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Wednesday,
July 31, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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CM ‘not serious about SYL canal’ Dalal picks holes in Bedhian’s version Congress demands drought relief
Parched Bhiwani awaits rain |
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KUTA opposes move to cut science teachers’ workload Names of house tax defaulters displayed Plan to commit dacoity foiled, four
arrested Protest against erratic power supply Haryana Vikas Party meeting Sahitya Akademi to get Rs 35 lakh Staff threaten
‘jail bharo’ movement Roadways depot
shows profit Students told about
traffic rules
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CM ‘not serious about SYL canal’ Chandigarh, July 30 The allegation was levelled by the party chief, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, at a press conference here even as the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, ordered the district administration to conduct special girdawari in the drought-affected areas. The special girdawari would be conducted from August 5 to August 20. Mr Hooda said the Chautala Government’s non-seriousness about the SYL canal was reflected from the fact that while the Rajasthan and Punjab chief ministers represented their states at a recent meeting convened by the Centre on the river waters issue, Mr Chautala chose to send the Chief Parliamentary Secretary, who is not even a member of the Cabinet, to the all-important meeting. Blaming Mr Chautala and his father, the late Mr Devi Lal, for the delay in the completion of the SYL canal, Mr Hooda said if they had not opposed the Rajiv-Longowal accord, the people of Haryana would not have been deprived of their lifeline. He said Mr Chautala must clarify if he still opposed the Rajiv-Longowal accord or not. Although Mr Chautala had been in power for three years, he had never called a meeting of Opposition leaders though they had assured him on the floor of the House of their cooperation on the canal issue. Mr Hooda said while the other states had demanded massive amounts to meet the drought conditions in their areas, Haryana had demanded a meagre amount of Rs 12 crore. This, he said, showed the casual approach of the state government towards the plight of the farmers whose crops had withered away due to the lack of rain. He accused the Chautala Government of deliberately not declaring the state as drought-affected because it would have to undertake relief measures immediately after the declaration. He said even cane growers had not been paid their dues though sugar mills stopped crushing cane after April. The mills owed about Rs 85 crore to the growers. The arrears included about Rs 35 crore to be paid by the cooperative sector mills. Mr Hooda said the Chatuala Government was busy implicating its political opponents in false cases instead of providing relief to the drought-hit farmers. He also demanded a probe into the allegations that a proclaimed offender had accompanied the Chief Minister to his visit to China. |
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Chautala
takes up SYL issue with PM Chandigarh, July 30 According to an official spokesman, Mr Chautala urged Mr Vajpayee to get the canal completed in Punjab so that Haryana might get its share of the river waters without any further delay. Mr Chautala, also discussed with the Prime Minister, the issue of
Kishau, Renuka and Lakhwar dams on the Yamuna. These dams, he said would ensure adequate water to Haryana. Mr Chautala also urged the Prime Minister to set up an airport and a separate high court for the State.
