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Friday,
September 12, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Chautala
govt silencing scribes, says Congress Bansi Lal
backs students’ stir Decision
on new force flayed Constitutional
formality over District
Bars to observe strike on Sept 16 |
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Announce package for poor, says morcha Institute
favours viable linkages for farmers’ benefit
Five injured
in group clash High
Court
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Chautala
govt silencing
scribes, says Congress Hisar, September 11 Mr Hooda, said besides stopping its advertisements for the past two years, the Chautala government had started harassing the dailies and weeklies for their honesty and righteous role in a democracy. He said it was not only unfortunate but shocking that the Chautala government was issuing advertisements worth lakhs of rupees to newspapers published from Rajasthan and Punjab, while denying this to the newspapers published in the state. Strongly condemning the lathi charge on the journalists last month in Rohtak, he said, certain journalists had been implicated in false cases and even put behind the bars and even got shifted from their present places of postings. He said two scribes in Rohtak were assaulted by the police and the state government had not taken care of the journalists struggling for the past 20 days.
— UNI |
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Bansi Lal backs students’ stir Hisar, September 11 Extending support to college students, he said they were agitating for a genuine cause. He said the state government’s recent decision to affiliate colleges of five districts with Devi Lal University, Sirsa, was a setback for students of other two universities that were old and reputed. Mr Bansi Lal criticised the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, for his “adamant” attitude over this issue. He said there was no need for the Sirsa university as the existing universities in the state were already facing shortage of funds. Mr Bansi Lal, who is also a former Union Defence Minister, said the NDA government’s recent decision to purchase advanced jet trainer
(AJTs) was as per the need of the hour as MIGs had become old and accidents were on the rise. He also supported the move to increase cooperation with Israel. He criticised Mr Chautala for interfering in the politics of Rajasthan. The state exchequer and government machinery were being misused in Rajasthan. Mr Chautala had earlier misused government machinery in the Assembly elections in Uttar
Pradesh and Delhi, but had failed to gain any political ground there, he said. He also opposed the Haryana Agricultural University’s proposal to sell its land to overcome its budget deficit. Denying the possibility of any alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, he said the HVP would contest the next Assembly elections on its own. Later, at a public meeting in Adampur Grain Market, the former Chief Minister said he would give benefits to the trading community and reduce power tariffs if his party was voted to power in the next elections. |
Decision
on new force flayed Chandigarh, September 11 Mr Hooda said the Bill for creation of the Haryana State Industrial Security Force was passed in the assembly yesterday with a view to making political gains. “When people employed with the government are being thrown out of their jobs, how can the government bear the expenditure of a new force”, Mr Hooda asked. |
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Constitutional
formality over Chandigarh, September 11 The session, which opened on September 9, lasted only two hours on the first day. The assembly was adjourned sine die the next day after it had met only for three hours. During this brief period, the House passed 10 Bills by voice vote. Their failure to raise any public interest issue in the House in a meaningful manner did not deter the “honourable members” from passing a Bill aimed at raising the loan admissible to them so that they might be able to purchase flats in a cooperative society already floated for the benefit of “Jan Pratinidhis” at Gurgaon. The ruling Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the Opposition blamed each other for the short duration of the session. The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, alleged that the Opposition in the state was a “paper tiger, which believes in raising issues through newspapers but feels shy of speaking on the floor of the House”. He regretted that the session was reduced to a “five-hour affair” because the Opposition did not raise the issues when it could have. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and the Deputy Leader of the Haryana Congress Legislature Party, Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, allege that the ruling party uses its majority as a road-roller to suppress the voice of the Opposition. They point out that Speaker Satbir Singh Kadian had rejected all their adjournment motions, except for two, which were also arbitrarily converted into calling attention motions so that the government could be saved from criticism. Mr Chautala, however, says that the Speaker’s powers in this regard are absolute and cannot be challenged. The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Prof Sampat Singh, who had been an effective Leader of the Opposition, says the Opposition members could raise the issues mentioned in their adjournment motions while speaking on the supplementary demands relating to various departments presented before the House on the first day of the session. He says, for instance, the Opposition members could have raised the issue of establishing a university in southern Haryana when the supplementary demand was presented for the establishment of Choudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, for which no provision was made in the Budget. The Opposition could have also talked about the current student agitation in certain districts against the affiliation of their colleges with the new university. Unfortunately, he says, the Opposition missed this opportunity by abstaining itself from the House. The Haryana Congress President, Mr Bhajan Lal, and other opposition members are bitter over the Speaker’s “partisan conduct”. He says whenever opposition members want to raise any issue, the