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Outer Delhi: A tough nut to crack New Delhi, November 22 Realising this potential, both the ruling Congress and the main Opposition, the BJP, are concentrating on this sprawling constituency spread from South-East Delhi to North-West Delhi through the South. Having a mixed population of Jats, backwards and migrants from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal, nearly 30 lakh voters have the potential to decide who will occupy the seat of power in the national Capital for another five years. A number of leaders from both the Congress and the BJP claim a strong base in the Parliamentary constituency, but the electoral fortunes of the two parties have been vacillating from one election to another. Of the Congress’ total of 54 seats in the last 1998 Assembly elections, 16 had come from Outer Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. The BJP had to be content with a mere four, even though it had secured 12 seats in the 1993 Assembly polls, leaving only six to Congress, which brought the saffron party to power. The electorate of Outer Delhi reposed trust in the BJP again in 1999 Lok Sabha polls, electing its Jat leader Sahib Singh Varma. While BJP will again have to rely on Varma’s support, Congress will depend on the popularity of Sajjan Kumar who had represented the Lok Sabha seat earlier, besides that of state unit President Chaudhary Prem Singh. Prem Singh, a veteran backward class leader who has never lost at the hustings in his traditional Ambedkar Nagar seat, is the strongest candidate fielded by Congress. In an effort to break his successful run, the BJP has fielded a fresher Suresh Pahelwan. Among other prominent candidates contesting from the area are Delhi Education Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan from Mangolpuri (SC) seat and Finance Minister M. S. Saathi from Vishnu Garden. Congress Party’s articulate leader and Delhi unit spokesman Mukesh Sharma is making a bid to retain his Hastsal seat for the third time against BJP’s candidate Rajesh Yadav. For BJP, its Chief Whip in the Assembly Nand Kishore Garg will attempt a hat-trick from Tri Nagar constituency, fighting it out against Youth Congress General Secretary Anil Bhardwaj. |
AIUMM protests against
‘raw deal’ to Dalit Muslim New Delhi, November 22 The Morcha activists had gathered at the Ram Lila Maidan along with a number of donkeys to protest against the rejection of nomination of Abdul Aziz Dhobi from the Seemapuri reserved constituency for Scheduled Castes on the ground of religion. The AIUMM members held the Congress responsible for rejection of the papers of the Abdul Aziz. However, authorities concerned did not allow the protestors to proceed towards the office of Election Commission. The commission had rejected the nomination on the ground that under Article 341 seats meant for Scheduled Castes were denied to Muslims and Christians. Morcha President M. Ejaz Ali said that the rejection proved that law was discriminating between Dalits of various communities on the ground of religion, though the Constitution prohibits discrimination against citizens on the ground of religion, caste, race, sex and place of birth under Article 15 (1). A lot of socio-professional groups are found among Muslimswhose castes names were present in the state list of the ScheduledCastes throughout India. |
Youth impersonating IAS officer held Jhajjar, November 22 The SP, Mr H. S. Doon, said here this evening that 23-year-old Rajiv Goyal, alias Dhanraj Agrawal, was arrested when he was travelling in a Maruti car with a siren. The youth had been duping the people, proclaiming himself to be an IAS officer. The SP directed the CIA staff inspector to round up the youth and get all information about him. The SP said the car with a fake registration number (HR 19B 0044), a fake pistol in a real pistol case, some forged documents and visiting cards were seized from him. He has been arrested under Sections 420, 170, 466, 468 and 47 of the IPC and Section 28 of the Arms Act. He said the impersonator had been using two different names, Rajiv Goyal and Dhanraj Agrawal. He had done B.Com (Honours) from Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), Delhi. He had also been masquerading as Chairman of the All-India Anti-Crime and Civil Defence Organisation, Ministry of Defence. He had got forged permission papers for installing a red light on his car. He was a resident of Sector 6 in Bahadurgarh and a relative of Ms Usha Bansal, Chairperson of the Municipal Committee,
Jhajjar. |
Private help to develop Anand Vihar rly station New Delhi, November 22 The ministry is planning to form a separate body — Rail Vikas Nirman Nigam Ltd. — to complete this prestigious Rs.1,000 crore project. Applications regarding the registration of this company have already been submitted This body will take the help of private companies from time to time. According to the plans, the railways will provide only the required land for the construction of platforms and other infrastructure for the operation of rails through this railway station. The remaining works like construction of huge multi storeyed platforms, parking lots, cineplex, food joints, etc will be developed with the help of private companies. According to ministry sources, while the ground and first floors of this proposed multi storeyed platform building will be used by the Railways, the rest will be the property of private companies and they can use it as per their requirement. The ministry is also toying with the idea of getting railway station designed by an internationally reputed architect. Assigning the reason behind the formation of a separate company , a ministry source said: It was very difficult for the ministry to arrange the required corpus as allocated budget was not sufficient for this project .”Seeing this, we worked on the idea of floating a separate company for this project as we can now take money from open market and other private financial companies. |
