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Wednesday,
October 10, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Potable water for all villages in 2 yrs: CM Hospital violating norms, says
probe Punjab, Haryana to have WLL
service Campaign against electricity
theft HIGH COURT Forum stays arrest of
Principal |
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Decks cleared for
multiplexes Sirsa Municipal
Council facing fiscal crisis AMBALA DIARY Police clueless about industrialist’s
murder Sacrilege: death sentence
sought 7 panchayats seek teacher’s
transfer Dowry death: police accused of inaction
600 encroachments
cleared 6 students hurt in
clash Two injured in
panther attack Bandh in Rewari today
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Potable water for all villages in 2 yrs: CM Fatehabad, October 9 Addressing a public meeting after inaugurating a water works at Jhalnia village in the district today, Mr Chautala said with the development of civil stations and increase in population there had been a sharp decline in the availability of potable water. He said out of the 7.5 lakh villages of India, 3 lakh did not get potable water. The Chief Minister said water pipes were being laid in villages where there were none earlier. Bigger pipes were being laid where pipes were of lower capacity. Where there was a single water scheme for a cluster of villages, booster station were being installed to facilitate proper supply of water. In villages where supplies were not proper, despite the installation of booster station, the government was setting up separate water schemes. Mr Chautala said besides providing potable water to its people, the government was also committed to providing irrigation water to all farmers, including those whose farms were situated in the tail ends of the canals and watercourses. He said the government was
repairing the watercourses that were in a state of disrepair and was brick living the kutcha watercourse to ensure smooth flow of water in them. He said his government had paid its share of Rs 12.5 crore to the Punjab Government for the repair work of the banks of the Bhakracanal. He said though there was an
acute scarcity of power in the state, his government provided sufficient power to its people by purchasing it from other states. He said efforts were being made to produce more power in the state. Speaking on the occasion, the Finance Minister, Mr Sampat Singh, said that development activities in Haryana had increased manifold during the past two years. An INLD MP, Dr Sushil Indora, party MLAs, Mr Leela Krishan Chaudhary and Mr Nishan Singh, also spoke on the occasion. |
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Hospital violating norms, says
probe Faridabad, October 9 The hospital, where a large number of patients report daily in the OPD and for indoor treatment, has been charged with not complying with the conditions laid down by the state government while allotting the land to the hospital in 1987 and 1990. According to these conditions, no part of the land can be utilised for industrial, commercial or residential purposes and if the land is utilised for purposes other than the medical centre, it will revert to the government. The allegations about the violation of the norms came to light after inquiry reports were submitted by two committees comprising the Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Services, Director, Health Services and Deputy Commissioner, Faridabad. The inquiries were conducted on the directive of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in response to a civil petition filed by Mr Krishan Lal Gera, a social activist based here. In his petition, Mr Gera had charged the hospital with violating the conditions of the allotment of land to it and had alleged that besides using the space for commercial activity, the hospital had failed to provide free treatment to poor patients. The complainant had also alleged that the hospital, besides charging hefty fee from patients, had rented out some of its space to a private diagnostic centre on a rent of Rs 45,000 per month and had allowed the setting up of a chemist shop and a telephone booth. According to the inquiry reports, the hospital has 150 beds, but no specific number of beds are reserved for local or poor patients. The Deputy Commissioner, in his report, has stated that no free medical facilities are being provided to the public of Faridabad for whom the government had allotted the land. Records of the hospital show that only 51 patients of the total 2,290 treated in the OPD between October, 2000, and March, 2001, received free treatment. On the facility of free medicines, the Deputy Commissioner’s report states that the hospital provides help to the extent of 20 per cent of the expenses incurred by the patients. The probe report, which has been submitted to the higher authorities, concludes that the hospital is violating the conditions of allotment in two ways: by indulging in commercial activity and by not providing any free facility as stipulated in the allotment letter. The high court has fixed November 6 as the next date of hearing in this connection. |
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Punjab, Haryana to have WLL
