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| Sunday,
March 18, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Bansi’s “suitable reply” to Bhajan Lal 2 BJP
leaders join HVP Haryana
allocates 14 cr to MD varsity Fall in number of
road mishaps IT
research should benefit all: Kant |
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Copying
menace plagues board exams Continuing medical education programme Contest held for college
students Match-fixing
gang busted, 2 held Incentive
to farmers using organic manure Gas
agency proprietor sentenced
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Bansi’s “suitable reply” to Bhajan Lal Hisar, March 17 Talking to newspersons here, he said a sitting Judge of the Supreme Court would never be influenced by the government and, therefore, the fears expressed by certain parties that the probe would not be fair till the NDA government was in power were misplaced. Reiterating his stand, he said there was no need for Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee to resign at this juncture. However, if the probe revealed that the charges were true, there would then be no justification for the Prime Minister to stay in office for even a minute, he said. Describing Mr Vajpayee as a “liberal statesman”, Mr Bansi Lal, however, regretted that the Prime Minister lacked administrative acumen. This, he said, was his biggest weakness. The HVP leader said in his assessment the Congress had not gained anything from the tehelka.com episode despite the fact that the Bharatiya Janata Party had lost considerable ground from the charges of kickbacks in defence deals. He attributed this to the foreign origins of the Congress chief, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, whom he described as the “biggest asset of the BJP”. He said as long as Mrs Sonia Gandhi remained at the helm of Congress affairs, the BJP would continue to go from strength to strength because of a lack of proper political alternative. Later addressing a massive rally at the Old Government College ground here, he declared that he would not tie up with the Congress or the BJP in Haryana in the next Assembly poll. Charging both parties with colluding with the then Governor to bring down his government in 1999, he said his past experience with these political outfits dictated that they were “evil forces rather than political forces”. Visibly elated at the turnout in the rally in his arch political foe former Chief Minister, Mr Bhajan Lal’s home town, Mr Bansi Lal said he would prefer to sit in the Opposition after the next Assembly poll rather then seek support form even a single legislator of these parties. He said he had severed all political relations with both the BJP and the Congress because the people of Haryana too wanted him to take on these parties single-handedly. He also announced that he would not take back former HVP legislators who had defected in 1999 causing the downfall of his government. Criticising the Chautala government, he said the law and order situation in the state was at its worst and the Chief Minister was only helplessly watching the crime graph shoot up. He said the life and property of the common man was not safe and criminals had political patronage because of which crimes like extortion, which were earlier limited to Delhi and other metros, were now commonplace in Haryana too. He promised to withdraw the Local Area Development Tax and Form ST 38 if voted to power in the future. He said he would not withdraw house tax, but would rationalise it. He, however, maintained his stand on the issue of free water and power to farmers saying this was neither feasible nor advisable. Instead, he said, he would put into operation all his plans which he had to abandon when his government fell and ensure that enough water and power were made available to all categories of consumers in the state. He said the Chautala government would never be able to achieve this feat. However, he said, he would give top priority to both sectors the next time he became Chief Minister. Mr Bansi Lal had decided to hold this rally here to give a “suitable reply” to Mr Bhajan Lal who had thrown him a gauntlet by organising a rally in his pocket borough Bhiwani two weeks ago. The turnout at today’s rally surprised the political circles since Hisar is generally considered Mr Bansi Lal’s weak point. Others who addressed the rally were the HVP General Secretary, Mr Surinder Singh, the Chairman of the HVP’s Parliamentary Board, Mr Kanwal Singh, a former Speaker, Mr Chhattar Singh Chauhan, and several former ministers and legislators.
