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Thursday,
April 24, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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FATEHABAD BYELECTION Will gender factor click in Fatehabad? Court frames charges against Shorewala Major-General not allowed to meet President Sarover complex to be
spruced up CBI probe into KU paper leakage sought |
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High milk yield but ‘poor’ market share
‘Need to do more for women’ 6 acres of wheat, sugarcane gutted Dhillon
gets additional charge Four of family get life term for murder Residents appeal to Public Health Dept Transport Minister’s clarification Couple moves court against foeticide
Labourer killed in road mishap
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FATEHABAD BYELECTION Fatehabad, April 23 A former Governor, Ms Chandrawati, a former Haryana Speaker, Mr Tara Singh, president of the women wing of the party, Ms Anita Yadav, Mr Amar Singh Dhanak, Mr Mange Ram Gupta, Ms Kartari Devi, all former ministers, Mr Hari Singh Nalwa, a former MP, Mr Ram Raj Mehta, an HPCC secretary and Mr Paramveer Singh, district president of the Congress, were present on the occasion. Mr Bhajan Lal sought the views of party workers and leaders on the matter of allotment of ticket. Most of the party workers asked the former Chief Minister to field either his son Kuldip or his nephew Dura Ram in the byelection. Some others like Mr Mange Ram Gupta cautioned the former Chief Minister against fielding his kin. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Bhajan Lal said the byelection was crucial as it would decide the future course of the state politics. He said the elections for the state Assembly were near and he was preparing the party for regaining power. Later, addressing mediapersons, Mr Bhajan Lal said the candidate’s name for the byelection would be announced by April 25 and nomination papers in this regard would be filed on April 28. He said he was in touch with the CPM for seeking its support for the Congress candidate. Mr Bhajan Lal joined issue with Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala on the issue of fielding his son or nephew in the byelection. He said he had challenged the Chief Minister to contest the byelection against him. He also took a dig at the INLD nominee, Ms Swatantra Chowdhary, saying that the Chief Minister had given her a temporary employment after she resigned as a school principal before joining the fray. Meanwhile, the CPM said today that the party would contest the byelection on its own agenda. Talking to mediapersons here, Mr Inderjit Singh, state secretary of the CPM, said there was hardly any difference in the policies of the INLD, the Congress, the HVP and the BJP. He said the state government had failed to address basic problems of the people. He criticised the government for retrenching a large number of employees and closing the MITC Department. GURGAON: The Samajwadi Party would contest the May 21 Fatehabad byelection, party’s senior state vice-president Mangat Ram Bagri said today. He said SP’s Haryana chief Kanta Ahlaria would call a meeting of the state executive to deliberate on the list of probables and he added that the final name would be announced by next week. FATEHABAD:
The Haryana Vikas Party (HVP), said on Wednesday that all government and semi-government employees, who were removed from service by the present INLD government, would be taken back if the party was voted to power. The HVP secretary-general Mr Surender Singh, was addressing public meetings at Gorakhpur village and Fatehabad town. He flayed the government for failing to fulfil poll promises. He termed the government as anti-employees and anti-traders. ROHTAK:
The BJP has devided to contest on its own the Fatehabad byelection. Announcing this at a press conference at the state party headquarters here today, Haryana BJP president, Rattan Lal Kataria informed that the State Election Committee of the party would meet at his New Delhi residence tomorrow to prepare a panel of candidate for the byelection.
