Agricultural land was being acquired indiscriminately, particularly around Delhi, for the benefit of industrialists and colonisers. He said the least the government could do was to give adequate compensation to the farmers for their land being acquired so that they could purchase land elsewhere. He regretted that industrial units were not offering jobs to the people of Haryana and were bringing contract labour from outside the state. A delegation of Canadian MPs, led by the Minister for Citizenship and Immigration, Ms Elinor Caplan, watched the proceedings of the House for some time. It was welcomed by the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. For its benefit, an Independent MLA, Mr Rajinder Bisla, read out a prepared speech in English, highlighting the achievements of the government. As soon as the delegation left, a number of MLAs asked Mr Bisla to speak in English. Mr Narinder Singh and Mr Jasjit Singh Sangwan urged the Chief Minister to restore the system of discretionary grant for MLAs so that they could spend the amount on the development of their constituencies. Dr J.P. Sharma wanted a higher allocation in the Budget for health. Among those who participated in the debate were Mr Ram Kishan, Mr Kanwar Pal Singh, Mr Balwant Mayna, Mr Shadi Lal Batra, Ms Sarita Narayan, Mr Ramesh Khattak, Ms Anita Yadav and Mr Bishan Singh Saini. The Congress members, towards the fag-end of the sitting, staged a walkout. Their leader, Mr Bhajan Lal, said now it was too late for Congress MLAs to speak. When he was claiming that at least two members — Mr Jai Prakash and Mr Dharamvir — who were listed among today’s speakers had left, the two members returned to the House. The Speaker said they were welcome to speak on the Governor’s Address. But the Congress MLAs walked out, saying that they would like to speak tomorrow morning.
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Chautala’s detractors ‘silenced’ by rally Kurukshetra, March 7 In a statement issued here today, Mr Ashok Kumar Arora, Transport Minister and MLA from Thanesar, expressed his gratitude to people of the state for taking part in the mammoth rally. The Transport Minister said the rally had proved that mass base of Ch Devi Lal was still prevalent in the state as this was the largest rally in the history of Kurukshetra. He said the Prime Minister had also gathered good impression about the state and had appreciated the efforts of Mr Om Prakash Chautala in making Haryana a front-runner state in the country. Mr Arora said the Prime Minister had accorded sanction for the halt of Shatabdi Express here which would surely boost tourism in the region besides encouraging more pilgrims, including foreigners, to visit the city. He said with the inauguration of the Panorama and Science Centre, here scientific temper would be created in the region. The Prime Minister said farmers of the state with their sincere efforts and hard work had turned Haryana into a foodgrain surplus state. He said the Prime Minister had also given assurance that the Centre would provide financial help to meet challenges in the field of irrigation and power. He said the farmers were relieved as their crops had been kept out of the purview of the WTO to safeguard the interests of farmers. He said the Prime Minister had also assured that minimum support price of wheat would be enhanced in the larger interest of the farming community. He said the Prime Minister had also thanked the Chief Minister for stepping in to rehabilitate industrial units that had to be shifted out of nation’s capital following the verdict of the Supreme Court. Besides this, he also complimented the Chief Minister for taking a lead in providing world class infrastructure facilities for setting up industrial units in the state. The Prime Minister had also credited the state government for following a very positive policy for development of Information Technology in the state and assured all help from the Government of India for furthering this effort of the state government.
