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Decision may dent INLD, BJP vote bank
No decision yet on reopening of KV
Foreign job racket busted, 4 held
Decline in yield of rabi crops worries experts
2 die in road mishaps
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Isolation wards for meningitis
Village hit
by jaundice
Ex-gratia grants: paramilitary, Army men to be on par
VC seeks report on warden row
Youth goes missing
3 suspended for clicking
girl on mobile
Robbery bid foiled
Prisoner dies due to illness
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Decision may dent INLD, BJP vote bank
Rohtak, May 12 The two parties had announced that they would not contest these two seats if the Congress put up family members of Om Parkash Jindal and Surender Singh whose deaths in a helicopter crash had caused the vacancies. Though publicly the two parties claim to have done so as a mark of respect to the two leaders, it is widely believed that the decision was based on stark political realities as even in the event of a contest, their candidates would not have been in a position to put up a semblance of a fight from both segments. However, both these parties have been caught in a fix. Since their parties are not contesting the byelections, the second-rung leaders of these parties are under strong pressure from voters to back Congress nominees openly. The voters’ argument is that since the two parties have paved the way for almost a unanimous election of Congress nominees, they should not be seen as opposing the ruling party nominees as they would have to approach them after their election for getting their work done. Local leaders of the two parties in private admit that their voters’ argument is quite logical. They say by refusing to contest the elections, both parties have in a way indirectly told their voters to vote for the ruling party nominees. Besides, no voter would like to be seen as opposing the Congress nominee, especially when their task has been made easier by their own parties by not giving their voters a chance to support their nominees. This was an unfortunate decision. Our leaders should have thought of another excuse to wriggle out of the poll. Now, where is the guarantee that all our voters would come back to us in the next poll, especially when in all probability these very Congress nominees would be contesting the next poll against our candidates”, said an INLD leader of Bhiwani district on condition of anonymity. A BJP leader from Hisar echoed the same sentiments. “Every voter knows why we are out of the fray. But by opting out of the race, we are only willingly gifting a chunk of our vote bank to the Congress. If the state leadership is really sympathising with the families of the dead ministers, it should not contest any poll against members of these two families so long as they are in the fray in future too”, he said. The Congress leadership is understandably elated at the turn of events. It has not only made sure that its two candidates have a smooth sailing, it has also created a dent in the vote bank of its two rivals. Seizing upon the opportunity, it has asked its supporters in the two segments to put pressure on INLD and BJP supporters to support the ruling party nominees openly. Sources in the Congress said it may even put up dummy Independent candidates to force polling in the two constituencies. |
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Independent files poll papers
Chandigarh, May 12 A spokesman for the Election Department said that no candidate filed nomination papers in the Kiloi and Hisar Assembly constituencies. The byelections were scheduled to be held on June 2. |
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No decision yet on reopening of KV
Panipat, May 12 The Board of Directors (BoDs) of the NFL reconsidered its decision of closing down the KV at its meeting held in New Delhi on Wednesday but no final decision could reportedly be taken regarding either confirming the closure or reopening the KV. The NFL Chief Managing Director (CMD), Mr P.S. Grewal, told The Tribune that the matter regarding the KV’s closure had been reviewed at the meeting of BoDs. He said reopening of the KV was not in the hands of the NFL. The Deputy Commissioner of the New Delhi-based KV Sangthan, Mr Rajbir Singh, blamed the NFL management for playing politics. He said the NFL had been talking “mischievous, vague and nonsensical things right from the beginning”. Mr Rajbir Singh said that if the NFL was interested in the KV’s reopening, it should give its plea to the sangthan in writing. Meanwhile, the entire teaching and non-teaching staff has already been transferred to various KVs in the country. The Principal of the KV, Mr B.K. Bahuguna, told The Tribune that 32 of the total 34 teachers had already been relieved while the remaining would be relieved within a couple of days. Mr Bahuguna said he and some other teaching and non-teaching employees had not yet been relieved as they were trying to hand over transfer certificates (TCs) to the students to enable them get admissions to schools of their choice. To a question, Mr Bahuguna said only few students had taken their TCs. The NFL Employees Union had asked parents of the students not to receive TCs from the school staff as it might weaken their struggle to reopen the KV. Meanwhile, the president of the union, Mr Harpal Singh, has warned the NFL authorities that if they did not take a final decision about the KV’s reopening within two days, the union would intensify its struggle. The Tribune had carried a story on May 6 regarding the decision of the NFL to close down the school being run by the KV Sangthan for the past 25 years. The NFL had written to the sangthan in January this year to close down the KV, expressing its inability to bear the expenditure required for running the school. The NFL was reportedly spending around Rs 80 lakh annually on the school in recent years. |
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Foreign job racket busted, 4 held
Gurgaon, May 12 The police arrested four members of the gang in Goa on May 6. They were brought to Gurgaon as the FIR against them was registered here. The gang had an office here in Palam Vihar by the name of Pooja Commercial
Services. The complaint was lodged by Mr Jagdish Kumar, a telephone booth operator. here. The complainant, who had been lured to act as a collector, had taken money from over 12 persons in Fatehabad and allegedly handed over the amount to the gangsters. The investigating officer and in-charge of Palam Vihar Police Chowki, Mr Hawa Singh, said the kingpins of the gang were Pankaj Joshi and Raju
Malli, a resident of Batala in Punjab. Malli is alleged to be wanted in several cases, including a similar racket in Punjab Pankaj Joshi is a native of Shimla. Pankaj