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Will gender factor click in Fatehabad? Chandigarh, April 23 According to an INLD spokesman, Ms Chaudhary is attracting a large number of women supporters. “Even aged women of the area are listening to her patiently. She is also accompanied by a large number of women during campaigning,” the INLD said in a statement here. Significantly, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, Chief Minister, spoke eloquently about women empowerment and other issues related to women at Fatehabad on Monday when he announced the party’s decision to give the ticket to Ms Chaudhary, daughter-in-law of Mr Lila Krishan, the sitting INLD legislator, whose death has necessitated the byelection. On Tuesday Mr Chautala, donning his new avatar as an advocate of gender equality, announced that 33 per cent of the party offices would be reserved for women and then linked it up with the party’s decision to go in for a woman candidate for the Fatehabad byelection. It will be, however, a remarkable feat if Ms Chaudhary is able to strike a chord with womenfolk of the area. There was no such feeling In the last elections when the only woman candidate contesting from Fatehabad fared miserably. According to a text published by the Haryana Assembly Secretariat, Ms Dayawanti Verma, the only woman candidate from the constituency representing the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP), had figured right at the bottom among the 11 candidates in fray from Fatehabad. For the Fatehabad byelection on May 21, 149,911 voters have been registered so far, including 69,675 women. Ms Chaudhary undoubtedly will do better than what the HVP candidate had done at Fatehabad in the last election. But whether it will be a triumph of the ‘woman card’ played up by the INLD or because she is backed by a party having the largest number of legislators in the state at present will be an issue worth examining. Fatehabad District is a mixed bag as far as the social indicators conventionally used for judging the position of women is concerned. It is the third best in terms of the sex ratio among Haryana districts and the rate of crime against women in Fatehabad is lowest (0.16 per 1000 woman) in the state. However, the district `also has the dubious distinction of having the lowest women literacy rate in the state. Besides Fatehabad, there are three other assembly constituencies in the district where one woman candidate each contested two seats during the last elections. Both women candidates did not do well at all in either of the two places. |
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Court frames charges against Shorewala Kaithal, April 23 Mr Shorewala, who was Finance Minister in the HVP-BJP government in Haryana when Mr Bansi Lal was the Chief Minister and his two sons were booked under Sections 7\8 and 13 of the PCA , for taking allegedly a bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh each from Romesh Kumar and Hakam Singh for getting them jobs of Patwari. Also they allegedly accepted a bribe of Rs 25000 from Baba Om Puri for getting changes in land girdawari. The prosecution produced details of properties worth Rs four crore, which stood unexplained and were allegedly acquired by Mr shorewala during his tenure as Finance Minister. The properties, include a palatial house worth valuing Rs 1.25 crore at Kaithal, one more building, 11 shops, four plots, 3.5 acres land and five vehicles. The court has framed the charges, against Shorewala under Section 13(1), (e), (d) and Section 7 of the PCA for taking bribe and misusing his official position as minister. His two sons Anil and Arun have been charged under Section 8 of the PCA. The case against them was registered in 1999. In another case registered against Shorewala, his son Anil and then Treasury Officer Kaithal Mr S.D. Vidyarthi, under FIR No 320 the court framed charges under Sections 420\468\471\306 the IPC and Section 13 of PCA. In this case during the tenure of Mr Shorewala as Finance Minister, an advertisement for four posts of peon in the Treasury Department were given. It is alleged that they appointed six persons close to them, after creating six ‘artificial’ vacancies by transferring six persons from Kaithal to far-off places on the basis of forged applications for transfers. It is also alleged that Anil Kumar received a bribe Rs 4500 from one Navdeep Shanker promising to get his transfer orders cancelled by using his father’s influence. Navdeep was upset and later committed suicide on January 9, 1999. The case has been fixed for August 4/5 for recording statements of prosecution witnesses. |
