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Paswan
rules out poll pact with BJP BJP
undecided on alliance with INLD Haryana
to present Budget in next session 7
killed in taxi-truck collision near Jhajjar Gujjars
say no to dowry |
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Case
against Hooda politically motivated, says Sumita Safety
audit of railway division Remove
discrepancy in LPG pricing: Cong Ekta
Shakti chief moves HC DC
assures farmers on waterlogging
New railway reservation counter opened at Ambala States
to have medical institutes Intervention on drug abuse mooted Sun
flower MSP fixed at Rs 1,400 per quintal Police
strategy to check copying Woman
strangled over dowry Life
term for four in dowry death case Choice
of nominees left to Sonia 
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Paswan rules out poll pact with BJP Panipat, January 28 Mr Paswan also criticised the speech made by the Bihar Governor on Republic Day that there was no law and order situation in Bihar. He said although the law and order situation was bad in Bihar but it was not the job of the Governor to make such remarks on Republic Day. The Governor could send report about the law and order situation in the state to the Centre. Talking about a pre- poll alliance in Bihar, Mr Paswan said the party was working on the possibility of an alliance with the Congress and other parties. Earlier, launching campaign for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, while addressing the gathering at Circus Ground here, Mr Paswan announced that the state president of the party, Capt Shamsher Singh Malik, would contest the elections from Sonepat. The names of other candidates would be announced soon he added. Addressing the gathering, Mr Paswan, alleged that the BJP had failed to check
communalism, during its tenure. Citing an example, he said Muslims were killed in riots in Gujarat despite that Mr Narender Modi was not changed as the Chief Minister. That was the reason of his separation from the NDA. Five dalits were lynched in Jhajjar but no one had been arrested till date. Both the Centre and the INLD
government had failed to provide justice to the families of the deceased, he added. “If the party is voted to power, the party will work to include right to education and employment as a fundamental right,” said Mr Paswan while
criticising the education policy of the NDA. Highlighting his achievement for the uplift of the poor sections of the society, Mr Paswan said when he was Minister of the Railways he had regularised thousand of underpaid workers. While he was Minister of Telecommunications, he had provided better class facility to the employees of the department. “There are 10 crore “phariwalas” in the country but no one ever thought about there problems. The Lok Janshakti would provide them loan without interest if voted to power, Mr Paswan added. |
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BJP undecided on alliance with INLD Chandigarh, January 28 Sources said a decision in this regard was expected on February 1 when BJP President M. Venkaiah Naidu was due to visit Chandigarh. He would preside over a meeting of the core group of the Haryana BJP to elicit the views of state party leaders about the continuation of the party’s alliance with the INLD. Sources say barring the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr I.D. Swami, all other four BJP MPs from the state were opposed to the continuation of the alliance with the INLD. However, now even Mr Swami, sources say, has conveyed to the high command that the BJP should not share the burden of
anti-incumbency sentiments in Haryana. The sitting BJP MPs are believed to have told the high command that the party would do better if it contested all 10 Lok Sabha seats on its own in Haryana. Other state BJP leaders also want to break the alliance with the INLD. Sources say in the past four years the INLD leadership had humiliated and insulted leaders of its alliance partner to such an extent that a majority of them are not willing to cooperate with the ruling party in any manner. BJP leaders feel that even if the high command forced them to continue the alliance with the INLD, neither partner would be sincere to each other. Despite their best efforts, they would not be able to transfer the BJP vote to the INLD candidates. Similarly, they feel that in certain constituencies the INLD voter would not vote for the BJP nominees. BJP leaders say even now when the elections are round the (MORE) corner, a senior INLD minister has been saying at public rallies that the BJP-led Centre had discriminated against Haryana and had not given its full share in the Central funds. State BJP leaders are also in the dark about any contact having been made by the high command with the Haryana Vikas Party of Mr Bansi Lal. Meanwhile, Mr Ajay Singh Chautala, the elder son of the Chief Minister, has decided to contest from the Bhiwani Lok Sabha constituency. Sources in the INLD say if Mr Chautala shifts to another constituency, it would amount to admitting that the ruling party is not sure about its popularity in Bhiwani. And this would demoralise the party workers. |