service Panipat, October 9 This was announced by the Director (Operations), BSNL, Mr Prithpal Singh, while addressing a meeting after inaugurating a 1000-line WLL switch here in the main exchange office last evening. He disclosed that the BSNL had planned to launch its mobile service and orders for machinery and equipment had already been placed. “In the first phase, the BSNL plans to provide 40,000 mobile phones before March next”, he said. To redress subscribers’ grievances, Mr Prithpal Singh said besides customer service centres, the BSNL would also introduce call centres within six months in different telephone exchanges. The Chief General Manager, Telecom, Haryana Circle, Mr C.S. Kataria, said Panipat was the second town after Gurgaon in Haryana where WLL facilities had been started. This facility would be provided in Faridabad shortly. |
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Campaign against electricity
theft Sonepat, October 9 The Deputy Commissioner told mediapersons here today that the officials of the nigam had created a record in the recovery of the amount outstanding against the consumers with the recovery of Rs 16.19 crore during the current financial year. He stated that the nigam officials were also engaged in replacing the electronic meters and they had so far installed 30,000 electricity meters in the city alone against the target of 60,000. The nigam, he said, had set up 15 teams for this purpose. The DC also said that the nigam officials and the district administration had directed the officials concerned not to provide electricity connections in the unauthorised colonies. He said the replacement of electronic meters had resulted in decrease of line losses to the tune of 22 per cent. Referring to the campaign against power theft, the Deputy Commissioner said the officials of the nigam had checked 1,130 power connections and detected as many as 119 cases of power theft during the past month. A penalty of Rs 2.37 lakh were recovered on the spot from them. He said the officials also detected 28 cases of overloading and imposed a fine of Rs 2.63 lakh on them. The nigam officials, he said, checked 464 power connections in the urban areas and detected 25 cases of power theft. The erring consumers were penalised a sum of Rs 45,000 as fine from them. According to the DC, the nigam officials also checked 558 power connections in the rural areas and detected 64 cases of power theft. A sum of Rs 12.39 lakh was imposed as fine on them and Rs 5.91 lakh was recovered from them on the spot. The nigam officials detected 18 cases of unauthorised load and imposed a fine of Rs 1.65 lakh on them. |
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HIGH COURT Chandigarh, October 9 Issuing the directions on a petition filed by the father of deceased Ashok Puri, the Bench, comprising Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr Justice M.M. Kumar, further directed the counsel to consult the authorities concerned to take steps to paint the berms all along the state and the national highways to prevent mishaps in fog during the winter season. In their detailed order, the judges held that the cameras, to be installed at vantage points on the various national highways, would go a long way in checking accidents and traffic violations. The judges also observed that, after going through an affidavit submitted by Haryana's Deputy Advocate-General on the behalf of the Director-General of Police, they were satisfied with some of the steps taken by the authorities for regulating traffic and checking offences involving violation of the Motor Vehicle Act but "much more was required to be done". The case will now come up on November 22 for further hearing. Earlier during the proceedings, the Deputy Advocate-General stated that four of the subways constructed along National Highway No 1 would be made operational by October 31. He added that the remaining subways would be put to use within two months after carrying out due repairs. In his petition, Mr Harish Kumar Puri of Kurukshetra had earlier sought directions for the enforcement of traffic rules on the GT Road. He had also asked for the construction of rumble strips, along with traffic signals at the crossings. Going into the background, he had stated that his 27-year-old son Ashok Puri had died on May 14, 1996, due to complete failure of the traffic signal system.
Missing transporter Allowing a writ petition filed by Kamaljeet Kaur — wife of missing transporter Sukhdev Singh alias Sukha, a Division Bench of the High Court on Tuesday directed the Union of India and other respondents to issue passport within a month. Kamaljeet Kaur had earlier alleged that her husband Sukhdev Singh of SAS Nagar was directed to come to Police Station, Sohana, before being detained at different places. Her counsel had added that Sukha's whereabouts were unknown and there was a strong apprehension regarding his elimination. Referring to a report by the Central Bureau of Investigation, she had added that certain police officers had been found guilty of abducting her husband. She had added that as per the CBI's report her husband had been eliminated but the date, time and place of the encounter could not be ascertained.
