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| Saturday, March 17, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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HVP seeks probe; may join Third Front No threat to NDA
govt, says
Chautala Bansi seeks probe into ‘Tehelka’ expose CPM holds protest march against expose Cong, HVP “ignored” people’s interests Residents agree on gurdwara land |
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Haryana to strengthen police posts 23 copying cases registered Concern over careless driving Pollution accidents rising in urban areas President’s medal for constable New VDS for power consumers Wheat procurement Farmers to meet on March 31 BKU to hold rally on March
19 1 killed, 12 hurt in road mishap Pleasant surprise for students KU examinations from April
1 Forum chief’s tips to consumers Open darbar boon for
widows Jain case: judicial remand for 2
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HVP seeks probe; may join Third Front Chandigarh, March 16 “For instance, the BJP chief was shown taking money, but it was not clear whether he was accepting the cash for a defence deal”, Mr Bansi Lal said. However, it was important to conduct a thorough inquiry into the charges since the matter involved national security, he
said. Mr Bansi Lal said he had his doubts whether the Congress would be able to capitalise on the issue. “With Sonia Gandhi as the President of the Congress, it may not be able to derive full benefit”, the former Chief Minister, who spent years in the Congress, said. “Sonia does not know the ways of India; neither does she have any idea about the political pulse of the country”, he
said. Mr Bansi Lal said the Third Front might also gain some momentum as a result of the tehelka expose. He did not rule out the possibility of the HVP becoming part of the Third Front. On the situation in
Haryana, Mr Bansi Lal said that people were fed up with the INLD-led regime. The rallies being organised by the HVP at various places were getting a good response, he claimed, adding that excessive charges on water and power and their shortage was turning out to be the most potent issues as the INLD government had earlier promised the supply of free power and water to farmers. |
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No threat to NDA
govt, says
Chautala Karnal, March 16 The Chief Minister maintained that the Vajpayee government enjoyed majority. Commenting on the resignation of Ms Mamata Banerjee from the Union Cabinet, Mr Chautala alleged that her aim was to grab power in West Bengal at any cost. The Chief Minister was here to inaugurate a Kraft Bazaar at Oasis Resort. He gave full credit to Mr Fernandes by saying that his resignation had added to the image of the NDA government. Mr Chautala decried the efforts of the Congress to stall the proceedings of the Lok Sabha and maintained that the Congress had no moral basis to criticise the Vajpayee government. He, however, said that he was always in favour of an inquiry into the political charges levelled by anybody. The Chief Minister congratulated Mr Bangaru Laxman for resigning from the BJP presidentship. He justified the taking of money by Mr Bangaru Laxman as it was taken for party funds. The Chief Minister was of the view that almost all parties took donations for party work. Inaugurating the Kraft Bazaar, the Chief Minister directed the Tourism Department to complete it within six months. He expressed his desire to inaugurate the Kraft Bazaar on September 25, 2001, which is the birthday of Mr Devi Lal. The Chief Minister said citizens would get goods at cheaper rates from the bazaar. The estimated cost of Kraft Bazaar is Rs 123 lakh. The project is being funded by the Union Ministry of Textiles and the Government of Haryana. The Centre has already sanctioned Rs 43.05 lakh towards the project. Only 33 per cent of the project would be funded by the state government. According to the Department of Tourism, the Kraft Bazaar, will be located adjoining to Oasis Tourist Resort on Karna Lake. The project includes construction of 48 work huts for craft persons, an exhibition hall and a dormitory to accommodate 60 to 65 craft persons. It would be designed on the lines of Delhi Haat Bazaar and Kala Gram of Chandigarh. |
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Bansi seeks probe into ‘Tehelka’ expose Panipat, March 16 Coming down heavily on the Congress President Sonia Gandhi, he said: “Sonia Gandhi is the real power of the BJP as she is not acceptable to the masses.” Mr Bansi Lal said the BJP was also not performing well. When asked about any possibility of alliance with the BJP in the state, the HVP supremo said: “There will be no compromise with the BJP in future.” Regarding the ongoing house tax survey in the state, Mr Bansi Lal suggested that the government should have constituted a select committee and further action should have been taken after the assessment report of the committee. Replying to another question, Mr Bansi Lal said the Congress leaders in the state were organising rallies to fight against each other and such rallies were not going to help the party. He was of the opinion that there was no immediate threat to the Chautala government at present as it was enjoying full majority in the House. He alleged that the state government had failed to fulfil its promises like free water and electricity made at the time of Assembly elections. |
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CPM holds protest march against expose Jind, March 16 Addressing the demonstrators, Mr Phool Singh Sheokand, a CPM leader, said the Vajpayee government was pursuing anti-people policies by adopting privatisation and liberalisation. |
