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Friday,
July 25, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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NEWS
ANALYSIS
BSP to go it alone, says Sherwal Krishi channel from Oct-2: BJP Cotton worst hit by heavy rain
HC: Haryana order on convicts invalid |
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I want my daughter back, says father
Army recruitment
drive from July 28
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NEWS
ANALYSIS Chandigarh, July 24 Dr Vardhan is the first Central leader of the BJP to state that his party was likely to come out of its alliance with the INLD during the next elections. So far only state leaders had been crying hoarse about the maltreatment being meted out to their party by the INLD supremo, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, the Central BJP leaders had been trying to be on the right side of Mr Chautala so far, given the compulsions of the NDA Government at the Centre. The relations between the BJP and the INLD soured right from the 2000 Assembly elections when the then BJP General Secretary in charge of Haryana, Mr Narendra Modi, bargained hard for 35 seats for his party. Mr Chautala was not willing to part with more than 20-odd seats. With much reluctance and to please the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Mr Chautala spared about 30 seats for its alliance partner of which the BJP could win only six seats. Earlier, during the 1999 Lok Sabha elections — when the honeymoon between the BJP and the INLD was still on — Mr Chautala had agreed to give five parliamentary seats to the BJP, much against its wishes at the asking of Mr Vajpayee. Otherwise, he was interested in leaving only four seats to it. Mr Chautala, who had to step down from the chief ministership repeatedly during 1989-91 because of opposition from the central leadership of the Janata Dal, naturally wants to keep the Prime Minister in good humour. That also explains why Mr Chautala goes out of his way to eulogise Mr Vajpayee. Haryana BJP leaders blamed Mr Chautala for their party’s poor performance in the Assembly elections. They alleged that Mr Chautala had worked hard to ensure the defeat of its alliance partner in many constituencies. They started making such allegations against the Chief Minister even during the campaigning itself. Though Mr Chautala vehemently denied the allegations, subsequent developments proved that the BJP’s misgivings about the INLD intentions were not misplaced. An Independent candidate, Mr Gopi Chand Gehlot, who was the President of the Gurgaon district unit of the INLD, won the Gurgaon seat, defeating a senior BJP leader, Mr Sita Ram Singla. Though during the campaigning Mr Chautala expelled Mr Gehlot from his party, Mr Gehlot was made the Deputy Speaker after the elections. Mr Singla was considered close to former Chief Minister Bansi Lal. Another INLD rebel, who contested against the BJP nominee from Jind, was appointed a member of the Haryana Public Service Commission. It was obvious that Mr Chautala did not want his government to be dependent upon the BJP for its survival. Once he had achieved his objective, Mr Chautala never took his ally into confidence before taking crucial policy decisions. Rather, in the first Cabinet meeting held after the 2000 Assembly elections, the Chautala Government took decisions which adversely affected the BJP constituency of the urbanites and traders. The stage was set for a confrontation between the two alliance partners. The flash point was reached when several BJP legislators, including the state unit President, Mr Rattan Lal Kataria, were beaten up by the Faridabad police when they had gone to protest against the demolition of an unauthorised colony. The high command had a tough time assuaging the hurt feelings of state leaders, who were told to wait till November when the Assembly elections in four states are due. Most INLD leaders leave no opportunity to provoke state BJP leaders. A couple of weeks ago, Mr Abhey Singh Chautala, MLA son of the Chief Minister, told newsmen that inquiries had been ordered against three former BJP ministers and action would be taken against them, if found guilty. While one former minister, Mr Krishan Pal Gurjar, is the Leader of the BJP Legislature Party; another, Prof Ganeshi Lal, is being projected as the next Haryana party President. Given the status of these state leaders, Dr Vardhan had to remark contemptuously that the BJP did not need a character certificate from “these Chautalas”. It is widely believed that informal and secret parleys are on between the BJP and the Haryana Vikas Party for an electoral understanding during the next elections. Interestingly, whenever the INLD (or its earlier incarnations) have contested the elections in Haryana alone, it has failed to form the government.