Interim bail extended Mr Justice Nirmal Singh of the High Court today extended till October 15 the interim bail granted to former Haryana Minister Vinod Kumar Marya in a cheating and corruption case. In a ruling, Mr Justice Nirmal Singh also directed the petitioner to attend proceedings before another court on October 10. "If he is not in a position to attend the proceedings, he will produce a certificate to this effect from Apollo Hospital in Delhi," the Judge added. Marya was earlier booked under Prevention of Corruption Act, along with Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, after a Hisar district resident alleged that Rs 1 lakh was taken by the former minister for getting him selected as a constable in the Haryana Police. Giving details, the complainant had added that the accused had paid back half the amount after the selection was cancelled, but had refused to return the other half despite repeated requests. |
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Forum stays arrest of
Principal Kurukshetra, October 9 In her application for stay of the implementation of the order passed by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, the Principal of the local DAV Public School, Ms Anita Rawal, alleged that the forum passed the order on the basis of surmises and conjectures and in the absence of any evidence by misreading the record of the case. It may be mentioned here that the District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum, Kurukshetra, on the complaint of Neha, Nidhi and Anshu Bansal, all three daughters of a local advocate, Bhushan Lal Bansal, held the Principal guilty of intentionally violating the order passed by it on April 28, 1995 and took action under Section 27 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 to impose the punishment. The complaint originated on April 28, 1995, when Mr Bansal approached the forum, alleging that the Principal was not issuing the school leaving certificate of Neha. Though it was on May 6, that he formally presented an application to the council of the defendant Principal for the first time seeking the certificate during a hearing for vacation of interim order before the forum. |
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Decks cleared for
multiplexes Chandigarh October 9 According to informed sources, the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, recently approved a policy regarding the multiplexes. So far, the sources say, the HUDA had no policy on allowing multiplexes in the state. The policy regarding the multiplexes was drafted after the Administrator, HUDA, Faridabad, sent a proposal to the head office for the approval of a zoning plan of a cinema site in the city centre in Sector 12 of that town. The cinema site was to be auctioned The Faridabad office had proposed an FAR of 300 per cent in the zoning plan. But it was found that as per a decision of the Council of Ministers the maximum permissible FAR of 1.00 was allowed for cinema sites. However, no instructions regarding FAR ground coverage existed for multiplex sites. Now HUDA has decided that multiplexes will be allowed only in city centres and district shopping centres. The allottees of the multiplex sites will have to construct a minimum of two separate theatres within the same cinema complex. The minimum total number of seats in all theatres will be 450. In the case of the existing cinema sites which have already been auctioned by HUDA but the buildings are yet to be constructed, the FAR already approved will be retained. In case the owner of an existing cinema building wants to convert it into a multiplex and use some portion of the site for commercial purposes, he will be allowed to do so after paying a fee to HUDA. HUDA has decided that commercial centres in a cinema will be allowed to the tune of 50 per cent of the FAR. The commercial use of a cinema will be limited to convention centres, exhibition halls, cultural centres, department stores, shopping centres, restaurants and similar other entertainment sources. The FAR in the multiplexes will be restricted to 1.50 in cases where the sites are part of a city centre. |
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Sirsa Municipal
Council facing fiscal crisis Sirsa, October 9 According to former district president of the Haryana
Municipal Council Employees Union, Mr Shiv Parshd, and the district
secretary, Mr Onkar Mal, the poor sweepers were undergoing acute
economic hardship. Both these leaders have accused the council of poor
financial management. The poor employees are working on a double-edged
sword as they are being burdened with the compound interest accrued on
the loan amount besides the loss of interest on their monthly
provident fund contribution. Former state organising secretary of the
Congress, Mr Hoshiari Lal Sharma, criticised the council for dragging
the poor employees into acute financial crisis. The Executive
Officer of the Municipal Council, Mr V.P. Sangwan, admitted that the
council was facing the economic crisis. He said Sirsa was not the only
district facing this situation. He attributed the crisis to abolition
of octroi, non-implementation of the new house-tax system and
non-payment of the trade tax by the resenting business community.
