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December 2, 2002, Chandigarh, India |
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Newly married woman burnt to death in Jhajjar Jhajjar, December 1 The police sources informed here today that on the complaint of the victim’s mother, the accused Jagdish and his parents have been arrested on charges of killing for dowry. According to information, widow Murti Devi, resident of Kathura village in Rohtak married off her daughter Prabha to Jagdish, son of Surje in Kanonda village about nine months ago. Murti Devi said that they had given sufficient dowry at the time of marriage. However, after sometime, the husband and in-laws started harassing Prabha for dowry. They sent Prabha to her parental home and asked her to bring Rs 40,000 and a refrigerator. The mother of the deceased complained that she sent her daughter back to her husband’s house on November 11, and yesterday she received the tragic news that Prabha had succumbed to her burn injuries at PGIMS, Rohtak. The police registered the case under dowry Act and arrested the husband Jagdish, his father, Surje and his mother Dhandati. In another dowry related case, a married woman, Sudesh, daughter of Jai Bhagwan of Pakasma village, was reportedly thrown out of house by her husband and his relatives in Asaudha village. Sudesh, in her complaint to the police alleged that her husband Sanjay and in-laws started harassing her after the marriage on December 10, 1999. Despite the fact that her father had fulfilled most of their demands, they again asked for Rs 25,000 and a washing machine. They reportedly beat her and threw her out of the house on August this year. The police registered a case under the relevant sections of dowry Act. |
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Political
divide spills over to DU council poll New Delhi, December 1 Dr S. S. Rathi, president of the Academics for Action and Development (AAD), said, “Tomorrow is the deciding day; the serious contenders will continue while the casual nominees will withdraw.” But expecting the elections to be “clean” or “more orderly” owing to their academic affiliations would not be an accurate assessment. The teachers’ groups, with their political links, indulge in similar practices as their counterparts in politics. Take the case of the AAD whose main plank for the campaign, apart from general issues such as teachers’ service conditions, UGC directives on contractual appointments and de-linking of colleges, is the alleged “politicisation of teachers’ appointments in the university by the Vice-Chancellor”. The AAD alleges that the Vice-Chancellor, since his tenure began, has been favouring individuals with “Left inclinations”. Dr Rathi said, “There have been over 50 controversial appointments. Take the case of a recently appointed Reader in the Political Science Department. He has no experience in the field. He was a lecturer in English at Sri Venkateswara College.” The divisions in the national politics permeate down to the teaching community as well. The recent example was the lecture by Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani, which was boycotted by factions of the teaching community owing affiliations to the Congress and the CPM. The Congress-affiliated INTEC member R. S. Dahiya said: “We would not like to attend the lecture of a BJP leader.” |
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Fears of
brain fever grip Ghaziabad Ghaziabad, December 1 The people in Ghaziabad seem to be mortally afraid of the possible ingress of the disease. Doctors call it meningitis or encephalitis fever which spreads through a virus. Unfortunately, the arrangements for the pathological tests for determining this fever are available only in a few metro cities like Delhi and Pune. Prevention is a lot better than cure in this case, doctor advise. Mosquitoes, garbage and stagnant water are its main breeding places, so maintaining sanitation, cleanliness and hygienic conditions are a must to keep the fever at bay, the experts advise. During last fortnight, more than a 100 kids have died of this brain fever. Another over 150 are reportedly suffering from it in Saharanpur, Bagpat, Muzzafarnagar. Considered a mysterious disease initially, the fever was later identified as a brain fever which targets the brain and could be fatal. |
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Minister
‘held captive’ by women Noida, December 1 The minister was gheraoed and made to stand for about two hours by more than 100 women of Sector-31,
Noida. Their menfolk having failed to elicit a positive response from the Noida administration and the district administration for solution to the problems of their sector, the women decided to use their charm and persuasive skills to get the problems resolved which had been ailing the posh sector. And the hapless minister used all the tact and brilliance at his command, but the dames did not show any mercy. They simply refused to budge. The result: Ravi
