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Friday,
January 18, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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CM trying to mislead people on SYL: Bhajan Haryana Sikh bodies threaten stir
CM’s statement ‘contempt of court’ Haryana CPM for alternative front Funds sanctioned for light & sound show |
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Haryana guidelines on pension benefits KALKA DIARY 322 more Confed employees retrenched Police denies report Two businessmen shot at
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CM trying to mislead people on SYL: Bhajan Chandigarh, January 17 In the statement, issued here today, Mr Bhajan Lal, Leader of the Opposition in Haryana and a former Chief Minister, alleged that Mr Om Prakash Chautala, Chief Minister of Haryana, was trying to mislead people on the issue following the court order in favour of Haryana. The former Chief Minister said the landmark order by the apex court was the result of a petition filed by Haryana in 1995 when he was Chief Minister of the state. “For the past two days I have been going through the statements being issued by Mr Chautala and Mr Bansi Lal. However, what they have been saying is very far from the truth”, the statement said adding that the people of Haryana were sensible enough to call the bluff. According to Mr Bhajan Lal’s statement, a decision on water sharing between Punjab and Haryana was reached upon on December 31, 1981, when the late Mrs Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister and Mr Bhajan Lal was the Chief Minister of Haryana. The pact on sharing of water was also signed by Mr Darbara Singh, who was Chief Minister of Punjab and Mr Shibcharan Mathur, the then Chief Minister of Rajasthan. The statement added that as per the pact, Punjab was to complete the construction of SYL canal inside Punjab as well as give 3.5 MAF water to Haryana. On April 12, 1982, Mrs Indira Gandhi laid the foundation stone for the construction of SYL canal at Karpuri village in Ambala district, bordering Punjab, and the ceremony was attended by the Chief Ministers of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. The then Union Home Minister, the late Giani Jail Singh was also present on the occasion, the statement said. About 90 per cent of work on the canal was complete by 1987 but there was no further work due to resistance by the Akali Dal and by gun-wielding militants. Mr Bhajan Lal claimed that when Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister, he urged the latter to take up the issue of SYL on a priority basis. Subsequently the SYL canal issue figured in the Rajiv-Longowal accord and on the basis of the accord, the Eradi Tribunal, constituted by the Centre, allocated 3.83 MAF water to Haryana. Mr Bhajan Lal alleged that from 1987 to 1991, Mr Devi Lal was Chief Minister of Haryana and during that period there was no progress in the construction of the canal in Punjab. Mr Bhajan Lal added that in 1991, he again became Chief Minister of Haryana and urged the centre to give the work of the construction of the SYL canal inside the Punjab territorry to the Border Road Organisation (BRO). However, as nothing was being done by Punjab for the construction of the canal, he moved the Supreme Court.
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Haryana Sikh bodies threaten stir Karnal, January 17 Mr Dalip Singh, chairman of the Haryana Sikh Sangat and Mr Partap Singh Randhawa, senior vice-president of the Haryana Sikh Forum, while talking to TNS here, stated that the Haryana Sikhs were refugees from west Pakistan who had been allotted lands in Haryana. While in Pakistan, they used to enjoy the facilities of irrigation water from all five rivers of Punjab, but now they were being denied the right. Taking
exception to Mr Badal’s reference the Riparian Act, the two leaders said it was before 1947 that the British Government had dug Bikaner Canal to provide water to Rajasthan. How come that the Riparian Act was not applied then. Haryana had been an integral part of Punjab for long, therefore, to deny the rights of division it is was unjustified,” they said. Both leaders termed the stand of Mr Badal as an “election stunt”. They said Mr Badal had taken Rs 5 crore from Mr Devi Lal when both were the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Haryana, respectively in 1978-79 to dig the SYL canal. The two leaders declared that the two organisations dissociated themselves from all factions of Akalis in Punjab. They even demanded that the gurdwaras in Haryana should be managed by a separate Act. |
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CM’s statement ‘contempt of court’ Sirsa, January 17 This was stated by the AICC member and former Irrigation Minister of Haryana, Mr Jagdish