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Cong, HVP “ignored” people’s interests Fatehabad, March 16 Speaking at a “meet the Press” programme organised by the Fatehabad Press Club at the local Papiha tourist complex on last evening, Mr Chautala said looking at the performance of various Opposition leaders during the recent Budget session of the state Assembly one gathered an impression that there was no Opposition in Haryana. He said it was ironical that the legislators of the Congress and the HVP believed more in mud-slinging than playing the role of Opposition leaders. Ridiculing the Congress leaders, Mr Chautala said they were more interested in their own fight of oneupmanship than safeguarding the interests of the people. Mr Chautala alleged that the Congress and the HVP ignored people’s interests when they ruled the state. He termed former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal and Mr Bansi Lal as “drawing room politicians” and alleged they had never cared to know the woes of the people. Mr Chautala, who is also the Vice-President of the Indian Olympic Association, said ever since his father, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, had taken over the reins of the state government, he had been making efforts for the development in the state. He said when Mr Bansi Lal was the Chief Minister, he used to blame the empty coffers of the government for lack of development activities, but the present Chief Minister had managed development in all 90 constituencies of the state with the same coffer. Mr Chautala said the Haryana Government had been promoting sports in Haryana. The Chief Minister announced cash prizes for the winners of Olympic medals. He said the state government planned to open a sports university in Haryana and efforts were already being made in this direction. He said the state government was also promoting rural sports. Earlier, the Press Club president, Mr Jagdish Ravee, welcomed Mr Chautala, the INLD MLA from Fatehabad, Mr Leela Krishan Choudhary, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anil Malik, and the SP, Mr Hanif Qureshi. Mediapersons from all over the district were present on the occasion. |
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Residents agree on gurdwara land Panipat, March 16 According to information, hundreds of residents of the local Kachha Camp assembled in front of the gurdwara yesterday. Soon the SHO of Model Town police station also reached the site. On seeing the police force, non-Sikh residents got angry and in protest they demaged the video camera of the Siti cable unit. A case against three persons was registered in this connection. Later the DSP, Mr Arun Nehra, also reached the spot when the police failed to pacify the two groups. He urged the two communities to resolve the dispute through negotiations. A meeting was held in the evening in the DSP’s office. Mr Nehra, City Magistrate, Mahavir Kaushik, Executive Officer of the Municipal Council Shiv Kumar Vats and Municipal Engineer Maniram Sharma were present. Darshan Singh, Tarsem Singh and Saran Singh from the Sikh community and Sunil, Ashok, Subash, Prem Wadhwa, Bhagwan Arora and Partap Khungar from the non-Sikh community attended the meeting. It was agreed that the non-Sikh community would provide a piece of land at some other place in the locality for the construction of the gurdwara. Members of the Sikh community also agreed to remove the Nishan Sahib within 10 days. |
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Haryana to strengthen police posts Rohtak, March 16 The Director-General of Police, Mr M.S. Malik, said criminals from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab were migrating to Haryana after committing crimes in these states. These persons were also committing crimes in the state as well, he said. Mr Malik said the Inspector Generals of Police of the ranges falling within the NCR had been asked to chalk-out plans for strengthening the police posts along the border. The policemen at these border posts would be provided with modern vehicles, weapons and gadgets to meet any challenge. He disclosed that the criminals too had changed their modus-operandi. Instead of using conventional weapons for committing crimes they were now using modern weapons. This had necessitated the training of police personnel accordingly, he said. Mr Malik said the crime was declining in the state and quoted figures to substantiate his claims. The crime against women, too, was on the decline, he said. Mr Malik said the Vigilance Department of the Haryana Police had registered cases against some politicians after investigations. “We go by the records and the stand of the Vigilance Department has been upheld by the apex court”, he said. He further disclosed that the government had sanctioned a post of Public Relations Officer in the Police Department. An officer of the rank of the Deputy Director was likely to be transferred from the Public Relations Department soon. Mr Malik said his main emphasis was on improving the police-public relationship. He proposed to constitute committees at district headquarters comprising senior citizens, retired bureaucrats, municipal councillors and prominent public personalities to help and guide the police in maintaining law and order and sort out public problems. A beginning had been made at Kaithal and similar committees would be set up in other districts soon, he added. Mr Malik said a modern police training centre was being set up at Gurgaon and the government had already allocated 310 acres at Bhondsi for the project. |
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23 copying cases registered Narnaul, March 16 According to Mr V. Raja
Sekher, DC, Narnaul, Mr Brijendra Singh, SDM, Narnaul, booked a case of copying at Jailaph village and placed Karam Singh and Daya
Nand, Supervisors on duty at the examination centre, under suspension. The SDM has also placed Balvinder Singh at the
A.S.D. Secondary School under suspension. Mr R.S. Verma, SDM,
Mahendragarh, while checking the centres, booked six cases of copying and a flying squad team conducting surprise checking at the Vocational Examination