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Haryana to present Budget in next session Chandigarh, January 28 This belies the speculation about a simultaneous poll in the state. Had Mr Om Prakash Chautala, Chief Minister, been keen on a simultaneous poll, the government would have presented an interim Budget, official sources pointed out. The Chautala-led Government is slated to complete its term in February, 2005. While Mr Chautala has already ruled out an early poll, the Opposition thinks otherwise. Official sources told TNS that the government would propose continuation of the Budget session for at least two weeks from February 9. The Speaker, Mr Satbir Singh Kadian, constituted a seven-member business advisory committee (BAC) for smooth conduct of business in the House. The sources said a meeting of the state Cabinet also had been tentatively fixed on February 3 for endorsing various draft Bills to be presented during the session. Since the notification about the general election is expected any time after the dissolution of the Lok Sabha on February 6, making the model code of conduct functional, the Chief Minister has decided to convene a meeting of the Cabinet for February 3 so that its decisions did not violate the code. |
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7 killed in taxi-truck
collision near Jhajjar Jhajjar, January 28 According to information, a Bolero jeep was coming from Machhroli village towards Jhajjar. It clashed with the truck coming from the opposite direction when the driver of the jeep tried to overtake another one, about 2 km ahead of Dadanpur bus stand. The eyewitnesses said the truck had halted when the taxi carrying about 18 passengers collided with it. Four passengers died on the spot while another three succumbed on their way to the Civil Hospital here. Four others critically injured were rushed to the PGI at Rohtak. The deceased have been identified as Dharam Pal (35), Angad (40), both residents of Kheri Taluka village, Pratap Sharma (40) and his daughter Neelam (15) of Ahir Dhani village, and Ranbir Singh (35), Krishan (24) and Ashok (20), all residents of Dadanpur village. Some students said they were leaning outside the overloaded taxi when the accident took place. The driver of the taxi sustained minor injuries. He fled the accident spot. Such was the impact of the collision that passengers fell from the jeep, on to the road, killing some on the spot. A case has been registered against both drivers. Villagers from nearby villages helped the victims and took them to the hospitals. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Mohinder Kumar, get announced that the families of the victims would get Rs 1 lakh each under the Devi Rakshak scheme and the Red Cross would incur the medical expenses of the injured. |
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Gujjars say no to dowry Panipat, January 28 The campaign was launched recently by representatives of the Gujjar community from 50 villages of various districts, including Sonepat, Panipat and Karnal at a “mahapanchayat” held in Samalkhan village 18 Km from Panipat. The decision of the “Mahapanchayat” is implemented among Chhokar, Tanwar and Rawal Gotras of the Gujjar community in these districts. Under a system evolved by the Gujjar community, a marriage, which earlier cost a few lakhs, could be solemnised in a couple of hundred rupees. To reduce marriage expenses representatives of Gujjars have decided that there would be no exchange of money or gifts during engagement ceremony. At the time of marriage, there should be no wedding gifts or exchange of money. The “Mahapanchayat” also banned video filming, band and dance programmes and reading of the gift list and use of liquor. Besides it, the “Mahapanchayat” has also banned the exchange of gifts from girl’s relative side and restricted the number of persons between five and 50 in the marriage party. The Mahapanchayat also fixed Rupees 1 to 1100 on ceremonies of marriage. President of the ‘Mahapanchayat’ and former finance minister of Haryana, Kattar Singh Chhokar, said that finding the scale of dowry in rich families as wedding gifts to the bride from her family. Villagers had also started exchanging gifts and spending huge money in marriage. Recently two cases of harassment due to dowry had been brought to the notice of members of the community. The members of the community called the ‘Mahapanchayat’ and resolved to “say no to dowry” unanimously. Mr Chhokar said that a committee of seven members had also been set up to deal with the cases of harassment due to dowry. Those found taking or accepting of dowry could be fined, he added. He further said law prohibited dowry in 1961, but there had been alarming increase in dowry harassment cases in India. The youth should unite to root out this age-old practice, Mr Chhokar said. |