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Major-General not allowed to meet President Hisar, April 23 It is learnt that the soft-spoken General, known among his troops for his impeccable manners, wanted to call on the President for a few seconds since Army protocol requires this courtesy. According to highly placed sources, when the General went on to meet the President, he was refused permission by a senior bureaucrat. Since the President was present there, the General politely withdrew from the scene. The sources said after the President’s plane took off, the General raised the issue with the officer concerned, saying that protocol had been given the go-by, which was a serious matter since it involved an Army General and his supreme commander. The bureaucrat, however, maintained that it was his duty to decide who would be allowed to meet the President. The argument took place in the presence of several other senior officers. Even earlier, during lunch at the Haryana Agricultural University Faculty Club, the General, who was one of the invitees, was not seated as per protocol. The sources said according to protocol, Major-General was equal in rank to a Joint Secretary of the Government of India or a Secretary to a state government. Even senior university scientists and officers are nursing their wounds because of the shabby manner in which the bureaucracy treated them. It is learnt that while the Director of Agriculture, Haryana, a relatively junior IAS officer, who was a guest of the university in his capacity as Adviser to the HAU Board of Management, was included among the 70-odd persons who had lunch in the same room as the President, three other board advisers, who are not bureaucrats, were asked to have lunch in the adjoining Faculty House. They included the Director of Animal Husbandry, Haryana, the Director of Extension Education, HAU, and the Dean of the HAU College of Agriculture. All other deans and directors of the university were also unceremoniously packed off to the Faculty House for lunch, where dozens of senior scientists and non-IAS officers had to go without food because of inadequate arrangements. However, bureaucrats had to cut a sorry figure when, before the lunch began, the President expressed his desire to meet senior university dons. Hurriedly, the deans and directors were summoned from the adjoining building. That was not all. The bureaucracy’s top brass landed here only a day before the visit. They had a large counter in the main dining hall of the Faculty Club ripped off the floor to accommodate some round tables for seating the guests. They also got the carpet replaced by a brand new one hours before the President arrived there. The university administration, already reeling under a severe financial crunch, is now worried about the cost of the carpet as well as the expenses on restoring the counter. Significantly, the Faculty Club’s elegant dining hall has hosted several Heads of State during the past two decades. The counter has always been used to serve food. Restoration of the counter is estimated to cost about Rs 1 lakh. The Deputy Commissioner, Mrs Dipti Umashankar, however, maintained that the administration had followed the protocol and that the General was a member of the parties which received and saw the President off. The Major-General was not available for comments. |
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Sarover
complex to be spruced up Kurukshetra, April 23 Lakhs of pilgrims from the country and abroad are expected here for a holy dip during the fair. The water in both the sarovers is being flushed out and tanks are being refilled. Taking the round of the Brahmsarover, Mr Likhi directed the authorities concerned to replace the broken floor slabs and make electric points in the Brahamsarover parikarma functional. Inspecting the women’s ghats he directed the officers concerned to ensure proper electricity and cleanliness, especially of toilets. The Deputy Commissioner, also directed the officials to double the labour force and start round-the-clock construction on the southern parikarma of the western bank of Brahamsarover. He also asked the officials to develop green patches on the both sides of the road dividing Brahamsarover. They were also asked to beautify the paths leading to both the eastern and western parts of Brahamsarover. Mr Likhi pointed out areas of improvement at Sannihit Sarover and Nabha House.
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CBI probe into KU paper leakage sought Kurukshetra, April 23 Mr Garg has urged Kurukshetra University, Chancellor and Haryana Governor, Babu Parmanand that an inquiry by an impartial agency like the CBI should be order into the leakage. On the measures taken maintain secrecy, Mr Garg said that the question papers printer’s name was not disclosed to anybody and neither bills for printing of the question papers were received for making payment nor the University Examinations Controller was allowed to open the envelopes containing question papers, but despite all these steps, some one politically influential was behind the paper leakage. Mr Garg said that must be got probed. Non-reliance on the people running social, educational and religious institutions and encouraging bureaucracy by the State Government, was equivalent to killing democracy, he added. Mr Garg further urged Babu Parmanand that wrong rules and regulations and political appointments made in the university should also be got probed.