CPM
workers burn govt effigy Rohtak, March 17 Members of the district unit of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) burnt the effigy of the BJP national President Bangaru Laxman at Power House near Maharshi Dayanand University. The demonstrators raised slogans against the Union Government and demanded its resignation. Later, addressing the demonstrators, Mr Surendra
Malik, district secretary of the CPM, said the video tape produced by the investigating agency had left no doubts regarding the corruption in politics. Mr Sanjay
Hooda, district president of the NSUI, said the incident had hurt the sentiments of the people. 2 BJP
leaders join HVP Jind, March 17 They changed the party in the presence of Mr Dalbir Singh, state General Secretary of the HVP. They expressed full faith in the leadership of the HVP chief, Mr Bansi Lal. In a joint statement issued here yesterday, Mr Nain and Mr Sardul Singh said people of Haryana were facing power and water shortage problems. They alleged that the Chautala government had failed to fulfil its election promises. They said Mr Chautala had promised free power and water to farmers before the Assembly elections, but after coming to power instead of providing free power and water, he increased the tariff. |
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Haryana allocates 14 cr to MD varsity Rohtak, March 17 A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of officials of the government and the university held at Chandigarh yesterday. According to sources, the university had received Rs 12 crore under non- plan head and Rs 1 crore under plan head for the current financial year which will end on March 31. The sources revealed that the university adminstration would have to concentrate on generating funds from its own resources as the annual budget allocated by the government was not even half of the total salary paid to the university employees in a year. The annual salary bill of the employees stands at Rs 26.5 crore at present. To compensate the deficit the university administration is proposed to generate an amount of nearly Rs 28 crore during the approaching financial year. According to the sources, the government nominees have directed the university administration to curtail its expenditure under non- plan head and to generate funds from its own resources at the meeting. It is learnt the university had demanded Rs 19.80 crore under non-plan head and Rs 8.28 crore under plan head from the government. The sources revealed that the university administration had set a target to generate a sum of Rs 18.15 crore in the current financial year and the authorities were hopeful to earn over Rs 25 crore by the end of the current financial year. The university administration is focusssing its attention to its Directorate of Distance Education (DDE) which had contributed Rs 11 crore to the university exchequer in the current financial year. This amount is likely to be increased to Rs 14 crore in the forthcoming financial year. |
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Fall in number of
road mishaps Chandigarh, March 17 The Director-General of Police, Mr M.S.
Malik, said a review of the law and order and crime situation during the past two months revealed that there had been a significant reduction in the number of heinous crime. The cases of dacoity reduced by 35 per cent, robbery 22 per cent, burglary 13 per cent, rape 23 per cent and attempt to murder also showed a decline of 5 per cent as compared to the corresponding period last year. He said the percentage of recovery in cases of crime against property, especially those of
dacoity, had increased from 23 per cent to 72 per cent during the same period. Also, the percentage of recovery under cases of robbery increased from 59 per cent to 63 per cent. He said the significant reduction in the rate of crime and increase in the percentage of recovery had been made possible due to a special campaign launched against criminals, which also resulted in the arrest of 193 proclaimed offenders and 1167 bail jumpers. He said 49 notorious gangs of inter-state criminals had been arrested during the past two months. As a result of the efforts being made to detect cases of corruption, he said seven cases were reported under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, during the past two months of this year as against only two cases during the corresponding period the previous year. He said an intensive drive was also launched against habitual offenders under local and special laws. |
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IT research should benefit all:
Kant Hisar, March 17 In his address to the first annual convocation of Guru Jambheshwar University here he said the strength of a nation in the new millennium would be judged by its intellectual prowess rather than military or physical power. It was, therefore, necessary to give a fillip to high quality technical education in the county to reap the benefits of the information technology revolution. The Vice-President said although it was the duty of the government to provide high tech facilities for IT related courses but it was not possible for it alone to meet the cost of the entire required infrastructure because of obvious limitations. He, therefore, called upon the industrial sector to come forward and lend a helping hand to the government in this mission. The industry, he said, should establish close ties with universities to set up and strengthen research and development infrastructure. This would help the industry generate new technology, which would in the end help boost their production and enable them to meet the international competition. The industry would be able to test and benchmark its traditional know-how to help it explore new vistas, he added. Mr Krishan Kant cautioned that the fruits of IT research must benefit everyone otherwise the world would move from the era of rich and poor to “info rich and info poor”. The division of the society along these lines would be most unfortunate, he said, and added that it was the duty of everyone involved to prevent this from happening. He suggested that technical courses should be introduced from the secondary school level to enable the maximum number of students to get admission to IT-related courses in universities. However, he said, he was not simply suggesting increasing the student intake alone. It must be ensured that they were imparted high quality education to prepare them as a launch pad for the nation to take off in the IT world. The Vice-President said India was never short of talent. History proved that our Gurus and munis had helped this country to reach the pinnacle of science and technology in the ancient times through their known and thought. Ancient Indian thought considered the entire humanity as one. As against this, the Western culture was now trying to convert the world into a competitive market in the name of globalisation. We must guard ourselves against the invasion from the skies to save our own ancient cultural values, he said. Paying tributes to Guru Jambheshwar, founder of the Bishnoi sect after whom the university is named, he said the saint envisioned the dangers to environment centuries ago when ordinary mortals had no idea of what was coming. Describing him as the world’s first environmentalist, Mr Krishan Kant said he was much ahead of his time. More than 1400 degrees were awarded today. These included five doctorates, 1200 postgraduate and 250 graduation degrees. As many as 76 gold medals were awarded to the meritorious students. |