Missing sarpanch of Pehrawar still untraced Rohtak, November 22 The sarpanch of village Pehrawar, Mr Karan Singh, has been missing since October 12 last. Ms Bharpai, his wife, has alleged that on the fateful day Mr Karan Singh had gone to the house of village sarpanch to attend a meeting of the panchayat and had not returned home since then. The village panchayat had, it may be recalled, decided on October 8 to donate nearly 18 acres of panchayat land to the Gaur Brahmin Vidya Parcharni Sabha for setting up new educational institutions. The resolution was handed over to the President of Gaur Brahmin Vidya Parcharni Sabha. The Sabha President, Mr Hoshiar Singh Sharma, told this correspondent that they had refused the offer as controversy had arisen in the village over the donation of the land. He said that certain vested interests had been trying to divert the attention of the district administration and the police from the real issue of tracing the missing sarpanch in order to defame the Sabha and pressurise its President. Mr Sharma said that the talks of money changing hands in the matter were false, baseless and malicious. He alleged that certain persons, who had been associated with the Sabha and making money, were involved in spreading rumours with the intention of tarnishing the image of the Sabha and its President. These persons, he further alleged, were making efforts to divert the attention of the administration from the real issue of tracing the missing sarpanch. Mr Hoshiar Singh Sharma said that a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Sabha would be convened in the second week of December to expose such anti-social elements and to consider filing of defamation suit against them. |
Trader abducted in Javer Noida (Javer), November 22 SSP Dr VK Goswami, SP City Noida, Anant Dev and Circle officer Virender Kumar Yadav are camping in Javer police station. Gian Prakash Elan, 47, son of Om Prakash, a wholesale dealer of cement, marble, rodi etc on Jhajhar road, used to go for a walk daily. He had left his house at 6 am for a stroll on Rampur village road. Four armed criminals had pushed him in their Maruti car and sped towards Dyantpur village. |
Traffic on NH 1 disrupted for eight hrs Sonepat: The Traffic on the busy National Highway 1 (GT Road) remained disrupted for nearly eight hours following a road accident involving two trucks near Haldana village on the Panipat-Sonepat district boundary in the wee hours today. Traffic coming from the Panipat side was diverted via Gohana till the situation on the highway could be normalised around 9 am by the national highway traffic safety police. According to information, the accident took place when the driver of a truck (HR-38-8256) tried to overtake another truck (HP-28-2030).
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Mahajan, Joshi, Sajjan do their
bit as they New Delhi, November 22 Later in the evening, Mr Mahajan did his bit for Dr Harsh Vardhan. Crowds were addressed by the duo at Chachi Building in the latter’s Krishna Nagar constituency. The Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Science and Technology and Ocean Development, Dr M. M. Joshi, also jumped into the canvassing fray. The senior party leader was canvassing for Mr Vihay Johari at the Saket constituency and later at the Babarpur constituency of Naresh Gaur. Congress candidate from Badli constituency Dharamveer Yadav got Sajjan Kumar to inaugurate his party office in Rohini. Sajjan Kumar apprised the crowds about the “good work” done by Mr Yadav, which includes the beautification of Badli and Rohini areas and starting new buses on the Rohini route. An emotionally charged Sajjan Kumar also mentioned the attack on the Indian Parliament and said had Indira Gandhi been alive unlike the BJP she would have retaliated. There is, however, bad news for both the Congress and arch-rivals BJP. The Delhi State Gurudwara Sewadar Committee has “unanimously” decided to “boycott” the parties in the elections. The meeting held under the leadership of Mr Tehal Singh has complained that the parties are responsible for the water and electricity crisis in the state. They have also called for a “CBI investigation” to ascertain the “real worth” (pun intended) of the candidates. |
Unhappy with NPCL, people ask CM to end licence Greater Noida, November 22 The people of the area have been completely dissatisfied with the performance and working style of the NPCL ever since its inception a decade ago. Interestingly, those who have protested against the NPCL also include the ruling Samajwadi Party’s cadre, some of whom are understood to have taken upon themselves to lead this movement. The role of NPCL, which is distributing power in Greater Noida, has always been a controversial one. The main grievances of the people are that it has allegedly been adopting double standards. While urban areas are being supplied power for 24 hours, rural areas hardly get it for six to seven hours in a day. After assuming charge as Chief Minister of the state, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav had announced that power would be supplied for at least 16 hours in villages. But the NPCL is being accused of having failed to implement the CM’s assurance. Disillusioned with this, the Samajwadi Party cadre have taken up the termination of the NPCL’s licence in a vigorous manner. Former SP MLA Sameer Bhatti has alleged that instead of benefiting the villagers have been great losers as a consequence of privatisation of power distribution. Hence, the agreement for privatisation should be scrapped. Former Samajwadi Party MLA Narinder Singh Bhatti said privatisation of power was decided upon to extend some benefit to the people but the experiment of the NPCL had not come up to people’s expectations. BJP MLA and former Irrigation Minister Nawab Singh Nagar has also come down heavily on the NPCL and accused it of ignoring the rights of the farmers and villagers. It had even ignored government orders and directions, Mr Nagar added. Veteran farmer leader Bihari Singh Baghi said the company had exploited farmers so it would not be allowed to continue here. He said it had survived in UP as it had always managed protection from a coterie in the state bureaucracy. Even Bahujan Samaj Party’s Kartar Singh Nagar has criticised the company as having worked against villagers’ interest. Mr Raj Kumar Bhatti of the Dehat Morcha said the NPCL would not be allowed to exploit rural people any more. Unhappy with the NPCL working, Teja Gujjar of the Bharatiya Kisan Morcha has threatened that a major movement would be launched against the company. |
