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Sunday,
August 4, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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BKU-Chautala talks break down 10 districts to adopt organic farming Badungar
visits Panjokhra Sahib Karnal woman found in UP Popularise lok adalats: Justice Bali Mohra
power line to be trifurcated |
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Bansi Lal faces defamation suit 
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BKU-Chautala talks break down Chandigarh, August 3 Talking to the TNS from Kandela village of Jind district today, Mr Ghasiram Nain, President of the BKU, indicated this. He said the 75 per cent waiver scheme was launched in the state without consulting the BKU and therefore there was no question of the BKU accepting the scheme. “From our side we have already told the farmers that they need not bother to pay the arrears”, Mr Nain said. A BKU delegation led by Mr Nain had met the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, at the latter’s official residence at Chandigarh to discuss the issue of pending arrears and other matters. Nothing, however, came off the meeting which was also attended by Finance Minister Sampat Singh as well as two other ministers. Mr Nain, in fact, claimed that the talks broke down on the issue of number of agitators killed in police action. “When we decided to withdraw the blockade of roads following discussion with a government team led by Mr Sampat Singh on June 17, we were assured that families of eight agitators who died in the police action during the BKU-led agitation would be given compensation. Subsequently one of the seriously injured agitators also passed away making nine the total number of people killed. But compensation has been given by the INLD to six families only”, Mr Nain said. He claimed that a post-mortem examination was not carried out in the cases of Ramdiya and Rajesh as the doctors were not willing to do the job. The autopsy report of Ram Swarup, which said that he died of injury caused by some crude weapon, was fake, Mr Nain claimed and added that during the talks held on June 17, the government team did not say that post-mortem examination reports would be treated as evidence for offering assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the slain BKU supporters. “The Chief Minister was present when we raised the issue of compensation to the three remaining families but he was not willing to accept our demand. This came as a setback to us and we discussed the other matters in a perfunctory manner only and came out”, Mr Nain said. While alleging that Mr Chautala was not interested in addressing the issues raised by the BKU, Mr Nain said their next step would be to put pressure on Mr Chautala to concede to their demand.” This takes the relationship between the state government and the BKU back to square one. Mr Nain wants the BKU to have its say on the issue of electricity arrears while the Chief Minister, Mr Chautala, is not ready to entertain the BKU regarding this. It remains to be seen how Mr Nain goes about executing his threat of “mounting pressure” on Mr Chautala. However, the BKU’s ability to throw in disarray the state government’s power bills collection drive cannot be underestimated. A total defaulting amount of Rs 71 crore was pending in the villages of Jind sub-division alone when the state government announced the 75 per cent waiver scheme in May. More than Rs 35 crore, out of the Rs 71 crore, was pending against consumers of 12 villages which were considered BKU strongholds. Only a miniscule section of the consumers from these villages reportedly settled their arrears under the waiver scheme while a huge amount had remained unpaid. Not only this the farmers of these areas are not paying their current bills either which is adding up to the amount of arrears. “We have told the farmers not to pay the current bills till the state government resolves the issue of arrears through negotiation with the BKU”, Mr Nain said. A senior INLD minister said that they would have to formulate a strategy to make the defaulting farmers pay their bills. However, given the drought situation in the state now, it would not be advisable to intensify the recovery operations, added the minister. |
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10 districts to adopt organic farming
Chandigarh, August 3 The training will be given to women living below the poverty line in Kurukshetra, Ambala, Hissar, Yamunanagar, Panchkula, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Rewari, Bhiwani, Mahendragarh. The programme has already been tried and tested in Yamunanagar, Rewari and Panchkula in March, 2001. The focus will be to train 85 self help groups in the preparation of vermicompost and vermiwash, as an income generation activity. Each such group will comprise 10 to 20 like-minded women interested in the adoption of vermiculture. In order to ensure effective implementation of the project, baseline survey of the rural areas has been conducted by a Chandigarh-based NGO Manthan, which has carried out rapid rural appraisal of the 85 groups in question and has identified 60 groups willing to adopt this technique for boosting their income. In the first phase Manthan has provided training to groups in Yamunanagar, Rewari and Panchkula. In the next phase which will target the above-mentioned 60 groups, Manthan is likely to provide technical support to rural women. Talking to the Tribune about the efficacy of the project, Mr Navneet Virk, executive secretary, Manthan, said, “This activity has great income generation potential. It is a zero-cost activity and requires no external investment. We only need cowdungs and agricultural residue which is freely available in villages.” Moreover, the scheme provides for direct purchase of vermicompost. Manthan and the Department will buy the produce at the rate of Rs 4 per kg, and allow rural women to sell their produce directly in the markets. “Vermicompost is being sold at Rs 20 to Rs 35 per kg in the markets. By selling their produce, self help groups can raise their savings,” Mr Virk said. Another provision is that the Department of Forests, which is implementing the project, will, after every six months, give each group a grant equal to the amount of their savings. “The savings will multiply fast. We will provide self help groups with 1 kg worms for one vermicompost unit. Within two months, the worms will multiply. Also compost will be ready between 45 and 60 days. This will be directly purchased and can also be sold,” Mr Virk added. |
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Badungar visits
Panjokhra Sahib Ambala, August 3 Talking to mediapersons at Gurdwara Panjokhra Sahib here yesterday where Guru Harkishan’s birth anniversary was celebrated, Mr Badungar said that the seven-member committee headed by Mr Kulwant Singh was likely to submit its report in this regard by the end of this month. He said that there would be a central body and the state bodies would function independently. “The set-up will be similar to the union and state governments,” he said. “I must say that the interests of the Sikhs in Haryana will be looked after,” he added Mr Badungar observed that the “controversy” over a separate SGPC had arisen following certain proposals made by a previous committee. “The All-India Gurdwara Act will create a central body and the state bodies will function in harmony with it,“ he said. He announced a grant of Rs 11 lakh for Shri Guru Harkishan Sahib College. Vice-president of the college management Sant Singh Kandhari had requested monetary assistance to regularise pay of teachers and to carry out certain work in the new college building. Among others, SGPC members S.S.
