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Wednesday,
October 30, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Farmers’ issues: Cong to corner govt Session for casino,
not kisans: MLA Conversions:
DC’s role criticised Chautala offers land for Guru Gobind Singh varsity Chiranji Lal Sharma quits HPCC |
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Minister inaugurates Haryana Day festival HKS activists to court arrest DD kendra opening tomorrow Spread of Japanese fever to be checked Vigilance drive from Oct 31 HIGH COURT 2 youths foil robbery bid
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Farmers’ issues: Cong to corner govt Gurgaon, October 29 A senior member of the Congress, main Opposition party in the Assembly, said that the Leader of the Opposition , Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had been briefed on the issue by party President Sonia Gandhi before he left for Chandigarh to attend the session. The Congress, in keeping with its stand, will embarrass the government for having failed in its constitutional duty to protect life and liberty enjoined by Article 21. The Congress has charged that the Fundamental Right granted to every citizen of the country by the Constitution also places a duty on the government, in which it has failed ‘miserably’. The party will try to put the government on the mat on the basis of reports that the five Dalits lynched on Dasehra were taken away from police custody. It will seek an explanation from the government on the circumstances under which the Dalits were taken away from the police. The local administration and the police will be at the receiving end. The party will also try to force the government to accept the popular demand for a CBI probe into the incident as an administrative probe will not carry conviction with the people. Apart from the Dulina incident, the Congress will enter the Assembly to corner the government over the farmers’ issue, especially the “lacklustre” policy on the procurement of paddy. The party has already charged that normally government agencies start procurement around the middle of September. These knowingly started the exercise from October 1. The “dilatory” tactics led to confusion among the farmers forcing them to resort to distress sale and incurring loss. The financial loss is huge when seen in the light of drought-like conditions in the state the Congress will also corner the government on the statement Union Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh, made during his visit to Haryana. Mr Ajit Singh had said that the state government had not submitted a case of farmers’ loss due to drought-like conditions and relief sought from the Centre. The party will try to paint the government as “irresponsible” and “indifferent” to the plight of farmers. According to senior leaders of the party they would demand a White Paper on the extent of the recent drought and consequent loss to the farmers. The special session has been convened by the government with an alibi that it has conceded the demand of the Leader of the Opposition on the farmers’ issue. The party feels that the session has been called to adopt pass a Bill on the starting of a casino. To put the government in the dock, the party will try to force an adjournment motion on the farmers’ issue. |
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Session for casino,
not kisans: MLA Kaithal, October 29 He admitted that though there were some differences among Congress leaders of the state, they wanted to see the ouster of Mr Chautala. He said all sections of society were fed up with the “misrule” of the government and the law and order situation had deteriorated. The Chief Minister had no time to, solve the problems being faced by people of the state, he claimed adding that the farmers had faced the worst drought and suffered huge losses but the government had not provided them with any financial assistance. Mr Tejinder Mann, president of the Kisan Khet Mazdoor Congress, Haryana, said it was a pity that the farmers were not getting adequate canal water and even at tailend, there was hardly any water. According to the new rotation system, canal water was released for a week in 50 days and the agriculture lands were becoming barren, he said. |
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Conversions:
DC’s role criticised Chandigarh, October 29 Four of the five families, which embraced Buddhism at the October 27 function, told reporters the next day that they did not realise that they were being converted to Buddhism. They reportedly made the same statement to the Deputy Commissioner Gurgaon, Mr Anurag Rastogi, who allegedly played a key role in the volte-face by the Dalits. Talking to TNS from Delhi, Mr Udit Raj said monitoring religious conversion did not fall within the purview of the district administration. Surprisingly, there was an official statement by the district administration, saying that there was no religious conversion on that day. He
claimed that representatives from major media organisations had
witnessed the ceremony at Gurgaon on Sunday which was organised as a
protest against the killing of five Dalit men in Jhajjar district
recently. “They reported what they saw as we did not provide them
with any figures of conversion or anything,” he said. |
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Parties ‘exploiting Dulina for gains’ Gurgaon, October 29 Addressing INLD workers here, he said political parties trying to fish in troubled political waters was dangerous for the society and it should be stopped. In a reference to the Dulina incident, he said it had discredited the state government. On the conversion of the Dalits here to Buddhism, Islam and Christianity he said family members of the victims of the Dulina incident had refuted reports that they had converted to other religions. Some forces were trying to take political advantage out of the Dulina incident by spreading rumours, he added. |