Whatever may be the reasons, there is a resentment among the Municipal
Council employees who feel that they and their families are suffering
because of the failure of the administration to effectively implement
their schemes. |
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AMBALA DIARY Ambala The president of the Rotary Club of Ambala, Dr Anil Jain, said that Ambala was a city of scientific instruments and the manufacturers of these instruments had been able to break new ground in many fields such as indigenisation, export and data based management. A number of industrial units had their procedures and systems certified as conforming to ISO standards. He said that the instruments manufactured by them were used in high technology areas. “Many of us are not aware of it. The students community of Ambala uses instruments made in Ambala but does not known about it,” he said. * * * The Primary Health Centre at Barara, constructed at a cost of Rs 36.66 lakh on land given by the Gram Panchayat, was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Om Prakash Chautala. Earlier, the centre was housed in an old building belonging to the Block Samiti. The new PHC has been provided with an operation theatre, a laboratory and an OPD. About 22 villages around Barara will benefit from this centre. * * * The district telephone directory brought out by the District Red Cross Society contains an advertisement of ‘Gutka’ which is considered harmful to human health. The statutory warning in the advertisement about the health risk of the product is not legible. The president of the Haryana branch of the Indian Medical Association, Dr D.S. Jaspal, says that ‘Gutka’ is very harmful to health and can cause oral cancer. Advertisements of products that can have an adverse effect on a person’s health should be screened by a health committee before being allowed to be published, he says. * * * Colleges of Ambala Cantonment and Ambala City, including MDSD College, SD College and GMN College, held their National Service Scheme camps in which the students tried to make a meaningful contribution to the development of the area. A number of events were held during the 10-day period, laying stress on a variety of issues including education, environment, health and sanitation. |
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Police clueless about industrialist’s
murder Rewari, October 9 Mr Kirpal Singh Yadav went by his car on Friday morning from Rewari to Mahipalpur (Delhi) where he spent several hours in his factory. Leaving his car there, he boarded a Dharuhera-bound Tata Sumo (plied as taxi) at Sukhrali chowk near Gurgaon at 4.30 p.m. It is not known where that Tata Sumo dropped him and what happened to him after that. However, in the evening when his third brother at Lakhuwas village near Sohna received anonymous calls on his mobile phone, he passed on the information to the other family members at Rewari who spread out and found his body lying across railway track here. They informed the G.R.P. which brought the body to the local civil hospital where a post-mortem examination was done on it in the morning on Saturday after which the body was handed over to the family of the deceased. The viscera of the deceased was also sent to the forensic laboratory, Madhuban (Karnal) for chemical examination. |
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Sacrilege: death sentence
sought Chandigarh, October 9 In a memorandum submitted to the Punjab Governor here today, a large number of the Sikhs, who had come from various parts of Haryana under the leadership of Sant Baba Ram Singh Nanaksar Singra, said disrespect to any holy book of any religion should be made a non-bailable offence, for which stringent punishment should be prescribed. The memorandum said that those involved in the recent incidents of sacrilege should be declared traitors and be tried as such. Their moveable and immoveable property should be confiscated so that in future no one dared to commit such sacrilege. The delegation also demanded that certain books published by the NCERT which showed disrespect to the Sikh Gurus should be banned immediately. |
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7 panchayats seek teacher’s
transfer Rewari, October 9 It is alleged that students of the school, who held a demonstration and also resorted to a road blockade recently to press for their demand for allowing them to change a subject, were being incited by some teachers, including Mr Mukesh Kumar. Meanwhile, Mr Pradeep Sharma, senior vice-president, Haryana School Lecturers Association, refuted the allegations that the teachers had played a role in the students’ agitation. He also warned that if any action was taken against the teachers, the association would oppose it. |
