H A R Y A N A

Bansi Lal demands Rs 700 MSP for wheat
Bhiwani, April 14
Haryana Vikas Party chief Bansi Lal visited several mohallas here yesterday. The HVP leader went to the community centres at Khatikan, Mirdwan Pond and Thathera Basti with the amount give from the discretionery fund of Mr Swaraj Kaushal, MP, he assured to give Rs 2 lakh to each centre.

Chautala lauds Aggarwals for business skills
Kurukshetra, April 14
The life and philosophy of Maharaja Agarsen, founder of the Aggarwal community, will be made part of school syllabus in Haryana. This was announced by Haryana Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala, here today while speaking at the valedictory function of the two-day 19th annual convention of the Akhil Bharatiya Aggarwal Sammelan (ABAS).

Hooda not my leader, says Bhajan Lal
Faridabad, April 14
‘Unity’ effort in Congress party leadership in the state received a ‘jolt’ with the statement of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal that HPCC chief Bhupinder Singh Hooda was not his leader and the party would fight Assembly elections under his leadership.

Crossbred cow is ‘best’
Kurukshetra, April 14
Mr Manjeet Singh’s crossbred cow was declared the best animal at a state-level two-day cattle show which concluded here last evening.

• Portly cops told to shed weight

• Journalism has become ‘trade’

Bansi Lal demands Rs 700 MSP for wheat
Our Correspondent

Bhiwani, April 14
Haryana Vikas Party chief Bansi Lal visited several mohallas here yesterday. The HVP leader went to the community centres at Khatikan, Mirdwan Pond and Thathera Basti with the amount give from the discretionery fund of Mr Swaraj Kaushal, MP, he assured to give Rs 2 lakh to each centre.

He met several people in other areas who complained him that the support price for sarson had been declared Rs 1,300 but farmers were forced to sell their produce for not more than Rs 1,125. The arrival of wheat has been started but no official arrangements have been yet made for the procurement of wheat in mandis.

Mr Bansi Lal demanded that wheat procurement price should be Rs 700 per quintal. Former speaker Chhattar Singh, Ram Kishan Fauji, MLA, former minister Ram Bhajan Aggarwal, HVP leader Shiv Kumar Aggarwal, Satpal Sangwan, Nripender Singh, Sombir Singh, Ram Pratap Sharma, media in charge Balbir Singh and several local leaders accompanied Mr Bansi Lal.

Chautala lauds Aggarwals for business skills
Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, April 14
The life and philosophy of Maharaja Agarsen, founder of the Aggarwal community, will be made part of school syllabus in Haryana. This was announced by Haryana Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala, here today while speaking at the valedictory function of the two-day 19th annual convention of the Akhil Bharatiya Aggarwal Sammelan (ABAS). Mr Chautala also announced the setting up of the Maharaja Agarsen chair in Kurukshetra University to conduct research on social philosophy and life of king.

Appreciating the contribution of the Aggarwals in the field of trade, business and industry, Mr Chautala said from April 25 he would tour various important industrial towns of the country to invite industrialists to set up units in Haryana. He said the State Government would provide every help to industrialists coming the State from outside.

Highlighting achievements of his Government, Mr Chautala said due to steps taken by the INLD Government the State’s revenue had increased by 37 per cent. This, he said, had been done without adopting coercive methods.

Urging the Aggarwals to follow the ideals of Maharaja Agarsen, Mr Chautala said the community should check dowry system prevailing in a big way among its members.

Referring to the reports that Ms Mayawati of the BSP might become the Chief Minister of U.P. with the help of the BJP, Mr Chautala said if it happened then “Bhagwan Hi Malik Hai”. He did not elaborate.

The Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Vijay Goel, described Maharaja Agarsen as the founder of socialism in the country. He said only persons with a bent of mind for social work should join politics. This would cleanse the politics of evils besetting public life. He appealed the Aggarwals to join politics in large numbers.

