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Saturday,
October 26, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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State Cong unity formula fails Book Dulina cops: Left Pick-and-choose in demolition:
Bhajan Ad hoc staff KUNTEA poll issue All-woman team to go abroad |
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Seminar
on quality in higher education Demands
of students ‘unfair’ Stray cattle
create nuisance Sainik school for
Matenhail
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State Cong unity formula fails Chandigarh, October 25 Under the formula, all Bhajan Lal rallies were to be held as a part of the Chautala Hatao-Haryana Bachao programme so that all anti-Bhajan Lal factions could also participate. The President of the DCC concerned was to preside over the rallies. The first such rally is scheduled to be held at Rohtak on October 27. However, the first signs of the failure of the formula came today when the President of the Rohtak DCC(Urban), Mr Shadi Lal Batra, complained to the General Secretary in charge of Haryana, Mrs Mohsina Kidwai, that the formula was subject to certain conditions. Mr Batra, who represents the Rohtak constituency in the Vidhan Sabha, is believed to have written in his complaint that Mr Bhajan Lal was supposed to disband a 27-member committee constituted by him earlier to organise the Rohtak rally meant to felicitate him on becoming the Haryana Congress President. Mr Batra said the DCC was to be given a fresh date for organising the rally. He said the 27-member committee comprised certain persons who had either been expelled from the Congress or were not members of the party. The response of Mrs Kidwai to Mr Batra’s complaint is not known. Under the circumstances, Mr Batra, who owes allegiance to Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda, is unlikely to preside over the Rohtak rally. Other supporters of Mr Hooda, too, are expected to boycott the rally. Meanwhile, the President of the Karnal DCC(Rural), Mr Kuldip Sharma, has also complained to Mrs Sonia Gandhi about how he was insulted by certain persons, who were allegedly supporters of Mr Bhajan Lal, when the latter visited Karnal on October 23 along with Mr Rao. Mr Sharma has also constituted a seven-member committee to inquire into the incident. The committee has been asked to submit its report within three days to the Haryana Congress President as well as the DCC President. Meanwhile, Mr Bhajan Lal today denied having made any objectionable comments against the Brahmin community. In a statement issued here Mr Bhajan Lal said he had always held all communities in the “highest esteem”. He was referring to the allegations levelled by the Karnal Brahmin Sabha that the former Chief Minister had made objectionable comments about the Brahmins. |
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Book Dulina cops: Left Fatehabad, October 25 The CPM and the CPI workers assembled at the local Ambedkar Park. After a two-minute silence as a mark of respect for the victims, the workers held a demonstration. Mr Ram Kumar Bahbalpuria, district secretary of the CPM, alleged that the state government had been trying to cover up the incident. He said there was no evidence to suggest that the victims had been lynched by the mob. On the other hand evidence pointed finger at the police. He asked as to why the state government was hesitant to refer the matter to the CBI for investigations. He said the Dulina incident was the result of a hate campaign being spread by the Sangh Parivar in society. Mr Chhatar Paul, Mr Devi Lal, Mr Ram Phal and Mr Vishnu Dutt also spoke. In a five-point memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, the Left parties demanded a CBI probe into the incident, registration of criminal cases after suspension of the cops on duty in the Dulina police post, a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the kin of victims and a government job each to the next of kin of the victims, ban on organisations like the RSS, the VHP and the Bajrang Dal for rumours on cow slaughter and re-arrest of those involved in the Loharu incident. The Sarva Dalit Ekta Manch held a similar protest at the same venue yesterday. |
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Pick-and-choose in demolition:
Bhajan Chandigarh, October 25 In a statement issued here today, Mr Bhajan Lal criticised the demolition of houses and factories in Yamunanagar yesterday. He said it was strange that on one hand the government was demolishing houses built several years ago and on other, it had regularised several unauthorised colonies. “This policy smells fishy,” he added. Mr Bhajan Lal said on one hand, the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, was visiting foreign countries ostensibly to woo foreign investors and on other, a large number of industrial units had been compelled to migrate out of the state “due to a stifling atmosphere, not congenial for the development of the industry, by the INLD Government”. Criticising the government’s move to set up casinos in the state, Mr Bhajan Lal said it would give birth to crime mafia. Mr Chautala’s claim that the special session of the Vidhan Sabha had been convened to issues related to farmers had been exposed by the state Cabinet’s approval to move a Bill on opening casinos in the state during the session. He said the Congress would oppose the Bill. Meanwhile, a former secretary of the Haryana Congress, Mr Sat Pal Kaushik, today claimed that the Chautala government had been compelled by Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Mr Bhajan Lal to increase the compensation to the families of the five Dalits killed by a mob in Jhajjar district on October 15 from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. |
