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Show of strength by Congress
People fed up with INLD rule: Hooda
No alliance in Haryana, says Venkiah
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BJP plans rallies in January
Major parties in touch with BSP
Jaundhi panchayat ostracises couple
Water crisis in Sonepat
Gaurav awards presented
Admin, media kept out
of awards function
Youth lathicharged
A show of Indo-Pak amity
Need for a new vision on Kashmir: expert
Be a bridge, Fakhar Zaman tells Press
Visa must be done away with, says Pak delegation
DSP suspended for misinforming
Chautala
Haryana selected for ‘eBiz’ pilot project
Kidwai lays stress on
quality education
Woman arrested for
blackmailing ex-boss
Woman stays in open
due to marital discord
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Show of strength by Congress
Bhiwani, December 12 Mr Dwivedi said it was obvious that the Congress was headed for a landslide victory in the forthcoming poll but this was no reason for anyone in the party to become complacent. “Only unity and hard work would ensure that the party comes to power. The Congress has promises to keep. These can be fulfilled only if every party worker struggles to ensure victory,” he added. He said the party must remain united and warned that those who failed to maintain unity would surely be forcing themselves out of the party mainstream. He added that the Congress was a massive organisation where party leaders could differ on certain issues. However, this difference of opinion could not be interpreted as any kind of division. In the end every party worker wanted the good of the party. Mr Dwivedi termed the Indian National Lok Dal government as a “ government based on lies, corruption and unprincipled politics”. He described the state government’s plans to hold panchayat elections prematurely as a desperate bid to divide the people for political gains. The Congress leader said if the Congress was returned to power in Haryana, the high command would appoint a panel to monitor the government functioning and make sure that all promises made to the people were fulfilled. He said even now the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, regularly monitored the functioning of the Congress governments in the states. Not forgetting that he was speaking from the ramparts of the erstwhile Haryana Vikas Party’s citadel, Mr Dwivedi said the HVP’s merger had doubled the strength of the Congress in the state. Mr Bhajan Lal had several reasons to celebrate. For one, the turn out at the rally was massive and his son and Bhiwani MP, Kuldeep Bishnoi was the main organisational force behind the rally. Secondly, 16 Congress MLAs and three MPs – Mr Atma Singh Gill, Mr Arvind Sharma and Mr Bishnoi were present. Expectedly, Congress MLAs identified with the Bhupinder Singh Hooda camp were absent. Two former Chief Ministers – Mr Hukam Singh and Banarsi Das Gupta – were also among those present. Mr Surinder Singh, a son of former Chief Minister Mr Bansi Lal and the man who ensured HVP’s merger with the Congress, was cheered every time he rose to say a few words. The rally witnessed pandemonium for several minutes after a former minister and Congress leader in his speech expressed doubts over whether the HVP men would stay in the Congress after the Assembly elections. Since it was directed against Mr Surinder Singh, the crowd reacted sharply. It took about 10 minutes to restore order. Mr Bhajan Lal said a Haryana Congress delegation would soon meet the Prime Minister and the President to seek action against the Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, on the basis of the memorandum submitted against him to the Governor by the party recently. He thanked the people of Bhiwani for electing his son and for the turn out at today’s rally. Haryana Congress Working President Randeep Singh Surjewala said it was time for all party men to forget their differences and work for freeing Haryana from the INLD rule. Mr Surinder Singh assured the party leadership that he would support every one allotted the party ticket for the next Assembly poll by the high command. Mr Kuldeep Bishnoi, MP, said Bhiwani would not remain a backward area anymore. He appealed to party leadership to ensure that Bhiwani was taken care of once the Congress came to power. |
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People fed up with INLD rule: Hooda
Jhajjar, December 12 Addressing a press conference here this evening, Mr Hooda said that the party high command had taken the right step in view of the impending Assembly elections. He maintained that had the incumbent party chief been physically fit, there was no need to make this working arrangement to run the affairs of the state Congress. The Congress MP said that the Chautala government’s bid to hold panchayat elections prematurely would not benefit the ruling party. If fact, he claimed, these elections would prove to be disastrous for them as it would be yet another setback after the Lok Sabha poll. He said people of the state were waiting for the assembly elections to get rid of the misrule of the INLD as this government had sabotaged the concept of democracy. He held that all sections of society were fed up with the present regime. Mr Hooda said even as the romours of realignment between the INLD and the BJP in Haryana were doing rounds in political circles, it would not help any of the two parties, if materialised. |
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No alliance in Haryana, says Venkiah