Speaker just gags them. RPI legislator Karan Singh Dalal says that what to talk of supplementary demands, the Opposition is not allowed to speak even on Bills, which constitute an important work of the legislature. He mentions the Casino Bill in support of his contention. When the Bill was moved in the House, the entire Opposition was present in the House and repeatedly urged Deputy Speaker Gopi Chand Gehlot to let it speak on the Bill. However, Mr Gehlot, he says, just rushed through the passage of the Bill. Mr Bhajan Lal has demanded that in view of the ruling party’s overbearing attitude, the Governor should send his observer to the House to oversee its proceedings in future as the then Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Mr Ramesh Bhandari, had done once. What is most unfortunate is that the members do not even show basic decency to one another. They not only yell at one another but also call each other names. Perhaps, a visit by the Haryana MLAs to a session of the Rajasthan Assembly may turnout to be useful. At least they will know what is “Parliamentary tehzeeb”. |
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District Bars to observe strike on Sept 16 Kaithal, September 11 The district Bar Association has also given a call to other Bars of all districts in Haryana to observe strike on September 16 to express their solidarity with the Kaithal Bar on the issue of construction of chambers. Meanwhile hundreds of litigants who came to the courts here returned disappointed as a result of the on going strike. Mr Kanshi Ram Nain, president, and Mr P.L. Bhardwaj, secretary, District Bar Association, respectively said here today that the decision of the committee was arbitrary as they had obtained a certificate from the structural engineer and an architect who certified that the building was safe and strong and submitted it to the construction committee which ignored it. The committee rather relied on officials of the PWD department who gave a contrary opinion regarding the safety of the structure. They said even now they were ready to make suitable amendments in the partially constructed building comprising 142 chambers and they never wanted confrontation on the issue. But how they could agree to the demolition of the structure on which they had spent about Rs 25 lakh from their hard earned money. Not only this, the construction material amounting to Rs 5-6 lakh was also lying at the site for the past few months, they further said. They regretted that they had been forced to go on strike and if they were not allowed to resume construction of their chambers they would give a call to the advocates of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh and even other states to visit the site of construction and join them on the issue. Mr Ajay Chautala, MP, had laid the foundation stone of lawyers chambers two years ago, when Mr Fateh Singh Dagar was the Deputy commissioner. Mr Ram Pal Mazra, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Leela Ram, MLA, Kaithal district and the Sessions Judge, Kurukshetra, and other judges and officials were present on the occasion. Mr Anurag Agarwal after taking charge as the Deputy Commissioner about a year ago in consultation with the District and Sessions Judge had directed the district Bar to stop the construction of chambers on the ground that they had not got an approval from the competent authority and the state government had not given its sanction for allotment of the land for construction of Chambers. Following this the lawyers met the chief minister Mr Om Prakash Chautala who reportedly intervened in the matter and the land allotment for the construction of chambers was regularised. However, as the matter regarding the clearance of the site plan came before the High Court committee recently, it objected to the resumption of the construction work, on the grounds of violating of building laws and defect in the structural designing. The lawyers finding this decision against their interests have decided to adopt agitational path. However, the lawyers representatives have clarified that their strike was not against the state government and hence they have not boycotted the executive courts and it was only against the decision of the committee which has failed to appreciate their difficulties and directed demolition of the incomplete chambers. |
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Announce package for poor, says morcha Yamunanagar, September 11 He also suggested that the seats should be reserved for the backward classes for the post of Sarpanch in the Gram Panchayat. Mr Chauhan demanded that a high level committee should be constituted in the state to stop the atrocities being committed on the backward classes. He also suggested that a representation should be given to the Backward Classes in the board and the corporation. Mr Chauhan suggested that all political parties in the state should reserve one Parliament seat for the backward classes in the next election. He said one directorate should be earmarked for the backward classes in Chandigarh where all problems relating to them could be solved. The Backward Kranti Morcha presented a memorandum to the Secretary of the Haryana Governor the Chief Minister and the state President of the Indian National Lok Dal at Chandigarh yesterday to ensure that their demands are accepted. |
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Institute
favours viable linkages
for farmers’ benefit Karnal, September 11 Presiding over a meeting of the council at the NDRI here yesterday, Dr Nagendra Sharma, Director of the institute, asked scientists to apply the extension philosophy and principles to solve the problems of farmers. He stressed the need to establish modern dairy units in select villages. Talking about the proceedings of the meeting, Dr Ram Chand, head of the dairy extension division, said it was decided to constitute a technology release committee to further extend the latest technologies to farmers. He said Dr B.K. Joshi and Dr V.S. Raina had been asked to concentrate on upgrading cattle and male buffaloes for superior germ plasm, Dr J.C. Markandey told to show the visible impact of dairying by establishing dairy units in villages, Dr J.P.S. Chauhan instructed to report on the impact of the extension work and Dr D.S. Sohi directed to refine and develop suitable technologies for implementation.