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Copying menace plagues board exams Faridabad, March 17 Students and their “well-wishers” have even resorted to violence at some examination centres. The authorities have registered many cases of copying and changed some centres and staff. Although the district administration has imposed Section 144 in and around the 185-odd examination centres in the district, yet friends of examinees can be seen near the centres sending paper slips, notes and pages of books inside the centres. The help of examination staff and policemen posted outside or on the campus is also being taken at some of the centres, according to reports. A youth, standing outside a centre at a nearby village, said yesterday that passing the board examination was more important whether it was by hook or crook. Incidents of violence at some of the centres have also been reported. Two policemen were beaten up allegedly by some miscreants at Palwal town yesterday when they tried to stop them from sending cheating material inside a centre. Some youths also resorted to stone-throwing at one or two places to scare the staff and the policemen on duty. Window panes of an examination hall and a wall around a centre were broken by some miscreants to facilitate copying at the centre. Incidents of threatening the staff on examination duty have also been reported. Forty centres in the district are considered “notorious” for cheating. It is learnt that some teachers had refused to do examination duty at these centres and some of them even asked for a change of duty. Concerned over the situation, some panchayats have taken an initiative to check copying at the centres in their villages. However, their number is reported to be very less. There are about 21 flying squads, including 10 of the district authorities. The Deputy Commissioner himself raided several centres on the first day of the examinations and detected 13 cases of cheating. A Superintendent of a centre was also caught helping one of the candidates in Hodal Town. The authorities have changed some centres and staff to check the menace. The issue also came up at the monthly meeting of the District Public Relations and Grievances Committee here today and the Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.C. Jain, directed the officials to activate the anti-copying campaign. Our Bhiwani Correspondent adds: The Haryana School Education Board has taken a serious view of copying at various centres. Talking to this correspondent, the Secretary of the board, Mr R.P. Gupta, said flying squads had been asked to book the culprits. The Secretary said 277 cases of unfair means were detected in the English paper of matric and English core paper of senior secondary examinations. He said a few examination centres had been changed. Meanwhile, in a letter to the Secretary of the board, the centre Superintendent of Charkhi Dadri-3, Mr Nand Lal, has alleged that the flying squad of Deputy DEO, Bhiwani, relieved him from his duty without any reason. He alleged that he did not allow the examinees to copy whereas the Head Superintendent pressurised him to do so. |
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18 students booked for copying Narnaul, March 17 This was stated by Mr V. Raja Sekhar, Deputy Commissioner. He said Mr Brijendra Singh, SDM, booked a student for copying at the local Adarsh Sanatan Dharam Secondary School one student of a school at the Bachaud village and another at Ateli centre were also booked. The flying squad, while conducting surprise checks, booked four students out of which two of the local Girls Secondary School and two of A.S.D. Secondary School were held for copying. The SDM booked five students for copying in various schools of Mahendragarh subdivision. To check the menace of copying during the Board examination, district administration has decided to deploy adequate police force in the district, Mr Sekhar added. |
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Invigilator leaves assignment
midway Fatehabad, March 17 The teacher, who does not want to reveal her identity, had been assigned the duty to act as an invigilator in the matriculation examinations at Kirdhan village in the district. While many of her colleagues preferred to get their assignments cancelled by requesting their superiors, she decided to go ahead with it. She was astonished to see some members of the examination staff conniving with students and their guardians in copying. However, she refused to oblige. As a result, while boys appearing in the centre indulged in large-scale copying, girls sitting in the room manned by the female teacher could not do so. When the teacher came out of the examination centre after depositing the answersheets with the examination Superintendent, a tipsy villager caught hold of her wrist and remarked, “Chhori, toon mari chhorian ne nakal koni maaran degi” (Won’t you allow our girls to copy in the examinations?). The frightened teacher rushed back to the examination centre and narrated the incident to her colleagues who tried to soft-pedal on the matter. The police manning the examination centre also came but ignored the incident turning it as a minor or one. The teacher decided not to come for duty from the next day. The Superintendent, however, persuaded her to come for duty and promised to relieve her as soon as any senior officer from the Education Department came to the centre on routine checking. She was relieved of her duty on the third day of the examinations today when an officer of the department came with a flying squad. |
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Continuing medical education programme Ambala, March 17 Lt-Gen Kapil Vij, GOC HQ 2 Corps, inaugurated the programme, which is being attended by several doctors and retired Army Medical Corps doctors. General Vij in his address lauded the role being played by the medical officers both during peace and operational conditions. He also mentioned about the important role played by them at times of natural calamities. He advised the frequent holding of such programmes for updating the knowledge of medical officers. He said that due to the increase in the life span of average citizen, medical officers are going to face more problems associated with old age. Brig M.M. Singh, Commandant, M H Ambala, emphasised the importance of having CME programmes, which is the only source, where medical officers can update their knowledge and also learn about the advancements being made in the every expanding field of medicine. The inaugural session concluded with a presentation on “Gujarat earthquake” by Lt Col L.C. Chamania and Lt Col S.
