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Ellenabad bypoll: It’s Cong vs INLD
No papers filed on Day 3
Hooda junior is IYC member
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Price Rise
Rules banning polythene to get stricter, says FC
For this soldier, music comes first
Ambala District
‘Promote Haryana cinema to boost culture’
Cong to enrol 6 lakh more members
11 held for blocking NH
54 officials found absent from duty
4 undertrials escape
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Ellenabad bypoll: It’s Cong vs INLD
Ellenabad, December 29 The Congress has already nominated Bharat Singh Beniwal, who will file his nomination papers tomorrow. The INLD is likely to field Abhey Singh Chautala, younger son of party supremo Om Prakash Chautala. He will file his papers on January 2. However, the bypoll will be a battle between Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala. Other parties of the state, whether they contest or not, are unlikely to affect the outcome of the byelection. Hooda needs to win the Ellenabad byelection to ensure that the Congress can manage to win a majority in the state assembly. The Congress won 40 seats in the House of 90 and after “defection” of five MLAs belonging to the Haryana Janhit Congress to the ruling party, its strength reached up to 45. Though Hooda has the support of the lone BSP MLA and seven Independents, all of whom have been accommodated in the government, the Congress needs to win the Ellenabad seat to reach the magical figure of 46. On the other hand, Chautala’s prestige is at stake as his party has lost the Ellenabad seat only once since 1977. The INLD has lost several electoral battles to the Congress led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda ever since his party lost power to the latter in 2005. Before losing power in Haryana, the INLD-BJP alliance was defeated on all 10 parliamentary seats in the parliamentary elections held in 2004. The INLD lost all three byelections in May 2008 that were held after unseating of Bhajan Lal (Adampur), Dharam Pal Malik (Gohana) and Rakesh Kamboj (Indri) as they had joined the Haryana Janhit Congress. While the INLD drew a blank, Bhajan Lal won Adampur and the Congress bagged Indri and Gohana. The INLD again failed to open its account in the parliamentary elections held in May this year. However, the INLD witnessed a partial comeback during the recent assembly elections, though they fell much short of returning to power, as they were able to win 32 seats in alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal. Chautala himself won from Ellenabad as well as Uchana Kala, where he defeated Congress stalwart Birender Singh. His resignation from Ellenabad has necessitated the bypoll. The Congress has been undermining Chautala’s feat by maintaining that wrong and delayed distribution of tickets and infighting in its ranks has helped Chautala win these seats. Chautala needs to win the bypoll to prove that his party’s victory on 32 seats was not a fluke. |
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No papers filed on Day 3
Ellenabad, December 29 Kusum Chaudhary of the Samast Bharatiya Party (SBP), who was to file her nomination papers today, could not do so due to some technical reasons. “We went to the office of the returning officer today, but could not file papers due to some technical reasons. Now, she will file her papers tomorrow,” said Sudesh Agarwal, president of the
SBP. |
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Hooda junior is IYC member
Fatehabad, December 29 Deepender filled his membership form and submitted it to the organisation. Later, addressing activists of the IYC, Deepender Hooda said the youth had a definite role to play in taking the country to the path of development. “The Congress is a 125-year-old organisation now and even when it was set up, the youth showed a good participation and played a vital role in the independence of the country,” he said. He said it was due to the efforts of the youth that the Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda could get a second term in power during the recent elections. “Since 1972, it had never happened in the history of Haryana,” said Deepender and exhorted the youth to get ready for the next challenge of the Ellenabad bypoll. Tanwar maintained that the membership drive of the IYC launched to translate the vision of Rahul Gandhi into reality had met with a grand success. “Earlier, the drive was to end on December 31, but now seeing its success, we have decided to enhance it till January 2,” Tanwar announced. |
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Price Rise