Gautam, sans any official, was forced to accompany the group of the unscheduled callers on a quick round of Sector 31. Reaching the spot, Mr Gautam took stock of the problems and promised all that his ‘tormentors’ had wanted. For once, frailty was not the name of woman! The women, led by the secretary of the Residents Welfare Association, Ms Arun
Arora, caught the minister unaware. Even the district administration and the police did not have any idea about their move. Good 75 minutes after this
gherao, City Magistrate Uchhey Lal and Police Circle Officer O.P. Singh and later SO Sector-39, police station rushed to the rescue of the minister. Women drew the Revenue Minister’s attention particularly to the condition of unoccupied plots and barren parks in ‘B’ Block, being occupied illegally. The whole scene was spoiling the atmosphere in the sector. They showed the minister more than 24 disputed plots, lying there for 20 years, about which the Noida administration had failed to take any decision. |
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Teachers
cry foul over retrenchment move Faridabad, December 1 They have alleged that the authorities concerned including the District Primary Education Officer (DPEO) and District Education Officer had not taken proper interest in the issue and as a result, the school management, under the garb of Primary Education rules wanted to sack them. Some of the teachers, who do not want to be identified, said that they were being harassed directly or indirectly, so that they should leave the job on their own. They said they feared termination of their services any time if the authorities did not act according to rules. It is learnt that some of agitating teachers ‘gheraoed’ an official of the management yesterday and lodged their protest. However, Mr Rajkumar Chaudhary, secretary of the school management, denied that there was any gherao. Admitting that some of teachers were feeling restless after the school management got an instruction from the education department at Chandigarh that the school should either increase the number of students in the Primary wing of the school or remove the surplus staff. Mr Chaudhary claimed that the school had not issued any notice or termination letter to any teacher so far. Some of the teachers had been unnecessarily raising a hue and cry, he said. |
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Children join AIDS march
New Delhi, December 1 In a recent report to mark the World AIDS Day, the UN estimated that India, the world’s second most populous nation, has at least four million HIV-positive or AIDS patients, making it second only to South Africa. Mr David Miller, Country Representative, UN AIDS Control Organisation, told the children and youth: “We need you to help us fight this epidemic and we need you to learn as much as you can about HIV, so that you can talk to your friends and families, increase the understanding, increase the inclusiveness and show that you will live and let live,” he said.
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Audit finds total mismanagement New Delhi, December 1 An audit of the Beggar’s Homes run by the Delhi Government has found total mismanagement of resources and that the norms relating to purchases have been given a complete go by. The financial registers are a statement of mismanagement, despite the fact that all these homes are governed by common norms. The average per inmate expenditure varies widely between various beggar homes, according to the audit report of the Accountant General of Delhi. The audit recorded that the significant variation in per inmate monthly expenditure indicated the lack of a monitoring system and inefficient control over expenditure. It was also pointed out that the beggars were not provided with bedding and clothing, incidentally for which expenditure amounting to Rs 17.40 lakh had been incurred. Besides, even the food grains were not purchased on the BPL rates fixed by the government, but were purchased at higher rates from the open market resulting in a loss of Rs 18.72 lakh during the period between February 2001 and March 2002. The apathy towards women beggars is evident from the fact that while per inmate monthly expenditure at the Home for Able and Disabled Beggars (Male), Lampur was Rs 1,798, the same for the Home for Able, Disabled and Diseased Female Beggars (Mahila Bhikshugrih) was only Rs 7. The Able and Disabled Female Beggars (Mahila Sadan) spent a paltry Rs 820 per inmate per month. The Social Welfare Department, which is mandated to apprehend beggars under the Delhi Prevention of Begging Rules, 1960, has only one anti-begging squad to cover the entire area of Delhi where at each traffic junction one comes across many beggars. It was also pointed out in the report that no norms were fixed for conducting raids. Only six and eight raids were conducted during 1997-98 and 