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High milk yield but ‘poor’ market share
Karnal, April 23 In his inaugural address to delegates participating in an interaction seminar among cattle breeders, dairy scientists and dairy industrialists, Dr Sharma maintained that modern methods of animal management should be adopted to increase the country’s share in marketable milk. This involved rearing buffaloes of higher genetic potential, imporved and scientific feeding system, better cattle-sheds and clean milk production. He stated that although India was the largest milk producer in the world, its market share was only 0.3 per cent. Participating scientists maintained that the Indian dairy sector contributed in a major way to the agriculture GDP. Milk production gave employment to more than 72 million dairy farmers. However, during the past three decades, the milk yield per animal had declined because of lack of use of scientific practices, inadequate availability of quality fodder and lack of awareness of veterinary health services. In his keynote address Dr
V.D. Mudgal, former Director, Central Research Institute on Buffaloes, Hisar, said: “We have to jointly (scientists, industry and farmers) work hard to make extensive efforts to produce more milk”. Mr Vivek Puri, Managing-Director, Puri Group of Industries, said there was a dearth of information flow from scientists to farmers. Dr
S.N. Rai, National Dairy Research Institute, stressed on the need to develop feeding systems aimed at optimising the utilisation of locally available feed resources. |
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‘Need
to do more for women’ Kurukshetra, April 23 Elaborating on the socio-economic status of women, he highlighted the declining sex ratio, growing incidents of violence against women and lack of proper education among them. In his presidential address, the Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Dr A.K. Chawla, observed that despite the fact that India got Independence 56 years ago, and there were many constitutional and legislative enactments for the upliftment of women, yet the situation was far from satisfactory. The chairperson of the National Commission for Women, Dr Poornima Advani, highlighted the role of the commission in solving problems of women. Proposing a vote of thanks, the Registrar of the university, Dr Hawa Singh, stressed the need for political awareness among women for their uplift. The chairperson of the Law Department, Dr R.K. Sabharwal, gave a brief introduction about the workshop. Earlier, Dr Reicha Tanwar, Director, Women Studies Research Centre, gave a welcome address. |
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6 acres of wheat, sugarcane gutted Ambala, April 23 Fire tenders from Ambala City rushed to the spot, but villagers alleged that the fire tenders did not reach in time. The villagers used their tractors to spray water and the fire was controlled before the arrival of fire tenders. This is the fourth such incident in the district in the past fortnight when the crops have been destroyed due to a short-circuit in the overhead electricity lines. It may be mentioned that Ambala City and Ambala Sadar municipal councils have only five fire tenders, which have to cover around 100 villages, adjoining the city in case of a fire incident. Sometimes it takes ages to reach the spot if the village is located at a far-off place. Villagers have been demanding a fire brigade in the Naggal constituency. Recently, the District Administration, in an order, had directed the farmers not to set fire to the remaining part of wheat crop after harvesting so that it could be supplied to the drought-hit areas for cattle.
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Dhillon
gets additional charge Chandigarh, April 23 Mr Rakesh Gupta, ADC-cum-CEO, DRDA and Special Officer, APZ,
Rohtak, has been posted as Secretary, Haryana School Education Board,
Bhiwani, against a vacant post.
Mr Jagdeep, City Magistrate, Kaithal, and Mrs Veena Hooda, City
Magistrate, Karnal, will swap their places of posting.
Meanwhile, the government has placed the services of Mrs Surina
Rajan, Special Secretary, Secretariat Establishment, at the disposal
of the International Labour Organisation for appointment as Project
Manager for the GOI/USDOL/ILO project preventing and eliminating child
labour in identified hazardous sectors at New Delhi for one year with
immediate effect. |
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Four of family get life term for murder
Kaithal, April 23 According to reports, Laxmi Chand, of Ratangarh village in Kurukshetra district on May 2, 1998, lodged a complaint with the police that he had married off his daughter Santro to Raghbir of Serdha village in Kaithal district a few years ago. However, as she did not bear any child, her husband tried to divorce her and the matter was discussed in panchayat meetings held in the village. Ultimately, the panchayat settled the issue and following this decision Santro was married to Jagdish, younger brother of her husband . He alleged in the complaint that family members were not happy with the decision and they killed Santro by giving her electric shocks. Following this, the police registered a case under Sections 302 and 34 of the IPC against Raghbir and Jagdish, brothers, their father Beeja Singh and mother Sona Devi. The parents of the victim also alleged that insufficient dowry was also a reason behind this murder. UNI
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Residents
appeal to Public Health Dept Ambala, April 23 The pond from which the body was recovered as located at the canal-based water supply centre and has the capacity of 150 lakh gallon of raw water. Besides it, the Department has two other ponds which have the storage capacity of 600 lakh gallon of raw water. The ponds get the raw water from the SYL canal. Most of the areas in the city get drinking water supply from this centre. The water treatment plant of this centre filters around 43 lakh of raw water everyday. Around 30 lakh gallon of filtered water is supplied from this centre to various parts of the city everyday. An official of the department said there was no need to vacate the pond as it contained raw water which would be filtered and chlorinated properly before it was supplied. The SE of the department could not be contacted despite repeated efforts.
