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Tuesday,
July 8, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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BJP-INLD ties reach
flashpoint Abhay holds
public meetings President gives assent
to Casino Bil Murder sparks off violence Haryana prunes
crop diversification programme 2 Haryana Cong leaders defend Bhajan’s sons |
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Travel agent gets jail for cheating Two held on smuggling charge
Half-burnt body of woman found
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BJP-INLD ties reach
flashpoint Panchkula, July 7 Taking a dig at its coalition partner, the BJP retorted that it was not “Bapu, beta and sons private limited”, which followed an autocratic pattern. “We are still fulfilling the dharma of coalition, though the INLD has forgotten its duties in a coalition regime,” said former minister and senior BJP leader, Mr Ram Vilas Sharma, adding that being the Chief Minister did not make Mr Om Prakash Chautala god. Mr Abhay Chautala, son of the Chief Minister and MLA from Rori, who was here to address public meetings, said he did not consider the BJP as a forceful party in the state. “They cannot say anything anytime, “he said when asked to comment on the BJP’s state executive asking its Central party leadership to end the coalition with the INLD in the state. “We have relations with the top leadership of the BJP, which is a national party, like the INLD. We are their partners at the Centre and there is no souring of ties with the Central party leadership,” he added. Without naming any BJP leader who was minister in Mr Bansi Lal’s Cabinet, Mr Abhay Chautala said inquiries had been ordered against three of these former ministers, and if found guilty, action would be taken against them. Asked if the party would contest the next parliamentary elections in the state on its own, the INLD leader said it was still too early to comment on this issue. Later, talking to mediapersons, Mr Ram Vilas Sharma said the state unit of the party had differences with the INLD, which had been conveyed to the Central leadership on many an occasion. “Our leaders had been lathicharged at Faridabad, while 22 BJP workers had been arrested at Loharu and kept in jail for almost three months. But we are still fulfilling our responsibility,” he said, adding that they were not functional partners of the government. |
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Abhay holds
public meetings Panchkula, July 7 While maintaining that the purpose of his visit was not political, he said the local Congress MLA, Mr Chander Mohan had never represented people in the Vidhan Sabha. “ He never highlighted the problems of residents during the three terms that he has been elected by the people of Panchkula. Calling Mr Chander Mohan “dumb,” he said, “The people want me to represent them in the next elections as they have lost faith in Mr Chander Mohan.” Though Mr Chautala claimed that he was addressing meetings only to know the grievances of the people in various municipal wards, it is learnt that such meetings would now be a common feature. After his two-day tour of Panchkula beginning today, he is expected to tour the rural areas of the district for four days from July 17. While retaining his Rori Assembly seat, Mr Chautala will most likely pose a challenge to Mr Chander Mohan. The Kalka Vidhan Sabha seat has traditionally been a Congress
sronghold. It was primarily for this reason that Chaudhary Bhajan Lal had chosen this seat for his son, Mr. Chander Mohan. This challenge for the Congress comes at a time when the party’s decision to boycott the municipal council elections boomeranged, with the party losing a sizeable number of its supporters to the ruling Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). The Congress suffered a major set back when a large number of its supporters and office-bearers, not only joined the fray, but after winning the elections also opted to part ways with the Congress and join the INLD. Even today, former Congress city president, the Sanjeev Kumar Chopra, formally joined the INLD. Meanwhile, anti-Congress rhetoric was the USP of Mr Abhay Chautala’s talks at his meetings today. He addressed eight public meetings and promised the people that Panchkula would be made the most beautiful city in the country. He said the money spent on development works by the present government was much more than what had been spent by any other government. At Mansa Devi Complex, he asked the Deputy Commissioner and the president of the municipal council to get a resolution passed by the municipal council for building a railway overbridge in the area to save inconvenience to residents and devotees visiting the Mansa Devi shrine. He assured the people that the problem of water scarcity would be solved by building a dam on the
Ghaggar, near Dewanwala village in Pinjore. Mr Abhay Chautala today compared Haryana Vikas Party supremo Bansi Lal to the
Taliban, when asked to comment on the latter’s statements of destroying statues of Chaudhary Devi Lal, installed by the INLD in different parts of the state. “Taliban ne Buddha ke but giraye to unka kya haal
hua? Ch. Devi Lal was a leader of the masses and Mr Bansi Lal will suffer a similar fate at the hands of the state’s people, he said.