1998-99, respectively, the department sources said. The Delhi Prevention of Begging Rules provided for the appointment of a 12-member (seven officials and five non-officials) visiting committee for every Beggar Home and every certified institution. The committee was required to visit the institutions once a month and satisfy itself that necessary measures for discipline, employment, training and medical care were being taken and also attend to the complaints of the inmates. The department, however, appointed such a committee only in November 2000, which visited the Beggar’s Homes, said the report. Reflecting on the poor security system at the Beggar’s Homes, the audit report stated that more than 600 inmates had escaped from the custody of these homes during 1997-2002. There was nothing in the records to show that a police case was registered in regard to such escapes, it was pointed out. The inmates were also not provided adequate meals. As against the prescribed norms, two beggar homes were found to be providing 500 grams of milk daily to each inmate purportedly on the recommendation of the Medical Board but no such recommendation was shown to the audit committee. This irregular supply of milk to inmates resulted in an extra expenditure of Rs 57.50 lakh between 1997-98 and 2001-02, the report revealed. |
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ROHTAK Rohtak, December 1 The right angles of the crossing have been rounded off, which has increased the visibility and reduced the probability of accidents. A large pole has been erected in the middle of the crossing fitted with four sodium lamps illuminating all the roads connected the roundabout. Besides, four sodium lights have been installed to illuminate the imposing twelve-and-a-half-feet high statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra
Bose. The statue is made up of fibre glass and would be unveiled by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash
Chautala, on December 3. Earlier, the statue was erected in the middle of the road causing traffic hazard. Its colour had also faded. When the district administration removed it, a section of the people had apprehended that the statue of Devi
Lal, a former Deputy Prime Minister, would be erected in place of
Netaji. However, setting aside the speculation, the district administration recently erected a new statue of Netaji at Subhash
Chowk. The old statue was shifted to Subhash park in the Subhash Nagar locality. Nearly Rs 10 lakh had been spent on erecting the statue and beautifying the roundabout. The widening of different crossings in the town has also been proved a boon to the highway
travellers. Earlier, they had to spend nearly 45 minutes in going from Delhi bypass to Hisar bypass through the bypass road while they can cover the same distance in 15 minutes now by travelling through the
town. LJP seeks release of BKU chief:
Separate resolutions regarding the demands were passed at a state executive meeting of the youth wing of the party here today. Capt Shamsher Singh Malik and Mr Ramesh
Thekedar, state presidents of the party and youth wing of the party, respectively, attended the meeting. Addressing the party activists, Capt Malik claimed that the party would play a decisive role in the next assembly elections. He sought immediate filling up of the posts lying vacant under the SC and ST categories in different departments. He also demanded adequate compensation to the drought-affected farmers in the region. Water, sewerage schemes:
he Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash
Chautala, would inaugurate two schemes to augment the water supply and sewerage in the town on December 4. An amount of nearly Rs 23.60 crore would be spent on these schemes, according to an official press release here today. The schemes have been approved by the National Capital Region Board to check the unrestrained entry of the people residing in NCR into the Capital due to lack of basic amenities. The board has reportedly made similar schemes for
Gurgaon, Rewari, Sonepat and Jhajjar districts to provide better facilities to the residents. The supply of potable water in this town would be increased from 112 litres to 135 litres per person a day. |
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SPECIAL FOCUS ON SONEPAT Sonepat, December 1 Talking to mediapersons here, he alleged that Mr Chautala was digging his own grave by opening casinos in the state on the pattern of Mr Bansi Lal, the former Chief Minister and supremo of the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) when he had imposed a complete ban on alcohol in the state. He also alleged that Mr Bansi Lal had encouraged the youths of the state to take to liquor smuggling and Mr Chautala was bent upon encouraging them to take to gambling and crimes related to this trade. He said that the opening of Casinos in the state would fill the coffers of Mr Chautala and his family members but ruin the future of the youths. He