Chandigarh/Mohali, December 12 Mr Naidu said the people of Haryana were disillusioned with the performance of the Indian National Lok Dal and the Congress. “We will provide a third front to the people and come to power,” he stated after addressing party workers at the Chandigarh BJP office in Sector 33 today. When asked to react to the alleged breach of party discipline by Ms Uma Bharti, Mr Naidu said the Uma Bharti episode was a stray incident and did not point to the breakdown of discipline in the entire party cadre. He added that the party was justified in having suspended Ms Uma Bharti and though she had been taken back following her apology, the matter was still under consideration of the party’s forum. Mr Naidu was talking to mediapersons following a seminar organised by the Institute of Development and Communication in Mohali later in the day. Reacting to the reported confession of Jayendra Saraswati of the Kanchi Mutt, Mr Naidu pointed out that Ms Sushma Swaraj had met him in jail and whatever he had to say was told to the world by her. “The Shankaracharya issue is not an issue of the BJP alone but an issue of the entire nation,” he said. He added that the handing over of the Tehalka inquiry to the CBI was politically motivated, amounting to witchhunting and gross misuse of government machinery. Earlier, accusing the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance of failing of the front of governance, security and controlling inflation, Mr Naidu said that the BJP had chalked out a three-point programme of contact, dialogue and agitation to deal with the “non-performing” UPA government. Stating that sugar prices were up by 25 per cent, coal and cement by 18 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively, he added that Parliament had no “business” during the sessions because, in its seven months of being in power, the UPA government had done nothing. He said the Congress party was working with a negative mindset which was evident in the removal of Governors appointed during the BJP regime, rejecting of NCERT textbooks and dissolved commissions. Admitting that local issues and anti-incumbency went against the BJP in the recent parliamentary elections, Mr Naidu said that the party should go back to promoting its basic ideology of Hindutva. “Hindutva is not a political plank, it a way of life. Every worker must take pride in Hindutva and take the stories of the development during the BJP’s reign and nationalism to the people. They should go into the public, hear people’s problems and unite them against the non-performing Centre,” he said. |
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BJP plans rallies in January
Sonepat, December 12 This was stated by Mr Veerkumar Yadav, organising secretary, Haryana unit BJP, while addressing activists here today. Mr Kishan Singh Sangwan, MP and national vice-president, BJP, was among those who attended the meeting. He said the rallies would be addressed, among others, by Mr Babulal Gaur, Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh, Mr Vinod Khanna, a former Union Minister, and Mr Rajnath Singh, a former Union Agriculture Minister. He said the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh and a former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mr Kalyan Singh, would address a rally at Bhiwani on January 5. Another rally would be held on January 8 at Kurukshetra and it would be
addressed by Mr L.K. Advani, national President of the party. Thereafter, another rally would be organised on January 9 at Fatehabad and it would be addressed by the Chief Minister of Rajasthan and Dharminder, MP and a noted film star. Referring to the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state, he called upon the party workers to work hard and mobilise the people to vote against the INLD. He said the party would go alone in the elections and field its candidates in all 90 Assembly seats. Mr Sangwan said the Congress chargesheet against the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, presented to the
Governor, had failed to yield any positive result. Both the Governor and the Congress-led UPA government had failed to order a CBI probe into the amassing of wealth and property by Mr Chautala. Mr Sangwan said the construction work for a flyover at the railway crossing near Hindu College here would start soon as the project had been cleared by the Planning Commission and Railways. |
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Major parties in touch with BSP
Chandigarh, December 12 Interestingly, Mr Chautala is not the only politician who is warming up to the BSP in the wake of the fast approaching assembly elections in the state. Mr Ramji Lal, President of the Haryana unit of the BSP, claims that they have also got feelers from the Congress and the BJP regarding a possible electoral tie-up. He, however, refused to identify the Congress and BJP leaders who spoke to him about an alliance. On Mr Chautala’s alleged overture at Panipat, the BSP chief said: “Our meeting was taking place at the PWD rest house at Panipat and the Chief Minister landed up there. We exchanged greetings. The Chief Minister wanted to talk politics but it was not possible to hold any discussion in the middle of so many party functionaries”. Mr Ramji Lal indicated that unlike the state BJP, the Haryana unit of the BSP would not create any hurdle for an alliance with another party in case the party’s central leadership showed interest for an electoral tie up. “We are ready to fight the