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Case against Hooda politically motivated, says
Sumita Ambala, January 28 Later, talking to mediapersons, she said the state government had registered false against several senior leaders of the Haryana Congress. She said she had decided to strengthen the block and district units of the Mahila Congress in the state. She said those district presidents of the Mahila Congress who had not been working actively for the party would be removed. She said that after visiting all district units, she would take some decision in this regard. She said all district units had been directed to add more women members to the party and raise the issues of atrocities against woman in their areas strongly. Criticising the NDA government, she said the Union Government had not made any efforts to make consensuses over the Bill in which the provision of reservation of 33 per cent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the Assembly was made. She said party President Sonia Gandhi had always supported reservation. Ms Singh said the BJP had been exploiting the issue of foreign origin of Ms Gandhi for political interests. The Mahila Congress would soon demonstrate before the residence of the Prime Minister to lodge its protest in this regard. She said the Haryana Mahila Congress would welcome the entry of Ms Priyanka Gandhi and Mr Rahul Gandhi in active politics. The district president of Ambala unit, Ms Amarjit Kaur Sodhi, and a former president of the DCC, Mr Balwant Gupta, were also present. |
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Spurt
in crime against women, alleges Sumita Panchkula, January 28 Addressing a press conference here, Ms Singh alleged under the Chautala regime in the past four years, the atrocities against women such as the rape, kidnapping and dowry cases had staged a comeback. Coming down heavily on the Chautala government for its various acts of omission and commission, Ms Singh alleged that the rule of jungle prevailed in Haryana and the prices had touched a new high. The Chautala government was on its way out and the Congress would form the next government. Demanding 33 per cent reservation for women in the state assemblies and Parliament, she alleged that the BJP had “defeated” the legislation on the women quota in Parliament. |
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Safety audit of
railway division Ambala, January 28 The safety audit team was led by the Chief Safety Officer, Northern Railway, Mr Ajay Shukla. The team checked a portion of the track on foot. The safety audit team inspected various safety aspects. After carrying out the safety audit, Mr Shukla observed that there had been improvement in the safety aspect of Ambala Division. “During the safety audit, we lay stress only on safety and no other issues are taken up. We have checked the records,” he said. Mr Shukla said that the safety audit team comprises officers from the electrical, mechanical, civil engineering and signal department: “If we take a comparative view, we find that there has been a reduction in the number of accidents in the Northern Railway. While 43 accidents took place in the Northern Railway last year, during the corresponding period this year 36 accidents have taken place. This reduction is despite the fact that the number of trains have gone up,” he said. “In Ambala Division also the number of accidents has gone down. While eight accidents took place last year, during the corresponding period this year three accidents have taken place,” he added. He pointed out that a corporate safety plan had been formed. “The plan is for 10 years from 2003. The plan has identified
weaknesses and gone into exhaustive detail to strengthen it. It has been felt that good tracks, bridges and qualitative staff training help in safety,” he said. To a query, Mr Shukla said that “Raksha Kavatch” is currently being field tested in the North Eastern Frontier Railway. The “Kavatch” may be introduced in other railway divisions after the testings are complete. “The special railway safety fund is of Rs 17,000 crore,” he said. |
