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Ambala, February 20
Dr Suraj Bhan, a former Governor of Himachal Pradesh, is all set to take over as Chairman of the National Commission for Schedule Castes. Dr Suraj Bhan in Ambala on Friday. Youth Cong to foil rigging of election
Haryana BJP turns to Akalis
BJP betrayed 8 parties:
Ajay
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Liquor quota up for defence staff Haryana okays 2004-05 excise policy Chandigarh, February 20 The Haryana Cabinet approved the excise policy for 2004-2005, which would come into effect on April 1. Haryana staff to join Feb 24 strike
Stress on safety of industrial
workers
Motorists looted at gunpoint for an hour!
Drug-maker challenges report of govt analyst
Loan scam suspect gets bail
One found murdered in Rohtak
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Suraj Bhan set to take over as SC panel
chief
Ambala, February 20 Talking to The Tribune, Dr Suraj Bhan said he would assume charge on February 23. “The notification has been issued and the warrant of appointment is expected to be signed by the President any moment now,” he said. Dr Suraj Bhan, who has worked tirelessly for the betterment of the Schedule Castes and the Schedule Tribes, said Mr Phool Chand would be the Vice-Chairman and there would be three other members. “The National Commission for Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes has been bifurcated”. he said. Dr Suraj Bhan, who had also been the Governor of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, said he was happy for getting an opportunity to continue his work for the Schedule Castes. “It is an important responsibility and the commission will intensively look into various aspects pertaining to the Schedule Castes,” he said. “I will closely monitor the working of the commission for one month and then I will seek the services of experienced persons,” he stated. Dr Suraj Bhan opined that he had faced a dilemma of whether to take up the chairmanship of the national commission after he had already served as Governor. “However, when I thought about the Schedule Castes, I did not have to think twice. I had to take up this work for the welfare of the Schedule Castes,” he said. He said after assuming charge he would concentrate on three factors. “First, I will look into the Special Component Plan. This plan envisages that the percentage of budgetary allocation for the Schedule Castes must be according to the percentage of their population”. Dr Suraj Bhan said the second point to be stressed upon was the need for the implementation of the SC/ST Atrocities Act. “The third point is the implementation of the Governor’s committee report. The report was submitted by the committee in April 2002, but its implementation is yet to take place,” he said. The former Governor observed that. “Article 338 states that there should be an officer to look after the interest of the Schedule Castes and the Schedule Tribes. “There used to be a commissioner for them. The issue was raised in Parliament that one person was not enough so a multi-member commission should be formed. Now, the commission has been bifurcated as it was felt that the problems being faced by the Schedule Castes are different than the problems being faced by the Schedule Tribes,” he said. To a query regarding atrocity on Schedule Castes, he said he was considering the possibility of declaring sensitive areas as atrocity-prone areas. |
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House panel indicts INLD
Government
Chandigarh, February 20 But when the allegation is levelled by a statutory body, it has to be true. The Committee on the Welfare of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha in its 28th report said that it “was sorry to point out that the government did not send any information about the action taken against the officers or officials who had not responded to the recommendations of the committee.” After the committee for 2000-01 failed to get a statement showing the reservation and representation of the reserved categories from the Industries Department for long, it “observed that during all these three years, the government took about six months instead of a fortnight for supplying similar information... such exercise on the part of the officers or officials concerned shows their indifferent attitude towards the committee and also their callousness”. Tired of the officers’ efforts to stonewall the committee’s inquiry, it finally decided to ask the Chief Secretary to constitute a committee for looking into the indifferent attitude of the officers responsible for not responding to its directions. It also asked the Chief Secretary to inform the committee about the outcome of the inquiry within six months. The Industries Department was not alone in incuring the wrath of the committee. In the case of the Haryana Tourism Corporation and the Forest Department also, the committee had a similar experience and had to recommend action against the erring officers. The committee went on to observe that in the case of the tourism Corporation the non-supply of information to the committee in time by the officers “can be termed as an obstruction in its parliamentary duties”. It recommended action against the erring officers. However, the committee had to say again in its 28th report that the government must initiate action against the guilty and send the action-taken report within three months. While examining the representation of the reserved category employees in various departments, the committee found that the ban on direct recruitment was the main stumbling block in filling the required quota of Scheduled Caste employees. The committee was headed by Mr Nishan Singh, the INLD MLA from Tohana. |
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Youth Cong to foil rigging of election