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Left rally
against anti-people policies Jind, March 7 Addressing the rally Mr Harkishen Singh Surjeet, General Secretary CPM, said that the Vajpayee government was pursuing anti-people policies under pressure from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation. He said the policies of Union Government were not in the interests of the common people of the country. Restrictions on the import of milk products and agriculture products were being lifted with the result that foreign countries would be able to sell their milk products and agriculture products at cheaper rates and Indian farmers would not be able to compete with them and the agriculture sector would faces a crisis. Speaking at the rally Mr A.B. Vardhan General Secretary, of the CPI said the Vajpayee government was bent upon abolishing the public sector in the country. He said public sector enterprises were being sold at throwaway prices by the government causing huge loss to the state exchequer. Mr Vardhan said the Vajpayee government was anti-farmer and anti-poor. He said the economy of the country was agrarian and 70 per cent of the people were living in villages and were dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. But the government was not taking any interest for the development of villages and the uplift of farmers he added. He said the government had failed to provide remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce. Mr Inderjeet Singh, state secretary of the CPM, Haryana, criticised those political leaders of Haryana who hobnobbed with the BJP for their political interest and ignored the communal character of the BJP. He said the BJP’s communal character had threatened country’s sovereignty and national unity. Mr Raghbir Chaudhary, state secretary, CPI, Haryana, said a handful of politicians and their families had monopolised politics of Haryana. Various state-level leaders of Left parties citicised the Haryana Government for ignoring the interests of the people of the state by increasing rates of power and water. |
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People for alternative politics: CPM Rohtak, March 7 Reacting to the Prime Minister’s assurance of enhancing the minimum support price of wheat Mr Inderjit Singh, state secretary of the party, described it of little importance in view of Central Government’s decision to do away with the strategic role of state procurement and the Public Distribution System (PDS). Expressing disgust over extolling the Prime Minister’s policies to the skies by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, at the recently held rally at Kurukshetra he lamented that the “anti-farmer” and “anti-poor” policies imposed by the NDA government were ignored by Mr
Chautala. |
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Bhajan
rally “a political show” Hisar, March 7 Addressing public meetings in several villages of the Adampur Assembly segment represented by Mr Bhajan Lal, he said the former Chief Minister had earlier planned a rally in Hisar, but changed the venue to Bhiwani at the behest of the Chief Minister. Alleging that Mr Bhajan Lal and Mr Chautala were working in tandem, he said the duo wanted to undermine the rising graph of Mr Bansi Lal by staging a rally in Bhiwani. However, he said, the HVP would suitably respond by organising a rally in Hisar on March 17 which would be addressed by Mr Bansi Lal. The HVP leader lashed out at Mr Chautala, saying the Chief Minister was notorious for doing exactly the opposite of what he promised during the polls. He said while Mr Chautala had been promising water and power free of cost to farmers, he had raised the power tariff and abiana after coming to power. Likewise, he said instead of lowering taxes as he had promised, Mr Chautala had imposed heavy taxes on all sections of society. He said during Mr Bansi Lal’s three year stint from 1996 to 1999, he had imposed taxes amounting to only Rs 162 crore while Mr Chautala had raised taxes by Rs 1500 crore a year. Mr Surinder Singh is on a whistle-stop tour of the district mobilising support for his father’s March 17 rally. Former ministers Kanwal Singh and Attar Singh Saini also toured the Hansi assembly segment today for the same purpose. |
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QUESTION HOUR IN ASSEMBLY Chandigarh, March 7 The Congress member had asked whether the government was considering computerising state treasuries and if there was a possibility of paying bills through computers. The Finance Minister said that the government would computerise 21 district treasuries and 80 sub-treasuries incurring an expenditure of Rs 4.84 crore. He said that computerisation would not render anybody jobless. Twentysix posts of computer operator would be filled. Question hour also witnessed some heated arguments between the Treasury and Opposition Benches on Mr Dharambir Singh’s (Congress representative from Tosham) question on the revival of Tosham subdivision. While the Revenue Minister, Mr Dhirpal Singh, had replied in the negative in his written reply, the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, said that a final decision on this would be taken after the census operation. The opinion of the panchayats would also be taken into account while taking any decision regarding the creation of new subdivisions, Mr Chautala said while intervening in the debate. Responding to a question by Independent legislator Rajinder Singh Bisla on the state’s population control efforts, the Chief Minister said members like Dr J.P. Sharma of the Congress, Mr Bisla or any other member could be part of such efforts. Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare M.L. Ranga said that the growth of population in the state had slowed down between 1981 and 1991. INLD member Nafe Singh Rathi’s question on the total amount spent by the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board on the construction and/repair of roads also figured during question hour. Replying to the question, Mr Jaswinder Singh Sandhu, Agriculture Minister, said while Rs 11,040 lakh and Rs 2,406 lakh was spent on the construction repair and respectively, of rural roads between June, 1991, and July, 1999, Rs 9,768 lakh and Rs 8,767 lakh was spent on such work between July, 1999, and December, 2000. Question hour was followed by debate on the Governor’s Address as, despite a demand by Opposition members, there was no zero hour. |