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Ad hoc staff KUNTEA poll issue Kurukshetra, October 25 Employees of the university have been exercised over the non-performance of the two leaders during the past two years. During the 2000-02 term, Mr Maan Singh wrestled the presidentsihp of the KUNTEA from Mr Karan Singh, who had remained in the saddle for more than six terms. When Mr Maan Singh was elected for the first time, the university employees had pinned high hopes on him. But, he failed to live up to the expectations of the employees. During the 2001-02 elections, Mr Karan Singh wrested the presidentship from Mr Maan Singh on promise of solving major issues confronting the employees. The issues include a pension scheme for the university employees, regularisation of ad hoc employees, better grades for the technical staff and the superintendent scale for the semi-Professionals working in the library. Sources said with his persistent efforts, Mr Karan Singh had been able to get the pension issue on the agenda of the Executive Council meeting which was being held on October 26. The issue of regularisation of the ad hoc employees and the superintendent grade for the semi-professionals among the library staff had not received adequate attention of the KUNTEA leadership. The Karan Singh group claims that it has been able to get cleared the pending promotions of a large number of employees. However, despite his repeated promises, Mr Karan Singh allegedly did nothing for the technical staff and the semi-professionals staff of the library. The Maan Singh group, on the other hand, accuses Mr Karan Singh of promoting his personal interests. Its main allegation is that many of his relatives have been accommodated in the university. Mr Madan Gopal Sharma, general secretary of the KUNTEA, who had been elected for more than 16 times to the association, however, dismisses the allegations of the Maan Singh group. He told The Tribune that the Karan Singh group had been working sincerely for the redressal of the genuine grievances of the employees. He also dismissed the charge of nepotism against his group. So far as the university administration is concerned senior officers are maintaining a studied silence over the issue. Even though there is support for both groups, yet outwardly the administration seems to be playing a neutral role. Mr R.S. Chaudhry, Vice-Chancellor of the university, has solved almost all major problems of the employees, according to a university spokesman. That is why the election seems to be sans major issues. The tussle, however, is so strong that each group has resorted to fierce campaigning. For the first time, big posters soliciting support have been put up by both groups at vantage points on the campus. There are allegations that money is being spent lavishly to entertain supporters and employees in general. Both groups have undertaken door-to-door campaigning to seek the support of the employees. The Maan Singh group is vociferously working for a change in the leadership so that the pending issues before the employees could be solved. But, seemingly, both groups are finding themselves helpless to meet the main demand of regularisation of ad hoc employees as the decision on the issue lies in the hands of the Haryana Government. |
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All-woman team to go abroad Chandigarh, October 25 An official here said the 14-member delegation, escorted by IAS officers Navraj Sandhu and Ms Dheera Khandelwal, would leave India on November 7 for Toronto. They would go to New York from Toronto and then come to Europe where London, Copenhagen and Stockholm would figure in their itinerary. While travelling from New Delhi to Toronto, the team would also have a brief stopover in Paris. They would return on November 18. |
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Seminar
on quality in higher education Ambala, October 25 Prof G.D. Sharma, fellow and head of the higher education unit of the National Institute of Education Planning and Administration, delivered keynote address. Dr Sharma spoke about quality in education, the need for its assessment and the method adopted by the National Assessment Accreditation Council (NAAC) in that regard. He said quality and its assessment was the need of the hour. He said NAAC aimed at making assessment embedded in the institution culture so as to help institutions know their strength and weakness and to help them focus on improvement in quality. He said assessment was made on the basis of self-study reports submitted by institutions, validation of these reports by in-house analysis and reports of a peer team visiting the institutions. The final result, however, was in the hands of NAAC, he said. The Joint Director, Directorate of Higher Education, Haryana, spoke about the current educational scenario in the state. He said till NAAC appeared on the scene, methods of assessment followed were mere rituals. The College Principal, Dr Desh Bandhu, spoke on the validity of the assessment made by NAAC. He assured the gathering that assessment would be objective. He said NAAC was neither a fault-finding, nor a grievance-redressal committee. He said it was a committee to help colleges improve their standards. He
urged colleges to be fair in reporting facts as it would result in
fair assessment.