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Dalal picks holes in Bedhian’s version Chandigarh, July 30 Talking to newsmen here, Mr Dalal, who had first raked up the controversy last week, said Mr Bedhian’s assertion that he was not aware of the Panipat case, in which the latter was declared a proclaimed offender, was baseless and false. Mr Dalal produced photocopies of a Punjab and Haryana High Court order of February 12, 2002, dismissing the application filed by Mr Bedhian for anticipatory bail as well as the application for quashing the FIR lodged against him at Panipat police station by the manager of Bank of Punjab alleging that he had defrauded the bank by producing a forged letter from Jind Central Cooperative Bank clearing the second mortgage over a piece of land already mortgaged with the Jind bank. The state, through the investigating officer, had opposed Mr Bedhian’s applications. Mr Dalal said his allegation that Mr Chautala was patronising a proclaimed offender was proved by the fact that despite his making public the fact about Mr Bedhian’s legal status(of being a proclaimed offender), the state police had not arrested him so far. He also accused Mr Bedhian of purchasing benami property for the Chief Minister. Mr Dalal also demanded that valuable gifts, including gold equal to the weight of Mr Chautala, presented to the Chief Minister during his foreign visit should be immediately deposited in the state treasury as these gifts, he said, were the property of the state. He said Mr Chautala had removed the Chief Secretary, Mr L.M. Goyal, “unceremoniously” because Mr Goyal, “who initially danced to the tunes of the ruling family, later refused to carry out illegal dictates of the Chief Minister”. Meanwhile, Mr Bedhian told TNS on the phone that he had no connection with Mr Chautala or his family. He said as per Mr Dalal’s version he was declared a proclaimed offender by the Panipat court on January 29, 2002. But the police in its affidavit filed before the high court never brought this to the notice of the court. He said he never denied that he had taken the cash credit limit from the Bank of Punjab. The repayment of the loan was delayed because of a dispute with the Army, to which he had supplied certain goods worth about Rs 2 crore. The high court had appointed an arbitrator to settle the dispute between him and the Army. He said he would repay the loan the moment his money was released by the Army. Mr Bedhian claimed that the bank was wrong in initiating a criminal case against him in a case of civil nature. In fact, he said, the police had hauled up the bank manager also in the case lodged against him (Mr Bedhian). He said he had moved the Debt Recovery Tribunal, Chandigarh, against the bank. He claimed that the Chief Minister was keen that the motor cycle project, for which he had signed an MoU with a Chinese company, should be set up in Palwal, the constituency represented by Mr Dalal. “But because of the activities of Mr Dalal, my principles decided to set up the project in Rajasthan. It was only at the request of the HSIDC that it was decided to install the project in Haryana,” he added. |
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Congress
demands drought relief Kurukshetra, July 30 They alleged that the government had failed to protect the interests of the farmers. They had to pay electricity bills every month, without getting the power for running their tubewells. At the same time they were being arrested for recovery of loans. The Congress leaders also demanded that diesel be supplied to the suffering farmers at subsidised rates so that they could make alternative arrangements for irrigation by running diesel engines. Moreover, the farmers, they said, should be exempted from electricity charges because they were not getting any supply. |
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Parched
Bhiwani awaits rain Bhiwani, July 30 However, the rain god seems to have abandoned the district, which has hardly received any rain since then. “There was no rain during June. On July 6 and 7, it rained in some pockets of Bhiwani, but the rain was not adequate,” said Mr Hansraj Sharma, Deputy Director, Agriculture Department, based in Bhiwani. The water level in the district has reached an alarming low. According to a survey conducted by a state government agency, during June and July, the water level in Bhiwani district went down by 23 metres. In Bapora village, which comes under the Bhiwani block, the water level has gone down by more than 1 metre. “We sowed bajra after the rain in May, but the plants have wilted now,” said a villager at Ninan. He said water could be supplied through tubewells, but the water was no more good for agriculture. “It is saline and leaves white deposits on the soil,” the farmer said. Officials in Bhiwani said about 90,000 hectares in Bhiwani were irrigated by canals and the condition of crops on this land was better than that of crops on land irrigated by tubewells. The Superintending Engineer of the Irrigation Department in Bhiwani said discharge in the canals, supplied with waters from the Yamuna, had depleted. “During the past two days, we are getting around 8,000 cusecs which is good. Otherwise, we have been normally getting 4,500 to 5,000 cusecs. Under these circumstances we are giving priority to filling up tanks for drinking purposes, he said. The main crops of Bhiwani are cotton and bajra, rice, pulses and guar are also grown in the district. Prem Singh, a farmer, of Missri village in Dadri-1 block said guar planted by him had been damaged because of the dry weather. An Agriculture Department official in Bhiwani said guar planted in about 9,000 hectares in the district had perished because of the delayed monsoon. Bajra has also been severely affected by the drought. Bajra is sown in about 1.35 lakh hectares and more than 75 per cent of the crop has been damaged. Bajra is also used by farmers as fodder and the price of fodder has already gone up considerably. Farmers interviewed by this reporter feel that if it rains during the next seven days, they may still be able to salvage some crops. “Otherwise it is going to be tough for us”, said a farmer. |