Joshi, his daughter Anchal and wife Rajee, Raju Malli, Col.Ravider Sinigh and Parvinder Singh had been named in the FIR. The complaint was lodged on May 1. As per the FIR, Rs 90,000 were taken for each person for providing them a job in Dubai and Rs 3.5 lakh for a job in Italy. Money was collected from about 15 persons. The money was taken along with passports of the victims this January. They were promised to be given jobs within 45 days. The gangsters had promised that they would get them the visas. The victims were asked to come to Goa from where they would be sent to foreign countries. But Mr Jagdish Kumar, the complainant, got suspicious and brought the matter to the notice of the local police. The district police chief then send a six- member team to Goa the next day under Mr Hawa Singh, where Joshi, his wife and daughter and Parvinder Singh were nabbed. Raju Malli, escaped. According to Mr Hawa Singh, about 70 passports were seized from the accused. About 30 others had been kept by the gang members in Shimla, while Raju Malli had another about 40 in his possession. The passports seized revealed that job aspirants from Gurgaon city, Nuh, Bhondsi (all in Gurgaon district), Fatehabad, Pehwa-all in Haryana and various parts of Punjab had been cheated. |
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Decline in yield of rabi crops worries experts
Hisar, May 12 Talking to The Tribune today, Dr B.S.Dahiya, Director (Research) at Haryana Agricultural University (HAU) here, asserted that the less use of organic fertilisers and excessive and imbalanced use of chemical fertilisers had led to the situation. Dr Dahiya said the maximum decline was in the yield of gram crop which had reduced by 30 to 40 per cent. Besides, the wheat production had shown a decline of 12 or 15 per cent and mustard 15 or 20 per cent. He maintained that the sharp fall in the use of organic fertilisers like farmyard manure, green manure and vermi-compost was also a significant factor affecting the soil health. The use of chemical fertilisers was dangerous for the soil health in the long run, he added. “The imbalanced use of chemical fertilisers by farmers has caused a deficiency of various trace elements like sulphur, zinc, iron, copper and manganese in the soil, which is a serious matter,” said the experts. The amount of organic carbon in soil in the 90 per cent state area had also been reduced, he said, adding that due to the deficiency of trace elements, the physiological efficiency of the plants had also been adversely affected. Dr Dahiya maintained that to restore the soil fertility, the farmers would have to be educated by farm experts. “First and foremost the production-oriented extension education approach has to be changed in the larger interest,” he maintained. “The major aspects to be considered in this regard are management of soil health, bio-waste management, judicious use of irrigation water, adoption of good agricultural production technologies and better utilisation of animal resources and value-addition,” the experts observed. |
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2 die in road mishaps
Ambala, May 12 In another incident, traffic on the busy Amritsar-Ambala road was disrupted following an accident late last night. A truck collided with a tractor-trailer on the Jagadhari road near the Mahesh Nagar area around 9 am. While tractor driver Krishan Pal fell into a ditch, Rajeshwar died on the spot. Alam and Ombir sustained injuries in the incident. The tractor-trailer with people aboard was returning after making purchases for a marriage in the family and it was going to Khelan village when the accident took place. A bus passenger, Rajesh Kumar was killed after a private bus ran over him at the Kalka chowk this morning. Rajesh Kumar was alighting when he came under the bus. He was killed on the spot. The bus belonged to Fatehgarh. As the bus driver fled the spot, he was given a chase in a car by an eyewitness, Raj Kumar. The bus was stopped a short distance away from the accident spot. The traffic on the Amritsar-Ambala road was affected when a tourist bus collided with a truck late last night. The tourist bus, with a few foreigners aboard, was going from Delhi to Himachal Pradesh. By mistake, the driver took a turn towards the Amritsar road. Thereafter, on reaching Kalka chowk, the bus took a turn towards Baldev Nagar. While turning, a truck collided with the bus. A large number of vehicles were caught in the traffic jam. |
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Isolation wards for meningitis
Hisar, May 12 Special isolation wards have been set up at general hospitals in Hisar, Hansi and Adampur. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Arun Kumar Gupta, has advised people having a doubt of meningitis to get themselves examined. He said the treatment was available free of cost at the government hospitals. The Civil Surgeon, Dr S.K. Naval, maintained that for protection from meningitis, people should wash their hands properly before and after meals, use a handkerchief while coughing or sneezing and be alert regarding the symptoms of the disease. Dr Naval warned that the disease was infectious and advised the people to avoid crowded places and sharing eatables or cigarettes with others. He, however, asserted that the disease was curable. |
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Man begins 24-hr walk to set world record
Hisar, May 12 Mr Jai Prakash, Congress MP from Hisar, flagged off the walk at Giri Centre Stadium on the Haryana Agricultural University (HAU) premises this morning. The MP assured him of all possible help. Jangra, who is an Ayurveda practitioner at Hansi, maintained that he had qualified for the 50-km walk event of the 2004 Olympics, but he was not able to participate in the event as he could not find any sponsor. He claimed to have set a world record in back-walk for 20 hours and 40 minutes, covering a distance of 164 km. He performed this feat at the Ramlila Ground in Delhi in 1998. He also walked from Hisar to Delhi in 1997. Jangra tried his best to get the back-walk event included in the Olympics, but in vain. Following this, he decided to change his event and started practising front walk. As of now, he aspired to participate in the next Olympic games scheduled to be held in 2008 and was hopeful of winning a medal for his country. Jangra lamented the falling standard of Indian athletics in the international arena and wanted to inspire the nation’s youth through his venture. |
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Village hit
by jaundice
Ambala, May 12 The team of officials which visited Choti Bassi village, observed that the drinking water pipes to a couple of houses were passing through drains and there was leakage in them. The leakage had led to the contamination of water. Public Health personnel disconnected the pipes leading to the affected houses and new pipes are going to be laid.