NHRC intervenes in Gohana Gas tragedy Sonepat, November 22 Taking a notice on the complaint of the wife of one of the victim of the tragedy, Suraj Mal of village Ludhana in Jind district, the commission has reportedly directed the Director-General of police, Haryana, to hand over the inquiry of the incident to the concerned officer. A copy of the commission’s letter addressed to the DGP, has also been received by Suraj Mal’s widow Anita, who has lodged a complaint with the commission accusing the authorities of the Yamuna Action Plan and the district administration for not taking action against the alleged accused of the tragedy and not providing suitable compensation to the bereaved families of the victims. The families of other two victims - Kuldeep of village Busana in Rohtak district and Hari Om of village Moi Hooda in Gohana sub-division of Sonepat district, have also lodged similar complaints with the commission, but they have so far not received any communication from the commission. It is recalled that these three labourers were sent in the deep well by the YAP authorities for cleaning of the tank and repair of some machinery in the tank without safety gears and all three died in the well by inhaling poisonous gases. The families of the victims squarely blamed the concerned sub-divisional engineer, junior engineer and the work supervisor accusing that the victims were not provided with gas masks and safety belts before ordering them to go into the well. As the incident spread anger among the people, the deputy commissioner ordered for an inquiry to be conducted by the SDM Gohana. However, the bereaved families have reportedly received no information about the recommendations of the inquiry report. |
Sonepat has little respite from incessant Sonepat, November 22 According to a report, for over three months now, the people have not received regular power supply despite the claims made by the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) that a massive campaign to curb electricity theft has been launched. Many residents claimed that they have been facing long power cuts almost daily, from morning to late in the evening, and the authorities are unable to inform the consumers about the causes of such loadsheddings. From the junior engineers to the Superintending Engineers, all of them always remain silent spectators on this issue. Even the district authorities are never bothered to take action in this regard. According to the residents, this could be the worst power crisis in the city and its suburbs. Normal life has been thrown out of gear. Water supply has been hit badly. Hospital services have also been affected. The situation has worsened in the villages, some of which have remained without electricity for days together. The residents of several power-hit villages had organised protest demonstrations and held up traffic on the roads during the past two months and the senior officers had to intervene for lifting the blockade of the roads. The angry residents say that the local authorities do not take steps for replacing the burnt transformers in their villages for days together. Residents of Mohalla Kot have been facing power crisis for the last few decades because of power breakdowns occurred almost every evening and the power supply is restored after 9 pm daily when most of the residents went to sleep. In addition to this, the power cuts continued unabated in this area. Moreover, the voltage is low that the residents could not trace the household articles in the evening. The power failures are not confined to a particular area. The entire city, including the mini-secretariat and the judicial complex, has been affected. The electricity went off at any time and restored after a few hours or so. The noise of diesel generating sets continues for most of the day in the areas of the railway road, Gita Bhawan, telephone exchange road and other main bazars and shopping centres, which pollute the city. |
Power blackout in village since one week Sonepat, November 22 According to a report, there has been no supply of electricity in the village for the past one week or so and people have a hard time at night. The agitating residents have warned that if the officials fail to replace the burnt electricity transformers in a couple of days they will have no alternative but to launch an agitation and gherao the officials. Angry residents also demanded immediate suspension of the SDE and other officials found responsible for the power crisis in the village. |
Scribe
remembered Rohtak, November 22 The Rohtak Patrakar Sangharsh Samiti organised a ‘Shardhanjali Sabha’ outside the office of the Deputy Commissioner to pay homage to the slain journalist, who died on November 21 last year, in a Delhi hospital after being shot at allegedly by disciples of a religious dera in Sirsa. The Punjab and Haryana High Court, has few days ago, ordered BI inquiry into the murder of Mr Chhatarpati. The participants adopted a resolution condemning state government for its failure in arresting the key-conspirators behind the murder of Mr Chhatarpati. The resolution said that attacks on journalists in the state are continuing unabated and freedom of press guaranteed by the Constitution is under severe threat. Among those who paid tributes to the departed journalist included LJP state president Capt Shamsher Singh Malik, CPM leader Surender Malik, RLD leader Ishwar Singh, employees leaders Bharat Bhushan and Dr H. S. Ratnoo. Dr Satbir Singh Garwari presided over the meeting. |
