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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Friday, December 10, 1999 |
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BJP-INLD agreement on seats CHANDIGARH, Dec 9 — The BJP today gave a green signal to the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to dissolve the state Assembly "anytime". Businessman
kidnapped |
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CJM’s order to register case against Dy SP AMBALA, Dec 9 — Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ambala, has directed the S.H.O., Ambala City, to register a case against the Deputy Superintendent of Police (Detective), Fatehgarh Sahib, and eight others under Sections 323, 392, 394, 395, 452, 461, 506 and 34 IPC. Centre
destroying farmers: Surjewala On-line
lottery in jeopardy Crime
against women: 3 cases registered KU
to weed out gender bias from syllabi Protest
march by KUTA members Irate
women clash with policemen Sonepat
district Y2K compliant 30
polio cases detected Villagers
resist eviction Two
injured in scuffle SUCI
plans demonstrations Army
recruitment |
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BJP-INLD agreement on seats CHANDIGARH, Dec 9 — The BJP today gave a green signal to the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to dissolve the state Assembly "anytime". The BJP's go-ahead signal came at a high-level meeting Mr Chautala had with BJP leaders, Including Mr Narendra Modi, the party's General Secretary in charge of Haryana affairs, in Delhi today before he left for Chandigarh. The state BJP was represented by the the party President, Mr Om Prakash Grover, the leader of the legislature group, Mr Ram Bilas Sharma, and the general secretary (organisation), Mr Manohar Lal Khattar. According to reliable sources, the meeting, which was held at the residence of Mr Modi, was held in "very cordial" atmosphere. The attitude of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) surpermo, Mr Chautala, the sources said was very accommodating towards the BJP, which for the sake of record had been staking its claim on 45 Assembly seats, leaving the other 45 for the INLD. The sources said the leaders of the two parties reiterated their resolve to swim together to keep the Congress away from power in a state which surrounded the national Capital on the three sides. The INLD leader agreed to the BJP demand that it should be allowed to contest all those 12 seats which were being represented by its MLA in the present Assembly. Natural corollary of this agreement is that the BJP will not demand any seat currently held by the INLD MLAs. However, it is not clear what will be the fate of those seats which are represented by Independent MLAs, who are supporting the Chautala government. It is learnt that the two parties also reached a broad agreement on the number of seats each would contest in the next Assembly elections. The BJP is likely to get about 30 seats. Mr Sharma and Mr Chautala are likely to meet again tomorrow to continue the discussions about which seats would be contested by which party. In case of any disagreement, the issue will be referred to central leaders. When contacted, Mr
Chautala indirectly confirmed his meeting with Mr Modi,
but refused to give any details of the discussion. He
said: "It is not necessary that I should disclose to
the Press every meeting, I have with political
leaders". |
Businessman kidnapped KAITHAL, Dec 9 — Mr Naresh Batra, a rice mill owner of this town, was kidnapped along with his Maruti car by some miscreants at gunpoint last night here. According to reports, Mr Batra, who originally hailed from Rohtak and shifted to Kaithal a few years ago and started rice milling business with some of his relatives, was returning from his mill in a Maruti car at about 9 p.m. when three motor cycle-borne persons stopped his car at a link road connecting Kaithal-Jind Road, 3 km from here. Two of them are reported to have boarded the car and the third drove the motor cycle. The miscreants fired in the air to scare away four labourers who were returning from town to their village on cycles. The labourers threw their bicycles and fled to save their lives forcing the abductors to change their path and subsequently they fled towards Buswadha village along with the abducted persons. On being informed the police set up the nakas to trace the kidnappers and Mr R.R. Sharma, SP, accompanied by the Deputy SP, and the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Mahavir Singh reached the spot. The identity of the kidnappers or the motive behind the kidnapping is yet to be established. On the other hand, Mr H.S. Ahlawat, Inspector-General of Police, Ambala range, reached here and inspected the spot. The business community,
including commission agents, rice mill owners and members
of various trade and commerce organisations sent a
memorandum to the Chief Minister through the Deputy
Commissioner demanding immediate arrest of the culprits
involved in the kidnapping. It may be recalled that
though the crime graph has been going upward gradually
during the past few years, but such kidnapping at
gunpoint is a first incident of its kind in this area. |