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Transport
Minister’s clarification Chandigarh, April 23 With a view to safeguarding the interests of farmers and saving them from harassment while carrying their own goods in the tractors or trailers, it had been made clear that now they would neither be required to obtain any permit or pay tax on tractors or trailers owned by them for own use. The state government had taken a decision — in line with the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court — that such tractors or trailers, which were being run for commercial purposes could be registered as commercial vehicles after paying the requisite tax. |
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Couple moves court against foeticide Kaithal, April 23 The couple, Moman (55) and Bimla Devi, residents of Fatehpur, have submitted before the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division), Kaithal, that their son Satbir was married to Rekha of Brass village. Satbir died in a road accident on February 2, 2003. Then, Rekha was pregnant by two months. Now, she wants to get rid of her pregnancy to remarry. However, Satbir’s parents had promised to bring up the child, even if she wanted to remarry. But she declined their offer, following which the couple moved court. |
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Labourer killed in road mishap Ambala, April 23 According to information Mohammed Azad (22) was a migrant labourer from Bihar and had been residing in Luxmi Nagar Colony here. He, along with his associate Mohammed
Shoaib, were going for work in the morning when a motor-cyclist hit their cycle from behind at a crossing. Mohammed Azad died on the spot while Mohammed
Shoaib, who was riding the cycle sustained minor injuries and was taken to the Civil Hospital, Ambala city, but was discharged after first aid. Rajesh (17), riding pillion on the motorcycle, suffered serious injuries in the mishap.
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Cong memo to
DC on house tax Kurukshetra, April 23 The Congress city president, Mr Dina Nath Arora, said, exemption from the house tax had been demanded for those persons who were residing in their own houses.
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New HVPN
chief Chandigarh, April 23
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Tributes
paid to Gargi Yamunanagar, April 23 He said Gargi taught theatre in the USA, Russia and propagated Punjabi language and drama at the international level. Punjabi and all these who love Punjabi language and literature will be indebted to Balwant Gargi for his life-long mission.
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Man found murdered Yamunanagar, April 23 The neighbour reportedly noticed today that the main door of Maha Singh’s house was open and on entering the house found Maha Singh lying in a pool of blood. He informed the owner of the house and the Jagadhri police about the incident. The body bore signs of deep injuries at two places. Maha Singh had been living in the same room for the past nine years. He was working as a Assistant Superintendent (Revenue) in the DC Office, Yamunanagar.
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Wrestler
booked for stealing wheat Hisar, April 23 In her complaint, Ms Urmila alleged that she was the owner of 13 acres of land in the village. On April 15 when she had gone to Hisar to meet her lawyer in connection with a case Chandgi Ram, Hoshiar Singh, his two sons Vilas and Manoj along with 10-12 others went to her field and harvested the crop without her permission and took away the wheat, she alleged.
PTI
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Four of family
killed in mishap Kurukshetra, April 23 Their car collided with a tractor-trailer loaded with sugarcane. The deceased were identified as Dr Sukhdev Raj Bawa (55), his son Mandeep, alias Sunny (22), and Dr Bawa’s younger brother Jagdish and his son, Dheeraj (19).
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Order on resident
certificate for migrants Chandigarh, April 23
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Bhindawas
lake to be developed Chandigarh, April 23
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HIGH COURT Chandigarh, April 23 The court, while taking up the letter regarding alleged sexual
exploitation of female inmates by the head of the religious
organisation, had directed the premier investigating agency to look
into the matter. |
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