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HVP-Congress merger on Oct 14
Merger will create another Cong faction: BJP
14 schoolchildren hurt as bus overturns
Bid to hijack Gypsy, owner hurt in firing
5 killed, 13 hurt in road mishap
Mentally challenged may get free legal aid
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BJP to hold “Jan Adhikar” rally in Rohtak
Need to strengthen Left stressed
No check on illegal cracker units
Kidwai interacts with Mizoram students
Ayurvedic doctors getting raw deal
Debar criminals from contesting poll: Congress
Cong may move court on sugarcane issue
Former Haryana minister
seeks discharge from cases
Breach in Balsmand canal
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HVP-Congress merger on Oct 14
Chandigarh, October 10 The decision will be formally announced on October 14 when the Navratras will start. According to informed sources, HVP Secretary-General Surender Singh, who negotiated the merger, has been told by the Congress high command (read Mr Janardhan Dwiwedy, AICC General Secretary in charge of Haryana) to meet state leaders and complete other "niceties" prior to the merger. It was in the course of this exercise that Mr Surender Singh met Mr Bhajan Lal, President of the Haryana Congress, at his Delhi residence for about 45 minutes. He is also believed to talked to the former Haryana Congress President, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is presumed to have a good rapport with the family of Mr Bansi Lal, President of the HVP. The sources say Mr Dwiwedy had sounded various state leaders, including Mr Bhajan Lal, Mr Hooda and Mr O.P. Jindal, Congress MLA from Hisar, a few days ago about the HVP-Congress merger. The issue was clinched when Mr Surender Singh along with his wife, Kiran, met the AICC President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, at 10, Janpath, around 8 p.m. for about 10 minutes. The merger will be unconditional. Mrs Kiran Choudhary had been in the Congress for a long time. She had remained with the party even when her husband and father-in-law left it to form the HVP in the early nineties. Although Kiran had remained active in the Delhi Congress, she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the party from Haryana two months ago. Since then rumours had been rife about the possibility of Mr Bansi Lal and Mr Surender Singh joining the Congress. However, both had been denying it. It was only after the BJP, particularly its Haryana leaders, insisted upon the HVP's merger with their party before having any tie up with the former Chief Minister in the next Assembly elections that the HVP supremo decided to join the Congress. Mr Bansi Lal and Mr Surender Singh will return to the Congress after about 14 years. With the HVP's merger with the Congress, only one of the two family parties in Haryana will remain. Though the merger will be a setback to the BJP and the ruling INLD, their leaders are putting up a brave face. The BJP leaders say one "family" party is gone and now their aim is to finish the second "family" party (INLD) in the next Assembly elections so that only national parties remain in the poll arena. The INLD leaders say they had been saying all along that the HVP was "B" team of the Congress. Its merger with the Congress, they say, will consolidate the anti-Congress votes behind their party which is the only viable alternative to the so-called national party. They also say that now the state would witness virtually a direct fight between the Congress and the INLD. They say the Congress has always suffered a setback in the direct fight. Our Correspondent adds from Jind: Mr Bansi Lal on Sunday confirmed that his party would merge with the Congress. Mr Surender Singh had been authorised by the HVP to hold talks with the Congress in this regard. The merger would be without any conditions. He described the Congress as the only party working for the welfare of the people and whose policies were pro-poor and pro-common man. He said the Congress would win more than two-thirds seats in the Assembly elections. Mr Bansi Lal accused the BJP of being instrumental in pulling down his government about five years ago. He also accused the BJP of not being serious about the completion of the SYL canal. He said the foreign origin of Mrs Sonia Gandhi was not an issue now because she had refused to become the Prime Minister. The HVP leader said he was not a candidate for the post of Governor and he would work for the Congress. Addressing party workers here, he urged them to follow the policies and programmes of the Congress and work for the success of its candidates in the coming elections. He said the INLD always made lucrative promises but never fulfilled them. |
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Merger will create another Cong faction: BJP