Rohtak, February 20 The HYC activists were being trained to foil attempts by the ruling party workers and supporters to capture polling booths in the elections, Mayna said, asserting that the HYC would not allow the use of unfair means in the elections in Haryana. Terming both the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government at the Centre and Om Prakash Chautala led INLD government in Haryana as “anti people’’, Mr Mayna said the Youth Congress would organise a statewide awareness drive to expose the misdeeds of both the NDA and the INLD government. In Rohtak, the programme would be launched by holding a public meeting at Ladhout village on February 22. —
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Haryana BJP turns to Akalis Ambala, February 20 The General Secretary of the Haryana Akali Dal, Ranbir Singh Fauji, said here yesterday that the alliance between the BJP and the Akali Dal in Haryana was on the cards. He said one round of informal talks in this regard between leaders of two parties had already been held at which the possibility of a tie-up between the two parties was discussed in detail. He said most Akali leaders in Haryana were in favour of an alliance with the BJP. He said the President of the Haryana BJP, Mr Ganeshi Lal, had held a long discussion with the president of the Haryana Akali Dal, Mr Sukhdev Singh Gobindgarh, on the telephone yesterday. Mr Fauji said the BJP was ready to offer the Sirsa parliamentary seat to the Akali Dal, whereas the Akali Dal leaders had demanded the Kurukshetra seat. He said a deputation of the party had met senior leader of the party and Union Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and requested him to persuade the BJP high command to leave the Kurukshetra seat for the SAD. It is learnt that some leaders of the Haryana Akali Dal are of the view that the possibility of an alliance with the INLD should be explored at every cost. They are of the belief that the INLD has a mass base in rural areas and politically it will be more beneficial for the Akali Dal to forge an alliance with the INLD. |
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BJP betrayed 8 parties:
Ajay
Karnal, February 20 Justifying the break away of relations between the INLD and the BJP, he said the BJP was adopting “use and throw” policy with its alliance partners. “The BJP has betrayed eight regional political parties in the country,” he said.
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Liquor quota up for defence staff
Chandigarh, February 20 Defence personnel and ex-servicemen will now be able to keep 18 bottles of liquor as against six at present. The system of integrated quota has been done away with. The quota for the next year has been fixed at 425 lakh proof litre and 175 lakh proof litre for country liquor (CL) and Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL), respectively, with a facility to get up to 10 per cent of the CL quota convertible to that of IMFL. An additional quota of up to 10 per cent can be lifted by paying a licence fee of 25 per cent. The additional quota has been fixed at 25 per cent, 20 per cent, 30 per cent and 25 per cent respectively, for the four quarters. The restrictions of one ‘ahata’ for 10 liquor vends has been withdrawn. The sale of liquor in pouches has also been allowed in the smuggling-prone areas to be notified by the Excise Commissioner. The bars in Haryana can now sell medium-range IMFL along with Bacardi, rum, vodka etc also, a facility withdrawn in the 2003-04 policy. A new category of bar licences has been added with an enhanced licence fee of Rs 10 lakh where imported foreign liquor can also be served. This has been done keeping in view the fast-changing corporate culture in Gurgaon and other places around Delhi and Panchkula. Following the withdrawal of the Hotel, Restaurants Approval and Classification Committee by the Central Government, a separate committee has been constituted at the district level to classify hotels and restaurants. The label fee has been reduced drastically. The sale of IMFL has been permitted through rural vends also. The export fee has been marginally increased. The licence fee of distilleries, breweries and wholesale liquor vends has been increased. The licensee would have to keep the vends closed on Republic Day, Independence Day and Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday. |
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Haryana staff to join Feb 24 strike
Chandigarh, February 20 In a statement issued here today, Mr Azad Singh Malik and Mr Poonam Rati, Deputy General Secretary of the Haryana Sarb Karamchari Sangh and President of the Haryana Karamchari Mahasangh, respectively, said the government should restore the employees’ right to strike through legislation. The strike was a democratic weapon in the hands of the employees to protest against the oppressive policies of the government. They also demanded that the government should put a stop to the privatisation of public sector undertakings. Because of these policies, unemployment was on the rise and prices were increasing. Ridiculing the “feelgood” claim of the NDA Government, they said only the affluent were feeling good while the farmers and the working class had been feeling bad. Activists of the joint action committee today visited various government offices here and in Panchkula to persuade the employees to participate in the strike. |
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Stress on safety of industrial
workers