National Judicial Commission CHANDIGARH, Dec 9 — The Bar Association of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today unanimously supported the move of the Central Government to appoint a National Judicial Commission for recommending the appointment and transfer of Judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts in India. The members who participated in the debate on the subject at a meeting requisitioned by 141 members of the Bar, felt that to be really effective the commission should be above politics and should consist of men of integrity and high character. Mr Hari Singh Nagra, who introduced the resolution for formation of the commission, said that the commission should ensure accountability and independence of the judiciary although the views of the executive must also be given due weight. He felt that the present arrangement with regard to transfer of Judges and in appointments had not worked satisfactorily. He said in the past, political considerations had influenced appointments of Judges in the High Courts and the Supreme Court. Mr J.S. Toor, while supporting the resolution felt that the National Judicial Commission was the need of the day. Mr H.S. Gill stressed that Judges should not only be accountable to the Constitution but also to the people. According to him merit and expertise had not been the qualifications for appointment of Judges. Mr Maninder Singh Gill
stressed the need of more allocation in the Budget for
dispensation of justice and accountability and integrity
should be the qualification for members of the National
Judicial Commission. |
CJM’s order to register
case against AMBALA, Dec 9 — Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ambala, has directed the S.H.O., Ambala City, to register a case against the Deputy Superintendent of Police (Detective), Fatehgarh Sahib, and eight others under Sections 323, 392, 394, 395, 452, 461, 506 and 34 IPC. A local transporter, Mr Harinder Gulati, has filed a complaint in the court of the CJM, Ambala, here today alleging that on December 8 the Dy SP (Detective), Mr Gurmeil Singh Khaira, along with eight persons — four of them being constables in Punjab police uniform and the other four in civil dress — came in two police Gypsies bearing registration number PB-11-A-3398 and PB-02H-8593 and started beating the peons and dragged them into the transport office. Thereafter they forcibly opened the iron safe and took away all the registration certificates and permits. They also took away about Rs 22,000 in cash and one mobile phone (without simcard) of make Motorola and while going away threatened both the peons that if they raised the alarm, they would be done to death and their employer. Mr Gulati would be implicated in a criminal case. Mr Gulati alleged in his application that later they went to rear side of the office and after jumping the boundary wall entered the office of an evening daily and manhandled its News Editor. He alleged that the police officer was neither carrying any search warrants nor did they allow any neighbour to enter the office and in this manner removed valuable articles and cash from the office. He said that he made an complaint to SP, Ambala, who refused to register the complaint. The judge said in his
order: "In the exercise of powers under Section 156
(3) of the Cr.P.C., the SHO, Ambala City police station,
is directed to register the F.I.R. and to investigate and
submit a report in the prescribed form expeditiously
thereafter." |
Centre destroying farmers:
Surjewala SONEPAT, Dec 9 — The President of the Haryana Krishak Samaj and a former President of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, Mr Samsher Singh Surjewala, has alleged that the Central Government is bent upon destroying the agricultural sector under pressure from the USA and other multinational companies and this is the main reason for importing wheat and sugar. Talking to mediapersons here today, he also alleged that the Central Government had been playing into the hands of capitalists and industrialists and was ignoring the interests of the common people and farmers. He also assailed the Central Government for its failure to give remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce like wheat, paddy and cotton, making it difficult for them to meet their costs. Mr Surjewala regretted that the Central Government had not yet announced the support price for wheat. If it failed to give a better price for wheat to the farmers, they would have no alternative but to stop growing wheat, paddy and cotton and switch to other cash crops. He urged the Central Government to fix Rs 650 per quintal as the support price of wheat and launch relief works for farm labourers and provide them with financial aid in the event of drought and other natural calamities. He alleged that the FCI and other procurement agencies were exploiting the farmers' helplessness and not purchasing their produce at remunerative price fixed by the Government. A large number of farmers were forced to sell their produce at prices below the support price. On account of the anti-farmer and anti-worker policies being pursed by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, the living conditions of the common people had deteriorated, the alleged. Expressing concern over the high rates of interests charged on loans by the nationalised and cooperative banks, he demanded waiving of interest for two years on the crop given to the farmers by the banks and other financial institutions. Mr Surjewala castigated the Haryana Chief Minister and INLD supremo, Mr Om Parkash Chautala for not fulfilling the election promises of providing free power and water to the farmers. He expressed surprise of the fact that Mr Chautala had not even forcefully protested to the Centre against the hike in diesel price and import of wheat. This he claimed, had caused widespread resentment among the farmers and the common people. He announced that an