Nehra, while addressing a press conference at his residence, here today. Mr Nehra reacted sharply at the statements published in newspapers today in which the Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal, is reported to have said that a single drop of water will not be given to Haryana at any cost and his party will not hesitate to fill jails if required. Such a statement made by a Chief Minister couldn’t be tolerated, he added. He demanded that Haryana should be compensated for the loss it had suffered during the past 20 years due to the non-completion of the SYL canal which in his calculation was around Rs 30,000 crore. He also demanded to review the water share being given to the Haryana. Mr Nehra criticised the Chautala government for allegedly using the police machinery for implicating political rivals in fabricated cases. |
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Haryana CPM for alternative front Fatehabad, January 17 The state secretary of the party, Mr Inderjit Singh, had placed the draft resolution for discussion yesterday. The issues included unemployment, public utilities services, law and order and public distribution system. Expressing concern over the decline in the overall political character in Haryana, the delegates emphasised on the need for creating an alternative front in the state by giving due importance to social reform movements. The delegates expressed concern at political interference in the working of the Panchayati Raj institutions and termed the constitution of the Village Development Committees (VDCs) as violation of the Panchayti Raj Act. The delegates also expressed concern on the large-scale female foeticide in Haryana and demanded effective measures to stop this practice. Talking to mediapersons Mr Hana Molla, MP, said, India must try to garner support from other developing countries. He said the party welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision on the SYL canal. On party’s prospects in Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Punjab Assembly elections the CPM leader said the emphasis would be to defeat the NDA candidates. |
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Funds sanctioned for light & sound show Kurukshetra, January 17 Stating this here today, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Abhilaksh Likhi, added that the sanctioned project would cost Rs 1.73 crore and a communication regarding the sanction had been received today. Mr Likhi said the Union Minister, who visited religious spots here on January 15 to promote the city as a pilgrimage tourist destination, also assured that the Sheikh Chaheli Tomb would be properly developed and the Nabha House building’s old glory would be restored by conserving it as a heritage monument. All religious places, in and around here, are being looked after by the Kurukshetra Development Board which was founded by former Prime Minister Gulzari Lal Nanda in 1968. The Haryana Governor was appointed Ex-Officio Chairman of the board in June, 1990, and since then it has been progressing towards the goal set by Mr Nanda. However, the other proposals, which were forwarded by the district administration in collaboration with the board to the Union Ministry of Tourism recently, included launching of an extensive publicity campaign and an interactive website, releasing a postage stamp on the city, making a 5-to-10-minute film on Kurukshetra’s tourist potential by a nationally renowned film-maker, arranging a series of classical music concerts spread over the entire year by inviting renowned exponents in the field, organising an artisan workshop here to develop souvenirs pertaining to the city and establishing a
planetarium to attract young tourists. |
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Haryana guidelines on pension benefits Chandigarh, January 17 According to an official release here today had been decided that cases for the purpose of grant of benefit of past qualifying service towards pension to the state government employees joining an autonomous body or vice versa and employees of one autonomous body moving to another would regulated as per the provision. It said that in order to be eligible for the benefits, an employee must have rendered service in an autonomous body or a statutory body which had been created under a statute or Act of a state or Central Government and was financed wholly or substantially from the cess or Central or state government grants. The release further clarified that a state university was a state autonomous body but public sector undertakings, public enterprises or companies registered under the Companies Act, societies registered under the Societies Registration Act and private bodies were not considered as a state autonomous bodies. The release said these instructions would apply on the employees who were in service and had not retired from service and also subject to the condition that such employees applied for the job from one organisation to another or should have been absorbed in the service with the prior consent of the parent employer or appointed on transfer basis. He said the government or the state autonomous body would discharge their pension liability by paying in lump-sump as a one-time payment, the pro-rata pension or service gratuity and death-cum-retirement for the period of service qualifying for pension up to the date of appointment in an autonomous body or any department under the Haryana Government, as the case might be, irrespective of the fact the employee was permanent or temporary.