Yamunanagar, February 20 Mr Sharma, who informed that the average accident rate at the national level is 11.6, stressed the importance of safe, secure and healthy environment for the workers in the factories. He stated that a better and comfortable workplace leads to better productivity and cordial industrial relations. He emphasised that all concerned should make efforts to ensure the compliance of safety, health and welfare of workers as provided under the Factory Act. Mr S.M. Madan, Executive Director, Haryana Council, informed that 12 such seminars would be organised in major industrial towns of the state. He emphasised that a change in attitude is needed to ensure safety, health and welfare of the workers. Mr Madan informed that there are 42 crore workers in India, out of which 8 crore are in the organised sector, while the rest are in unorganised sector. He further stated that the minimum monthly wages in Haryana are Rs 2200, which is number two in India. |
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Dismissed staff burn CM’s
effigy
Rohtak, February 20 They took out a procession and raised anti-government slogans. The protest was organised by the Haryana Sanyukta Sangharsh Samiti of Retrenched and Dismissed Employees. The protest march was preceded by a meeting of retrenched employees of the Minor Irrigation and Tubewell Corporation (MITC), Confed, the Haryana Export Corporation and members of the Haryana Police Association. Addressing the meeting Mr Jai Narain Kaushik, convener of the samiti, said it would organise similar demonstrations in all 10 Lok Sabha constituencies before the poll to apprise the people of the anti-employee policies of the government. Mr Kaushik said a delegation of retrenched employees would also meet the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, to request her to include their demand for absorption in other government departments in the party’s manifesto. |
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Adopt technology to raise milk yield,
say dairy scientists
Karnal, February 20 He was addressing a group of veterinary officers of Arunachal Pradesh here for special training on “Artificial Insemination and Embryo Transfer Technology” in the NDRI campus from February 16 to 21, 2004. The Director said that “The biggest challenge before the dairy industry in the country today was to maintain milk production and improve its quality as per international standards.” He stressed better co-ordination between the Dairy Scientists and the Dairy Development Department of the states to enable transfer the latest technology among the farmers at the grassroot level. The visiting veterinary officers of Arunachal Pradesh were exposed to practical training in planning and management of bull station, care and handling of frozen semen, semen collection techniques, laboratory evaluation of semen before and after preservation, improving reproductive efficiency in field condition, Embryo Transfer Technology, application of trans-rectal ultrasonography, in-vitro production of embryos, ovum pick-up technology, embryo sexing and fertility evaluation of bulls through in-vitro techniques. |
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Motorists looted at gunpoint for an hour! Ambala, February 20 Despite intensive police patrolling, the looting incident took place near Daher village. The looting which started at about 2.45 am, carried on for about an hour. Vehicles were forced
to stop on the Naraingarh-Sadhaura road as a
tree trunk had been placed on the road. As soon as the vehicles stopped, two youths,
one of them armed
with a pistol, demanded money from the truck drivers. The youths, who had covered their face with mufflers, threatened the drivers with dire consequences. While the
driver of the truck
going from Paonta Sahib to Rajpura lost Rs 800, the truck driver headed from Panchkula to Sadhaura lost a gold ring
and Rs 900. The canter driver headed from Jagadhari to Chandigarh lost his mobile phone and Rs 300 while the tractor-trolley driver going from
Sarawa to Handesra
lost Rs 1500. The incident took place soon after the police patrolling party had passed through the area. Even though patrolling had been stepped up after the Barara incident, it failed to deter the youths from looting the vehicle owners. Senior police officers, including SP Mohammed Akil, rushed to the spot. Later, sniffer dogs from Yamunanagar were requisitioned to trace out the culprits. The looters are suspected to have escaped on foot in the cover of
darkness.
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Drug-maker challenges report of govt analyst
Rohtak, February 20 The drug had been supplied to the local Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post graduate Institute of Medical Sciences through rate contract. Samples of the drug – Cefotaxime – were collected from the PGIMS here in June, 2003, and the report was sent to the local authorities in January, 2004. Copies of the analyst’s report were circulated among mediapersons here by a local Congress leader. However, the manufacturers have in a communication to the Director of the PGIMS maintained that the report only claims that the vial analysed contained 0.820 gm of the drug instead of 1 gram. The communication said as per rules 10 vials should have been collected and then analysed after mixing the contents. However, the government analyst’s report clearly mentioned that only five vials were collected. It added that the government laboratory did not have the sophisticated driers needed to empty the entire contents of a vial for weighing. The manufacturers Ghaziabad-based Parkin Remedies have asked the PGIMS authorities to get the samples analysed at any reputed laboratory in the country to judge the quality of the product. |
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Loan scam suspect gets bail
Ambala, February 20 Mr Lekhi had surrendered before the court on Thursday and was remanded in judicial custody for one day. The bureau had alleged that some officers of the corporation had granted crores of rupees as loans to several entrepreneurs by ignoring government guidelines.