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Parvesh Rani’s
relatives clarify Ambala, September 11 Parvesh Rani is a resident of Vidya
Vihar, Nanhera, on GT Road. “Her arrival back home is enough proof to show that she never intended to stay back in England,” he said. The relative said there had been misleading information about her going missing in England. “She had gone to visit relations after playing a cricket match and while returning she lost her way,” he claimed. He said the reports of her planning to earn huge money were incorrect. “How can any person earn lakhs of rupees if the visa is only for one month? A wrong impression was generated by the media,” he stated. |
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Five injured
in group clash Ambala, September 11 The blockade lasted for about 15 minutes, which threw traffic out of gear and many heavy vehicles turned towards the Sadar area. While two persons from one group sustained injuries, three persons from the other group were injured in the clash. Both the groups blamed one another for the circumstances leading to the clash. The clash took place between a shopkeeper, whose shop located on the Kalarheri road, Defence Colony, and cable operators. The shopkeeper, Praveen Kumar, said: “The cable operators used to take my ladder. Today, when I refused to give them the ladder, they began to beat me up.”
Praveen’s brother, Anil Kumar, said that he was allegedly assaulted in the Civil Hospital by the cable operators. The cable operators, however, claimed that they were assaulted by the shopkeepers. They claimed that Randhir and Bhupesh were beaten up by the shopkeepers, while Sanjeev was assaulted at the Civil Hospital. |
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High
Court Chandigarh, September 11 He had allegedly married Avedna Sharma. Ms Sharma had earlier claimed that she had married Hussain, after falling in love with him, on June 4 at Jama Masjid in Pinjore. Unhappy with the match, the parents got her married to one Amitabh Thakur. But on July 15, she managed to slip and joined Zakir Hussain and was living happily with him. After recording her statement, Mr Justice K.C. Gupta had set her at liberty. On the other hand the bride’s father Ashok Sharma had stated that daughter Avedna was in illegal custody under the influence of groom Mohammad Zakir Hussain. As a result of the protection ordered by the court, it was not possible to “recover” Avedna, he had added. |
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Army to have its own fire brigade Ambala, September 11 In a major step, which can significantly reduce the intervention time in case of fire in sensitive areas in Ambala Cantonment, the Army has acquired a modern fire engine. Army personnel are currently being imparted training by the Ambala Sadar fire brigade personnel under the guidance of Fire Officer, Mr A.K. Sharma. The training is being imparted following directions from the Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, Mr D.D. Gautam. An official said there was a possibility of the Army acquiring a few more fire engines so as to prepare a fire-fighting fleet. He said a new fire engine was already stationed at the FOL depot. “Now, the Army has two modern fire tenders. This number may go up depending upon the requirement,” he said. The Army men, who are being imparted training at the Ambala Sadar fire station, do not have any experience in fire-fighting. Once, these personnel’s training is complete, they will be in a position to train other Army personnel. The Army men will be trained for 15 days. The Army fire engine, TFF Large MK-IV, is basically a foam-cross tender. “This is a new vehicle with a number of additional features. These type of fire tenders are effective in dousing oil fires,” an official said. “The fire engine will also be effective in tackling fires in high-rise buildings. It has additional valves besides an automatic gear system which can be put to work as soon as the fire engine reaches the spot,” he said. The fire tender has a capacity to carry 900 gallon water. The foam tank has a capacity of 425 litre. It has four hose outlets unlike other fire tenders that have only two. The fire tender has a seating capacity of six, including driver and in charge. It also has an announcement system. “Although the Army will have its own fire brigade, the civil fire brigade will always be ready. This will strengthen the fire-fighting arrangements in Ambala Cantonment. The Air Force already has its own fire brigade. In case of an emergency, fire engines of the Army, the Air Force and the Ambala Sadar fire brigade can immediately be pressed into service,” said the official. |
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