Rohtak, December 29 Earlier, they staged a demonstration and blocked the main entrance of the mini-secretariat. The protesters, including the CPM state secretary Inderjit Singh, were arrested by the police and taken to the Police Lines, before they were let off after a couple of hours. Addressing a gathering before the court arrest, Inderjit Singh alleged that the UPA government had failed to curb the price rise of food items and it had no right to remain in power. He condemned the “criminal” callousness at the level of the administration to allowing hoarders and black marketers to make profits at the cost of common people. Surender Malik said the stir launched by the Left parties would continue till there was a positive response from the authorities concerned. He also announced to gherao Parliament during the budget session. The court arrest was a part of the campaign launched by the Left parties, said Inderjit Singh, who claimed that such a protest was also held in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonepat, Jhajjar, Karnal and other districts simultaneously. SONEPAT: A large number of activists of the district units of the CPM and the CPI led by CPI district secretary Daryao Singh Kashyap and area secretary of the CPM Naresh Khandelwal on Tuesday staged a protest march in the town and a dharna in front of the DC’s office in protest against the rising prices of essential commodities and violations of labour laws. They also submitted a memorandum of their demands to DC Ajit Joshi. KAITHAL: Hundreds of activists of the CPM held a protest march here on Tuesday. Later, they sat on dharna outside the mini-secretariat. The protesters raised slogans against the “anti-people” policies of the Centre and the state governments and they offered themselves for arrest by the authorities. Comrade Kundan Lal, district secretary of the CPM, and Prem Chand, executive member, criticised the state and the Centre governments for their failure to curb the price rise. They also highlighted the difficulties being faced by rural labourers, who had not been paid their wages under the NREGA scheme. Tehsildar Rajbir Dhiman asked the protesters to submit a memorandum, but those sitting on dharna insisted that they be arrested and sent to jail. The protesters set on fire an effigy symbolising corruption, price rise, unemployment and worsening law and order situation. |
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Rules banning polythene to get stricter, says FC
Gurgaon, December 29 As per the new plan, the use of polythene bags of less than 40 microns and size less than 18X12 inches will be prohibited. Presently, the use of plastic carry bags of thickness less than 30 microns and size less than 8X12 inches are banned. This was disclosed by the state Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary (Environment), G Prasanna Kumar, at a meeting held here today. He said under Section 3 of the Environment Protection Act, the Haryana government had made rules to prohibit the manufacture, sale, distribution and use of polythene and plastic carry bags in the state. There was a complete ban on the use of plastic carry bags, irrespective of thickness and size, in Thanesar, Kurukshetra, Morni Hills, wildlife sanctuaries and national parks in the state. The chairman of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board, Dr AS Chahal, underlined the need to create awareness among the villagers about not burning crop residue like wheat stubble and paddy straw. Scientific disposal of biomedical wastes was also discussed at the meeting. It was revealed that seven service providers had been collecting biomedical wastes from hospitals. The issue of proper disposal of CFLs was also discussed at the meeting. The meeting was informed that the government had identified a site near Pali village in Faridabad district for disposal of these lamps. As CFLs contain mercury, it is not advisable to dispose it of like normal bulbs. Kumar asked the Deputy Commissioners to devise a mechanism for the collection of fuse CFLs in their districts. Haryana Pollution Control Board member SK Monga, Gurgaon Divisional Commissioner TK Sharma and all Deputy Commissioners of the division attended the meeting. |
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First unit of Hisar thermal project becomes operational
Khedar (Hisar), December 29 Complimenting the engineers for erecting the unit in record 35 months, the Chief Minister said Haryana was proud of this feat which would go a long way in making the state self-sufficient in power generation. He said the synchronisation on oil achieved today marked the commencement of the final steps for full load generation on a sustained basis. The unit would be operated at a load of around 40 to 50 MW for a few hours during which all leakages and problem areas would be identified and corrections made. He said the unit-1 would start generating at full load by end of January. He added that the work on the unit-2 was progressing as per schedule and it was expected to be commissioned by March. The Chief Minister said he had promised that Haryana would add 5,000 MW generation capacity during the 11th Five Year Plan period. The commissioning of the second unit of the project would be followed by commissioning of the first 500 MW unit of Indira Gandhi Super Thermal Power Station in Jhajjar in July next. The second and third units were expected to be commissioned in October 2010 and January 2011, respectively. Hooda said the first 660 MW unit of Mahatma Gandhi Super Thermal Power Project in Jhajjar would also be commissioned in December 2011. Power Minister Mahender Pratap Singh congratulated