 |
| Tuesday,
July 24, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Bhajan Lal
to resume public meetings Procuring
vehicles for CM’s rally
CM:
Haryana to have surplus power Potable
water in all villages soon: CM |
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Gang managed to
get 15,000 fake arms licences Dry spell
affects paddy: farmers 4 cheated of
lakhs for overseas jobs Scheme to
tone up fire services New
tele-equipment inaugurated Traffic blocked after
altercation Tourism
union to support July 25 strike
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Bhajan Lal
to resume
public meetings Chandigarh, July 23 Mr Bhajan Lal, who by virtue of being the Leader of the Haryana Congress Legislature Party enjoys the status of the Leader of Opposition, showed his strength by organising a massive rally in Bhiwani in March last. At that time a controversy had erupted when a section of the crowd misbehaved with the Haryana Congress President, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Mr Hooda had retaliated by organising a counter rally in Panipat in May. However, Mr Bhajan Lal did not attend the Panipat rally. After the Bhiwani rally, Mr Bhajan Lal had announced that he would organise a rally in Faridabad after three months. But due to the Bhiwani controversy the rally was postponed. Mr Hooda, meanwhile, announced a programme, “Congress Chaupal Ki Ore”, under which he is touring villages of various constituencies. Perhaps to counter Mr Hooda’s campaign, Mr Bhajan Lal has also decided to hold rallies. Of course, Mr Bhajan Lal denies that his decision to resume his rallies has anything to do with Mr Hooda’s programme. He says Mr Hooda and he have a common aim — “to expose the misdeeds of the Chautala Government”. Mr Bhajan Lal’s first rally will be at Nuh in Gurgaon on August 9 to coincide with the Quit India Day. The rally will be a symbol of growing ties between Mr Bhajan Lal and the former Haryana Congress President, Mr Birender Singh. The arrangements for the Nuh rally are being made by Mr Khurshid Ahmed, a close associate of Mr Birender Singh. The former Chief Minister plans to organise a rally in Faridabad either in the last week of August or in the first week of September. Thereafter, he plans to organise rallies in Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Jind, Sirsa and other district headquarters. These rallies will be organised after an interval of 15 days each. Mr Bhajan Lal said here today that the Chautala Government was misusing official machinery for organising tomorrow’s Bhiwani rally to mark the completion of two years of the INLD rule. He alleged that vehicles were being impounded and people would be taken to Bhiwani forcibly. He said if the Chautala Government was really so popular as the Chief Minister claimed, what was the need to resort to such tactics to make the Bhiwani rally a success. Mr Bhajan Lal also said that by making the RLD leader, Mr Ajit Singh, the Union Agriculture Minister in spite of loud protests by Mr Om Prakash Chautala, the Prime Minister had given a “royal snub” to the Chief Minister of Haryana. |
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Procuring
vehicles for CM’s rally Chandigarh, July 23 “My Toyota Qualis bearing temporary registration number CH-050744 was stopped and taken to the Madhuban police station yesterday where the Assistant Sub-Inspector, Mr Balkishan, told my driver that the vehicle had been taken in possession for the CM’s rally,’’ the owner of the vehicle, Mr Krishan Vohra, told The Tribune here today. He said when the driver, Mr Balvinder Singh, pleaded that the vehicle was going to get the owner from Delhi as the owner’s father was not well, the ASI said that vehicles were being impounded on the orders of the Chief Minister. Let the vehicle go without documents. The driver told The Tribune that he then again pleaded that unless the documents were with the vehicle, it might again be detained at any other place in the state, or in Delhi or Chandigarh. Then came the flagrant violation of the law with the ASI issuing a receipt with the stamp of the police station saying that the Madhuban police station had taken in possession the driving licence and the RC of driver Balvinder Singh son of Santokh Singh, resident of Maloya, for the July 24 rally. The Haryana police official told the driver that the vehicle could not go through the state if it was not made available for the rally. The driver, after leaving the documents of the vehicle and collecting the receipt, left for Delhi to take back the vehicle owner and reached here surreptiously today. The ASI, Mr Balkishan, when contacted by The Tribune, admitted that the documents of the vehicle had been taken in possession to ensure that the vehicle was available for the rally of the Chief Minister. The ASI, however, said that he was prepared to give the documents back and that it was illegal to take away a private vehicle for a political rally being organised on the completion of two years of the Chautala regime. The owner of the vehicle said though the receipt mentioned the RC of the vehicle, the registration was only temporary and that he would approach the court for protecting the fundamental rights of the people. |