Employees submit memorandum to SDM Sonepat: Number of employees of Gannaur Municipal Committee have submitted a memorandum to the sub-divisional magistrate, Gannaur, Mr Jeet Singh Mehra, demanding that their provident fund amount deducted from their salaries during 1995 and 1996 be deposited in their accounts. In the memorandum, the Nagar Palika union has made it clear that if the pending amount was not deposited up to November 24, the union would be forced to go on strike and it would become the responsibility of the committee officers and the administration.
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SEARCH WITHIN If you want to believe in God but do not find sufficient evidence to do so, you can read the books of those who began their lives with unbelief. One among them was Rev Richard Wurmbrand, a Jew, who spent fourteen years in a communist jail. Many of these years were spent in solitary confinement “never seeing anyone except the torturers, never having a book or paper, never hearing a voice or a whisper”. The only one who could cling was God, supposing He exists. Yet on his release, he wrote one of the books, which contains a wealth of information for those who want to believe. He has visited India several times. He led a lifelong campaign against atheism and communism and led many to the path of faith. Among several reasons for belief advanced in his book, Proofs of God’s existence, the argument based on the laws of nature should appeal to the ordinary reader. He says, in nature, in society, in the soul, in the spirit and in our bodies, everything works according to laws, natural, sociological, physiological, and psychological. It is inconceivable that laws should exist without a law giver and a law enforcer to see to it that everything acts according to the laws. “God, the author says, “is the legislator, whose laws we discover through science”. When Fleming was thanked for the discovery of penicillin, he said: “I wonder about this gratitude. I did not make penicillin; nature makes it. I only discovered it.” Actually, the facts of nature are there, awaiting discovery by man in his eternal quest for knowledge. Since they are governed by laws, these facts are orderly and ultimately knowable. Great scientists, who knew the structure of the universe and probed its mysteries, have been believers. According to Einstein, the universe is the realization of an idea. “Now where there is an idea there must be one who produced the idea”. He refused to abandon his theory of relativity saying that “neither logical nor experimental reasons could be cited, nor consideration of simplicity and beauty, against it”. Now, if the universe is beauty fulfilled, there must be an artist to conceive it. In the University of Princeton, carved above the fireplace in one of the halls, are these words of Einstein: “God who created and is in nature is very difficult to understand, but he is not arbitrary or malicious. “The great scientist saw in nature a thinker and an artist. A God who thinks and a God who seeks beauty. Another gifted writer who was not particularly a believer to begin with was fascinated by the existence of certain natural laws within the human mind. A profound thinker and a hard-headed logician, the books written by this great teacher travelled through the path of reason to find his God. His was a reasoned faith. According to him, “The sense of right and wrong’’ entertained by humans is concrete clue to the meaning of the universe. He begins with usually observable facts that come to the surface when two persons quarrel. Very often, the one accuses the other about violating certain standard of behaviour. Remarks such as “How would you like it anyone did the same to you?’’ “You promised to do so; but didn’t keep it!” “I did this to you; but you did not…’’ and so on. He detects behind these statements a certain unwritten code of conduct, which one party refers to. The other party does not dispute the code but may at the most provide an excuse why he could not conform to the code. The author puts it thus: “There are two odd things about human nature. First, that they were haunted by the idea of a sort of behaviour they ought to practise — what you might call fair play, or decency or morality, or the Law of Nature. Second that they did not in fact do so.. The term Natural Law as applied to stones and trees only describes what “happens’’ to them under certain conditions. But the Law of Human Nature tells you what human beings ought to do, and don’t. In the case of humans, we have the facts (how men do behave) and something else (how they ought to behave). Human beings have some sense; they see that you can’t have any real safety or happiness except in a society where everyone plays fair and it is because they see this that they try to behave decently. But this is not the whole story. But as an explanation of why we feel as we do about Right and Wrong it just misses the point. If we ask, “why ought I to be unselfish?” and the reply is “Because it is good for society’’ it evokes another question: “Why should I care what is good for society except when it happens to benefit me personally?’’ And then the answer obviously is: “Because you ought to be unselfish.” And if anyone cares to go deep he can not but conclude that the rule of right and wrong is not something conjured up by human beings but a reality. Human beings find that a real law, which is not authored by humans, exists within them—the Moral Law.