announced that the Congress would launch a massive agitation against the opening of casinos and would not allow the Chautala government to go ahead with the project. Referring to the Kelkar report, Mr Surjewala said that if the Kelkar Commission report on agriculture was implemented, the farmers of the country would be ruined as they were already facing the financial crisis and were under debt. He said while adequate remunerative prices for the agriculture produce was not being given to the farmers, the costs of inputs like machinery, fertilisers and insecticides had increased. Effectively, the minimum support price of agricultural produce was static. He alleged that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre was pursuing anti-farmer policies. He said the average size of holdings had come down to five acres and even less. Similarly, unemployment among the rural people was on the rise and their economic condition had deteriorated rapidly. Mr Surjewala alleged that the government was providing several benefits to the rich people but the poor people were being denied the basic facilities. He also said that the rate of interest of loans for luxury items like air conditioners and cars had been brought down while interests for farmers had gone up. Mr Surjewala maintained that the agriculture had become an unprofitable profession and due to the burden of debt, the farmers were committing suicide in different parts of the country. He described the Kelkar Commission report as suicidal for the farmers and said that to discuss the Kelkar Commission report, a state-level meeting of the Haryana Krishak Samaj and the Kisan Mazdoor Congress would be held at Sonepat on December 8. Mr Balram Jahkahr, the former Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the veteran Congress leader would preside over the meeting. Mr Hans Raj Bhardwaj, the former Union Minister and Mr Hanumanta Rao, secretary of the All India Congress Committee would also take part in this function. |
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Late delivery of mail
angers city residents Sonepat, December 1 Late and untimely delivery of mail has become routine thanks to the failure of the postal authorities to arrange for the timely delivery of mail from the headpost office. The residents of Mohalla Kalan and Ram Nazar complained that they have been receiving their mails in the evenings for the last two years. Enquiries made by this correspondent revealed that the shortage of postmen was the main cause for the late delivery of the mail. The postmen on duty in this area were overburdened and hence unable to distribute the mails on time to the residents and shopkeepers of the area. The postal authorities, while admitting the fact, said that the department had already imposed a complete ban on new recruitment and hence, were helpless in this matter. The situation could be improved only if the ban was lifted on the new recruitment of the employees, they said. Meanwhile, resentment prevails among the mediapersons against the reported pilferage of newspapers and magazines in transit, which has caused huge financial losses to them. Many mediapersons also alleged that their mails were not only censored by the CID officials, but were even pilfered by them. Many of these mails contain political stories and statements of political leaders. These mails were taken away to the CID office for scrutiny before their publication in the press. |
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New trauma centres to come up on G.T. Road Sonepat, December 1 This was stated by the Minister of State for Health, Dr M L Ranga, while inaugurating a two-day medical check-up camp on the premises of Jai Narain Dharamsala at Kharkhauda town, 19 km from here yesterday. He disclosed that the Haryana Government has decided to organise medical check-up camps in different parts of the state in connection with the `Sarkar Aap Ke Dwar' programme launched by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala. He announced that the state government would provide free medicines worth Rs 2 lakh during these medical check-up camps. The Minister disclosed that a trauma centre at Karnal had already been built at a cost of Rs 2 crore. The remaining three trauma centres, one each on Delhi-Agra road, Delhi-Jaipur road, at Rewari and Sirsa would be constructed soon. He also disclosed that the present government had spent Rs 60 crores on the medical facilities in the state. He said that in the past only a sum of Rs 86 lakh had been spent every year. Mr Padam Singh Dahiya and Mr Surajmal Antil, both INLD MLAs also spoke on this occasion. Demolition Drive:
Three houses and seven shops were razed to the ground by the HUDA authorities on the
Sonepat-Bahalgarh road, near Sector 14 here yesterday. According to a report, these houses and shops were built illegally on the HUDA land. Some shopkeepers tried to oppose the demolition but were pushed back by the police force.