Centre, Mahendragarh, caught another examinee for copying. The SDM also placed Ranbir Singh and Sunita under suspension. Mr Sajjan Singh, District Education Officer, conducted surprise checking at various centres and booked 15 cases of copying. He placed Mani Ram, who was on examination duty at Girls Higher Secondary School,
Mahendragarh, under suspension. The district administration has already imposed Section 144 in and around all examination centres throughout the Mahendragarh district. |
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Concern over careless driving Faridabad, March 16 Stating this, the Director of the Central Road Research Institute, Mr Prabir Kumar Sikdar, said here yesterday that increasing urbanisation and traffic had emerged as major challenges to the residents. Mr Sikdar who was speaking at a function of the Research and Development wing of the Indian Oil Corporation here, said besides measures at the administrative level, there was need to create awareness on the issue. He said if the common man understand the problem, it could be tackled in a better way. Expressing concern over the careless attitude of people towards driving, Mr Sikdar said that it had led to unprecedented rise in the number of road mishaps. At least 85,000 persons lose their lives in road accidents every year in India, and thousands get injured. A large number of persons become victim of various diseases, including respiratory disorders, cancer and blindness. As many as 2,000 persons get killed in road accidents in Delhi alone every year. He said about 3.27 lakh litres of petrol and 1,012 litres of diesel get wasted on traffic signals and crossings every year. The traffic rush had decreased the average speed of vehicles in metros to only 20 km per hour. Claiming that while India had only 1 per cent of total number of vehicles in the world, the country accounted for about four per cent of the total pollution. With the implementation of Euro-II norms from April next, the number of polluting vehicles in Delhi was likely to be reduced considerably. Mr A.N. Saksena, a former Joint Secretary of the Union Petroleum and Gas Ministry, said that the demand of energy had been going up at a rate of 6 to 7 per cent every year. While the demand for energy in developed countries had been going up at a rate of only one or two per cent, he added. |
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Pollution accidents rising in urban areas Faridabad, March 16 Stating this the Director of the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) Mr Prabir Kumar Sikdar said here on Wednesday, that increasing urbanisation and traffic on roads had come up as major challenge to the residents due to rise in pollution levels. Mr Sikdar, who was speaking at the establishment ceremony of the Research and Development wing of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), claimed that besides measures at the administrative level, the main need was to educate and create general awareness on the issue. He said if the common man understood the problem, it could be tackled in a proper manner. Expressing concern over “careless attitude” of the motorists and people who drive vehicles, Mr Sikdar said it had led to unprecedented rise in number of road mishaps. About 85,000 people died in accidents every year in India, and thousands others get injured. He said a large number of persons became victim of various diseases including respiratory disorders, cancer and blindness. About 2,000 persons got killed in road accidents in Delhi alone each year. He said about 3.27 lakh litres of petrol and 1012 litres of diesel get wasted on traffic signals and crossings every year and the rush of traffic had decreased the average speed of vehicle in metros to only 20 km per hour. Claiming that while India had only 1 per cent of total number of vehicles in the world, the country accounted for about 4 per cent of the total pollution. He said the government had taken several measures and with implementation of Euro-II norms from April next, the number of ‘polluting’ vehicles in Delhi was likely to be reduced considerably. Mr A.N. Saksena, a former Joint Secretary of the Union Petroleum and Gas Ministry, said the demand of energy had been going up at a rate of 6 to 7 per cent every year in the country. Stating that the share of oil and gas in energy sector had been about 40 and 14 per cent respectively, he said demand of energy in developed countries had been going up at a rate of only one or two per cent. He claimed that the IOC was still going strong and could face stiff competition from multinationals in this sector. The Director of R & D Centre of IOC Dr A.K. Bhatnagar also spoke on the occasion. |
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President’s medal for constable Chandigarh, March 16 The fire, which broke out at 4.30 p.m., spread rapidly and destroyed 14 shops. As many as 48 persons died in the blaze and 10 were seriously injured. Mr Ashok Kumar, who was on patrol duty in the market, saved the lives of many persons who were trapped in the shops. In the rescue effort, he was burnt and his body was recovered along with those of others from the debris. |
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New VDS for power consumers Chandigarh, March 16 A spokesman of the Haryana Power Utilities said under the scheme no penalty would be charged if consumers voluntarily declared their unauthorised extension of load up to March 31. After this raids would be conducted on the premises of consumers. If excess load, over and above the declared load was detected, Rs 300 and Rs 600 per
KW would be charged as penalty from domestic and non-domestic consumers, respectively. The spokesman also said the consumers would have to pay an advance consumption deposit for additional 5
KW. This additional load should be got verified from the authorised contractor. |
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Wheat procurement Chandigarh, March 16 Presiding over a high-level meeting to review the procurement and storage of wheat here yesterday, the Chief Minister,
