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Wednesday,
August 20, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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3 ‘Lals’ promote family rule, alleges Kadian Staff-dealers nexus causes huge loss to HMT Hooch claims four lives Haryana exporters for shrinking control area Cong all praise for Governor Talent shows held at Ambala colleges |
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High Court Zila parishad member acts as good Samaritan Maruti car run on LPG
blown apart Three booked for theft of canal water Suicide victims identified Poppy husk smuggler gets 10-yr jail
term Porn VCDs seized, vendor held Internet services
disrupted
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3 ‘Lals’
promote family rule, alleges Kadian Chandigarh, August 19 Though the Congress leader did not take the name of Mr Bhajan Lal, chief of the HPCC, he made it amply clear that the latter was among the three “Lals”, the other two being Mr Bansi Lal and present Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. Mr Kadian told newspersons that the reluctance of two successive governments to take any action on the report of a commission of inquiry showed how the three “Lals” protected one another. He claimed the report had accused Mr Chautala of being responsible for the death of Amir Singh. However, the Congress Government (led by Mr Bhajan Lal), which was in power in the state in 1993 when the report was released, did not take action against Mr Chautala. The Congress Government was succeeded by the HVP government led by Mr Bansi Lal. Mr Bansi Lal, who had made tall claims about putting Mr Chautala behind bars on the basis of the report, avoided taking any action against Mr Chautala, Mr Kadian alleged. Mr Kadian, a loyalist of Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Leader of the Congress Legislature Party and an aspirant for the Chief Minister’s post, said the three “Lals” recently demonstrated their solidarity again when they issued statements against Mr Hooda despite the latter being in hospital. Mr Chautala went to Mr Hooda’s constituency, Kiloi, at a time when the latter was in hospital. When the people of Kiloi made it clear that they did not appreciate Mr Chautala’s visit, the Chief Minister said he could do without the constituency in the next assembly elections. Mr Bansi Lal gave a statement, saying that Mr Hooda would never become the Chief Minister, Mr Kadian said. The “third Lal” also gave a statement on these lines around the same time. Mr Chautala’s statement in the Kiloi constituency amounted to violation of the oath taken at the time of his swearing in as the Chief Minister, declaring that “every part of the state will get the same treatment from him”. The Congress MLAs would give a memorandum to the Governor on this issue and demand dismissal of the government, Mr Kadian said. Mr Jai Narain Verma, who had been served an expulsion notice by Mr Bhajan Lal for alleged anti-party activities, was also present at the press conference. |
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Staff-dealers nexus causes huge loss to HMT Panchkula, August 19 This nexus has come to light during an internal vigilance inquiry conducted by the management of HMT Limited. The report says that the marketing officers of the Pinjore division made no efforts to recover dues worth Rs 163 crore from its dealers in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan over the past three years. These dealers have now closed shop and changed their line of business, without paying the dues to HMT. It is learnt that HMT Tractors has around 450 dealers spread all over the country. Tractors were supplied to dealers in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, who further sold them off to farmers. Sources in HMT Limited inform that dealers in the above mentioned four states failed to pass the money back to HMT, but no action was taken against these dealers by the area sales managers of the company and other senior officials in the marketing department. Well placed sources in the company inform that the inquiry was first conducted by the Chief Vigilance Officer, HMT, Pinjore. This report was then sent to the Chief Vigilance Officer, HMT Group, at Bangalore, who after indicting nine officers of the company, including an officer of the rank of General Manager, recommended exemplary action against them. This report has now been submitted to the Union Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises for deciding the further course of action. Senior officials in the HMT Limited, when contacted by TNS over the telephone, confirmed that the inquiry report had been submitted to the ministry, which is contemplating action against the indicted officers. It is because of these dues not being recovered from the dealers that the unit has incurred huge losses, pushing this unit in the red. The annual turnover has dropped from Rs 72. 