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CM: Haryana to have surplus power Chandigarh, July 23 The Chief Minister said the installed capacity was raised by 499 MW during the two-year tenure of the INLD government with a view to bridging the gap between the demand and supply of power. This was a much better performance than that of the previous government led by Mr Bansi Lal which managed to enhance the installed capacity by only 188 MW during its more than three-year tenure, Mr Chautala claimed. The panchayati raj system had been strengthened under the INLD regime, Mr Chautala said while talking about other important “achievements” of the government led by him. The administrative and financial powers of the panchayati raj institutions had been increased, Mr Chautala said. The Chief Minister claimed that the “Sarkar Aapke Dwar” programme launched by him was successful in bringing prosperity to villages. The Village Development
Committees (VDCs), set up to implement the promises made by Mr Chautala during the “Sarkar Aapke Dwar” programme, was also a right step toward the decentralisation of power, he claimed. He added that political parties which were routed in the last assembly elections were trying to create an unnecessary controversy over the formation of the VDCs. The Chief Minister said the education policy introduced by the INLD government would ensure adequate number of teachers for schools in the rural areas. Computer training was being made available in all schools while 50 per cent discount in the course fee had been offered to Scheduled Castes students, he said. Gurgaon was emerging as a hub for the IT industry and the state government was trying to promote Panchkula also so that it could get a place on the IT map of the country, Mr Chautala said. He said that as a result of the new industrial policy of the INLD government, 69 reputed multinational companies had made investments in Haryana. On the agricultural front, Mr Chautala said the state had a record wheat crop in two consecutive seasons. “The cooperative sugar mills have also settled the dues of sugarcane farmers”, Mr Chautala added. Mr Chautala said that one of the proofs of the popularity of his government was that so far there had not been any worthwhile agitation against the government. The completion of two years by the government would be celebrated by holding a rally by the state government at Bhiwani tomorrow, he said. On the SYL canal issue, Mr Chautala said that the case was in the Supreme Court and he had met the Prime Minister, the Union Law Minister as well as the Solicitor-General for the early completion of the case. After the court gave its verdict, he would request the Prime Minister to call a meeting of the Chief Ministers of various states to evolve a solution to inter-state water disputes, the Chief Minister said. |
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Potable
water in all villages soon: CM Faridabad, July 23 The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, said this here today while inaugurating a water supply scheme for Chandhat and Kailgaon villages. The government would spend about Rs 1 crore on supply network in nearby Seekri village and it would benefit 23 villages, he said. Another Rs 50 lakh had been kept for improving the water supply in Chandhat village of the district. He said the government was committed to provide an average of 55 litres of water daily to every person of the state in near future. The state government’s target for dry areas (desert) had been to provide at least 70 litres per day, while at present statistics show that about 40 litres of water was being made available to each resident on the average. Claiming that there would be no shortage of drinking water in any village, he said at least 1,200 villages of the state were getting 55 to 70 litres of water daily (per person) as a budget of 136 crore had been spent on the work during the period. The water supply system would improve in another 642 villages as an amount of Rs 65 crore was being spent during the current financial year. Almost 587 villages got the benefit or the scheme in the past year. In Faridabad district, an amount of Rs 1.55 crore was being spent to benefit residents of 44 villages in 2001-2002. On the other hand, the Chief Minister said only three out of total seven lakh villages of the country were getting potable water. Claiming that the “Sarkar Apke
Dwar” programme had set new milestones in the development, Mr Chautala said his government had surpassed all earlier state governments in launching development schemes. Mr Chautala also inaugurated a new block in Government Women College here later. It has been built at a cost of Rs 32.23 lakh by the PWD. He also laid the foundation stone for a gymkhana club in Sector 21. The Chief Minister later laid foundation stone of a police station in Sector 31 and inaugurated a community centre built by HUDA in Sector 29. |
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25-lakh winner to give part of money to school Chandigarh, July 23 For