Mr Om prakash
Chautala, asked the Commissioner and Secretary, Food and Supplies, Mr
Dharamvir, to convene meetings with the Deputy Commissioners and other district officers, the managing directors of the procurement agencies and officers of the Food Corporation of India to ensure that farmers did not face problems. It was stated that arrangements for Rs 4,692 crore had been made for making payment to the farmers concerned within 48 to 72 hours of the purchase of their produce. |
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Farmers to meet on March 31 Bhiwani, March 16 It resolved to participate in the Parliament gherao to be held in Delhi on March 19. A joint action committee will be constituted at the meeting on March 31. The meeting was attended by sarpanches and former sarpanches of 65 villages of the Kanwari area and activists of the Bhartiya Kisan Union, Loharu, Badhra, Dhigava, Behal, Rohtak, Jind, Fatehabad, Hisar and Khanak, besides farmers and labour leaders. The mahapanchayat was addressed by Mr Deep Chand Sheoran, president, BKU, Loharu, Mr Dharmbir Hooda, Rohtak, Mr Ajit Singh, Khanak, Mr Jayant Nath and Mr Kitab Singh Malik among
others. |
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BKU to hold rally on March
19 Kaithal, March 16 The members passed a resolution against the signing of the WTO agreement by the Central Government and decided to participate in a rally to be held at Kisan Ghat, Delhi, on March 19 in protest against the agreement. Various speakers, including BKU district president Kundan Ram and secretary Jia Lal, while addressing the farmers, said the subsidy given to Indian farmers was negligible as compared to the subsidy provided ranging from 60 to 80 per cent in various foreign countries. After the WTO agreement comes into force, the Indian farmers will be at loss as the agricultural products would be imported at much cheaper rates, the speakers said. In another resolution, the members expressed resentment over the recent exposure of corruption in the defence deals and the alleged involvement of senior politicians and bureaucrats and defence officials. |
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1 killed, 12 hurt in road mishap Kaithal, March 16 The bus reportedly fell in a ditch and nearly 12 passengers sustained minor injuries. The injured, Ram Narain, was sent to PGI, Rohtak. A case has been registered against the driver.
Pleasant surprise for students Rohtak, March 16 Interestingly, all questions and even the five parts of questions 4, 5 and 6 were arranged in the same sequence in the question paper as in the model test paper. |
KU examinations from April
1 Kurukeshtra, March 16 Date-sheet has already been
despatched. This was disclosed by Controller of Examinations of Kurukeshtra University, Mr Ramesh Sharma, here yesterday. In case the candidates do not receive the roll number slips up to March 24, 2001, they are advised to contact the examination branch concerned to collect the duplicate roll number during office hours. |
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Forum chief’s tips to consumers Sonepat, March 16 He also advised the people to give adequate proof in support of their complaints to ensure speedy disposal of the cases by the forums. He said the cases upto Rs 5 lakh and from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 20 lakh could be filed in the district and state-level forums respectively. The cases above Rs 20 lakh would be settled by the National Commission, New Delhi, he said. The forum president said the Sonepat District Consumers Redressal Forum had received 1,350 cases since its inception in 1997, including 354 cases filed last year. The forum, he said, had solved 960 cases out of which 460 cases had been disposed of during the current year. By the end of 2000, 956 cases were lying pending with the forum and efforts were on to settle these at the earliest, he said. Referring to several cases of fraud by some finance companies, Mr Grover said the forum would take a serious note of such cases and give due consideration to settling them. Representatives of various public organisations appealed to the forum president to settle the cases of fake electricity bills, overbilling and related cases filed by the consumers. |
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Open darbar boon for
widows Panipat, March 16 The Deputy Commissioner, Mr M.R. Anand, sanctioned Rs 10,000 from the District Red Cross Society relief fund to Manpoli, a widow of Bapoli Majra village for her daughter’s marriage. Ramrati of Chhajpur village was sanctioned a sewing machine. Several women were given sewing machines. The Deputy Commissioner also sanctioned tricycles for two disabled persons and directed the secretary of the Red Cross Society to hand over the tricycles to them at their villages. The secretary was also directed to provide medicines free of
cost, besides Rs 500 to a woman suffering from tuberculosis. When representatives of Bapoli and Sanjoli villages said certain persons in their villages had taken illegal water connections, the Deputy Commissioner ordered the executive engineer of the Public Health Department to take action against the defaulters. |
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Jain case: judicial remand for 2 Sonepat, March 16 The Judge remanded them in judicial custody for two weeks. The police had arrested the duo from the Kharkhauda police station area of the district. Two countrymade pistols and four live cartridges were recovered from their possession. The main accused Yudhvir Singh, a former student of CRA College, was still at large. Dr Jain was allegedly shot dead by the accused while he was returning home after attending the RSS shakha on February 21. |
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House prorogued Chandigarh, March 16 |
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