elections in Haryana on our own strength. But the final decision rests with our party’s central leaders. We will abide by the directive of the central leadership whatever it may be,” Mr Ramji Lal said. The BSP had fought the last assembly elections in the state alone and managed to win only one seat. The legislator, Mr B.L. Saini, however, for all the practical purposes behaved like an MLA aligned to the ruling INLD even though the BSP was supposed to be a part of the Opposition. The party drew a blank in Haryana in the Lok Sabha elections held in May but managed to secure close to six per cent of the total votes polled in the state. According to Mr Ramji Lal, the BSP’s performance in the May elections was by far the best by the party in the state till date. It is the party’s captive vote bank among the members of the Scheduled Castes which makes other parties flock to it at the time of elections. |
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Jaundhi panchayat ostracises couple
Jaundhi, December 12 At a meeting presided over by Mr Vinod, husband of sarpanch Pushpa Devi, here it was ordered that no resident of the village should have any kind of relation with the families of Mr Daryao Singh and Mr Kali Ram, grandfather and granduncle, respectively, of Aashish. Significantly, both these families were socially boycotted on the orders of the khap panchayat that had also exiled this couple. Although the word boycott was not used, the decision, in fact, effectively means just that. The assembly, which termed itself as a “panchayat”, decided to deal with the couple’s issue separately saying it would refer the matter to ‘Naugama’ (an unofficial panchayat of leaders of nine different villages of the area). An unsigned document circulated at the meeting stated that though the law had taken its own course in the controversy, there was no law which could dictate that someone who had committed a social sin should be allowed to live in the village or his fields. The reference obviously was to the intervention of the Punjab and Haryana High Court where the couple had filed a petition seeking their rehabilitation in the village. Following which the administration had organised a meeting last month that allowed the couple to live outside the village phirni (area outside the residential area of the village). They had returned on the Divali eve. The process was derailed about 10 days ago when a similar meeting of villagers banned celebrations in the village till “justice was done to the village community”. The document also said that there was no law that could force any individual to maintain social relations with any other individual. It expressed fears that the resettlement of the couple in the village could vitiate the atmosphere in the village. It was announced that village leaders would seek the intervention of the Naugama in writing. A delegation would meet Naugama leaders to explain the facts. The meeting agreed to accept the verdict of the Naugama. The meeting decided to collect more funds if need be to meet legal expenses for challenging the couple’s petition in the court. This panchayat had decided to collect Rs 50 from each household for the purpose at its last meeting a few days ago. Mr Vinod claimed that representatives of all gotras and communities attended today’s meeting, including Gehlawat and Dagar gotras. While Aashish belongs to the Dagar gotra, his wife Darshana is a Gehlawat. The couple married in 1998. Two years later a khap panchayat ruled their marriage as socially unacceptable and exiled them for life. The couple had since been living in Delhi. They have a five-year-old son. They approached the court after the Sonia-Rampal controversy that rocked the neighbouring Asanda village in October last. Mr Vinod stated that the couple’s case was entirely different from that of Sonia and Rampal. He said there were no similarities whatsoever and certain human rights organisations had taken up the couple’s case without verifying the facts. |
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Water crisis in Sonepat
Sonepat, December 12 According to a report, the disruption in the drinking water supply system has become a routine and the residents are forced to fetch water from distant places to meet their requirements. Taps remain almost dry throughout the day and many residents are purchasing a bucket of water for Rs 10 or more. Carrying pitchers on their head, hundreds of women are seen fetching water from far off places. Many residents alleged that officials of Public Health Department had failed to make alternative arrangements for the supply of water through tankers in the most affected areas. The Department had also failed to install diesel generating sets at the main waterworks and at the boosting stations. This was one of the causes for the disruption in the water supply system. Some residents also pointed out that the Sonepat Municipal Council had two or three tankers but these were used in sprinkling water on the main roads of the city whenever any VIP or the Chief Minister paid a visit to the city. These tankers, it is alleged, are used for the supply of water to some VIPs or councillors who were engaged in the construction of their houses or buildings in the city. Representatives of various political parties, social and voluntary organisations as well as trade unions yesterday expressed their concern over the drinking water crisis in the city and blamed the Public Health Department authorities for the mess. They urged the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala to order a high-level probe into public complaints about the erratic water supply and take stern action against the guilty officials. |