Ambala,
October 25 The management
says: “The limit has now been reached and some strict action is
urgently called for. However, the visually challenged students do not
seem to be ready to compromise on their “genuine demands”. The
traffic blockade on the Jagadhari road by the students yesterday has
made the management think of taking a suitable action. It says that a
“soft” approach towards the students has led to the current
situation. The demands of the visually challenged students are unlikely to stir the management, since the officials say that the rules and regulations of the institute have been flouted by the students. The institute, under the patronage of the SD Sabha of Ambala Cantonment, has been here since 1952. The Braille-cum-tape library was added to it in 1980. “This
institute offers free boarding, lodging, medicare and laundry
facilities to the students. The annual expenditure on the maintenance
of the institute, about Rs 5 lakh, is met by philanthropists. Ever
since its inception, the institute has had no trouble. This year, some
students want to exploit their handicap and overawe the management,”
said an official. The official said, this time, their main demand
was that, since they were being given bad food for the past four days,
the cooks be fired. Their anger against the cooks is because they want
food to be served at odd hours and cooked according to their tastes.
“No cook can cater to the tastes of 40 persons or serve a person who
arrives at 11 p.m, he said. “The students take food to their
rooms, where they entertain outsiders who stay on in the hostel with
them,” he said. “The next demand is to remove two library
clerks, who have been here for the past 10 years. Recently, these
clerks earned the displeasure of the students when they protested
against the abusive language used by the students. We appointed two
night watchmen in the past, but both left within a few days. Students
harassed them and did not allow them to enter their rooms to mark
attendance, because they were harbouring outsiders whose identity they
did not like to disclose,” the official said. The official said the manager visited the institute every Sunday and the management was trying to be soft with the erring boys, but now strict action was urgently called for. The
students said the management was ignoring their genuine problems.
Ambala, October 25 Father of Jitender Batra, a resident of Sector 9, got injured when a stray ox attacked him from the back. The incident occurred when he was going for the morning walk. A stray cow attacked the father of Madan Sharma, a resident of the same sector, a few days back. He sustained multiple fractures and remained admitted in Army hospital for several days. Similarly, Ms Jasbir Bindra, a resident of Housing Board Colony, close to Sector 9, sustained chest injury when a stray bull attacked her. According to information, welfare associations of different sectors approached the HUDA authorities to check the cattle menace a number of times. However, no action has been taken so far. There are around 200 stray cattle in Sectors 8 and 9. One of the elderly people of Sector 8 said the HUDA administration has dishonoured the dignity of the elderly persons by putting their life in danger. He said even after the repeated complaints hardly any step had been taken to check the cattle menace. The
president of Sector 9 Welfare Association, Mr Harinder Sekhon, has urged the
HUDA administration to launch a campaign to displace the stray cattle and other
animals from the sectors so that the elderly people, children and the women
could perceive themselves safe while enjoying the morning walk. The secretary of
the association, Pardeep Sharma Snehi, said rightly, “HUDA should not only
impose its restrictions on the residents, it should also discharge its duty
which it had assured its customers at the time of the auction of the plots.” When
contacted the Estate Officer, Mr Mukesh Ahuja, he said HUDA authorities were
aware of it and it would soon launch a special drive in this regard. |
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Sainik school for
Matenhail Chandigarh, October 25 A state-level ex-servicemen re-union would also be organised on that day at Matenhail. Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala would preside. |
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Date extended Chandigarh, October 25 |
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Attack on scribe: youth remanded Sirsa, October 25 |
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Salaries on Oct 31 Chandigarh, October 25 |
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Ms Firoza Mehrotra Chandigarh, October 25 |
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