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Jagadguru to visit Dulina Chandigarh, October 29 According a press note from his office, the Jagadguru will also visit Badshahpur, Akleempur and Tikli villages in Gurgaon district. Four victims belonged to these villages. It may be recalled that Badshahpur was the scene of religious conversions arranged by certain organisations a couple of days ago to protest against the killings. |
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Chautala offers land for Guru Gobind Singh varsity Chandigarh, October 29 A delegation of the World Sikh Foundation, comprising Mr Jaswant Singh Mann, Mr Resham Singh Bhangal and General Himmat Singh Gill (retd), had a breakfast meeting with Mr Chautala this morning to explore the possibility of setting up a world Sikh university in the country’s second highest Sikh populated state. “You bring us a proposal and we would give you a suitable piece of land for the proposed university. We will give you as much help as possible,” Mr Chautala told the delegation. Mr Jaswant Singh Mann heads the World Sikh Foundation while General Gill, Chairman of the Chandigarh Sahitya Academy, is involved in various academic, research and literary committees and societies, besides being an expert in defence and military affairs. Mr Resham Singh Bhangal, one of the richest Canadian Sikhs, said he would mobilise the much-needed financial and moral support from overseas Indians in general and Sikhs in particular for this project. Mr Chautala told the delegation that as far as the allotment of land was concerned, it should be presumed to have been done. “We may have to consider certain administrative and other requirements so that all the universities in the state are equidistant,” he said as a few probable choices were discussed. Mr Jaswant
Singh Mann said the “instantaneous response” of Mr Chautala was highly encouraging. In fact, Mr Chautala also agreed to be a member of the foundation,” said Mr Mann, maintaining a detailed proposal on Guru Gobind Singh University would soon be submitted to the Haryana Government. |
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Chiranji Lal Sharma quits HPCC Chandigarh, October 29 Mr Sharma, who has been a member of the Lok Sabha for several times, was appointed vice-president of the PCC. The party high command approved the list of office-bearers only on October 25. The sources say Mr Sharma has sent in his resignation to the Haryana Congress President, Mr Bhajan Lal, as well as the AICC General Secretary, Mrs Mohsina
Kidwai, who looks after the party affairs in the state. It is believed that Mr Sharma has written in the letter that the PCC should be given a “more comprehensive look”. It may be pointed out that three persons were injured when supporters of Mr Bhajan Lal and Mr Kuldip Sharma, a son Mr Chiranji Lal, had clashed in Karnal on October 23. However, sources close to Mr Sharma claim that his resignation letter should not be treated as “a letter of affront” to Mr Bhajan Lal or to the high command. Mr Sharma is also believed to have written that since he had been the senior vice-president of the Haryana Congress for about 10 years in the eighties, he had told Mr Bhajan Lal before the constitution of the committee that his place should be given to some young person. His son, Mr Ashok Sharma, was a vice-president of the party when Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda was the party chief. Mr Sharma’s resignation is being viewed, despite the assertion of sources close to him, as a sign of growing infighting within the Haryana Congress. Meanwhile, the Karnal Brahmin Sabha has convened a “mahapanchayat” of the community for November 1 to discuss the alleged objectionable remarks made by Mr Bhajan Lal against the Brahmins. Mr Bhajan Lal has already denied having made any such remarks. |
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Minister inaugurates Haryana Day festival Kurukshetra, October 29 On the occasion the Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Mr R.S. Chaudhary, said the state government had done a commendable job in establishing a cultural academy in the state. Speaking on the occasion, the Director, National School of Drama, New Delhi, Mr Devender Raj Ankur, offered to organise a six-week-long workshop for students to boost their talent in the field of drama. He also requested the university authorities to start a department of drama. Earlier, the Director of Youth and Cultural Affairs of the university, Mr Anoop Lather, highlighted the activities of the department. On the first day of the festival, a Haryanvi declamation contest, tit-bits competition and poetry recitation contests were held. The festival will include competitions in group song, bhajan, geet, orchestra, mimicry, solo dance (male and female) and on-the-spot painting, etc. Pro-Vice-Chancellor Hoshiar Singh, Registrar Hawa Singh and Dean Students Welfare, Hari Singh were also present on the occasion. |
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HKS activists to court arrest Chandigarh, October 29 The President of the HKS, Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, said here today that the Chautala Government would bring a Bill to establish casinos in the State Assembly on October 31. The President of the HKKMC, Mr Tejinder Pal Mann, he said, had authorised him to announce that activists of his organisation would also participate in the protest dharna to be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., to be followed by an attempt to violate the prohibitory orders so that the activists could court arrest. Mr Surjewala said the opening of casinos would lead to further criminalisation of the state. He said if the Chief Minister was convinced about the moral aspects of the casinos, he should publicly announce that at least one casino would be named after his father, the late Mr Devi Lal. The Congress leader said Mr Chautala was in the habit of naming every scheme and project being launched in the state these days after his father. Therefore, the Chief Minister should not hesitate in naming the casinos also after the former Deputy Prime Minister. |