Kulvinder, it was his second attempt at the crore-rupee contest. His first, in the couples category with wife Arvinder Kaur, was not successful as the couple failed to make it to the “hot seat” in the May 2 episode of the TV quiz
show. Kulvinder, who comes from a lower middle class family in remote
Ellenabad, had made 165 calls before he got the present break. On July 4, the first part of the episode was shot which was telecast on July 18. The shooting of the next episode, telecast tonight, took place on July 19. “It is not money but the public recognition that has made me feel proud. Yesterday, I went to meet the Chief Minister at his farmhouse at Teja
Khera. He was so excited and made me feel so important and told me that I had done Haryana proud by winning the Rs 25 lakh prize. I got myself photographed with him. He blessed me also,” says Kulvinder . “A part of my prize money will go to the school at Amritsar Kalan, a remote village, where I teach. The two-room school is in a dilapidated condition. I want to make my contribution to improving the facilities at the school. There are only two teachers in the school,” he
said. Kulvinder, who obtained a diploma in primary school teaching after his plus 2, got the present job only a couple of years ago. His four brothers are in business. His wife is doing her BA from a private college at
Ellenabad. “I have two sons. I want a small house for my family. Some portion of my award money will also go to Satguru Jagjit Singh, my Guru and torchbearer. It was with his blessings that I had gone to participate in the
programme”. Kulvinder presented special “malas” given by Satguru Jagjit Singh to Amitabh
Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan. “Amitabh developed a special liking for me”, he says. “I would also love to accompany my dharamguru to Africa to meditate in solitude. I have special interest in general knowledge. From my childhood, I have been reading newspapers, especially The Tribune and Dainik Tribune, regularly. And this stood me in good stead during the quiz,” says
Kulvinder, maintaining that his success in the July 18 episode, at the end of which he won Rs 6.4 lakh and became a rollover contestant for the July 23 episode, made him an instant hero. “People stopped me, greeted me, shook hands with me not only in Mumbai but also at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi and on our way from Delhi to Ellenabad in the bus. My brother, Mr Surinder Singh
Namdhari, had accompanied me to Mumbai for the contest this time”. |
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Gang managed to get 15,000 fake arms licences Jhajjar, July 23 Inquiries have revealed that the gang had managed to get around 15,000 such licences by giving fake addresses since 1997. Most of these were delivered to ISI-supported militants operating in Jammu and Kashmir and gangsters in the Haryana, Punjab and Delhi regions. Mr Mohammed Akil, SSP, who is conducting the inquiry, visited Ferozepore district, the genesis of this syndicate, last week. Mr Akil said it had been confirmed that apart from many clerks working on key positions in the offices of the district administration, a large number of arms shop owners, some senior district officers in Punjab and a number of political leaders were also hand in glove with the under cover syndicate. “In fact”, he said, “one Punjab minister, four MLAs and one Chairman are directly involved in the scam.” The police sources said around 30,000 arms licences were procured from Ferozepore district since 1997 through the syndicate. Of these, half of the licences had been found to be issued on fake addresses which reportedly went to militants and criminals. The police sources indicated that these licences were issued through Mr Ram Gopal Sohra, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Ferozepore. The SSP, Jhajjar, has summoned him today for further investigation. The police sources said there were around 150 arms dealers in Ferozepore and most of them were involved in this racket. Meanwhile, four licence clerks in Ferozepore had also been arrested. |
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Dry spell affects paddy: farmers Sonepat, July 23 Representatives of various farmers’ organisations including the BKU, the BKS and the Farmers’ Forum, said here today that if there was no rain for another week and the government failed to make arrangements for irrigation there could be an irreparable loss to the kharif crop. The rain which occurred yesterday was not enough for paddy and other crops in the area, they added. According to them, the survival of paddy would become extremely difficult in those areas where the underground water contained salts and the crops depended only on canal water and rains. The farmers were striving hard to save the crop with the help of diesel-run tubewells but the high temperature during the day was likely to lead to staunted growth and overall heavy reduction in the yield. Moreover, a diesel rub tubewell was neither economical nor could irrigate more than more than four acres of paddy. The representatives of these organisations further said the crops of cotton, bajra and jowar had also been badly affected by the dry spell. They alleged that the rotation period of canal water and power supply hours had not been increased for this sector even after imposition of unscheduled power cuts and erratic water supply. They said the government should demand extra power from the Central pool and the farmers be given power for a minimum of 12 hours daily. |