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BSP to go it alone, says Sherwal Sirsa, July 24 After the meeting the BSP leader held a press conference at the residence of state general secretary Mulchand
Rathi. He was accompanied by another general secretary Ishwar Kainth, president Hisar division and Sirsa district Jagdish Kajla and Bhushan Bohara respectively. The BSP leader said the alliance with the BJP was confined only to UP only and was working to strengthen the organisation in Haryana. Before the Lok Sabha elections they had a target to enroll 15 lakh members. By July 31 samitis would be constituted at the lower-level in Haryana and officer bearers for each samiti would also be announced.
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Krishi channel from Oct-2: BJP Yamunanagar, July 24 Mr Kanwar Pal welcomed the release of Rs 609 cr package by the Central Government to the sugarcane growers of Haryana, Uttaranchal and UP. He said that by announcing the package the government had proved that it wanted the farmers. He said that 60 per cent of the Budget was being spent on the villages and there is no village left in a country where telephone facility was not available. He said that the Centre has also reduced interest on loans to farmers from 16 per cent to 9 per cent.
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Cotton worst hit by heavy rain
Fatehabad, July 24 This correspondent saw nearly two feet of water standing in the fields on the Majra road here. As water is standing almost everywhere, farmers at a loss about where to drain the water. Mohinder, a farmer from the area, said as the area was low-lying, water from the town also had come to their fields. He said if they were not able to drain out water from their fields within the next three or four days, their crops would be completely damaged. Hundreds of acres of land in the area had been affected due to the rain water, he added. Farmers of the district depend predominantly on cotton and paddy as their kharif crops. As the rains god has not been too happy with the area for the past three to four years, the local farmers had concentrated more on the sowing of cotton crop this year. But heavy rain this year has already disturbed their calculation. Paddy would have had better prospects this year. At many places in the district, the farmers have started planting paddy as the conditions are better suited for this crop. A farmer told this correspondent that seedlings of paddy were in great demand these days and those farmers who had planted these seedlings had been making a good fortune. Farmers, he said, were ready to purchase the seedlings at a premium, but these are not available. Tara Singh, a farmer from Kulan in the district, said he grew paddy seedlings on his fields. Initially, he sold these seedlings at Rs 400 per marla, but gradually, as the demand increased the rates went up to Rs 1,000 per marla. The farmers who had opted for Satha paddy, a variety that takes 60 days to mature, are finding it hard to harvest their crops as combines could not work in wet fields. The farmers whose cotton crop may survive waterlogging fear attacks by pests soon. According to an official of the Pest Management Programme of the government, American bollworm and white flies has already been witnessed on cotton fields in the district. The menace of pests, he said, was about to
increase due to humid conditions.
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HC: Haryana order on convicts invalid Chandigarh, July 24 As per the notification issued by Haryana in
2001, the cases of convicts sentenced to life imprisonment for one
murder could be considered for pre-mature release after the “expiry
of 10 years of actual sentence and 14 years of sentence including
remission”. On the other hand, the cases of convicts sentenced for
murdering more than two persons were required to be considered after
the completion of 20 years of the actual sentence. In a ruling on a
petition filed by 14 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment for the
murder of three persons, Mr Justice K.C. Gupta ruled: “The Haryana
government’s policy that if a convict is involved in the murder of
more than two persons, then he is to considered for pre-mature release
after the completion of 20 years of sentence, including undertrial
imprisonment, provided that the total period of such sentence,
including remission is not less than 25 years, is discriminatory and
violative of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India”. Giving
details, Mr Justice Gupta further ruled: “The classification made by
the state is not constitutional as far as it was concerned with one
murder, or two or three murders.... The provision is certainly
arbitrary and discriminatory.... There is no reasonable basis for the
classification of the persons who had committed one murder or who had
committed more than two murders.” Mr Justice Gupta further ruled:
“Since the imprisonment awarded on three counts has to run
concurrently by virtue of Section 427 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, no discrimination could be made on the classification of
two or three murders. There is no valid basis for the classification
because Article 14 of the Constitution of India provides equality
before law. According to the Article, the state shall not deny