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Gaurav awards presented
Kurukshetra, December 12 Sanjay Dutt received the award of his father Sunil Dutt also. Internationally acclaimed photographer Raghu Rai did not turn up. Two other prominent personalities included Major
Abhijeet, an instructor at the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, who has scaled Mount Everest and Naveen
Gulia, a handicapped soldier, who had travlled on the highest motorable road in the world were also presented at Gaurav Award. A cultural programme was also presented on the occasion by well-known playback singers
Abhijeet, Harbhajan Mann, Sophia, Gurdass Mann, Scorpian Dance Troupe from Mumbai, famous folk singers/dancers of Haryana and Shaukat Ali Khan, Riaz Ali Khan from Pakistan. The show was telecast live by ‘etc’ channel. |
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Admin, media kept out
of awards function
Kurukshetra, December 12 The etc TV channel that telecasted the ceremony live hijacked the whole show and the administrative agencies seemed to be helpless even as it was a state government’s function and the Chief Minister was the chief guest. The channel hired its own security agency to manage the affairs without the permission of the administration. The local police and officials of the civil administration were kept aloof from the administrative affairs of the show. The police personnel just managed the traffic. The mediapersons were not allowed to enter the show. No matter, invitation to the media to cover the function was extended by the Public Relations Department through e-mail but no separate media enclosure was set up during the show. When asked about the “total failure” of the administration during the show, Ms Bharti Arora, SP, who came on the spot, said: “I will allow only those persons who have been given passes by the channel and not the invitation extended by the Public Relations Department”. A senior official attached with the Chief Minister also directed her to make smooth arrangements for the media but she seemed to be busy with the security arrangements of the Chief Minister and the visiting dignitaries from
Pakistan. Mr Prem Singh, SDM, Kurukshetra, said it was the duty of the Public Relations Department to facilitate the entry of mediapersons. However, even senior officials of the department were seen standing outside the show and were not allowed to enter the function. Private security agencies even kept the local police away from the entry gate. The mediapersons even tried to contact the local DPRO to resolve the issue but he was not available. Later, a few mediapersons were allowed to enter the venue on the intervention of the Director, Public Relations, Mr R.K. Khullar. |
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Youth lathicharged
Kurukshetra, December 12 The administration called anti-riot squad equipped with tear gas. Hundreds of families returned without viewing the show fearing that the situation might turn violent. The etc TV channel that telecasted the ceremony live had hired its own security agency to manage the crowd without the permission of the administration. The local police and officials of the civil administration were kept aloof from the administrative affairs of the show. The police personnel just managed the traffic. The mediapersons were not allowed to enter the show. No matter, invitation to the media to cover the function was extended by the Public Relations Department through e-mail but no separate media enclosure was set up during the show. When asked about the “total failure” of the administration during the show, Ms Bharti Arora, SP, who came on the spot, said: “I will allow only those persons who have been given passes by the channel and not the invitation extended by the Public Relations Department”. A senior official attached with the Chief Minister also directed her to make smooth arrangements for the media but she seemed to be busy with the security arrangements of the Chief Minister and the visiting dignitaries from Pakistan. Mr Prem Singh, SDM, Kurukshetra, said it was the duty of the Public Relations Department to facilitate the entry of mediapersons. However, even senior officials of the department were seen standing outside the show and were not allowed to enter the function. Private security agencies even kept the local police away from the entry gate. |
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A show of Indo-Pak amity
Karnal, December 12 Gestures of friendship emanate during interactions among intellectuals, peasants artists and journalists from both countries. Pakistanis are looking forward to visit India along with their families without having to face any visa curbs and so do the Indians. This impression was drawn from the visit of Pakistanis to Karnal last evening. They had come under the leadership of World Punjabi Congress Chairman Fakhar Zaman to attend a three-day seminar on ‘India-Pakistan Relations: Emerging Cooperation’ being organised at Kurukshetra. A dinner was organised in the honour of visiting guests from Pakistan at Hotel Jewels here Yesterday. Artists from both nations presented cultural programmes till midnight. The local journalists and the visiting journalists had discussions on issues concerning the two nations. Chaudhary Rub Nawaz Bajwa, Staff Correspondent of the