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President gives assent
to Casino Bil Panchkula July 7 He said global tenders would be invited for setting up the resort. Though a probable site for the complex had not been identified as yet, it would be decided depending on the needs of the successful bidder. The younger son of Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, while defending the setting up of casino in the state, said it would be open only to members of the casino. “ Even now, people from the state go all the way to Goa and to foreign countries in order to avail of the facilities in a casino, “ he reasoned. The state government had passed the Bill in 2002, which was sent to the Governor for approval. The latter, in turn, sent the Bill to the President of India. Besides a casino, this mega resort is proposed to be a complete leisure centre for the family. It will have at least two to three five- star hotels with Gothic and Victorian type architecture, shopping malls, spas , spotless white sand artificial beaches with artificially created waves, night clubs , cinemas, sports clubs and a complete family entertainment centre. Special emphasis for creating entertainment centres for children will be laid in this resort. The landscaping of the resort will be such that valleys, small hills, and beaches are created. This is proposed to be a one-of-its - kind resort to bring the state on the world tourism map. |
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Murder sparks off violence Sonepat, July 7 Partap Singh (23), a resident of Juan village, was hacked to death with some sharp-edged weapons after he along with some of his associates had allegedly teased a girl of the Dalit community on Saturday. Feeling humiliated, the girl jumped from the roof of her house and was seriously injured. She was admitted to the PGIMS hospital at Rohtak yesterday. Angered over Partap’s murder, a large number of youths from the upper caste torched the houses of alleged assailants, the police said. Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala has directed the authorities to maintain vigil and law and order. The police has registered a case of murder against five persons of Juan village. —
PTI |
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Haryana prunes
crop diversification programme Chandigarh, July 7 Official sources said that the state government had
initially decided to free 8 lakh hectares of land from under wheat crop and
grow pulses and oilseed. Similarly, in the paddy season, pulses and oilseed
were proposed to be grown in three lakh hectares. For diversification from the
paddy crop, the plan was that starting from 2003, each year one lakh hectares
would be brought under the alternative crop and by 2005 the target of three
lakh hectares would be met. It was a three-year plan for diversification from
wheat crop also and starting from growing pulses and oilseed in four lakh
hectares in 2003, the target of eight lakh hectares was to be achieved in
2005. However, the state government had now set a target of freeing three
lakh hectares each from wheat and paddy crops during the 2003-05 period.
Explaining the step, an official here said that they had sought fund amounting
to Rs 1,920 crore from the Centre, to be released over a period of three years,
for supporting the state government’s crop diversification programme. The
official said that the money would have been used for compensating the farmers
for the financial losses they were likely to suffer by deviating from
traditional crops such as rice and wheat whose purchase by government agencies
was assured. There was be no such guarantee for pulses and oilseed which were
sold by the farmers at market prices. Sources said that the state government
wanted to use the Central funds for compensating farmers in case there was a
crash in price of these commodities. ‘‘The price of oilseed is particularly
low now and as per our assessment a farmer may suffer losses up to Rs 8000 per
hectare for growing oilseed instead of paddy or wheat on his land. We wanted
the money for compensating the farmers in case they failed to get adequate
price for his product’’, the sources said. The state government had now
reduced the proposed area under its crop diversification programme but
nevertheless it was seeking money from the Centre for compensating the farmers
if needed arose. This time Rs 960 crore was being sought over a period of three
years for this purpose. ‘‘After all, crop diversification is the Central
Government’s idea, so we are expecting the Centre to come forward to help us
in implementing the programme,’’ an official here said.