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DD kendra opening tomorrow New Delhi, October 29 Director-General of Doordarshan S.Y. Quraishi told TNS here today that Haryana was one of the few states which did not have an independent kendra. It was being served by Delhi and Jalandhar kendras. As a result, the problems of Haryana had either gone unrepresented or under represented. “From Thursday, viewers in Haryana will have the option of watching regional programmes between 5 pm and 7 pm everyday. Issues, problems and customs of the state will now get a voice. The programmes will be according to our basic charter of information, education and entertainment,’’ he said. Mr Quraishi said 90 per cent of the state would receive the programmes. The programmes will be uplinked through satellite from Hisar and downlinked by 14 LPTs in the terrestrial mode. The Director-General said they also planned to start a regional news bulletin from Hisar. “If we had a radio station in Hisar, we could have started the bulletin right away. There is a ban on creation of posts. The posts will have to be sanctioned by the ministry,” he added. Mr Quraishi said the proposal to start a DD kendra for Hisar was first made during the Seventh Five-Year Plan in the eighties. “Somehow, it could not take off. We wanted to inaugurate the kendra on the birth anniversary of late Deputy Prime Minister and Haryana Chief Minister, Devi Lal on September 25. The construction of the entire kendra normally takes three to three-and-a-half years,” he said. He recalled that he had reiterated the demand for a kendra in Hisar in his capacity as Principal Secretary to the Haryana Chief Minister in January 2001 during the Information Ministers’ conference. |
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Spread of Japanese fever to be checked Kaithal, October 29 This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anurag Agarwal, here today. He said teams of doctors had been constituted at each block level at primary health centres and adequate stocks of medicines were kept ready. Mr Agarwal said fogging at all affected places had been started and two separate teams for rural and urban areas had been constituted. Besides this, the municipal council had been directed to inform the pig owners through public announcements to keep their pigs indoors. He further said the teams of doctors had visited the affected villages and guided the people about the precautions to be taken against the fever. The Deputy Commissioner clarified that the Japanese fever was spread by qulex mosquito and usually affected the children in the age group of 1 to 11 years. He also appealed to the public not to allow accumulation of water in their neighbourhood which served as a breeding center for mosquitoes. |
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Vigilance drive from Oct 31 Fatehabad, October 29 Banners against corruption would be put up in front of all police posts, police stations and offices of DSPs and SP. Symposia and declamation contests would be held in schools and colleges on October 11 and October 12. The points on which special emphasis would be laid during the drive include recovery under the NDPS Act, Excise Act and Arms Act, arrest of bail jumpers, proclaimed offenders and patrol around religious places. |
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HIGH COURT Chandigarh, October 29 In their petition taken up by the Bench headed by Mr Justice V.K. Bali, Haryana Organics and Associate Distillery had earlier submitted that the inquiry was beyond the terms and reference of the Commission constituted in 1999. Going into the background of the case, the petitioners had submitted that as per the impugned orders the companies and other distilleries had booked the sale of rectified spirit at the distillery gate and, therefore, were not entitled to claim exemption from excise duty. |
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2 youths foil robbery bid Hisar, October 29 According to a report lodged with the police, three youths on a motor-cycle snatched the bag from S.R. Parwal, LIC Manager, when he, along with his assistant, was going to deposit the amount in a bank. The youths snatched the bag after sprinkling chilly powder into eyes of Mr Parwal and his assistant. Following an alarm raised by the manager people encircled the alleged robbers and overpowered one of them and recovered the bag and the amount. However, two of his aides escaped.
UNI |
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Physics lecturer suspended Chandigarh, October 29 Mr Sanjay Kumar, who was earlier posted at a Gurgaon college, was transferred to Hisar. He was put under suspension at that time also. However, owing to a shortage of physics lecturers, he was reinstated and posted at Hisar. |
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NIT students continue stir Kurukshetra, October 29 Although, M.Tech classes, as claimed by the NIT authorities, were held normally a majority of striking students did not attend classes. Meanwhile, addressing the striking students, the NIT, Director, Dr N.P. Mehta, assured them that security on the campus would be beefed up and a barricade would be constructed on the main entry to the campus. |
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Stone-laying put
off Chandigarh, October 29 |
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