Associated Press of Pakistan and president of the APP Employees Union (Punjab), said that the hardliners who were opposed to friendly ties with India were gradually “vanishing” from west Punjab. “Punjab is now almost free of such hardliners who have either changed their life-style or shifted their base to north-western frontier provinces and Sindh”, he added. Khalid Qayyum, Staff Correspondent of Daily Express, talked about the problem of hardliners in both nations hindering the peace process. He said, “Hun mohabattan vandan da saman aa gya hai. Saanu koi nahin rok sakda” (It’s time to exchange love and affection, no body can stop us from doing this). Javed Frooqi, Staff Correspondent of Jang, cracked hilarious jokes while interacting with his counterparts in India. Dr Aftab Mohy-ud-Din Chief Editor of Professional Times, a bilingual veterinary journal, seemed to be introvert initially but he later mixed up with local journalists and extended invitation to them to visit his native place Faisalabad in Pakistan. Agha Amir Hussain, Chief Editor of Urdu monthly ‘Sputnik’, stressed the need for free people-to-people contact between the two countries, particularly between the two Punjabs, including Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. He said the ancient Punjab culture had immensely contributed to the world civilisation and the common people should be made aware of their cultural heritage. Indians and Pakistanis danced to the tunes of ‘dama-dam’ mast kalandar’, ‘Mera piya ghar aaya ramji’ alike. Noted singer Riaz Ali Khan’s ghazal ‘Barhi door se aaye hain, piar ka tohfa lae hain’ drove all into clapping and dancing. |
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Need for a new vision on Kashmir: expert
Kurukshetra, December 12 This was the perspective of the speakers at the second technical session of the international seminar on “India-Pakistan relations: emerging cooperation” organised by the Department of Political Science, Kurukshetra University, here today. The speakers, Dr Dalbir Singh and Dr Vikram Singh, were of the view that boundaries were becoming meaningless in the electronic age and this applied to the Indo-Pak relations too. According to them, the two countries could benefit greatly by reducing tariff rates and phasing them out slowly. Prof S.S. Bindra, who was chairing the session, was of the view that the strengthening of economic relations was the need of the hour. Earlier, while summing up the talks in the first technical session of the seminar here yesterday evening, Prof Devendera Kaushik, Director, Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata, suggested that “to improve relations between India and Pakistan, the two countries must put controversial issues on the backburner”, work on those, which are conductive and tackle the difficult areas when the time is ripe. Expressing views on the perceptions and misperceptions in India-Pakistan relations, Prof Chintamani Mahopatra, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, Prof S.S. Bindra, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, and Prof Raghuvendra Tanwar, Kurukshetra University, examined the external, internal and historical dimensions of India-Pakistan relations. In their expositions, it was perceived that the external dimensions were conducive due to the changed global scenario and the interests of the USA and China in the region. The internal dimensions were not yet matured for establishing peace due to instability in Pakistan and the dominance of the military there. The session concluded on the positive note that there was a need to get rid of the feudal mind-set by India and the feudal system by Pakistan. The third session was chaired by Prof Mohan Lal Sharma, Professor of Political Science, South Asian Study Centre, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. Expressing his views during the session, Prof S.K. Sharma from the Department of Correspondence Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh, said it was erroneous to ascribe the conflicting pattern of relationship to any single factor and the perceptions of India and Pakistan differ on the issues, which were crucial to their relations. The two countries should seize this opportunity and exercise the ghost of over half a century of animosity and bitterness, he added. Prof Kulwant Kaur, head of the Department of Political Science, University of Jammu, felt that there was a need for a new vision on Kashmir. She was of the view that there was a need to understand the intricacies of the Kashmir problem, on which India had failed so far. It had only succeeded in alienating people i.e. the Kashmiri Muslims and Pandits. To overcome the growing discontent, peaceful moves by both countries could help soften the issue through social and economic exchange and by bringing the Kashmiris into the mainstream, she added. While examining the implications and consequences of smuggling on Indian borders in Rajasthan, Prof Karori Singh, South Asian Study Centre of the Department of Political Science, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, called for cooperation between both the countries. Prof Saroj Malik, Chairperson of the Department of Political Science, Kurukshetra University, coordinated the seminar. |
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Be a bridge, Fakhar Zaman tells Press
