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Cong delegation meets Election
Commission
Decision on Dalal, Sangwan today
3 LS candidates fail to file
expenditure
Chautala to head panel on Bhai Kanhaiya Sahab
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Dr Dahiya set to get second
extension
Diarrhoea claims 3 lives, 25 ill
Ekta Shakti for free power, water to
farmers
Buildings sans fire safety
Firing incident: villagers meet
SP
Villagers gherao
officials
Solid waste management
project a non-starter
Veterinary doctor shot
Award for Kurukshetra
author
4 cases of theft reported
Kirti Dhingra excels
Dividers set up at Regiment Bazar
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Cong delegation meets Election
Commission
Chandigarh, June 24 The delegation comprised the Union Minister, Mr Jagdish Tytler; the former Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda; the Congress candidate for the Rajya Sabha election from Haryana, Mrs Kiran Choudhary; the Secretary-General of the HVP, Mr Surender Singh; and Mr Karan Singh Dalal and Mr Jagjit Singh Sangwan, Congress MLAs, against whom the disqualification proceedings are on. A prominent advocate and spokesman of the Congress, Mr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, and Mr Jasbir Singh Malik and Mr Arunab Choudhary, both advocates, also accompanied the delegation. Mr Singhvi quoted several sections of the election laws to stress that the Election Commission could order the returning officer not to change the constitution of the electoral collage for the Rajya Sabha elections even if the Speaker disqualified the MLAs. He said if the Supreme Court or Election Commission could not intervene, a Speaker could “hijack” the entire election process. Mr Dalal and Mr Sangwan alleged that even yesterday the Speaker had told them that they would not be disqualified if they agreed to abstain from voting in the Rajya Sabha elections. Mr Hooda accused the Speaker of going all out to ensure the victory of the INLD-sponsored candidates in the Rajya Sabha elections. Giving instances how the ruling party was pressurising Opposition MLAs to support its candidates, Mr Dalal told the commission that last night a team of the Haryana Power Utilities raided the farm house of Mr Dev Raj Diwan, Independent MLA from Sonepat, who had recently shifted his support from the INLD to the Congress. |
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Decision on Dalal,
Sangwan today
Chandigarh, June 24 The two MLAs, Mr Jagjit Singh Sangwan and Mr Karan Singh Dalal, were earlier asked to present themselves before the Speaker today for receiving the verdict. However, when press reporters met Mr Kadian in his office this afternoon he said the orders would be announced tomorrow. “ Pronouncement of the orders had been deferred by a day because all the formalities relating to the cases could not be completed today”, Mr Kadian said. Mr Sangwan and Mr Dalal did not turn up at the Assembly today and were in Delhi to be part of a Congress party delegation to the Election Commission to protest against the disqualification move initiated against 10 Haryana MLAs by the ruling Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). In case Mr Sangwan and Mr Dalal are disqualified by the Speaker tomorrow and unseated from the Assembly, it will have a crucial bearing on the Congress party’s chance of clinching a Rajya Sabha seat from Haryana. The party’s candidate, Ms Kiran Chaudhary, has a margin of only one vote over the rival candidate, Mr Tarlochan Singh. Adverse orders on Mr Dalal and Mr Sangwan by the Speaker could effectively seal her chance. Earlier in the day, Mr Nafe Singh Rathi, INLD legislator, who petitioned against six Independent legislators for allegedly joining the Congress party, demanded that the Speaker must take a decision on the fate of these MLAs before the Rajya Sabha elections on June 28. “ They were inducted into the Congress to assure the Congress candidate’s victory in the Rajya Sabha elections. It will be appropriate if a decision is taken regarding these MLAs before the Rajya Sabha polls”, Mr Rathi told at a press conference here. He also produced CDs of two television news channels containing interviews of six Independent MLAs after they allegedly joined the Congress party. Mr Rajender Bisla, Mr Dev Raj Dewan, Mr Jai Prakash Gupta, Mr Bhim Sain Mehta, Mr Daryao Singh and Mr Moola Ram, Independent MLAs of Haryana, were all shown as telling before the television camera that they had joined the Congress party. Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, MP from Rohtak and an aspirant for the Haryana Chief Minister’s post, was also shown as having said that all six MLAs had joined the Congress. Mr Rathi also produced an “orginal copy” of the proceedings of the meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) of Haryana on June 16 which was signed by Mr Dev Raj Dewan and Mr Rajender Bisla, among others. Mr Rathi claimed that he had petitioned against these MLAs under the anti-defection law since he was personally against the practice of defection. He also criticised the Speaker for not issuing notices to Mr Daryao Singh and Mr Moola Ram despite his petitions against them. When it was pointed out that all six MLAs had denied joining the Congress party, Mr Rathi said these MLAs made a u-turn after they learnt about the petitions filed against them by him. Disqualification petitions under the anti-defection law were also moved by INLD legislator Mr Krishan Lal Panwar against Independent MLAs, Mr Uday Bhan and Mr Tejveer Singh for allegedly joining the Congress party. The first hearing of the cases against these two as well as Mr Bisla, Mr Dewan, Mr Mehta and Mr Gupta took place today before the Speaker. Mr Nafe Singh was present during the hearing and he handed over the evidences, including the CDs, to the Speaker. |
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3 LS candidates fail to file
expenditure
Rohtak, June 24 According to official sources the District Electoral Officer will inform the Election Commission if the returns are not filed by June 30. After that the EC will initiate further action in the matter. Meanwhile, it is learnt that the victorious Congress candidate from the seat, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, incurred the highest expenditure on his campaign — Rs 13.33 lakh. He was followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party nominee Mr Abhimanyu Singh, who spent Rs 12.6 lakh. The Indian National Lok Dal candidate, Major-Gen Bhim Singh Suhag (retd), spent Rs 1.77 lakh. Mr Hooda’s estranged daughter-in-law, Mrs Geeta Grewal of the Bahujan Samaj Party, has filed a return for Rs 2.70 lakh while the Haryana Vikas Party nominee Mrs Usha Ahlawat spent Rs 3.70 lakh. Mr Mukhtiar Singh spent Rs 1.55 lakh, the highest amount spent by any Independent
candidate. |
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Chautala to head panel on Bhai Kanhaiya Sahab
Chandigarh, June 24 The committee would give its recommendation on organising various programmes to commemorate the historic event. The Director, Public Relations, would be the Member-Secretary. The members of the committee included Finance Minister, Sampat Singh, Town and Country Planning Minister Dhirpal Singh, Transport Minister, Ashok Arora, Agriculture Minister Jaswinder Singh
Sindhu, Minister of State for Animal Husbandry Mohammed Ilyas, the Chief Secretary, the Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and the Financial Commissioners and Secretaries of Finance, Education and Transport department. The Vice-Chancellors of all the five Universities in Haryana, have also been made the members of the committee. The other members of the committee are Commissioner and Secretary, Public Relations, Deputy Principal Secretary to Chief Minister (1), Secretary, Haryana Urdu Academy, Directors of Haryana Sahitya Academy and Haryana Punjabi Sahitya Academy. |
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Dr Dahiya set to get second
extension
Panchkula, June 24 Well-placed sources inform that the proposal for giving a year's extension (for the second time) to Dr Dahiya has been given a go-ahead by the Chief Minister's office. The extension will be formally announced after a meeting of the State Cabinet. Officials say that Dr Dahiya is being given an extension on account of his unblemished record and administrative skills. It may be noted that Dr Dahiya was earlier given a year's extension with effect from July 1. This had created a lot of resentment among the senior functionaries of the department, and the seniormost doctor at the time, Dr S C Sharma, had reportedly also written to the state government, complaining that he was thus losing a chance to being elevated to the post of Director-General till his retirement in October, 2003. He was later given the scale of Director General, though he retired in October, 2003, from the post of Director (senior scale). After Dr Sharma's retirement, Dr Satish Kalra would have been automatically elevated to the post of DG in November last year. With the state government now all set to grant another extension to Dr
Dahiya, as many as four senior doctors will lose a chance to be elevated to the post of DG, Health. The seniormost doctor in the Health Department, Dr Satish Kalra, who would have been elevated to the post of DG till his retirement in August this year, in case Dr Dahiya's extended term was to end at the end of this month. After Dr Kalra's retirement, Dr SL. Kaushik would have taken over as the DG, till the latter retired in December this year, paving the way for Dr Sushma Madan to take over the top post in the department. These doctors allege that though the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has announced to create jobs for 50,000 people in the state, granting extension to Dr.