Eapen, who gave a brief account of the various events that affected the state of Gujarat and the important role played by the field ambulance in saving precious human lives in difficult conditions at Bhuj and neighboring areas. Brig N.D. Prasad, Station Commander, was also present on the occasion. The guest lectures are going to be delivered by eminent service doctors and doctors from the PGI and Maulana Azad Medical College. Topics pertaining to the medical problems of defence personnel both in peace and field areas would be discussed by the specialist medical officers from the Army Medical Corps. Among others, the topics to be discussed include new horizons in trauma surgery, cerebral malaria, HIV in children, radiological investigation of backache and obesity. |
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Contest held for college
students Chandigarh, March 17 The winners of the quiz contest organised on this occasion were Mr Mayank Arora, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, first prize, Mr Vikram Saini, Government College, Jind, second prize, and Mr Pawan Kumar, Government College, Jind, third prize, while the consolation prize was given to Mr Charanjti Chugh of the same college. The winners of the declamation contest were Mr Varun Dev, Hindu College, Jind, first prize, Miss Manu, Government College, Jind, second prize and Mr Gurpreet Kalra, MLN College, Yamunanagar third prize. The winners of the poster and slogan competition were Kirti, Hindu Girls College, first prize, Mr Manoj Kumar, MLN College, Yamunanagar second prize, and Mr Manoj Verma, Hindu College, Sonepat third prize. Speaking to the participants Prof Vijay Kaushal, Department of Applied Science, Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, highlighted the work of Albert
Einstein, while Dr Ramesh Kapoor of the Chemistry Department, Panjab University, Chandigarh, talked about the periodic table of elements prepared by Mandeleev. Prof R.K. Kholi of the Botany Department, Panjab University, shared the life events and scientific contribution of Indian scientist J.C. Bose and how his invention of wireless transmission was appropriated by Marconi. |
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Match-fixing gang busted, 2
held Sonepat, March 17 The SP, Mr Paramjit Singh Ahlawat, told mediapersons here today that the arrested youths had been identified as Vijay, son of Dayal Chand, and Manmohan, alias M.M, son of Prem Parkash, both residents of Mohalla Kalan here. The police recovered two cellular telephones, one speaker phone and Rs 7,400 in cash from their possession. The police also seized some documents and a ledger mentioning the names of persons linked with the match-fixing scam. The culprits, he said, had their own international network of telephones and links with persons engaged in the business of match-fixing in Delhi, Mumbai, Dubai and London etc. Giving the details of the arrests, the SP said the police got a tip-off about the youths who were passing information on their own network about the cricket match being played between India and Australia in Kolkata. The police swung into action immediately and a Head Constable was sent to one of the culprits, Vijay, who was camping at Shubham Garden on the Sonepat-Murthal road, near here. The head constable gave signed currency notes of Rs 1,000 for getting information about the on-going match. Thereupon, Vijay gave him a chit and talked to his associate on his mobile phone. In the meantime, the police party arrested him along with the signed currency notes. Thereafter, Vijay’s associate, Manmohan, was arrested when he was passing information on the telephone. A case has been registered against the culprits and further investigations are in progress. |
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Incentive to
farmers using organic manure Hisar, March 17 Addressing farmers at a Kisan Mela held at Haryana Agriculture University here this evening, he said in other countries consumers were ready to pay higher prices for such products as these were good for health. Mr Chautala asked farmers that instead of using chemical, they should use natural organic fertiliser in fields. He said the availability of irrigation water in the state was decreasing day by day. There was no option before the farmers of Haryana but to use drip irrigation. The government would encourage the system in the state. Speaking on the occasion Mr Vinay Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, said that diversification of agriculture would provide not only additional income to farmers but check soil health also. The Chief Minister also gave away Ram Dhan Singh Memorial prizes to two progressive farmers. These were: Mr Om Prakash of Dhoter village in Sirsa district and Mr Phool Singh of Teontha village in Kaithal district. |
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Gas agency proprietor sentenced Narnaul, March 17 The forum has also ordered for the warrant of arrest to be issued accordingly returnable by April 4, 2001, in the execution proceedings. Consequent upon the filing of a complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act by Ashok Kumar against Hitender Gas Agency, the forum gave order vide its order dated September 18, 1999. The proprietor of the agency was guilty of deficiency of service. Ramji Lal was ordered to pay Rs 1500 by way of refund to the complainant and a compensation of Rs 1,000.
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