Kurukshetra, December 12 Expressing satisfaction over the role of the media, Mr Zaman said the Press was playing a positive role in building a peaceful atmosphere between India and Pakistan. He suggested that the Samjhauta Express should be renamed Dosti Express or Aman Express. He also demanded that the censor board should ban films in India which propagate anti-Pakistan information. “We are also pressurising our government to ban anti-India films,” he said. Mr Zaman said the cultural heritage of both the countries is very similar so much so that even the war heroes and martyrs of the freedom struggle were given the same respect on both sides. He suggested that both the countries should appoint a joint commission to review the textbooks in India and Pakistan to help in eradicating poisonous material published against both the countries. Mr Tirlochan Singh, member, Rajya Sabha, in his address apprised the Pakistani delegates of some distorted facts that were removed from Indian textbooks during the past few years. However, he opined that most of the Indian cultural heritage was in Pakistan and the Pakistani government should allow the Indians to visit those shrines frequently. He hoped that efforts initiated by the people of both the countries would bring good days for both the nations with lasting peace in the region. “The Indian Press is known worldwide for its freedom of expression and liberal views and it could play a very significant role in creating a friendly atmosphere in both the countries,” he added. While welcoming the delegates, Mr Vijay Sabharwal, president, Haryana Accredited Press Reporters Union, hoped that the Indian Press could discharge its duty diligently in strengthening the relations between India and Pakistan. On this occasion, 16 mediapersons were honoured by Dr A.K. Chawla, Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, and Mr Tirlochan Singh. |
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Visa must be done away with, says Pak delegation
Ambala, December 12 Mr Puri was overwhelmed when Mr Tufail Akhtar, a journalist from Pakistan, told him that his sister was living in Mr Puri’s ancestral home. “I do not know what to say. This chance meeting with Mr Akhtar has refreshed memories,” he said. Mr Puri’s family used to live on the Mall Road in Lahore. The jumbo-sized Pakistani delegation was accorded a warm welcome on its arrival here this afternoon. They were received near Swastik Chowk and were escorted to GMN College where a cultural function was held. Pakistani actress Zarin
Suleman, better known as Panna, said they were going to take back the message of peace and love from India. “We must strive to keep love alive among the two nations. The roads between the two countries should be opened up,” she
said. Zarin said she had acted in more than 50 films. “Currently, my husband is making
‘Aana’, an Indo-Pak co-production. Some of my hit films include ‘Uff Yeh
Biwiyan’, ‘Zeenat’, ‘Gulfam’ and ‘Anari’”, she said. “In
‘Bazee’, I had performed classical dance and Ustad Allah Rakha had played tabla,” she added. She said visa requirement between the two countries must end. “All road blocks must be removed. India and Pakistan have been fighting for the past 55 years and both countries have not gained anything. It is time that we must sit down and talk so that there can be harmony,” she said. Mr Shaukat Ali, head of the film/TV department at Iqra University, Lahore, suggested that there should be more exchange programmes for students and teachers. “To encourage the student exchange programme, we suggest that Indian students who study in Pakistan, should be given 50 per cent fee waiver. A similar fee waiver should be given to Pakistani students who want to study in India,” he said. He said the arrangement for fee concession could be for a fixed period of time and after that, full fees could be charged. “This would encourage greater student exchange and build strong relations,” he said. Mr Ali pointed out that while an Indo-Pakistan cricket match is always a tense affair, things are different when India is playing against any other country. “You will find that the people in our country want Indian cricketers to do well when they are not playing against Pakistan. We want Sachin Tendulkar to hit boundaries,” he said with a smile. “It is time that the exchange takes place at the level of professionals like doctors, lawyers, teachers and journalists. More exchange will lead to peace,” he stated. Referring to the Pakistan media, Mr Ali said earlier there used to be a clear division between the English media and the
vernancular. “However, there has been a distinct shift in the past 10 years. The shift has taken place following the arrival of electronic media and the Internet,” he said. The team leader, Mr Fakr
Zaman, said there were two scripts for writing Punjabi. “While Gurmukhi script is in India, Pushto script is in Pakistan. I suggest that Gurmukhi script should be taught in Pakistan and Pushto in India,” he said. He stated that currently there was an issue of purism in language in Pakistan. “While many consider that there is revivalism, I do not agree. I think revivalism is reactionary. I believe that there is renaissance in the language,” he said. Mr Zaman said: “Pakistan is one country and India is one country. We must recognise these geographical realities. However, cultural exchanges must be encouraged between the two countries.” A scintillating cultural programme was presented at the college auditorium. Noted singer Shiv Anand sang ghazals which was followed by Pakistani singer Farukh Shah singing couplets. The Pakistani delegates were enthralled by bhangra and many could be seen taking photographs.