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‘Check’ investment in power sector Faridabad, March 7 The President of the Union, Mr Pratap Singh said it seems that the various state governments, including that of Haryana, had “failed” to learn any “lesson” from the Enron episode in Maharashtra. He claimed that in view of the announcement made by the Maharashtra Government that it would not purchase Enron power at Rs 7.80 per unit, the power would now be supplied to the NTPC grid, which would supply it further to various states. As a result he said the consumer might be asked to pay Rs 8 or more, for a single unit of power. He said if this would be the state of affairs, then one could imagine the adverse impact on consumers especially the poor and those in the agriculture sector. He said such a situation could sound the death-knell of small farmers and industry. He said the state government should not go “blindly” or and should ensure the “viability” of power rates that the consumers would have to pay. Mr Subhash Lamba, spokesperson of the union, and some other leaders claimed that “reforms” in this sector could be done internally and without involving multi-nationals, by taking the power staff in confidence. The meeting also discussed various issues concerning the employees. |
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Convention of power workers organised Fatehabad, March 7 Speaking on the occasion, Mr Ratti said imperialistic powers like the USA were bent upon ruining the nations of the third world in the name of globalisation, liberalisation and universalisation. He said the government was talking of closing down the public sector at the instance of these powers. The BJP, which earlier opposed the GATT and the Dunkel Agreement, was now following the economic policies of Mr Manmohan Singh. Addressing delegates, Mr R.C. Jagga, president of the Sarva Karamchari Sangh, Haryana, and general secretary of the All-Haryana Power Corporation Workers Union, said the Central Government was planning to pass a Bill in Parliament through which all factories employing less than 1,000 labourers would be exempt from the provisions of the Factory Act and the factory owners would be free to adopt a hire and fire policy. Mr Jagga said though the Power Bill-2000 had been postponed for now due to a public outcry, there were apprehensions that the government would introduce it again with some modifications. He alleged that the government was dancing to the tune of the WTO and the World Bank. He called upon all workers to unite to oppose the anti-people policies of the government. |
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SYL: Haryana to await SC decision Chandigarh, March 7 While talking to newsmen in the press lounge of the Vidhan Sabha, Mr Chautala said Mr Bhajan Lal’s speech lacked substance and showed the intellectual bankruptcy of the Opposition. He said instead of speaking on the Governor’s Address and trying to corner the government, Mr Bhajan Lal talked about his Bhiwani rally, which he (Mr Bhajan Lal) had organised for his survival. Mr Chautala repeated in the House what he had told newsmen, leading to sharp exchange between him and Mr Bhajan Lal. Mr Chautala said when they were in the Opposition, they were not given enough time to speak. Now when the Treasury Benches asked the Opposition to speak as much as it desired, the Congress leaders had nothing to say. Mr Bhajan Lal challenged Mr Chautala’s contention by saying that he had raised several issues of public importance and he did not need to learn anything from Mr Chautala. Mr Bhajan Lal said the Chief Minister could read his
speech in tomorrow’s newspapers. When asked when a meeting would be held between him and his Punjab counterpart on the SYL canal, as suggested by the Prime Minister, Mr Chautala said he was waiting for the Supreme Court decision on the issue because Haryana would get its share of 3.83 maf in the Ravi-Beas waters in terms of the Eradi Commission report. He said if the Centre did not increase the minimum support price of wheat, his government would give bonus to the growers. However he refused to specify the quantum of bonus. He said adequate arrangements, had been made for the storage of wheat. Mr Chautala said there would be no fresh taxes in the Budget. Regarding the imposition of any tax later in the year, he said that would depend upon the circumstances. Mr Chautala said even though the Prime Minister might not have announced any exchange for Haryana at Kurukshetra yesterday, the Centre had already sanctioned three gas-based power projects of 500 MW each, to be constructed by the National Thermal Power Corporation at Yamunanagar, Faridabad and Hisar. He said the Bansi Lal government had handed over one unit of the Panipat Thermal Plant to the ABB for modernisation in the hope that an additional 18 MW of power would be generated. The government had already spent about Rs 50 crore on it and the work was still to be completed. The state had already suffered a loss of about Rs 300 crore. Now Haryana had asked the Centre to get the unit repaired from the ABB even if some additional expenditure was involved. Mr Chautala said efforts would be made to know who were responsible for signing a one-sided agreement with the ABB. |