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KUTA opposes move to cut science
teachers’ workload Kurukshetra, July 30 Dr Chauhan said KUTA had condemned the move of the university earlier and had stopped the move to adjust surplus teachers. He said the delegation also met the Governor of Haryana and Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Babu Parmanand, in this regard. The Governor assured the delegation of a favourable outcome and constituted a high-powered committee under chairmanship of Mr M.K. Miglani, Principal Secretary, Haryana, to take a prompt decision in this regard. Dr Chauhan said all vice-chancellors of Haryana’s universities were the members of this committee. A meeting of the committee was to be held today at Chandigarh. The KUTA delegation also met the Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Mr R.S. Chaudhry, and he assured of all possible help from his side. KUTA had already sent representations to all members of the high-powered committee and the Governor and Chief Secretary, Haryana. Dr Chauhan warned that the higher education system would collapse if such decisions were taken. Dr Chauhan said the UGC Chairman also expressed surprise over the move of the Haryana Government and said it was clear in the UGC guidelines that the practical and theory papers’ workload was the same. Moreover, he said, practicals were an important ingredient of the science subjects. Dr Chauhan said Prof Nigvekar arranged a meeting between the KUTA delegation and the Additional Secretary, Dr T.R. Kem, who was looking after the UGC syllabi. Dr Kem condemned the move of the Haryana Government and promised to pass a ruling that the practical/tetorial workload was on a par with the theory workload. The KUTA president warned the state government that if the high-powered committee took any such decision, they would protest. He is also in touch with AIFUCTO leaders and leaders of the state universities and colleges. |
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Names of house tax defaulters displayed Ambala, July 30 A board, which was put up at the main Sadar chowk, caught the attention of a large number of people. The onlookers were seen going through names and addresses of the defaulters. The amount due from the house tax defaulters was also mentioned on the board. Incidentally, “Chandigarh Tribune” had reported that although boards with names of defaulters were ready, they were yet to be put up on major crossings. The boards had been prepared in the beginning of this month and were to be displayed within a week. The boards have been prepared circle-wise and have names and addresses of those persons whose outstanding house tax is more than Rs 5000. There are reportedly about 300 such persons in the Ambala Sadar area, alone. The outstanding amount due, from big as well small defaulters, works out to about Rs 60 lakh. Once a defaulter pays up the amount, the name would be removed from the board.
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Plan to commit dacoity foiled, four
arrested Ambala, July 30 Assistant Sub-Inspector Randhir Singh and other police personnel were on duty on the GT Road when they received a tip-off that five persons — Umesh, Sundar, Rakesh, Leelu and Titu — were armed and they were planning a dacoity. The police managed to arrest four of the dacoits while the fifth, Leelu, managed to escape in the cover of darkness. During questioning, the dacoits revealed that they had struck in Mahesh Nagar in 1999 and taken away jewellery, cash and VCR. Also, they had committed robbery at Shastri Colony. The dacoits are reportedly involved in several cases in Yamunanagar, Saharanpur, Rishikesh and Mazaffarpur. The gang has also told the police that they used to rob train passengers after mixing some drugs in an eatable. |
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Protest
against erratic power supply Ambala, July 30 The villagers belonging to the villages of Bagholi, Uplana and Jyoly, raised slogans against the government and demanded that the power supply should be normalised at the earliest. The villagers claimed that despite repeated requests to the power officials to improve the power supply, no steps had been taken and the situation had worsened over the last couple of days. The angry villagers reportedly damaged electric equipment kept at the power house besides damaging some
glasspanes. The power personnel on duty hid themselves. Later, power officials reached the spot and managed to pacify the agitated villagers. |
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Haryana
Vikas Party meeting Ambala, July 30 Mr Jaspal Singh said that people were unhappy with the Chautala government. He said that people were expressing resentment towards the state government. He said that the state youth president, Mr Nripendra Singh, would visit Ambala City on August 1. Mr Singh said that if HVP came to power then the unemployed youth would be given unemployment money besides setting aside the new house tax policy. Among others, Mr Arvind Sharma, Mr Santosh Kumar, Mr Indrajit Singh, Mr Prem Kumar, Mr Harvinder Singh and Mr Jitender Singh were present.