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Dowry death: police accused of inaction Chandigarh, October 9 In a memorandum submitted to the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, Mr Jagan Nath alleged that the Karnal police had so far arrested only Pankaj and, for reasons best known to it, was avoiding the arrest of the in-laws of his daughter. He alleged that his daughter was killed by her in-laws for bringing insufficient dowry. He urged the Chief Minister to direct the Karnal police to immediately arrest all culprits so that they might not be in a position to tamper with the evidence. |
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Metal wire in capsule Kalka, October 9 Mr Jatinder Kumar said when he was about to take a capsule, it slipped from his hand. When capsule fell on the ground, it broke into two pieces. He was stunned when he saw a piece of iron wire in one part of the capsule. Jatinder Kumar said he had brought this capsule from a chemists shop at the Railway road and on the wrapper of the capsule name of Kundli town of Haryana was written. |
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600 encroachments
cleared Rohtak, October 9 A resident, Sanjiv Kadian, said the demolition of the unauthorised structures could not be described as unjustified. However, he said the loss and harassment of people could be avoided if the HUDA authorities had taken immediate action against the encroachers. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anil Malik, said 864 residents had encroached upon government land while 97 allottees had started commercial activity in residential houses at H.B. Colony. He said notices had been issued to 767 residents. |
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6 students hurt in
clash Hisar, October 9 According
to the police, students from Sundawas village were returning to their village from colleges in a private bus last evening when over 20 students of Rawalwas village forced the bus to stop by parking their Tata Sumo and a Jeep on the Balsmand road near Chandan Nagar. They asked students of Sunadwas village to come out of the bus and allegedly attacked them with swords and sticks, Sunil Kumar, Sudesh, Sushil and Suresh of Sundawas village received serious injuries and Ramesh of Rawalwas village also received bullet injuries in his leg. Some of passengers were also injured when they tried to intervene. There was a dispute between the two groups over seats in the bus as both the villages are situated along the same road. The police have registered a case against Ramesh, Raja, Balwan, Jasbir and their accomplice on a complaint lodged by injured students. |
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Two injured in
panther attack Ambala, October 9 According to information, Sudarshan and Tepender, who belong to Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh), had come to this village to meet someone. When they were crossing a field, a panther appeared from the bushes and attacked them, Sudarshan sustained injuries in his neck and ear, while the other person sustained injuries in his chest. The injured were rushed to hospital. In the meantime, the sarpanch of the village and the police were informed. The police launched a hunt in search of the panther but it could not be found. The people of the area are in the state of panic. |
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Bandh in Rewari today Chandigarh, October 9 Stating this here today the Deputy Leader of the Haryana Congress Legislature Party, Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, said the call for the bandh had been given by the local unit of the Beopar Mandal and certain other organisations. The Congress, he said, had decided to support the bandh. He said a dharna would be organised in Mahendragarh on the issue of house tax and to highlight other "anti-public" policies of the Chautala government. |
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Counselling for Kashmiri migrants Chandigarh, October 9 While stating this here today, an official release said that the completed application forms must reach the Principal of the polytechnic on or before October 17. |
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4 armed youths arrested Jind, October 9 Mr O.P. Singh, Superintendent of Police, said here today that the arrested youths have been
identified as Ashok alias Bablu, Gurtej alias Teji, and Ravinder of Safidon town and Isam Singh of Popran village. The S.P. said the police had received information that some armed youths were hiding in a building near the Hansi branch Canal bridge at Safidon and were planning to loot passengers. The police has registered a case. |
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Chat-seller found dead Ambala, October 9 According to information, Bhoori, the chat-seller, owned a shop on the Bhairon Baba mandir road where he sold “chat”. Bhoori had not returned to his home for the next two days. His relatives were searching for him at various places. Today evening when his relatives opened the shutter of the shop, they found the body of Bhoori laying there. The police has registered a case. |
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