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Settle SYL issue, says Bansi Lal Yamunanagar, March 7 He said a rally organised by Mr Bhajan Lal at Bhiwani on March 4 had further worsened relations between Congress leaders. He said those who attended the rally were not the inhabitants of Bhiwani, but were outsiders. Mr Bansi Lal challenged all political parties that all seven assembly seats of Bhiwani district would be won by the HVP candidates. He said his party was not interested in seeking dissolution of the state government because it had full majority in the house at present. He said any Chief Minister who wanted to be successful in Haryana on the power issue would have to follow his policy. |
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SUCI activists stage dharna Rohtak, March 7 Addressing the demonstrators, Mr Anoop Singh, district secretary of the party, alleged the Budget was prepared under the pressure of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank and was aimed only to please the capitalists. |
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Narnaul first dist to launch IVR system Narnaul, March 7 Dail 01282 55000 to access essential information not known to the common man. Even an illiterate person can know about all schemes and register a complaint or response on the IVRS computer through a telephone. The system was launched here yesterday by Mr L.S.M. Salins, Commissioner, Gurgaon. A brainchild of the Deputy Commissioner, Mahendragarh, Mr V. Raja Sekhar, the IVRS offers the caller a voice menu in Hindi. It provides information on government departments, grants, pension, scholarships, self-employment and DRDA schemes. The main menu has detailed information on licenses, educational schemes, health and agriculture. The initial working of the IVRS would be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. |
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Man ‘conned’, loses Rs 5 lakh, legs Faridabad, March 7 Twenty-year-old Satyavir, son of Desraj of Gulawad village of the district, has allegedly become a victim of a middleman who promised to get him a job in the Haryana police about one-and-half year ago. The complainant who is hospitalised for the treatment of his severed legs is resentful of the attitude of the police and other law-enforcing agencies. According to Satyavir, the district police had not registered a case of fraud against the “middleman” who is a lawyer by profession. Stayavir has alleged that the middleman who had promised to get him employed took Rs 5 lakh from his family, but failed to get him a job. He has charged the lawyer with “pushing” him before a running train at Okhla railway station on January 24, 2001, which resulted in a tragic accident causing severance of his legs. According to the complainant, the middleman had promised to take him to Chandigarh on that date and, therefore, he was accompanying him. He said while one of his legs got severed on the spot, the other was removed in the hospital. Alleging that the Railway Police at Okhla did not record his statement in a proper manner, he said the middleman who wanted to kill him had been roaming “scot-free”. He said the lawyer had also come to hospital with some goons and had threatened him against lodging a complaint. According to Satyavir, the Hodal police had also failed to register a case of fraud against the middleman. |
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killed, 1 burnt in various mishaps Rohtak, March 7 According to police sources, Ramesh of Meham was hit by a vehicle on Bahuakbarpur-Dobh road last evening. Mirzanoor, an employee of a factory located at Rohad bypass, was seriously injured in a road accident. Similarly, Hanuman of Rewari district was admitted to the PGI after he got serious injuries in an accident. All three injured succumbed to their injuries at the PGIMS last night. In a separate incident, a tea stall owner set himself ablaze by locking him inside a room yesterday. He succumbed to his burns at the PGI after a few hours. The deceased Kailash Batra was stated to be under mental depression. In a similar incident, a woman of Kila Jafargarh village sustained serious burns and was admitted to the PGI today. According to reports, the accident occurred when Varsha was working on a stove and it exploded. She sustained 100 per cent burns, according to doctors attending her. In another incident, Sunita of Kamla Nagar locality here and Anju of Jhajjar district
consumed poison today. There were admitted to the PGI and their condition is said to be critical. |
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Steps to
check lawlessness on Holi Gurgaon, March 7 While the leitmotif of the meeting was to make arrangements, both preventive and follow ups to curb the possible rowdiness and breach of peace with regard to Holi celebrations, the dominant subtext was changing
behavioural pattern among the nouveaux riches. The authorities, in the meeting, made observations that young boys hailing from well-to-do
families, both in rural and urban areas, indulged in objectionable and boisterous behaviour. So much so that the IG office had issued an appeal, especially to those related to high-heeled sections of the society to keep a control on their “young grown up boys”.