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Sahitya
Akademi to get Rs 35 lakh Chandigarh, July 30 This was revealed at a meeting between the Haryana Chief Minister and the Chairman of the akademi, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, and the President of the Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology of the Union Human Resource Development Ministry, Dr Harish Kumar, here today. The Director, Dr Chander Trikha, said the akademi had become the biggest publisher of Hindi journalism books in the country. The Vice-Chairman of the akademi, Mr P.K. Chaudhery, said this amount would be utilised for the purchase of Hindi software, computers, creating a website and a CD of Hindi literature. |
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Staff threaten
‘jail bharo’ movement Ambala, July 30 Employees of roadways, excise and taxation department, ministerial staff, electricity department and teacher union took part in the dharna today. The 11 employees, Harkesh Singh, Jethu Ram, Maai Chand, Balbir Singh, Ashok Kumar, Joginder Pal, Surender Gupta, Avtar Singh, Desh Pal, Virender Handa and Sarwan Kumar, participated in the relay fast on the concluding day. Addressing the employees, the secretary of the Ambala unit of the
mahasangh, Mr R.N. Pande, said that the government had not accepted their demands even after their peaceful demonstration. He said now the mahasangh had decided to start statewide “jail bharo” agitation from August 7. He said that an urgent meeting of the state executive of the mahasangh was being summoned shortly to finalise the strategy.
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Roadways
depot shows profit Ambala, July 30 The Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, Mr
D.D. Gautam, today said that in April 2002, the depot achieved a net receipt of Rs 284 lakh and earned a profit of Rs 35 lakh, which is a record. The depot recorded an increase of 0.71 paisa km in receipt. In May 2002, the depot achieved a net receipt of Rs 268.06 lakh, a release said. The General Manager, Haryana Roadways, Ambala, Mr Aurobind Sharma, said that a bus service had been started for ‘Deotsiddha’ Shahtalai in Himachal Pradesh which is a pilgrimage centre and also for ‘Rampur Bushhar’ in Himachal Pradesh. Also, the depot earned about Rs 80 lakh towards passenger tax for Haryana Government.
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Students
told about
traffic rules Ambala, July 30 Inspector Om Prakash told the students about the traffic rules and stressed these rules must always be obeyed. With the help of a traffic constable, the traffic signs were also explained to the students. He said the students should drive only after they get a valid driving licence and added that they must always wear a helmet and should leave well in time for school so that they do not have to hurry. |
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Rs 21,000 for national awardees Chandigarh, July 30 The artists of the state honoured with this award so far by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and by the President of India between 1989 and 2001 include Mr Tule Ram, son of Pt Lakhmi Chand
Saangi, who was honoured for National Samman (Saang); Ustad Jhamman Khan, internationally famous nagara player; Mr Kamal Tewari, dramatist; and Mr Mamman Khan, sarangi player.
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58 panchayats added to Saha block Ambala, July
30
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Army recruitment Ambala, July 30 The recruitment will be for general duty and posts clerk, store keeper technical soldiers. All educated youths from Karnal, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Ambala, Panchkula and Chandigarh can participate in the rally, a release said. Recruitment officer Commander S.S. Yadav said that only those candidates would be considered eligible who have secured atleast 45 per cent or more marks in class X.
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