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Remove discrepancy in LPG pricing: Cong Ambala, January 28 Mr Jain said that a mistake committed by the government had led to the residents of Ambala cantonment and city being forced to pay Rs 8 more on each LPG cylinder than in neighbouring areas. He said the pricing discrepancy had been caused as the price fixation for Ambala was done from Lalru in Punjab instead of Karnal in Haryana. “The mistake in price fixation is proving costly for the residents of Ambala,” he said. Mr Jain said that the ministry concerned must set right the mistake and the excess charge to the Ambala consumers must be refunded. “If the government fails to take corrective action, we will be forced to start an agitation in public interest soon,” he said. Earlier, Mr Jain presided over a meeting which was held to discuss on the prospects of various Congress activists with regard to the party candidature in the Lok Sabha elections for the Ambala seat. A panel of names was deliberated upon. The Congress activists strongly condemned the government decision to charge Rs 6,000 per square yard from the shopkeepers of Rai Randhawa Market. They demanded that the charges should be low. |
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Ekta Shakti chief moves HC Chandigarh, January 28 Mr Verma, an HCS officer, sought voluntary retirement from service on September 1 last. He also submitted three months salary amounting to over Rs 77,000 so that if his request for voluntary retirement could not be accepted, his request should be treated as resignation. However, the government turned down his requests on September 8 last on the plea that criminal and disciplinary proceedings were pending against him. Mr Verma wrote back that his entire retirement benefits might be retained by the government till the pendency of the proceedings against him. The government rejected his request and returned the bank draft submitted by him. Mr Verma, who has made Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala, a party in the petition, alleged that Mr Chautala had a rivalry with his father, Mr Shiv Ram Verma, who was a Minister in the Devi Lal Ministry in 1979. The elder Verma had sided with Mr Bhajan Lal when he toppled the Devi Lal Government. The Ekta Shakti President alleged that when Mr Chautala became the Chief Minister, the latter informed the UPSC that disciplinary proceedings against Mr Verma were pending as a result of which he was denied nomination to the IAS. Mr Verma claimed that at that time no charge sheet was served on him. He contended that his resignation was not being accepted with a purpose. Mr Chautala did not want him to participate in politics. A Division Bench comprising Mr Justice Swatantar Kumar and Mr Justice S.S. Saron issued notice to the respondents for February 11. |
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DC assures farmers on waterlogging Fatehabad, January 28 Gorakhpur is one of the worst-hit. Farmers, whose land falls on the sides of the Fatehabad branch canal or the Sidhmukh branch have been losing their crops to waterlogging. The farmers alleged that the authorities concerned were showing an indifferent attitude despite repeated representations. This correspondent visited the site today and found that several acres falling on the two sides of the canals had been inundated due to waterlogging. Poor quality of construction in brick-lining of the canals and its poor upkeep is the biggest reason. The correspondent stated that the brick-lining of the sides of the canals had been damaged at several places. Growth of shrubs in the canals was proof of their poor maintenance. The farmers told the correspondent that the government had earlier installed pumps on both sides of the Fatehabad branch to pump out water, checking the problem to a great extent. However, the pumps became non-functional in absence of proper maintenance. Mr Sahrawat said the government was seized of the matter and steps in this regard would be taken soon. He said that he had apprised the Financial Secretary, Irrigation Department, Mr Anil Razdaan, of the problem. He said shallow tubewells that were installed to counter water logging had not proved very effective. |
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Genetic analysis of Red Indian fowl conducted Panchkula, January 28 Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Srivatsava said this was the first study on the detailed genetic analysis of the fowl using mitochondrial and micro-satellite DNA. The department believes that the study will throw light on the purity of
the Red Indian Jungle fowl and lay the foundation of the future genetic studies of great practical value to the poultry industry in the world, he added. The results of the study undertaken in collaboration with the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, will be presented at a meeting in Van Bhavan in Sector 6 here on January 30 by Dr J.Nagaraju, Staff Scientist of the centre at Hyderabad, Mr RD Jakati, Chief Wildlife Warden. With a view to breed the pheasants found in Haryana and release them in nature, a Pheasant Breeding Centre was established at Morni in early