”Family pressure at the right time can prevent many ugly incidents and serious trouble for them later on”, it was added in a statement issued after the meeting of the district police chiefs. Talking to TNS, the IG said besides protecting the dignity and life of people, as also supported by the “Social Contract” theory propounded by classical thinkers, asserted that the role of law was also to foster “social engineering” and social solidarity”. Benthamites “utlitarian” approach of law of promoting maximum happiness to maximum number of people was worth an ideology to adhere to. He cautioned all concerned not to drive vehicles after consuming liquor. Stern legal action would be taken against the deviants. It was also brought to the notice of all citizens that they should play Holi within their own groups and not try to force themselves on strangers and passers-bye, he added. The local police had decided to make elaborate arrangements in all towns, highways and rural areas to prevent any act of lawlessness and hooliganism on the day of Holi and the days preceding to
it. Also, it would establish nakas in towns to check rash driving and objectionable conduct by holi revellers. Moreover, the police had decided to increase its vigil on people living in slums and basties. |
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Illicit petrol station unearthed Fatehabad, March 7 Talking to mediapersons here today, the SP, Mr Hanif Qureshi, said the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) wing of the district police, on a tip off, raided a place at Bhirdana village and arrested Pala Ram, alias Palia, who had been running an illicit petrol filling station in the village. The police seized huge quantities of petrol, diesel, kerosene and mobile oil from him. On interrogation, the accused told the police that he used to purchase petrol and the allied products from Fatehabad and then sell it on the black market to the villagers. The police has booked him under Sections 7, 10 and 55 of the Essential Commodities Act. The SP further informed that the district police had launched a special campaign to nab bail jumpers. The one-month-long campaign started on February 19 and had already nabbed 25 persons during the campaign. |
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Woman ‘sells’
daughter Sirsa, March 7 According to information received yesterday, Shanno Devi (name changed) of Mohalla Bazigar of Rania was allegedly sold by her mother. Shanno was living with her aunt after her father died 11 years ago. In a complaint to the police, she said her mother and maternal grandfather residing at Phephana village in Rajasthan were forcing her into prostitution. On her resistance, she was being forced to marry a handicapped because her mother had reportedly received cash for this. A meeting of the panchayat was held in which Shanno refused to go with her mother. The district police chief said he had deputed the DSP, Ellenabad, to inquire into the matter. The DSP said he had sent a police party to Phephana village to bring the girl who would be produced before a Magistrate and the decision on her custody would be taken on the basis of her statement. |
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Two run over by train Yamunanagar March 7 The railway police has registered a case and sent the bodies to the Civil Hospital for a post-mortem examination. In another accident, Sushma Aggarwal of Punjabi Bagh, New Delhi, was seriously injured when she fell from the moving Sealdah Express. She has been admitted to local private hospital. |
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Man kills son Ambala, March 7 The incident took place yesterday afternoon. Rajinder, 25, who is physically challenged, allegedly killed his baby son, who was also suffering from physical deformity. Rajinder has been
arrested. |
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