Panipat, October 10 The lone BJP Lok Sabha member from Haryana, Mr Kishan Singh Sangwan, stated this while talking to mediapersons here today. There are already three main factions in the state Congress and the merger will give birth to one more faction. The Congress will be on the losing side due to the merger instead of gaining any thing, he added. Criticising Mr Om Prakash Chautala led Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Mr Sangwan alleged that the assurance of providing jobs to youths was given to attract them to participate in the INLD rallies. He said an inquiry would be conducted into such jobs, when they came to power. Terming the announcement of resignations by Congress MLAs on the SYL issue as mere drama, he said the BJP would submit a memorandum to the President, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, with signatures of five lakh persons in favour of the construction of the SYL at the earliest. He said the signed memorandum would be presented before the masses at the Rohtak rally on October 17 before submitting it to Dr Kalam. Mr Sangwan said former Governor of Haryana Babu Parmanand, BJP chief Vainkaya Naidu and senior BJP leaders, Rajnath Singh, Vasundra Raje Sindia, Sahib Singh Verma and Shivraj Chauhan, would address the gathering at the rally. |
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14 schoolchildren hurt as bus overturns
Jhajjar, October 10 Two buses carrying students of Inderprasth Public School, Farukhnagar, Gurgaon, were going to the spot. A mini-bus, carrying around 20 students, tried to overtake a truck. But, to prevent a collision with another vehicle coming from the opposite direction, the schoolbus crushed against the truck. It overturned and fell in a four-foot deep khud on the roadside. Sources said five children, including boys and girls, who could not be identified, were injured seriously. They were admitted to the PGIMS at Rohtak. Another nine students, who were admitted to a private hospital at Bahadurgarh, were identified as Suraj, Rachana, Ankit, Komal, Prveen, Yogesh, Rahul, Sandeep and Rahul. Two teachers, also received minor injuries. The police has started an investigation into the case. |
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Bid to hijack Gypsy, owner hurt in firing
Panipat, October 10 The injured was rushed to the local Civil Hospital, from where he was referred to the PGI, Rohtak, as his condition was serious. According to the driver of the Gypsy, five persons boarded it when they were returning from Ambala. Three of them alighted from the gypsy at Gharonda in Karnal, while the remaining two made an attempt to hijack it when they stopped the vehicle beside the GT Road to urinate, he said adding that the robbers fled in the fields when they resisted. However, one of them fired at us from his pistol before fleeing, he added. Meanwhile, a case has been registered in this regard. |
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5 killed, 13 hurt in road mishap
Sirsa, October 10 According to sources, all deceased were from Meerut district and were travelling in a Tata Trax that collided head on with a speeding truck. The dead include Ashok Kumar, driver of the Tata Trax, Dharam Pal, Ajay Pal, Megh Raj and Atma Ram, all from Meerut. They were on their way to a Sirsa-based dera to attend a religious function. Sources said that while five persons died on spot two others Vijender Kumar and Balwan were referred to the PGI, Rohtak, with serious injuries. The police said that 11 persons were admitted to a Fatehabad hospital in a critical condition. The passersby and the relatives of the victims took the injured to the nearby hospital in Fetehabad. The police was further investigating the case. As the Tata Trax collided with the truck and they came to a halt four other vehicles rammed into them resulting in injuries to more people. Police sources said that the accident might have taken place due to negligent driving as on Sunday morning vehicular rush to the town increases manifold with devotees thronging the dera here. |
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Mentally challenged may get free legal aid
Panipat, October 10 Mr Ahuja urged the NGOs to spread the message of free legal services to the mentally challenged persons so that they may benefit from this. He said the mentally challenged had full right to lead a normal life and to join the mainstream. Mr Ahuja said it had been observed that attempts had been made by relatives to deprive such persons of their property rights. In these conditions or in other types of cases where either mentally challenged or their well-wishers are not in a condition to engage any lawyer for the protection of their rights, the DLSA may be contacted for free legal services, he added. Chief Judicial Magistrate-cum-Secretary DLSA Anshu Shukla highlighted the provisions provided under the Mental Health Act, 1987, for free legal aid to mentally challenged persons. Speaking about social aspects of mental patients, Dr Suraj Bhan said these patients should be treated with sympathy. Most of the mental problems are not only curable but also preventable if these patients are dealt with patience and sympathy, he added. |
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BJP to hold “Jan Adhikar” rally in Rohtak