nineties. The Red Indian Fowl is a progenitor of the poultry birds. Mr Srivatsava said the Red Indian fowls population in the wild was contaminated with the genes of domestic fowls and the pure Red Jungle Fowl was almost extinct. The results of the study were likely to be a break through in the area of the conservation of this variety. Mr Jakati claimed that 14 birds were released in the wild in 1998 and seven in 1999. In 2000, the number of the birds released was 10, he added. |
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New railway reservation counter opened at Ambala Chandigarh, January 28 Besides this railway reservation centres have been commissioned at Dhuri, Khanna and Kalpa, the remote tribal area of Himachal
Pardesh. Mr Keshav Chandra, Divisional Railway Manager, Ambala, hoisted the National Flag on Republic Day, a spokesperson of the Northern Railways said. Mr Chandra said record loading of 1,300 wagers was done in a day. He said day and night raids were conducted by officers and no accident took place in the dense fog. Mr Chandra thanked all officers and staff for their efforts and asked them to keep up the vigil. Pointing out to another achievement Mr Chandra said the Engineering Department of the Ambala division changed the three steel bridges to concrete. Apart from this interlocking was commissioned at Bathinda Railway Station in nine days. During the year the Ambala division celebrated 100 years of the completion of the Kalka — Shimla narrow gauge section, he added. The function was attended by Mr Aneet
Dulat, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Mr Atish Singh, Senior Divisional Operations, Manager, Mr
G.S. Heera, Senior Divisional Finance Manager, Mr Jaswant Singh Chauhan, Senior Divisional Signal and Telecom Engineer, Mr
G.M. Singh, Senior Divisional Safety Officer and Mr Ashok Sharma, Senior Divisional Mehchanical Engineer, among others. |
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States to have medical institutes Karnal, January 28 Speaking on the occasion Mr Swami said that medical institutes like AIIMS would be set-up in all the states in a phased manner. A medical institute will be set up in Haryana in the second phase. He added that government had distributed Kisan Credit Cards to the 325 lakh farmers of the
country. He said that rupees 87000 crore had been given to the farmers through these credit cards. The Health Mela was organised to provide medicare free of cost to people. Mr Ramesh
Rana, local MLA said health cards of every family would be prepared on the pattern of ration cards. People on this card can get medical treatment in any civil hospital and no fee would be charged from them. An exhibition on various schemes including Devi Rupak Yojana has also been put up in the Health
Mela. Mr R.S. Doon, Deputy Commissioner, Dr L.S. Kaushik, Director, Health Services Haryana, and Dr. O.P.
Mittal, Civil Surgeon were also present on the occasion. |
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Intervention on drug abuse mooted Chandigarh, January 28 A study undertaken by the department to assess the extent of drug abuse in two villages in Haryana, indicated that 48 per cent of the male population was consuming tobacco. About 28 per cent of the men were consuming alcohol and an equal number was taking both alcohol and tobacco while 19 per cent were taking bhang and other drugs. The department has recommended the need for launching a community-based intervention at the village level to overcome the limitations of the hospital-based approach of de-addiction and Training Centre (DDTC). Interestingly, 75 per cent of this population wanted to overcome the dependence on alcohol and drugs. The brunt was being faced by womenfolk in the form of quarrels, domestic violence and reduction in family income. A team of doctors and workers from the PGI, who have been running a health service programme in the villages, organised a series of interactive sessions with the villagers along with members from the Alcohol Anonymous group. The villagers were made to understand the ill-effects of alcohol and drugs on the body. The villagers also discussed medical and other related problems being faced by them due to drug abuse. Those associated with the field study said one of the questions the team was frequently asked was the contradiction in societal attitude towards alcohol consumption. |