equality before law within the territory of India. The equal
protection definitely means the right of equal treatment in similar
cases”. Accepting the petition, the judge concluded: “The
petitioners are entitled for consideration of their cases for the
grant of pre-mature release on the expiry of 10 years of actual
sentence and 14 years of sentence, including the remissions. Their
further detention, without consideration of their cases, is violative
of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India”. In his
petition, Mahender Singh and 13 others had earlier submitted that they
were entitled to be considered for pre-mature release after the expiry
of 10 years of actual sentence. They were earlier booked for murder and other offences under Section 302, 307, 324, 148 and 149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in November, 1985. They were sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 302 of the IPC for the murder of Ran Singh, Rattan Singh and Satbir Singh. |
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I want my daughter back, says father Ambala, July 24 Mr Sharma pointed out that they had seen the prospective Delhi-based groom on April 20 and the engagement took place on April 27. “The engagement of my daughter took place at our residence,” he said. He alleged that his daughter was in “captivity” of the Punjab Wakf Board junior engineer
Zakhir. “We have not heard from her since the day she has gone missing,” he said. “How can she possibly call us when she is in captivity’?, he asked. Mr Sharma’s effort to trace his daughter has not borne fruit. “I tried to contact Zakhir’s mobile number but to no avail,” he stated. According to a legal expert, the marriage details had to be confirmed and the marriage had to be proved in terms of law. “Only after a analysis, it will be possible to comment on the finer aspects of the case,” he said. “It needs to be proved that the marriage of the girl took place with her consent and of her own free will. If there is coercion, the marriage is void ab initio,” the lawyer stated. The cantonment MLA, Mr Anil Vij said the high court order was being studied by legal experts. “There is a possibility of moving court on this issue,” he said. “It is pertinent to note that religion cannot be changed for purpose of marriage,” he
added. Avedna Sharma had gone missing from Ludhiana on July 15. She was travelling to Vaishno Devi with her husband after their marriage on July 13. Before the train reached Ludhiana, Avedna told her husband that she had to go to the toilet. Thereafter, she had gone missing. Mohammed Zakhir
Husain, a junior engineer in the Punjab Wakf Board, was alleged to be involved in the “disappearance” of Avedna Sharma. Zakhir has been placed under suspension. On the night of July 19, local residents had reached Mahesh Nagar police station and demanded that the girl be recovered. Although police teams were sent to different places, neither Avedna nor Zakhir could be traced. On July 22, the police received a fax message stating that Avedna Sharma has changed her name to Aalia
Husan. The message states that she has performed “nikah” with Mohammed Zakhir Hussain without the consent of her parents.
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Army recruitment
drive from July 28 Chandigarh, July 24 A spokesman of the Army said here today that the youth belonging to all districts of Haryana (barring Faridabad and Gurgaon) and Chandigarh would be recruited in the category of clerk soldiers, store-keepers, nursing assistants and technical soldiers by the Recruitment Office, Ambala. The recruitment drive for youths belonging to Hisar, Jind, Sirsa and Fatehabad districts would be carried out on July 28, for those of Bhiwani, Rewari and Mahendragarh on July 29, for those of Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat and Panipat district on July 30, and for those of Karnal, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Ambala, Panchkula districts and Chandigarh on July 31. The wards of serving army personnel, ex-servicemen and wards of widows of soldiers would also be recruited for there posts on July 31. The educational qualification was 10+2 instead of matric from April 1, 2003. The candidate should have born between February 1, 1981, and July 28, 1987. The candidates should reach the recruitment venue from 5.30 a.m. to 7.30 a.m. and should bring all necessary certificates and eight passport size photographs. The general recruitment for Yamunanagar and Panchkula districts would be on August 1, for Kurukshetra and Chandigarh on August 2, for Karnal on August 3 and for Ambala on August 4. |
10
nominated on akademi council Chandigarh, July 24
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DGP to visit
police stations Chandigarh, July 24 Mr Malik will ask policemen to explain their difficulties and administrative problems. He will also hear public grievances and redress them. |
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Residents
concerned Kaithal, July 24 |
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Lok adalat at Palwal tomorrow Chandigarh, July 24 A press note said here today civil suits, cases of bank loans and criminal cases (compoundable) would be taken up in the lok adalat.
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