TNS |
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Ex-gratia grants: paramilitary, Army men to be on par
Chandigarh, May 12 Stating this here today, the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said that now in the case of death of a jawan of any of the paramilitary forces in action against terrorists or during border skirmishes, an ex-gratia grant of Rs 2.50 lakh would be given and in the case of death due to the blast of an IED, Rs 2 lakh. Mr Hooda said in the case of ex-gratia grant to disabled personnel of all ranks, the amount would be Rs 1 lakh for disability of 70 per cent and above and in the case of disability of 50 per cent to less than 70 per cent, Rs 75, 000. Also, an ex-gratia grant of Rs 50,000 would be given for disability from 20 per cent to less than 50 per cent. He said this incentive would be admissible to all ranks of the paramilitary forces, including the Central Reserve Police Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the Territorial Army, the Central Industrial Security Force, the Home Guards, the Assam Rifles and the Rapid Action Force, hailing from Haryana. |
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VC seeks report on warden row
Sirsa, May 12 The Deputy Registrar O.P. Dhaka had dragged a lady lecturer’s name into the controversy. He had informed the Tribune that the lady lecturer was given the charge of warden whereas she denied it. Reacting to the report, sources on the campus said the VC had asked the Deputy Registrar to submit the report of the episode. Interestingly, in the official records, there is no warden in the girls’ hostel but the Deputy Registrar was trying to drag her name to avoid any responsibility in the case. |
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Protest against ‘Jo Bole So Nihal’
Karnal, May 12 They protested outside the Civil Secretariat and later handed over a memorandum to the Additional Deputy Commissioner, demanding to ask a local cinema house not to screen the controversial movie from tomorrow. They warned that if the film was screened in a local cinema, the Sikhs would forcibly enter and stop the screening of the movie. City Congress president Tarlochan Singh, local Sikh leader Pritpal Singh Pannu and many members of the Haryana Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (ad hoc) were among those who protested against the movie. |
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Youth goes missing
Panipat, May 12 Sanjay’s brother Suraj Bhan told The Tribune that his brother was working as a driver in Kapur industries situated on the GT Road in Panipat. He had left the industry to drop its GM, Mr R.L. Raina, on Monday at around 8.45 p.m. in a hotel at Sanjay Chowk. Suraj Bhan said they were told that he had dropped the GM in the hotel and was returning to the industry but he did not come back. The bloodstained vehicle, he was driving, was found along the GT Road between Jhattipur and Machrolli villages. Sanjay’s brother further said they were told about the entire incident on Tuesday morning. He feared that his brother might have been kidnapped as had he met with some accident, he would have been found in an injured position near the vehicle. Suraj Bhan said that he reported the matter to the police on Tuesday itself. A police spokesman said that the matter was being investigated. |
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3 suspended for clicking
girl on mobile
Jagadhri, May 12 As per the report, one of the three students allegedly took the photograph of the girl from his mobile phone and others misbehaved with her during the morning assembly session today. The girl reported the matter to her class teacher and the Principal. She also informed her parents about it. The parents reached the school and demanded action against the boys. The Principal tried to reason out the things but could not satisfy the parents. In the meantime, the girl’s parents called their friends and the boys’ parents also reached the school. There were altercations between parents of both girl and the boys. Later the Principal, Ms K.D Singh, suspended the boys for one week. |
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Robbery bid foiled
Ambala, May 12 As many as seven robbers arrived at the village temple in
Sonthli. They threatened the temple priest with dire consequences if he did not open the temple door. However, the priest, Virender, and the temple gardener
Shanker, did not open the door. Thereafter, the robbers struck at Mukandpur village. They decamped with 10 tolas of gold, 1.5 kg silver and Rs 30,000 in cash from the residence of Mr Rachna Ram. |
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Prisoner dies due to illness
Ambala, May 12 Sunil was sick for the past few months and he was given treatment by jail doctors. His condition became serious yesterday and he was taken to Civil Hospital. The jail authorities informed the relatives of the deceased and sent the body for post mortem.
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