the engineers and said the unit would run on full capacity by the end of January 2010. Madhusudan Prasad, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Power Department, said since its inception the project had been crossing all major milestones on or ahead of schedule. He said earlier also the RGTPP had created history by completing the hydraulic test of the boiler of unit-1 on February 28. The successful synchronisation on oil achieved today had paved the way for coal firing and commencement of the mandatory 14-day trial operation during January next. Sanjeev Kaushal, Managing Director of Haryana Power Generation Corporation, said the milestone was significant as it had been achieved without the support of Chinese specialists. He added that the engineers were already working round-the-clock to commission the coal mills so as to achieve the next major target of synchronisation on coal. |
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For this soldier, music comes first
There is no dearth of talent one realises as one watches TV reality shows but be sure they can not produce a K.L. Saigal , Mohd. Rafi or Lata Mangeshkar. It is only dedicated hard work under the tutelage of a learned Guru which can help groom and nurture many singing sensations, claims Kaushik. Known for his ardent love of folk music, especially Haryanavi folk musical arts and dancing, the former Master Warrant Officer of IAF, feels that classical music is just the refined and cultivated form of folk music. Having been bestowed with the lifetime achievement award in film music at the Film Fest Yamunanagar this past week end Kaushik is in city for overseeing an advanced musical workshop organised by the Department of Public Relations, Haryana. Kaushik ( 85), a man of many seasons, shared his views on music. A disciple of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan of Senia gharana, Kaushik, while serving in the IAF, sought permission to take his harmonium to the front during World War I which really moved his ustad ji. He used to spend annual leave only in Bombay learning and interacting from Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and interacting with the likes of Naushad Saheb, SD Burman, Bimal Roy , Rajinder Singh Bedi and above all KA Abbas who gave me break as music director in film “Shehaar aur Sapna”. The very first film won President’s Gold Medal and Best Music Director award from Bengal Journalists association. Then followed films “Hamara ghar”, “Aasman Mahal”, “Bamabi raat ki bahon mein”, “Basti aur Bazar”, “Dhamaka”, “Sanhji” and “Saat Hindustani” launching Amitabh Bachchan as hero. Out of over 20 regional films, “Chandrawal” (Haryanavi) proved a super golden jubilee hit as did Rajasthani films “Dharambha”i and “Laddo Rani”. Says Kaushik, “Haryanavi folk music remained my first love and its melody shone through many of my film songs. Despite its earthy appeal and vitality, it has not won recognition at the national or international level. It has now become imperative to preserve its purity and enrich it with technology”.
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Ambala District
Ambala, December 29 Most of the accidents took place on national and state highways, including the Ambala-Delhi National Highway, Ambala-Chandigarh Highway, Ambala-Jagadhri Highway and Ambala-Hisar Highway. According to information, most of the drivers of two-wheelers who died were not wearing helmets. Commuters, who followed the traffic rules strictly, also met with the same fate due to the negligence of the other vehicle. Two brothers of Shambu village died on the spot on the GT road near the Haryana-Punjab border last month when they were turning towards their village on a motorcycle. A truck, which was coming from the wrong side, hit their vehicle. The data reveals that more than 50 per cent of the people, who died in road accidents, were either boarding cars or were drivers of two-wheelers. Overtaking and violation of traffic rules were the main reasons behind a number of accidents. In a majority of cases, trucks, maxi cabs and tractor-trolleys had hit two-wheelers and pedestrians. A couple from Ambala city riding a two-wheeler was killed when a truck hit them near Naggal village recently. Trauma was the leading cause of death in accident cases. Hospital sources revealed that a number of injured died as they could not get immediate treatment in local hospitals. They were referred to the PGI, Chandigarh, and a few of them died on the way to the PGI. They could have survived if they had been given emergency medical service required for a trauma patient immediately. A recently constructed building for trauma centre has been lying vacant in the Civil Hospital complex in Ambala city for the past six months. Its functioning could not be started as neither the specialised staff not the required medical equipments were provided to the centre so far. For now, the health department has set up a swine flu isolation ward in the centre that could have been opened in the main building of the hospital easily. |
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‘Promote Haryana cinema to boost culture’