Dahiya, who superannuated at the age of 58 years on June 30, 2003, was contrary to the promises made by Mr Chautala. They say that because of such extensions, many deserving personnel will not be able to get their due in promotion as DG, Health, Director Health Services or Civil Surgeons. However, officials say that as and when Dr Dahiya is granted an extension, the affected officials of the Health Department will be given the pay scales of DG, Health, without actual promotions, as was done in the case of Dr. S C Sharma, last year. |
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Diarrhoea claims 3 lives, 25 ill
Sirsa, June 24 Official sources said those who were taken ill were undergoing treatment at the Civil Hospital here and in different nursing homes. After the death of Ram Kumar late last evening, a team led by Additional Deputy Commissioner, Vikas Yadav visited the affected village last night for an on-the-spot study and for taking remedial measures. Mr Yadav, when contacted, confirmed the spread of diarrhoea in the village and said he had ordered the Health Department to station a team of doctors, along with an ambulance and medicines, there permanently till further orders. Haryana Public Works and Public Health Engineering Departments had been asked to ensure the supply of safe drinking water, for which waterworks tanks should be thoroughly cleaned. Information gathered form different sources said the number of diarrhoea patients was on the rise as more persons from other villages and local colonies visited private hospitals for treatment. Residents of the local Bazigar Colony here, in a written complaint to the Civil Surgeon, said diarrhoea was spreading in their locality. Other areas from where cases of the disease had been reported were Chatargarh Patti, Shamshabad Patti and Gandhi Colony. A team of doctors, comprising Civil Surgeon Mohar Singh, District Medical Superintendent J.P. Chaudhary and Dr Yogesh Gupta, visited the village and directed Dr Amit Narang and Dr Ms Narang of the primary health centre at Ding to be stationed at Tajia. The gurdwara premises at the village had been converted into a camp hospital. The doctors apprehended that diarrhoea had broken out due to contaminated water supply. The water tank of waterworks supplying potable water to Tajia had released water supply after about three weeks without chlorination and filtration. — UNI |
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Ekta Shakti for free power, water to
farmers
Rewari, June 24 Addressing a press conference here today, he said party units had already been set up in 10 districts — Ambala, Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Panipat, Karnal, Sonepat, Rohtak and Jind. The party units in the seven remaining districts of the state were expected to be constituted by the end of August 2004, he added. Mr Verma did not rule out the possibility of an electoral alliance with a like-minded party in Haryana. Asserting that while the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections had resulted in the marginalisation of the INLD and the decimation of the Haryana Vikas Party, Mr Verma said the Ekta Shakti would fight the Congress during the next Assembly elections in Haryana. JHAJJAR: The president of the Ekta Shakti party, Mr Verma, has supported free electricity and water to the farmers and interest-free loans for their welfare. He held that the farmers were entitled to get these services free of cost in Haryana as they have been paying taxes for developing infrastructure. Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, the Ekta Shakti leader pointed out that the government had collected taxes for the construction of the Bhakra dam and the Panipat thermal power unit much beyond their actual construction costs and the farmers were paying these taxes even today. |
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Buildings sans fire safety
SIRSA: A majority of the government offices in the town are not equipped with fire-fighting measures. Official sources stated the state PWD (B&R) was responsible for the construction of government buildings in the district. But failure of the department to provide fire-safety steps has made the buildings vulnerable to a fire tragedy.
It is mandatory for the district administration to provide fire-safety equipment, including alarms, fire extinguishers and sand buckets. These features should be earmarked clearly while constructing the buildings. But nothing of this sort has been done except at the new mini secretariat building, which is yet to be occupied by the administration. While innumerable public and official documents are lying totally insecure, the administration has done little in this connection. Reliable sources, however, revealed that fire fighting cylinders were there in a few buildings. Interestingly the camp office of the Deputy Commissioner also lacks fire-safety measures. Mr Balraj Singh, DC, conceded the absence of such measures. “I assure to bring things on the right track,” he says. Important buildings lacking fire-safety measures include the offices of the SP and the SDM. One can find a number of files containing driving licence, registration cards and other important public documents with no fire-security measures. Besides, a number of documents of a sensitive nature about crime and other law and order aspects are totalling insecure against fire in the offices of the SP and a couple of DSPs. The case is no different in the district courts. Even though the building housing the offices of the state Excise and Taxation Department is fitted with fire alarms, sources in the PWD (B&R) doubt if these are effective. |
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Firing incident: villagers meet
SP
Bhiwani, June 24 The panchayat had sought an inquiry into the case before taking any action. The SP assured the delegation that action would be taken after a probe into the case. Excise officials and police personnel were attacked at Sanga village two days ago when they raided illegal liquor operators. The assailants fired shot at the raiding party with a country-made pistol, but no one was hurt. |