34 crore in 1996- 97, to a mere Rs 34 crore in 2002- 03 in the Machine Tools unit and production has dropped from 60 tractors on an average daily to anything between five and 15 tractors now in the Tractor Business Group. The unit registered losses worth over Rs 40 crore in the last financial year (2002-2003). Production has remained closed for the past two months after certain ancillary units refused to supply raw material on credit. Overall drop in domestic sale of tractors due to severe drought last year; stiff competition from private players; and, with salaries eating almost 70 per cent of the budget of this unit, have had its toll. Besides Rs 163 crore it owes from its dealers, the unit has to pay over Rs 80 crore to its ancillary units in Panchkula, SAS Nagar, Dera Bassi, Baddi, Parwanoo and Barotiwala. Components like tyres, electrical panels, and other parts like nut, bolts, pins etc, were procured from the over 200 ancillary units spread over the region. Over the past three years, almost 50 odd ancillary units have closed down after they failed to get their payments from HMT. HMT Limited, Pinjore, was inaugurated by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1963. In the beginning the unit was manufacturing only machine tools here, and tractor manufacturing began in 1971. The unit reached its zenith in the 80’s and mid 90’s. Spread over 850 acres the HMT complex had two schools, two clubs and 1100 dwelling units, besides the two manufacturing units. The downslide of this unit resulted in the unit closing down one school here and offering it to a private party, employees no longer getting their Leave Travel Concession, and most importantly, a Voluntary Retirement Scheme(VRS) floated for its employees. So far, 2000 employees have availed
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Hooch claims four lives Hisar, August 19 Six others who were brought to the local General Hospital here today were referred to Rohtak Medical College Hospital in view of their serious condition. They are: Chander, Sri Chand, Sukhbir, Joginder, Sarjeet and Tota Ram. Two others Ram Phal and Darya Singh are undergoing treatment in General Hospital here. According to villagers Balwant Singh had consumed liquor purchased from an unauthorised source in the village on Saturday. His condition deteriorated around noon yesterday. He was brought to a private nursing home here where he died after a few hours. Meanwhile, about 10 other persons who had also consumed liquor purchased from bootleggers last night in the village developed similar symptoms. The panicked family members rushed them here in private nursing homes to evade police inquiry. Three of them died today. The Sadar Police has registered a case. Senior police officers have rushed to the village. Villagers say although there is an authorised country liquor vend in the village, many other shopkeepers sell hooch illegally. |
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Haryana exporters for shrinking control area Ambala, August 19 Association Chairman Dr N.C. Jain said that all applications for the control area should be processed by the Director of Industry, Haryana, and decided within three months. “Change of Land Use charges should be abolished,” he said. The Haryana government should reactivate the Quality Marking Centre (QMC) at Ambala Cantt for providing testing facilities for the improvement of the instruments manufactured by the scientific instruments industry. “The QMC should work in the building of IDDC, Staff Road because the building was originally with the QMC. A grant of Rs 2 crore may be given to the QMC to establish the latest and modernised testing facilities,” he said. Dr Jain said that an information hub should be started to provide information to the industry from abroad, a dire need of the exporting units of Ambala. “Regular market survey should be organised to assess the working of units and to guide them to improve their growth rate,” he said. |
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Cong all praise for Governor Chandigarh, August 19 In a statement issued here today, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, President of the Indian Youth Congress, said the Governor’s decision was “a victory of truth and righteousness over the criminal mindset of the Chautala Government and its unholy politico-criminal nexus”. The IYC, which had earlier met Babu Parmanand and urged him not to approve the Cabinet decision, said the Governor had referred the Casino Bill also to the President of India for examination after the Bill was passed. The IYC statement said the government should also take a fresh look at its earlier decision of releasing 12 murder convicts as litigation had been going on the issue. Mr Raghubir Singh Kadian, a Congress MLA, said the Governor’s decision was “praiseworthy and courageous”. Mr Karan Singh Dalal, an RPI legislator, said the Cabinet should not recommend the release of the four convicts again. |
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Talent
shows held at Ambala colleges Ambala, August 19 At SD College, the talent show was held under the auspices of Kurukshetra University, Youth Welfare Department. College Principal Dr Desh Bandhu inaugurated the function. The afternoon session was chaired by industrialist and college alumni Mr Madhu Sudan Tandon. Mr Tandon announced a scholarship of Rs 250 per month in memory of his father to an outstanding student in cultural activites. In speech, Anima Talukdas won the first prize, second prize went to Shruti while consolation prizes went to Kuldeep Kumar and Kanu Priya. In mimicry, Vishal was first while Resham Singh stood second. In mono-cting, Resham Singh was first, Sumit was second while the consolation prize went to Girish Sharma. In poetry, Swati stood first, Suman Arora was second and Kuldeep won the consloation prize. In on-the-spot painting, Sunanda Sharma was first and Gouri was second. In quiz, Deepak Jain stood first, Aashish was second while Shital Sharma won the consolation prize. In singing, Pratibha was first, Tulsi was second and consolation prize was won by Kanu and Gurinder. In dance, the first prize was shared by Vandini and Neena while second prize was shared by Deepika and Manish. In group dance, Group I (Bhangra) was first and Group III (Jugini) was second. |