Yamunanagar, December 29 “I wish that more such activities happen in the state so that talented youths, who have a passion to become actor or director in Bollywood, get this kind of exposure,” said actor Yashpal Sharma, who has acted in a number of films, including “Singh is King”, “Dhoop”, “Welcome to Sajjanpur”, “Chameli”, and “Lagaan”. It was a matter of pride to attend the second Haryana international film festival, he said, adding that it was a pleasure to show his film “Johny Johny Yes Papa” to his Haryanvi people. He was addressing the audience at DAV College for Girls here today. Chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi, Ministry of Culture, New Delhi, Ashok Vajpeyi said despite the fact that India had been producing a large number of movies, cinema here had not got due attention as required from the central and the state governments. Cinema was strong medium to promote art and culture. “I feel that cinema should not come under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It should be under the culture ministry so that it could be promoted in a proper way,” he added. The Consultant Editor of Haryana Review Magazine and former Bureau Chief, The Tribune, Gobind Thukral, said: “Cinema should be promoted in Haryana to boost state culture. Besides, it can also be used to root out the caste system. “The government should promote such festivals to spread awareness about
cinema.” Besides, every district in the state should have a film society with support from the government to promote meaningful cinema, he added. Principal of college Dr Sushma Arya and Director of Haryana international film festival Ajit Rai honoured Yash Pal Sharma before the screening. A seminar was also held on Punjabi cinema. Director and film critic Harjeet Singh threw a light on the history of Punjabi cinema. He said earlier Punjabi cinema did not have enough financial support due to which many Punjabi writers and directors turned towards the Mumbai film industry. Besides, many movies were shown on the sixth day of the second Haryana international film festival. A special NRI section was also included in the film festival. |
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Cong to enrol 6 lakh more members
Karnal, December 29 Talking to mediapersons, he said the target would be achieved and 6-7 lakh more members would join the party by New Year. He said AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi has given a new direction to the Youth Congress by putting in place elected bodies at all levels. Favouring elected students unions in colleges and universities, Chokhar said legal provision should be made to debar students with criminal and anti-social background from contesting the elections to students’ bodies. Expressing confidence that the Congress will win the Ellenabad byelection, Chokhar said the party lost due to the internal bickering in the last elections. The party was fully geared up and united this time and there was no scope for any other party to defeat the Congress, he claimed. When asked about his plans to contest the elections in future, he said: “If given a chance by the party high command, I will definitely like to contest the elections in future.” |
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11 held for blocking NH
Jind, December 29 The villagers reached the spot at 10 am and started parking their vehicles in the middle of the road, besides putting wooden logs and waste material. They said they had blocked the highway in protest against the poor supply of power in the village and nearby areas. They said the problem had not only affected their daily routine but had also disrupted the agricultural activities. The police led by the DSP reached there and arrested the protesters when they failed to remove the blockade which had led to the traffic jam. The arrested have been identified as Naresh, Jagir, Anil, Jaspal, Shishpal, Rameshwar, Jagser, Sandeep, Satish and Baljit, all residents of Kabarchha village. |
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54 officials found absent from duty
Kaithal, December 29 The list of all those found playing truant has been forwarded to the Deputy Commissioner for further action. The ADC first found two officials absent in the District Welfare office. Later, he checked offices of BDPO, DEO, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, DIET and the DEEO, where a number of employees were not found on their seats.
— OC |
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4 undertrials escape
Hisar, December 29 The escapees reportedly stole a sawing blade from his bag and later in the night cut the iron bars of their cell. They made a rope by knotting clothes together and scaled the wall from where they escaped. The police has registered a case, but no arrests have been made as yet. |
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Stakes are very high for both the Congress as well as the Indian National Lok Dal in the byelection for the Ellenabad assembly seat that goes to polls on January 20.
The Congress has already nominated Bharat Singh Beniwal, who will file his nomination papers tomorrow.
Panchkula, December 29