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2 Haryana Cong leaders defend Bhajan’s sons Chandigarh, July 7 In a statement issued here today a former Haryana minister and spokesman of the party, Mr Krishan Murti Hooda, described the allegation as baseless. Denying that Mr Bhajan Lal’s sons, Mr Chander Mohan and Mr Kuldip Bishnoi, were interfereing in the party matters, Mr Hooda said they were leaders in their own capacity and had been organising public meetings all over the state to strengthen the party. Mr Hooda said Mr Bishnoi was the only Congress leader who had won an Assembly byelection out of six byelections held in the state after 1996. He said in 1998, when the Adampur byelection was a prestige issue with the Bansi Lal Government, Mr Rajesh Godara, brother-in-law of Mr Ajay Singh Chautala, MP, son of Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, had forefieted his security against Mr Bishnoi.
Visually
challenged tops BA exam in college Ambala, July 7 Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Harbhajan said that he was determined to do well in the examination. “I had to work hard to prove my merit. I am very happy to have done better than all other students,” he said. For Harbhajan, life has been tough. When he was barely three months, he was struck with double pneumonia. Thereafter, he gradually began to lose his eyesight. Till Class VIII, Harbhajan could barely ‘see’ but then the deterioration in the eyesight accelerated and now he is visually challenged. Son of an Army man who is currently posted in
Jhansi, Harbhajan is determined not to be cowed down by the fact that he cannot see. This determination has led to his success in academics as well as in the cultural field. In academics, the biggest challenge faced by Harbhajan was to get Braille books on his subjects. “Books are not available in Braille. I tried to get the books in Braille from different places but to no avail. Although, books in Braille are available till Class XII, thereafter Braille books on the college subject are not available,” he said. He said that he was given assistance by his near and dear ones. “My family members, particularly my mother, Mahinder Kaur, would help me out by dictating the book and I would take notes. If the book content was important, then I would record it,” he said. “Even my college mates have always extended a helping hand,” he added. Harbhajan Singh said that during examination, he would get a writer to take the examination. “Now that my graduation is over, I am planning to study either B.Ed or MA (English). I have already cleared the B.Ed entrance test and I am hoping that I will be called for counselling. Later, I am keen to become a lecturer,” he said. Harbhajan said that he was keen to help other visually challenged students like him. “I did my matric from the Institute for the Blind in Sector 26, Chandigarh, and my Class XII from BD School, Ambala Cantonment”, he stated. Harbhajan Singh is also a tabla maestro. He has done well in several zonal and university competitions and stood second in a state-level competition. He also played banjo for a Haryanvi orchestra. In his spare time, he likes listening to music. College principal Ratna Ram Malik said that Harbhajan would be provided all possible assistance by the college if he wanted to pursue MA from the college.
Sirsa, July 7 Dalvinder Singh of Ottu village in a complaint with the city police here had alleged that Delhi-based travel agent Amit Agarwal extorted Rs 8 lakh each from Subhash, Malkeet, Charanjeet, Harnek Singh and the complainant for arranging their visit to USA. Dalvinder had also named Pala Singh of Kutaba village in the district as mediator in this deal. Dalvinder Singh alleged that they paid up the amount to Amit
Agarwal, but were given fake visa. Amit and Pala were found guilty by the court.
Sirsa, July 7 A police team nabbed Khajan Singh and Manjeet Singh of Ellenabad, as they crossed from Rajasthan on a scooter through Thoberia village. They were noticed by the police party astride on a Vespa scooter. They were asked to stop. But the riders tried to escape. The police party chased them. The scooter driver dashed against a roadside tree. When the police tried to nab them they fired two rounds. The police managed to nab the two and booked them under Sections 307, 332, 353, 186 of the IPC and Section 61/1/14 of the Arms Act.
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Half-burnt body of woman found Ambala, July 7 According to information, former sarpanch of Dubli Gurdayal Singh was going to his fields in the morning, he noticed that some thing was
burning there. When he got close, he found that the body of a woman was burning
there. Gurdayal Singh immediately informed the sarpanch of the village, Mr Mohinder Singh, who informed the police. Before the police could reach the villagers put off the fire. They found that it was the body of a young woman. Villagers were of the view that the deceased did not belong to the area. Senior police officer, including the DSP,
Naraingarh, rushed the site. The police has sent the body to Rohtak for post mortem. |
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