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High Court Chandigarh, August 19 Delivering the verdict on a petition filed by 55 schools in the state, a Division Bench of the high court, comprising Mr Justice S.S. Nijjar and Mr Justice S.S. Grewal, ruled: “The action of the respondents is arbitrary and violates the mandate of equality enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution of India....” The Judges further ruled: “The aim of the study centers is to reach the students who through misfortune or poverty are unable to attend regular school. The courses conducted by the schools have been recognised as equivalent to other recognised certificates for the purpose of higher studies in Indian universities. It is, therefore, evident that the schools are performing a laudable function. This kind of activity should be encouraged, rather than discouraged, subject to the regulatory control of the respondents with regard to the infrastructure and other facilities”. The judgement is significant as National Open School is running centers not only in the country, but also abroad. Over 7.5 lakh students benefit from the centers every year. |
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Zila parishad member acts as good Samaritan Fatehabad, August 19 While on a visit to the hospital to get an accident victim admitted, Ms Jatinder Paul Kaur, a member of the local zila parishad, requested the doctors to allow her to take the old man with her. She gave him clothes and got him treated at her house. After recovery, the old man told her that he was a resident of Sankra village. She telephoned members of his family and his son and son-in-law took him to his village yesterday. |
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Maruti car run on LPG blown apart Karnal, August 19 Eye-witnesses said the explosion was so strong that the ceiling of the car after ripping apart fell on a house some hundred yards away resulting in the burning of some clothes, and cracking of some window panes. The owner of the car, Anand, escaped unhurt as seconds before the explosion he had jumped out of the car seeing flames emanating from the rear. A fire engine was pressed into service to put out the fire.
— UNI |
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Three booked for theft of canal water Fatehabad, August 19 The Canal Waters Users Association had complained that Mr Sharma and his two brothers had stolen canal water. The association moved the high court. After receiving directions from the court, the police booked Mr Sharma, his brothers Satbir and Rohtash under Sections 430 of the IPC and Sections 3 of the Damaging of Public Properties Act on July 17 this year. The matter came to light when one of the accused, Rohtash, applied for anticipatory bail. Mr Sharma, when contacted, declined to comment on the issue but he added that he was innocent. |
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Suicide victims identified Yamunanagar, August 19 The boy’s mother, Chhano Devi, on reading a news report of a couple committing suicide, approached the police and reported that her son and daughter-in-law had not returned home since yesterday. The family had been facing a financial crisis. The girl’s father, Rajinder, working with the police at Karnal, reached Yamunanagar today. He said the couple was married on November 12 last and he had never received any complaint from the boy’s family. |
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Poppy husk smuggler gets 10-yr jail
term Sirsa, August 19 The Rori police on April 9, 2001, had searched a Fiat car at a checkpost and found two bags containing 72 kg poppy husk in it. The four men in the car had run away and one of them was later arrested. He gave his name as Luxman Das and said the other three were Jagtar Singh, Sukhdev and Kessar Singh. The police registered a case under the NDPS Act against the four. The Judge found Luxman Das guilty. |
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Porn VCDs seized, vendor held Sirsa, August 19 The head of the special staff of the police was tipped of that a shop owner on Dabwali Road had been vending VCDs of English blue films. The police sent a decoy customer to Vinay Electronics and Music Centre to rent a porn CD and the shopkeeper gave it to him. After this the police raided his shop and seized 11 other cassettes. The proprietor of the shop, who lives in Old Housing Board Colony, was arrested under Section 292 of the IPC. |
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Internet services
disrupted Sirsa, August 19 Some subscribers said the nigam claimed to provide services of international standard but the Sirsa branch paid no attention to the complaints of service breakdown for days. They said for the past two days the Internet service had not been available. When a complaint was lodged with the department it shifted accountability to the Hisar or Faridabad office, they said. The worst affected are Internet cafe, newspaper offices and share brokers who depend on this service. |
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