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Villagers gherao
officials
Bhiwani, June 24 The irate mob reportedly gheraoed the team and let them off only after the intervention of some senior officials and assurance of justice. The team had gone to take action on a complaint, earlier made to the Vigilance Department. As they arrived on the land of Umed Singh, against whom the complaint was made, and tried to pull down the transformer, several villagers protested. The villagers said the poor farmer had installed this transformer and spent several thousand rupees to get it passed. A son of the sarpanch of the village, Mr Shamsher Singh, panchayat samiti member, Mr Manoj Kumar and Mr Jai Singh, Nambardar, said the transformer had wrongly been mentioned to another person of Tiwala in the departmental record. |
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Solid waste management
project a non-starter
Sonepat, June 24 The project sanctioned by the NCR Planning Board two-and-a-half years back. It was to be completed in Sonepat, Gohana and Gannaur towns in the district by October 20 last at a projected cost of Rs 8.85 crore. The board had released two instalments and the municipalities had incurred an expenditure of over Rs 2.24 crore. The first phase of the project was started in October 2001. The council had made a move to acquire nearly 34 acres at Kilorad village more than two years back. The village panchayat had later refused to give panchayat land to the council. After that the council had got a resolution passed by the Debru village panchayat for providing land for the treatment plant. The owner of a cold store had claimed ownership of the land and got a stay from court. The council had then approached the Jahri village panchayat for land. A number of panches of the village objected to selling the land. The council was left with no alternative but to wait for the court decision on Debru village land. |
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Veterinary doctor shot
(Babarpur) Panipat, June 24 Subhas was working in a local Government Veterinary Hospital. The incident took place when he got a call from an unidentified person that his bufallo had fallen sick. He went to his house on his motorcycle at about 9.30 p.m. Narrating the incident Goswami’s family members said at about 11 p.m. he called up his son at their store, but in between their conversation, all of a sudden Subhas Goswami’s mobile phone was disconnected. The family members reported the matter to the police. The police searched for him throughout the night but Goswami’s body and his motorcycle was found in the morning in the dense wild grass near canal in Babarpur village. The exact cause of the murder was not ascertained yet. The
Superintendent of the Police, Dr Suman Manjri, said the police had detained some persons. Dr Manjri said with the help of dog squad, the police had arrested few persons and the police was working on to find out the cause of the murder. Earlier on Wednesday, a group of unidentified persons carrying weapons had robbed four businessman of Uttar Pradesh and later pushed away them in Delhi canal near Dhar village. |
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Award for Kurukshetra
author
Chandigarh, June 24 While stating this here today the Director of the Akademi, Major .S. Shergill (retd) said that the mahakavi Bhai Santokh Singh Award carries a cash prize of Rs 21,000. He said the book, ‘Khushbuan De Kangan’ written by Dr Sudarshan Gasso of Ambala Cantt had been awarded the first prize in the poetry category and would be awarded a cash prize of Rs. 10,000. In the novel category, ‘Diva Bhujiya Nahin’ written by Mr Ram Sarup Rikhi of Sirsa had been awarded a cash prize of Rs 10,000. Similarly, in the biography category, the book entitled ‘Krantikari Lok Nayak Ch. Devi Lal’ written by Dr Sahib Singh Arshi of Manimajra would get the cash award of Rs. 5,000 and the book entitled ‘Haryana De Punjabi Kav Sangrah written jointly by Mr Harbhajan Singh Komal and Mr Surender Singh Komal of Karnal would get the cash award of Rs. 5,000. He said that in the folk literature category, “Lok Geetan Di Pad” written by Dr Karamjit Singh of Kurukshetra had been selected for the cash award of Rs 10,000. He said that in the story writing competition, story titled ‘Ashlil’ written by Dr S.S. Godgil of Rohtak would be awarded a cash prize or Rs 1,200. Similarly another story titled ‘Lok Panchayat’
written by Mrs Jagir Kaur Sandhu of Sirsa would get the second prize of Rs 1000 and story ‘Ek Vada’ written by Mr Prem Singh Barnalvi of Ambala would get the third prize of Rs 800. |
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4 cases of theft reported
Yamunanagar, June 24 The thieves allegedly broke into the shop by breaking a portion of the wall. Thieves also struck the house of Mr Vijay Mehta in Patel Nagar here and took away goods worth Rs 14,000 last night. The house was unoccupied and its door locks broken. A theft of cash and jewellery was also reported from Modern Colony. Mr Dharam Pal reported that jewellery and cash had been stolen. In another incident, thieves allegedly took away cash and jewellery worth several thousand rupees from a farmhouse in Kheda village here this morning. The police said night vigilance had been intensified. |
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Kirti Dhingra excels
Ambala, June 24 College Principal Dr K.L. Gomber said she had secured 82.8 per cent marks. He said that Kirti was not only good in studies but she had also excelled in extra curricular activities. |
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Dividers set up at Regiment Bazar Ambala, June 24 They observed that heavy vehicles pass through the road and even if one vehicle is parked wrongly, the traffic comes to a standstill. They stressed that before putting up the dividers, a study of the traffic flow should have been carried out. They stated that in other areas, where dividers had been set up, heavy vehicles were not allowed onto that road. —
TNS |
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Power
board staff hold rally Fatehabad, June 24 |
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