Panchkula, October 10 This was stated by senior BJP leader and former president of the Haryana BJP, Mr Rattan Lal Kataria, while addressing a press conference here today. He said the BJP President, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, a former Union Minister, Mr Rajnath Singh and Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ms Vasundhara Raje, would participate in the rally where the party would take up the real issues before the masses — rising prices, unemployment, and building infrastructure. Mr Kataria said though they won only one seat in the parliamentary elections, they were now geared up for the Assembly elections. Talking about the proposed merger of the Haryana Vikas Party with the Congress, Mr Kataria said this would go in the BJP’s favour. A number of HVP workers and Mr Bansi Lal’s supporters have already joined the BJP, thus strengthening the party’s base,” he said. Earlier, Mr Kataria presided over a meeting of party workers of Panchkula district. Senior party leaders Mr Sham Lal Bansal and Mr Gian Chand Gupta were also present. |
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Need to strengthen Left stressed
Fatehabad, October 10 Inaugurating the tehsil convention of the CPM here today, Mr. Inderjit Singh, state secretary of the CPM, exhorted his party comrades to go to the voters, strengthen the organisation and fight for the basic demands of peasantry, workers and common people. Mr Inderjit Singh said that individual-based patriarchal politics had prevailed in Haryana since its inception. He said that there was no major difference in the politics of various political parties in the state. He regretted that though the Congress had been able to win nine out of 10 parliamentary seats in Haryana in the last parliamentary elections, it had failed to provide a viable alternative to the Chautala government. Speaking on the national socio-political scenario, the CPM leader said that the impact of imperialism was now clearly being perceived on the day-to-day life of people. He said that when the Left parties warned of the ill effects of imperialism on the third world countries, leaders of the other political parties scoffed at them. But now, he said, its impact was being manifested in the life of common people. The results of the parliamentary elections showed the people rejected the policies of forces that stood for communalism and imperialism. Though the Left parties was supporting the UPA Government at the Centre, they had not allowed the Congress to pursue anti-people and anti-poor policies. Mr Krishan Swaroop, a member of the state secretariat of the party, Mr Ram Swaroop
Bahbalpuria, district secretary, and Mr Chander Bhan, tehsil secretary, also spoke on the occasion. |
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No check on illegal cracker units
Sirsa, October 10 The town has witnessed a number of explosions that have led to
casualties, besides, financial loss. In a incident yesterday, a 12-year-old child was injured in a minor fire in a cracker manufacturing unit located in Sanjay Colony. But this is not a stray incident, last year as many as three similar incidents occurred in which four persons were killed. The police said it was aware of such manufacturers but admitted that nothing had been done in this regard. After yesterday’s incident, police was chalking out a plan in this regard. |
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Kidwai interacts with Mizoram students
Chandigarh, October 10 The Governor was addressing a group of 25 students of Mizoram who called on him at Haryana Raj Bhavan today under the leadership of Capt Kundan Pandey of the 25th Assam Rifles. Wishing a bright future and success to the students, Dr Kidwai said the younger generation had got more opportunities to prove their potential in various fields. He advised the students not to confine themselves to their own states, but also to come out and grab job opportunities in the country as well as abroad. Captain Pandey said the Mizoram students, who included 13 boys and 12 girls, were on a study tour to north India. He said the tour had been sponsored by the Director-General Assam Rifles. |
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Ayurvedic doctors getting raw deal
Rohtak, October 9 As if that was not humiliating enough, they have also been placed in a lower pay scale than that of doctors, veterinarians and dental surgeons. AMOs are currently placed in the scale of Rs 7500-12000 while the other three categories enjoy a pay scale of Rs 8000-13000. Notably, the basic qualifications for doctors, veterinarians and dental surgeons are the same. A lower pay scale also means that despite getting allowances at the same rates as the other three categories, they draw much less salaries because the allowances are calculated on the basic salary drawn. The AMOs basically perform the same duties as their counterparts in the Haryana Civil Medical Service (HCMS). This includes participation in national health and family planning schemes such as immunisation, AIDS control and malaria eradication. In addition they also provide door to door treatment to senior citizens in the villages — a scheme exclusively launched by the Directorate of Ayurveda. This involves weekly visits to senior citizens’ homes. There are about 450 AMOs in Haryana. Over 98 per cent of them work all their lives in rural areas, since ayurvedic dispensaries are located in the villages only. On the other hand, a mere 25 to 30 per cent HCMS doctors are based in villages. Most of these doctors serve in the villages only during the first few years