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KALKA DIARY Kalka, January 17 With these orders, the general people, especially shopkeepers, could heave a sigh of relief, because three-wheeler and taxi drivers used to park their vehicles on roads in front of their shops. This resulted in frequent traffic jams and affected the movement of pedestrians too. Policemen have been deployed to check unauthorised parking of vehicles in this area. The police will challan those parking vehicles within 200 metres of the bus stand. INTERCITY TRAIN: The residents of this town have demanded that the proposed Intercity fast train from Chandigarh to Delhi and back for the benefit of the poor and middle class should instead be started from Kalka. INLD district general secretary and former secretary of the Northern Railway Men’s Union Dwarka Dass said though they have been demanding such a train from Kalka for many years, Kalka is being deprived of this benefit now. He said Kalka is the last station of the broad gauge railway line, and mostly poor and middle class people live here. If this train is started from here, there would be no loss to Chandigarh and the people of this area will also be benefited. It is said that this fast train will leave Chandigarh at 5 a.m. to reach Delhi in about three hours. This train, on its return journey, will leave Delhi for Chandigarh at 8 p.m. According to sources in the Northern Railway, the speed of the Intercity train will be the same as that of Shatabdi Express. VILLAGE ADOPTED: The Lions Club has adopted Khuda Baksh village of Kalka subdivision. A Lions Literate and Sewing Centre has been opened in this village. Lions Deputy District Governor Kuldeep inaugurated the centre. Mr Kulbir Singh Rana, zonal chairman, said that the club had fixed a target of making 100 women of this village and adjoining area fully literate. Ten sewing machines have been provided in the sewing centre. Besides making them literate and teaching stitching and embroidery, they will also be given training on making pickles and murabas. A set of 40 books was also made available to the centre. Expressing gratitude to the club, former sarpanch Gurdial Singh Rana said that for the first time a social organisation has started such a programme for the benefit of the villagers. On this occasion, club president Harvinder Singh Sokhi donated 45 pairs of shoes to the poor children. He said that a free eye camp will be organised in the Government Hospital at Kalka shortly. Besides general check and eye operations, free medicines and spectacles will be given by the club in the eye camp, he said. ROADWAYS PROFIT: The Kalka depot of Haryana Roadways has earned a profit of Rs 6 lakh during December 2001, according to Traffic Manager Darshan Gupta. He said that this has been made possible due to strict control exercised on the functioning of illegal maxicabs and private taxis in this area. The Panchkula depot too has earned a profit of Rs 5.09 lakh during December last. Mr Gupta, who is also holding the additional charge of Panchkula depot said that the government has provided ten new buses for use on local services to Kalka depot. New buses would also be introduced on the long route shortly, he said.
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322 more Confed employees retrenched Chandigarh, January 17 Informed sources said the present bunch of 322 employees, who were retrenched, were all salesmen who were working in the retail outlets of the Confed. While the decision to retrench these employees was taken by the Haryana Bureau of Public Enterprises in September, it could not be implemented because of lack of funds. Funds were subsequently made available by the Finance Department and on Saturday, services of employees were terminated after giving them compensation. Justifying the move an official said, “Confed was spending about Rs 2.5 crore per annum on account of the salaries of the surplus employees. If we do not retrench them, the jobs of the 513 existing employees of the organisation would have been threatened”.
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Police denies report Chandigarh, January 17 A spokesman for the Haryana police said the recruitment was made in accordance with the government instructions. He said 1761 constables were recruited in 2001 in compliance with the order of the Supreme Court. As per the policy of the state government relating to the promotion of sports, as many as 114 sportsmen of international and national level were also recruited during the year. He said regarding the recruitment of 675 male constables, the Union Government had sanctioned first India Reserve Battalion for the state. A sum of Rs 12 crore had been made available to the state government for meeting the expenditure. While the force was likely to be deployed on the orders of the Union Government, unemployed youths of Haryana would get chance of employment. Recruitment for this force was on and would be completed soon, he said. As many as 270 women constables were being recruited with a view to establishing four women police stations at Ambala, Hisar, Rohtak and Gurgaon as per the decision of the high-powered committee during women empowerment year, he said. |
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Two businessmen shot at Ambala,
January 17 The two Ambala city based businessmen were returning from Delhi in their car. While they were approaching Ambala cantonment, they were shot at by two scooter-borne youths. The bullet reportedly missed them and went out of the window. The businessmen deal in jewellery boxes and had gone to Delhi in connection with their business dealing. The district police intensified its patrolling after the incident and investigations are under way to track down the youths.
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Reproductive health awareness campaign Chandigarh, January 17 This was stated by Mr Bhagwati Parshad, Financial Commissioner and Secretary, Health, following a meeting convened by him here today to discuss the strategies to be adopted for the campaign.
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Teachers’ exam put off Chandigarh, January 17 The release said the SSC had rejected the candidature of those candidates who did not have the required combination of subjects at the graduation level following an order by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. |
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Haryana Cabinet meets on Jan 22 Chandigarh, January 17 |
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