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4 cheated
of lakhs for overseas jobs Panipat, July 23 According to information, Inder Pal Singh, resident of house No. 13 on the Assandh road here approached Surender of the local Om Colony and told him that his brother had started a business in a foreign country and needed 10 persons. Lured by the offer, Surender convinced his three other friends and all four accepted the offer of a foreign job. To win their confidence Inder Pal took them to different cities and finally demanded Rs 50,000 from each for getting their visas and other documents. In June, Inder Pal informed them that their work had been done and they would have to pay some more amount. After collecting the money from them, Inder Pal asked them to reach Delhi on June 29. When they reached Delhi, Inder Pal was no- where to be found. Then they went to the office of an agent in the S.D. Block of Pritampura in Delhi. There they were informed by the office owner, Arvind Sharma, that he had not received any money from Inder Pal and the amount was deposited with Inder Pal’s relative, Inderjit Kaur at Karnal. The victims reached Karnal and demanded their money back from Inderjit Kaur. Suspecting some foul play, all four reported the matter to the Superintendent of Police, who ordered the registration of a case against the Inder Pal, Arvind Sharma and Inderjit Kaur. |
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Scheme to tone
up fire services Karnal, July 23 The NCRPB will charge an interest of 10 per cent per annum. The payback period is 10 years, including two years moratorium. |
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New tele-equipment inaugurated Ambala, July 23 Mr Prithipal Singh said 43,000 mobile telephone connections would be provided in Haryana in the first phase of which 7,000 connections would provided in Ambala SSA. In the second phase, about 10,000 mobile telephone connections would be provided. A proposal was under consideration for gradually phasing out of E 10-B exchanges based on decade old technology. “The new technology, like the one installed in Ambala City, give better facilities to the customers,” he said. Mr Prithipal Singh said priority was being accorded to customer satisfaction. “Our target this year is that the fault rate in each exchange must be brought down to the single digit level,” he said. “Also, every SSA must have one customer service centre. There is also going to be a toll-free telephone number for registering complaints, if the complaints have not been rectified within a reasonable period of time,” he said. The new equipment installed in Ambala City provides various facilities, including dynamic STD control, abbreviated dialling, temporary call transfer, call waiting, malicious call tracing, absent subscriber service, hot line, secret code resetting, calling line identification, PBS group, wake up service, internet and ISDN. |
Traffic blocked after altercation Ambala, July 23 The incident took place this morning when a car was not able to overtake a roadways bus near Matheri Sekhan. Later, the car driver managed to overtake the bus and blocked its way. This led to an altercation between the car driver and the bus conductor. The car driver, a local resident, along with some other persons, attacked the conductor and beat him up. A shopkeeper who tried to intervene was also beaten up. On learning about the incident, other roadways buses blocked the road to protest against the attack. The road blockade, which led to a traffic jam, was lifted after an assurance was given by the police that the culprits would be brought to book. |
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Tourism union to
support July 25 strike Faridabad, July 23 A spokesman of the sangh has criticised the decision, describing it as part of the privatisation move. He alleged that the government wanted to handover ‘kitchens’ of various leading tourists sports at Sirsa, Dharuhera Jind and Faridabad at ‘less competitive’ rates. He said the union would oppose such moves at any cost. He announced that the sangh had decided to support the proposed nation-wide strike of the government staff on July 25. |
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The
Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has claimed that during
the next two and a half years the state will not only become
self-dependent regarding its requirement of power, but also have surplus
power for supplying to other states. Mr Chautala said this while
addressing a press conference here yesterday convened by him in
connection with the completion of two years of the INLD government.