of their service. AMOs are also lagging behind in promotional avenues. While the quota for promotions in the HCMS is 75 per cent, it is 50 per cent in the case of AMOs. Within this ceiling too, 25 per cent quota has been fixed for Ayurvedic Physicians who work in Ayurvedic Hospitals. Significantly, there are only four such physicians who enjoy half of the promotion quota for the entire cadre. Dr Rohtas Kumar, a member of the state executive of the AMO Association said the chief minister had announced in November 2002 that all disparities in pay and promotions would be removed and the AMOs would get the same scale as HCMS doctors with effect from April 2003. Subsequently, a committee was constituted for the purpose. However, bureaucrats and the representatives of the Health directorate vehemently opposed the move. He said the association once again approached the chief minister in April 2003 and again it was announced that the disparities would go before the month end. The association is till awaiting the orders of the government. Dr Rohtas Kumar said about 50 AMOs had only five years left before they retired. For the past five years they had not earned a single increment. If the disparities were not removed soon, they would retire at the end of their pay scale reached 10 years ago. |
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Debar criminals from contesting poll: Congress
Panipat, October 10 Representatives of one of the frontal organisations of the Haryana Congress stated this while talking to mediapersons here on Sunday. The Chairman of the intellectual cell of the Haryana Congress, Thakur Bijander Singh, demanded that an amendment should be made in the Constitution to debar persons with a criminal background contesting elections. He expressed his concern over the report of a survey conducted by a Bangalore-based NGO, Public Affairs Centre, in which it had been stated that one-fourth of the total MPs were facing criminal cases. However, he could not give a satisfactory reply to the queries regarding tainted ministers in the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre. Interestingly, he said only those persons should be debarred from contesting elections who had been facing criminal cases and those, facing corruption charges, should not be debarred. An aspirant of the Congress ticket from the Gharonda constituency in Karnal district, Thakur Bijander Singh claimed that he belonged to none of the three main factions of the party. He also criticised the deteriorating law and order condition in different parts of the state. The district president of the cell. Mr Naresh Kumar Attri, was also present. |
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Cong may move court on sugarcane issue
Yamunanagar, October 10 This was stated by Mr Satpal Kaushik, secretary, Haryana Pardesh Congress Committee, while addressing a press conference here today. He said various sugar mills owe crores of rupees to sugarcane growers for the past two years. Taking a dig at the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Kaushik said there was no logic behind relaying foundation stone of the Yamunanagar thermal power plant, as it had already been done during the Congress rule. Mr Kaushik alleged that the Chief Minister was misleading the public on the issues of thermal power plant and Dadupur-Nalvi canal to woo voters. “Both these projects were conceived by the Congress government and would be completed by the Congress government only”, claimed Mr Kaushik, adding that the proposed foundation stone was an election gimmick. He alleged that the government agencies had failed in the proper procurement of paddy and the farmers were being “looted” by traders. He demanded that farmers should be given bonus, as a large part of the state had faced a drought-like situation. |
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Former Haryana minister
seeks discharge from cases Ambala, October 10 The Ambala City police had registered a case under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120B of the IPC against Mr Dangi in 1998. Later, another case was registered against him in this police station in 2000. Mr C.M. Sehgal, the counsel of the accused, moved an application in the court that the prosecution got the government sanction from the Governor in a mechanical way and the same was issued by the then Chief Secretary of Haryana, without mentioning any date which made it clear that it was obtained in a hasty manner without putting the required material before the sanctioning authority. The counsel said as per law settled by the High Court, the full house of the Council of Ministers would first decide on the sanction and the Governor would give the sanction order afterwards. In this case, the Council of Ministers had never sanctioned the prosecution of Mr Dangi, hence the sanction order of Governor was against the law. The court had issued the notice to Haryana for January 6, 2005 on this application. |
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Breach in Balsmand canal
Hisar, October 10 The water supply was stopped in this canal to plug the breach, officials of the PWD and Irrigation Departments here said.
— UNI |
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