Urging the community to inculcate a good value system among the young, Mr Goel regretted that the electronic media was exerting a bad influence on the young generation. Referring to a protest by certain delegates from Shyamli in U.P. over his campaigning against an Aggarwal candidate there in the recent Assembly elections in that State, Mr Goel said he was bound by the party discipline. If the Sammelan adopted a resolution barring the political leaders belonging to the community from campaigning against any Aggarwal candidate and the leaders of the all parties agreed to abide by such a resolution, he said, he would also follow suit.

The industrialist-turned-politician, Mr O.P. Jindal, said delegates from 18 States had come to the convention. Giving a political agenda to the community, Mr Jindal said since the Lok Sabha elections could be held anytime now, the community should decide that no two Aggarwal candidates would oppose each other in the elections. He said if no political party gave the ticket to an Aggarwal candidate in a particular constituency, the community must field its own candidate as an Independent.

The Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Mr R.S. Chaudhary, who presented 51 gold coins to Mr Chautala, thanked the Chief Minister for promising liberal grant to the Agroha Medical College. He urged the community to pay taxes honestly. The former Chief Minister of Haryana and Chief Patron of the sammelan, Mr B.D. Gupta, praised the former Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Devi Lal, for giving land and money for the Agroha college. He advised Mr Chautala to constitute an advisory committee on taxes with representation to businessmen and industrialists.

Among others who spoke were Mr Pradeep Mittal, President of the Smmelan; Mr Ram Niwas Gupta, President of the Haryana unit of the sammelan; and Mr Vishav Pal Tikku, national convener of the convention.

Hooda not my leader, says Bhajan Lal
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, April 14
‘Unity’ effort in Congress party leadership in the state received a ‘jolt’ with the statement of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal that HPCC chief Bhupinder Singh Hooda was not his leader and the party would fight Assembly elections under his leadership. He also gave an hint that he might be the next Chief Minister.

Mr Bhajan Lal’s statement here yesterday, seems to have caused a flutter again. Mr Bhajan Lal who was on a private visit here, appeared to favour a change in the leadership. He said Sonia Gandhi was his leader and Mr Hooda was only the HPCC chief and nothing more than that. He said after the next elections in Haryana the Congress would come to power. He said people had become fed up with the ‘misrule’ of the Chautala government and it was not likely to complete its five-year term.

Crossbred cow is ‘best’
Our Correspondent

Kurukshetra, April 14
Mr Manjeet Singh’s crossbred cow was declared the best animal at a state-level two-day cattle show which concluded here last evening.

According to Dr K.S. Dangi, Director, Animal Husbandry, Haryana, 41 competitions in various categories were held and 170 out of the over 600 cattle owners were awarded prizes by Mr Abhey Chautala, MLA.

The Haryana Livestock Development Board Chairman, Mr A.L. Chaudhry, said the contribution of animal husbandry to the state economy could not be ignored as milk production had multiplied nearly five times from 10.82 lakh metric tonnes in 1966 to 48.49 lakh metric tonnes in 2001.

Similarly, the daily average milk availability per person was 637 gm in Haryana against 213 gm in the country and that was possible only due to “murrah” buffaloes and “saahiwaal” cows.

Portly cops told to shed weight

Hisar, April 14
A policeman with a paunch is a symbol of sloth in the police force if Hisar Range IGP John V. George is to be believed. Taking serious notice of the increasing number of “obese” policemen, he has warned those having a bulge at the waistline to slim themselves or face compulsory retirement.

A period has been fixed for policemen with pot bellies to prune themselves. Paunchy constables would not get promotion, according to the directions of the police chief. UNI

Journalism has become ‘trade’
Our Correspondent

Sirsa, April 14
Journalism has become a trade, according to Prof B.K. Kuthiala, Dean, Faculty of Mass Media, Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar. He was speaking at a workshop organised by the local unit of the Haryana Union of Journalists at Tularam Dharamshala yesterday.

Journalism, which was a mission became a profession after Independence, had been reduced to a trade now. With stress on profitability, advertisements were finding place in the prime pages. Professor Kuthiala said newsmen were directed by marketing personnel on what and how of news items.