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DSP suspended for misinforming
Chautala
Kurukshetra, December 12 On receiving the wrong information, the Chief Minister, who was present at the Indo-Pak seminar here, reacted immediately and even asked the audience and the visiting dignitaries to mourn the demise of the former Prime Minister by keeping silence for two
minutes. Sources close to the Chief Minister told The Tribune late in the evening that the DSP Subash Kumar, without confirming the information, passed it on to the security officer of the Chief Minister. |
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Haryana selected for ‘eBiz’ pilot project
Chandigarh, December 12 This was revealed during a management meet on “Doing Business with the Government: the eBiz Initiative” by the Chandigarh Management Association (CMA) in association with the
Hydrabad-based National Institute for Smart Government (NISG), and Haryana Government's Department of Industries Addressing the gathering, Haryana’s Additional Director of Industries Kulmohan Singh said cumbersome procedures for granting approvals, and delays involved in the processes would be removed through eBiz initiative expected to speed up and streamline the process. He added that the government had already simplified investment related procedures to expedite approvals, reengineering of regulatory processes, outsourcing of authority, self-certification scheme, and effective dispute resolution mechanism with prescribed time limit for clearances and approvals. President of the Chandigarh Management Association Charanjit Singh said business and industry were major stakeholders in the socio-economic development of the country. |
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Kidwai lays stress on
quality education
Faridabad, December 12
Claiming that the 21st century had been based on science, technology and knowledge, he said India at present was placed third in respect of the skilled force in terms of science and technology. Dr M. Hamidullah, chairman of the Society For Human Empowerment, and Mrs Bimla Arora of Shemrock International, also spoke on the occasion. Mr Kidwai later visited Tigaon Road in Ballabhgarh subdivision to preside over a function for laying the foundation stone of another school. He asked the organisers to provide proper avenues to the poor people in education. The Governor also visited a blood donation camp organised on the occasion. |
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Woman arrested for
blackmailing ex-boss
Panipat, December 12 According to the complaint submitted by Mr Bansal, the accused had worked at his showroom several years ago. She had been caught while stealing garments, for which she also apologised in the presence of some prominent persons of the area. The complainant further stated that she filed a case against him of molestation some days after the incident to teach him a lesson. She asked him to pay her at least Rs 5 lakh to withdraw her case. Following this, Mr Bansal reported the matter to the SP. After preliminary investigation, the city police registered the FIR against the woman and arrested her today. |
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Woman stays in open
due to marital discord
Ambala, December 12 She spent the day in front of her house, causing concern among Army and Air Force officers who reside in the vicinity. An Army officer suggested that some government or non-government organisation should come forward to help the couple and resolve their dispute so that no “scene” was created close to the Kharga Corp Headquarter. “There could be differences between the couple but they should be resolved within the confines of the home or some other establishment,” he said. Expressing concern over her health, the officer said the nights were chilly and it could cause medical problems to the woman. A number of curious onlookers stopped to help her but the woman was determined to stay put in front of the house.
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Medical representatives
elect office-bearers
Ambala, December 12
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Children’s carnival held
Ambala, December 12
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