Niddar, Hardayal Singh Brar, Dhyan Singh Charmari, Bibi Kartar Kaur, Balkaur Singh, Hardam Singh and Daljit Singh Bedi were present. |
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Karnal woman found in UP Ambala, August 3 Mr Jagdish
Prasad, father of the woman, Saroj alias Poonam, of Assandh in Karnal district lodged a report with the Nissing police station in Karnal on October 8, 2000 under Sections 406, 498A and 364 of the IPC against Parveen Kumar, Saroj’s husband, and three others alleging that his daughter had been murdered by them for dowry. An FIR (No. 264 dated 8.10.2000) was registered at Nissing but Saroj could not be recovered by the police. On this, Mr Jagdish Prasad and Praveen Kumar filed a miscellaneous petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court for the transfer of the investigation to the CBI. The high court directed the CBI on April 17, 2001 to investigate the case. On this, a regular case was registered on June 4, 2001 at the CBI office in Chandigarh. The investigation was entrusted to Inspector N.S. Raju. On receipt of secret information, Ms Saroj was found by the CBI yesterday from a remote village in Tharra Chittra in Etawah district in Uttar Pradesh. Ms Saroj was today produced before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ambala, Mr Deepak Gupta, by Inspector N.S. Raju along with Mr Chander Mohan Sehgal, Special Public Prosecutor, CBI, with the request for recording her statement under Section 164 of the
CrPC. |
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Popularise lok adalats: Justice Bali Gurgaon, August 3 Talking to mediapersons, Mr Justice Bali, Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, said efforts were made to not only organise lok adalats successfully in the state, but stress was also laid on the follow-up measures and feedback. The holding of the adalats is monitored at the highest level in the state, he said. He referred to holding of a special adalat for labour cases at Faridabad recently wherein more than 70 per cent of the pending cases were settled. He opined that lack of tolerance in society accounted for the large number of cases being filed in the regular courts. In
response to a question he said shortage of judges in various courts was also responsible for the slow disposal of cases by the regular courts. Mr Justice Bali also addressed
counsellors and conciliators from Gurgaon, Faridabad, Jhajjar and Rewari. He goaded them to generate among the masses a larger recognition of the value of lok adalats in settling their disputes amicably to avoid harassment and save time and money. He emphasised that cousellors and conciliators could play an important role in guiding the poor, backward and weaker sections of society to avoid litigation. They should foster a spirit of goodwill and mutual trust among the public at large. The process of reconciliation among the disputants should be actively encouraged in all types of cases except those of a serious nature in which conciliation would be against public policy, such as those involving murder, rape and dacoity. Inaugurating a special lok adalat of labour cases and also a previously scheduled lok adalat for civil and criminal cases, Mr Justice Bali said lok adalats were held after every three months in all districts of Haryana for providing a statutory forum to the people to resolve certain categories of disputes amicably, speedily and without any expenditure. With specific reference to the special lok adalat organised for the labour court cases, he suggested that instead of indulging in long-drawn litigation, the labourers as well as managements should adopt a conciliatory approach towards each other for their mutual benefit. In today’s lok adalat, 565 cases were disposed of. These included nine labour cases involving payment of Rs 4 lakh as compensation in special Lok Adalat. In cases relating to Motor Accident and Claim Tribunal (MACT), 45 cases were settled. Three cases falling under the Hindu Marriage Act were also solved. Nine bank recovery cases were settled entailing a sum of more than Rs 5 lakh. Twelve criminal and 31 civil cases were also settled. In all 394 cases were disposed of in the category of summary cases. |
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Mohra
power line to be trifurcated Ambala, August 3 The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam is carrying out the trifurcation so that the rural areas, particularly near Ambala Cantt, get better power supply. The work was delayed due to a railway line crossing but the process is likely to be completed within a week. The trifurcation would lead to improvement in Mohra and Ugada feeders, a press note said. |
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Bansi Lal faces defamation suit Chandigarh, August 3 Mr Malik has alleged in the complaint that he was falsely implicated in some criminal cases by Mr Bansi Lal, during his tenure. The court has adjourned the case for September 3. |
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2 IAS officers
shifted Chandigarh, August 3 |
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MLAs nominated Chandigarh, August 3 |
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122 students participate in culture quiz Ambala, August 3 |
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Counselling dates Kurukshetra, August 3 |
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