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BHIWANI Bhiwani, December 1 He claimed that the state government had achieved significant all round development in different fields. He pointed out that despite the nation wide power shortage, the Haryana Government was able to provide 6-8 hours daily power supply to farmers. He added that the government had already forwarded orders to the concerned department for the installation of power driven tube wells within a stringent time period. Outlining the development works carried out by his government, he also highlighted the expeditious implementation of the government policies. He also gave credit to the Chautala led government for making the panchayats self-reliant in the state. AIDS awareness rally:
On the occasion, Mr Kaushik said if every person in the society were to take the responsibility of creating AIDS awareness, then the menace of AIDS could be obliterated. He said that it called for each individual to have a strong will and determination to help in ending this killer disease. |
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Narnaul
depot gets three new buses Narnaul, December 1 Mr R. S. Mann, General Manager, Haryana Roadways, Narnaul disclosed that instructions had been issued to those employees not doing their duties properly to get their acts together. Efforts would be initiated to ply more long-route buses. The Deputy Commissioner instructed that strict action be taken against the plying of unauthorised vehicles and that none should be spared. At present, roadways buses cover a total of 38,528 kilometers on long routes everyday. To facilitate travel of daily commuters, 80 more local buses had been pressed into service in the district since Saturday. The Narnaul depot has earned a sum of Rs 8.63 crore during the preceding seven months, whereas only Rs 1.36 crore was earned during the same period last year. |
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Woman files dowry harassment case Sonepat, December 1 According to a report, those named in the dowry harassment case include Ram Rattan, her husband, Banwari, her father-in-law, Rukman, her mother-in-law, Ram Kanwar, her brother-in-law and Darshan, her sister-in-law. The police are still investing the case. However, no arrest has been made in this connection. The woman alleged that she was harassed by her in-laws who demanded that she bring Rs 50,000, a scooter, a TV and a fridge in dowry. Man commits Suicide:
Youth Assaulted:
Woman GangRaped:
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SHOWCASE Lee Cooper has unveiled an exciting range of sweaters and jackets for this winter. Targeted at the young, trendy, hip-hop crowds, the new collection boasts of unparalleled style in sync with an individual’s personality and taste. Designed specially for people, who prefer comfortable and fashionable clothing appropriate for both work and play, the stuff is available at leading shopping centres in the national Capital. “At Lee Cooper, fashion is all about evolving, refining and emerging with a whole new look. Therefore, we are all set to revolutionize the ‘winter wear’ market in India with jackets and sweaters in various fabrics and styles plus to re-write the personality statement for men and women,” said Harpratap Singh, MD, Lee Cooper.
Victor
fragrance Ferrari has launched its newest victor, One. Ferrari One is the perfect encounter between intense and harmoniously elegant essences. Encapsulating the top accord of Ferrari One is the harmonious mix of fresh Tangerine, Bergamot and Lime, highlighted by a spicy accent of Elemi and Ginger, making it a perfect concord of fresh and spicy notes.
Men’s casual wear Daks has unveiled in India a complete global range of men’s casual wear which will serve to complement the regular formal wear already available at the Daks exclusive showroom at The Taj in Mumbai, Sehgal Brothers and the Hyatt Regency in New Delhi and Leela Palace and the Folios in Bangalore. The recently introduced Daks winter range consists of a complete range of polo necks, round necks, crew necks, V necks in mercerized pollynosics and indigo denim fabrics.
Metallic
collections Natalia, a brand in women’s wear has launched its Autumn and Winter 2002 collection. The ‘Metallic Collection’ is made of hi-tech fabrics, which offer iridescent colours of changeable nature. Comfort in tops, jackets and trousers, complemented with the right fit make this new collection. The vice-president of Natalia, G Shankaranarayanan, said, “the inspiration of this collection has been taken from today’s women of ‘steel.’
Advanta has launched the Advanta electric fresh air chimney and Advanta LP gas hobs in five burners. Advanta electric fresh air chimney is specially designed for tropical cooking conditions and it has stainless steel finish, has a powerful suction capacity, specially designed metallic filters for better trapping of oil fumes, a toughened glass visor for eye protection, automatic trip-off mechanism for voltage protection and a unique motor design to maximize electricity conservation. The chimney can be fitted with or without a pipe.
Hi- tech water heater Padmini Gas Appliances has introduced instant water heaters. Latest in Essentia series is the automatic 5litre/minute instant gas water heater with state-of-the-art features at a highly economical operating cost. Other features include battery operated automatic IC ignition, safety against overheating, a 20-minute built-in-timer, a two-in-one pressure release and drain valve, a gas volume regulator and a water volume regulator.