— M. P. K. Kutty |
Eight-yr-old girl raped in Sarai Rohilla New Delhi, November 22 The girl had gone for a function where the public was being offered food last evening. A youth, finding her alone, went and told her that he would arrange more food for her provided she would accompany him. The victim was later spotted alone in the Ashok Vihar area by a head constable who in turn explained the matter to the victim’s parents. The victim was taken to Bara Hindu Rao Hospital where the rape incident was confirmed. A case of rape has been registered and efforts were being made to trace the whereabouts of the absconding suspect. With the arrest of four persons the North-West district police claimed to have busted a gang of dacoits planning to commit a dacoity in the Pushpanjali area. Two countrymade weapons and a button-actuated knife were seized from their possession. Based on secret information that the criminals would be coming to the Mangolpuri area to commit a dacoity in the Pushpanjali area the police apprehended Akbar (26), Ismail (24), Farooque (22) and Chand Mian (35), all residents of Bangladesh. During interrogation the accused told the police that their two other associates managed to escape under cover of darkness. Gillette India Limited in assistance with the Economic Offences Wing after raiding two shops at the Lajpat Rai Market arrested two persons and seized fake Duracell products acquired through illegal route from China. Mr Balwinder Singh Talwandi, press secretary, Shiromani Akali Dal, has demanded Jathedar Avtar Singh Hit to come out with the actual balance of the 1984 Sikh riot victim funds. Mr Talwandi said even though Rs 34 lakh was received by the Akali Dal for helping the riot victims only Rs 5 lakh had been spent and there was no account for the rest of the money. The Yamuna company has announced load-shedding in Vishwas Nagar, Bholanath Nagar, Krishna Nagar and its adjoining areas on November 23 from 10 am to 4 pm. |
CIA staff foil dacoity, four arrested Sonepat, November 22 According to a report, the police also seized three countrymade pistols, eight live cartridges and other deadly weapons from the possession of the arrested persons who were identified as Surinder, alias Sonu, Amit, alias Meeta, of Guhna village, Shiv Charan, alias Shibbu, and Krishan of Murthal village. Giving details of the arrests of the miscreants, the Superintendent of Police, Mr Paramjit Singh Ahlawat, told mediapersons here today a party of the CIA staff was patrolling the area near Palri village when secret information was received about the miscreants who were planning to commit a dacoity and rob the owner of the sand dunes of cash. The police, he said, immediately swung into action and conducted a surprise raid at their hideouts and succeeded in arresting four culprits on the spot. However, some others, including Pardeep, Om Parkash, alias Rana, and Surinder, alias Khilari, all residents of Murthal village, however, managed to escape under cover of darkness. The SP further disclosed that the suspects during the course of interrogation confessed to their involvement in a case of divesting a woman of gold ornaments and Rs 60,000 in cash after entering her house between the Jind bypass and the Hisar bypass. Similarly, they had stolen Rs 60,000 from a truck on the Rohtak-Jhajjar road and snatched a Tata Sumo near Gurukul, Rohtak. Thereafter, the suspects had snatched Rs 27,000 after firing shots at the owner of a petrol pump near Palri village on October 27 last. According to the SP, the police have registered cases under various sections of the IPC and the Indian Arms Act against the suspects and further investigations are in progress. The suspects were produced before the CJM who remanded three of them in police custody and one in judicial custody. |
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