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Sun flower MSP fixed at Rs 1,400 per quintal Kurukshetra, January 28 Mr Sandhu urged the farmers to diversify into new crops to maintain the fertility of soil. He said the Government would provide certified seeds of various crops, especially sunflower. The Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Agriculture, Mr K.S. Bhoria, also spoke on the occasion. The Regional Manager of National Fertiliser and Chemical Limited, Mr Vikramjeet Singh, said two computerised laboratories had been set up at Sriganganagar and Agra to facilitate farmers as tests related to agriculture and soil were being conducted free of cost at these laboratories. The Director, Agriculture, Mr Rajeev Arora honoured farmers of the district on the occasion. |
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Police strategy to check copying Chandigarh, January 28 Dr M.S. Malik, DGP, said here today that all those, including police personnel, found encouraging the students to use unfair means would be dealt with sternly. Special focus would be on super-sensitive and sensitive centres. He directed the Inspectors-General of Police of the Ambala, Rohtak, Hisar and Gurgaon ranges to get the list of sensitive examination centres for the middle, 10th and 10+2 classes from the Haryana School Education Board and for graduate classes from Rohtak and Kurukshetra Universities. Dr Malik directed the officers to check corruption and reduce pendency of cases. Crime against women should also be checked with a firm hand. |
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Woman strangled over dowry Kaithal, January 28 Mr Lakhmi Chand of Karnal, father of the victim, lodged a complaint with the Pundri police station that his daughter Suman was married to Jai Karan of Fatehpur about five years ago and that he gave sufficient dowry at that time. A few days ago, he received a call from his daughter that her husband had demanded Rs 2 lakh and had threatened that she would be turned out of the house if his demand was not met. He received a call from Fatehpur yesterday that his daughter was seriously ill. However, when he contacted his daughter’s
neighbours, was told that his daughter had committed suicide by hanging. He suspects the hand of his daughter’s in-law in the incident. |
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Life term for four in dowry death case Rohtak, January 28 Pronouncing the sentence yesterday, Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Jain stated that in case of default of payment of the fines, the convicts would undergo further jail for three years each. Those convicted were deceased Reena's husband Suneel, brother-in-law Anil, mother-in-law Rajkala and father-in-law Hem Chander.
— UNI |
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Choice of nominees left to Sonia Chandigarh, January 28 This decision was taken at a meeting of the committee held here today under the chairmanship of HPCC chief Bhajan Lal. The meeting was attended, among others, by CLP leader Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, a former MP, Mr Mange Ram Gupta, MLA, and General Secretary of the HPCC. |
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260 pirated VCDs seized Karnal, January 28 The raid was conducted on a complaint of Mr Ashok Chhabra, managing director of northern India Motion Picture Copyright Protection. A case under Sections 51, 52-A, 63 and 68-A of the Copyright Act has been registered in this regard. |
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Woman strangled over dowry Kaithal, January 28 Mr Lakhmi Chand of Karnal, father of the victim, lodged a complaint with the Pundri police station that his daughter Suman was married to Jai Karan of Fatehpur about five years ago and that he gave sufficient dowry at that time. A few days ago, he received a call from his daughter that her husband had demanded Rs 2 lakh and had threatened that she would be turned out of the house if his demand was not met. He received a call from Fatehpur yesterday that his daughter was seriously ill. However, when he contacted his daughter’s neighbourers, was told that his daughter had committed suicide by hanging. He suspects the hand of his daughter’s in-law in the incident. |
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Postal staff stage dharna Ambala, January 28 The employees raised slogans and demanded implementation of their demands. Mr H.L. Sidhu and Mr Manjit Singh said that if their demands were not met, all the postal trade unions would take action which included a strike. The demands included rationalising the beat of postmen, privatisation of registered and speed post, reduction of staff, abolishing vacant posts and computerisation and formation of the Sixth Pay Commission. |
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Power bill centres to open on Jan 31 Chandigarh, January 28 A spokesman of the Haryana power utilities said here today that it would enable to pay bills on the last day of the month. |
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School board helpline Chandigarh, January 28 |
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