Life batteries Duracell has introduced the Duracell Ultra Photo Lithium battery with the latest M3 technology, a suite of engineering enhancements that delivers a long lasting performance for today’s multi-feature cameras. As a result of the improvements in technology, Duracell Ultra with M3 technology is the most powerful lithium battery Duracell has ever introduced. Available in 123 size, Duracell Ultra Phote Lithium batteries with M3 technology perform better than ordinary photo lithium batteries, providing more pictures and faster flashes.
Gaming watches Timex has launched a new range of fun-filled interactive gaming watches for kids in India. This new range of watches is a treat for children wanting to test their computer gaming skills and is available in three interesting categories. Timex power fighter, Timex wise guy and Timex wrist rave. These watches have fascinated kids all over the world and are bundled with action packed games playable by two players, animated cartoon shows, data bank to store numbers, stop watch, alarm and timer.
Hawk chimney Kaff has offered its customers the products that added a distinct touch to their kitchens and more pleasure to their cooking. Kaff now presents a one-of-its-kind ‘Hawk’ chimney. A perfect reflection of its name, this ‘Island’ chimney is not just sleek and stylish in appearance, but also superbly smart in overall performance.
WholeGarments for men Monte Carlo has launched a new range of WholeGarments in men’s wear section in varied choices of colour and style. Oswal Woolen Mills, the brand owner of Monte Carlo, was the first to have launched WholeGarments last winter for highly fashion conscious young women. “Oswal Woolen Mills (OWM) is the first knitwear company in India to launch the WholeGarments knitwear and second in Asia after Japan,” said its executive director, Ruchika Oswal.
Tempting scent The Joop signature fragrance is sensual, intangible, and expressive. A mysterious, tempting scent with an irresistibly timeless charm, the fragrance deepens into an expression of floral warmth before revealing the sensuality of its distinctive oriental signature. Just as a luxurious fabric slides over a woman’s body, so this fragrance swathes her in a rare and mysterious aura.
Colourful collections United Colors of Benetton has launched its winter 2002, maintaining an interesting mix of colours, silhouettes and fabrics. While clothes in the winter themes are perfectly coordinated with one another, UCB respects the need for individual expression. Moreover, co-ordinates from each of the theme can be mixed and matched to create distinct looks.
JClass server Sitraka Software of Canada has introduced Sitraka’s JClass server report in the Indian market. JClass server report is a 100 per cent Java class library that uses J2EE servlet and JSP technology to dynamically generate printable documents in the industry-standard Adobe PDF format.
Cybercom BPL Telecom has ventured into the personal computer business with the launch of its Cybercom Smart Series of personal computers. BPL Telecom branch manager, Javed Siddiqui said “BPL Cybercom Smart Series with
Pentium 4 and Celeron processors has all the features including multimedia, high-end speakers, large screen and plenty of hard disk space to store games and graphics.”
Ottica has announced the opening of a lifestyle optical retail store at TDI Westside Mall in Lajpat Nagar III. On the occasion, the CEO of Ottica, Mr Hardeep Singh, said “we feel there is a need for a high quality optical retail chain in India. Ottica has top quality international store design and ambience with a unique concept of touch and feel, enabling the consumer to try the product off the shelf.”
MCC group has launched a range of first branded photo albums, ‘Forever’ at Photosphere. Forever range of photo albums represent the romance of life and cherished memories presented in a refined and elegant way. Made of acid free paper, Forever blends high quality with affordability and is a natural choice for those who like to unite simplicity with the beauty of modern design. Distinguished for its uniqueness, each photo album from Forever is an individual treasure and is an ideal product for gifts and to cherish the sweet memories of all occasions.
Instant filter
bottle J R Resources and Technology Exchange has launched an instant water filter bottle ‘Press 2 Pure.’ Its CEO, Mr Subodh Pant, said that the USP of this water filter bottle is a two micron carbon filter which instantly filters the water, making it portable by way of reducing impurities up to 99.8 per cent in all four areas of contamination. |
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