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One found murdered in Rohtak
Rohtak, February 20 The deceased has been identified as Krishna, a widow. The body has been sent for a post-mortem. The deceased’s son, Ankit, found his mother lying dead in a pool of blood in their house when he returned from the school at 3.30 p.m. yesterday. The boy informed the neighbours who brought the incident to the notice of the local police. Ankit disclosed that his mother had told him in the morning, when he was leaving for the school, that somebody wanted to eliminate her. —PTI |
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MDU to give mercy chance to students
Rohtak, February 20 A notification issued by the university here today stated that the mercy chance would be given to those students also who could not improve their marks within the stipulated chances and those who could not clear their degree courses within the prescribed period. It said those who had passed the Shastri examination and were desirous of clearing the additional English paper to make their Shastri degree equivalent to BA would also be given one chance to do so. All such students will have to appear under the syllabi prescribed for the current academic session. They will have to pay a fee of Rs 1,100. |
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4 hurt in fire
Karnal, February 20 As per the information available, Anshu, brother of the groom, Yashpal of the housing board, Amit of Indri and Ashok of Sector-13, suffered burn injuries as the fire broke in the pandal where the marriage ceremony was being performed. They were immediately rushed to the local Civil Hospital where their condition was stated to be out of danger. The police was investigating the case when the reports last came in. |
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Five arrested
Yamunanagar, February 20 The SP said on a tip-off that some miscreants had stolen a car from Nakur in Saharanpur district and were likely to enter the district from the Kalanaur barrier side. They laid nakas on all link roads in and
around the Kalanaur area of the district. On seeing the police the culprits tried to run away. Two members of a gang Pardeep Raju and Bhinder of Tobha and Kaladi villages of Mullana of Ambala district surrendered to the police. Sandeep and Parmal were also arrested and interrogated. The fifth culprit, Parmal, is from Natwal village of the Raipur Rani police station area. The police has recovered one motor-cycle, one Indica car, one country made pistol and two cartridges from them. Earlier, they had looted Rs 3 lakh from a bank at Nohani, Ambala district. On being interrogated they revealed that they were planning to rob a official of Rs 3 lakh which was to be distributed among the villagers as an old-age pension.
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Two held for demanding ransom
Fatehabad, February 20 According to reports, the youths first targeted a local trader and demanded ransom from him on February 13. The trader informed the police. The two then targeted Dr Viney Singla. Harpal Singh called the doctor and demanded Rs 25 lakh as ransom. The doctor noted down the mobile number and informed the police. The police sought information from the mobile company and tracked down the accused. Working on the trap laid by the police, Dr Singla told the caller to reduce the amount of ransom to Rs 10 lakh. Dr Singla went with the money to a canal as desired by Harpal. The police had already laid a trap and arrested Harpal as he approached Dr Singla to take the money. On information provided by Harpal, the police arrested Ranjit Singh, who was working in the laboratory of another doctor. Harpal is a drug addict, according to sources. |
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5 liquor smugglers
arrested
Kurukshetra, February 20 Stating this here today, district police chief, Mr Yogender Nehra, said a special campaign had been launched against the liquor sellers, who had been selling it without permit. Mr Nehra said on a tip-off, a Tata Sumo (HR-07D 0202) carrying three liquor smugglers, was intercepted and searched. About 1,680 liquor pouches were recovered. Sultan Singh and Jaswinder Singh of Kharindwa village in the district were arrested while Anil, alias Neelu of the same village managed to escape. He said similarly, 24 liquor bottles had been recovered from Rishi Pal of Muana village, Jind, 10 bottles each of IMFL were recovered from Mintoo of Hansi and 3 pouches of liquor from the possession of Pal Chand of Mohan Nagar. They have been arrested and case under the Excise Act had been registered against them. |
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Ambala, February 20