emergency meeting of the state executive committee of the
Haryana Krishak Samaj had been convened on December 14
next at Delhi to finalise the future strategy to oppose
the 'anti-farmer' and 'anti-worker' policies of the
Central and state Governments. |
On-line lottery in jeopardy CHANDIGARH, Dec 9 — The Union Cabinet's decision to ban all lotteries has apparently not gone down well with the INLD-led government of Haryana. The Haryana Government runs a lottery system which has proved to be a good revenue earner and it also provides employment to a large number of youths. However, the immediate reason for the state government's displeasure is that the ban has jeopardised the proposed on-line lottery system in Haryana. The on-line scheme was mooted to mobilise revenue from public to improve the financial health of the state. While states such as Kerala and Maharashtra have reportedly already protested against the Central Government's decision, the Haryana Government has refrained from doing so fearing that such a step may be detrimental to the INLD-BJP ties. A Senior member of the Om Prakash Chautala Cabinet, said the Union Government's decision to ban lotteries defied logic. He pointed out that while the Union Government had imposed a ban on lotteries by invoking Section 40 of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, Section 34 of the Seventh Schedule gave powers to the states to authorise agencies and boards to conduct lottery. He said last year the Union Government framed guidelines to regulate lotteries, following which the state governments also made changes to conform with the guidelines. "Now that everything is running smoothly, why do they want to impose a blanket ban", the source wondered. He said "experience" had shown that whenever lottery was banned, there had been proliferation of illegal gambling like "satta" and "matka". "The effect of the ban may be similar to that of the policy of prohibition which gave rise to illicit liquor trade", the minister warned. He said the Union
Cabinet's decision was not in conformity with the
economic policies of the Centre. |
Crime against women: 3 cases
registered ROHTAK, Dec 9 — At least three cases of crime against women and a snatching incident have been reported to the police in the last 24 hours in the district. These include two cases of dowry harassment. According to police sources, about six members of family of Tajpur Kalan in Delhi have been booked on a complaint lodged by one Usha Rani, a resident of Dairy Mohalla. In her complaint she has alleged that her husband Mukesh, brother-in-law Naresh, father-in-law, mother-in-law and two sisters-in-law had been harassing her for more dowry and she had been driven out from the house in this connection. The police has registered a case under Sections 498-A, 406 and 34 of the IPC. In an other case one Manjit Singh, his father, his mother, his brother and sister-in-law have been booked under the Dowry Prohibition Act for allegedly harassing Sushma married to him. The complainant is a resident of Rohat village and had been married in Salhawas village of Jhajjar district. Meanwhile five unidentified persons took away a mini bus from a school compound last night. It is reported that the culprits tied the watchman and one teacher of the school who were sleeping in the school compound. A case has been registered on a complaint lodged by manager of the school. In another case, one
person identified as Bhup Singh died in a road accident
on the Rohtak-Jhajjar road yesterday. It is reported that
the victim was hit by an open trailer. A minor girl was
allegedly abducted by a youth from Kalanaur town
yesterday. The police has registered a case against the
accused in this connection. |
KU to weed out gender bias
from syllabi GURGAON, Dec 9 — Kurukshetra University will try to weed out gender bias from the syllabi and curricula of various colleges and other institutes falling in its jurisdiction from the next academic session. This was disclosed here to TNS by the varsity's Vice-Chancellor, Dr M.L. Ranga. Dr Ranga, who was here on a private visit, expressed concern over the bias against females in the works and teachings of ancient and medieval poets which were now part of the syllabi and curricula of universities and colleges in the country. It was high time society stopped projecting women as second class citizens. A change in the traditional mind set, towards females, perpetrated by the teachings and literature of ancient poets and preachers, was urgently called for. According to observers, in case the university weeds out the gender bias from its syllabi, it would be a revolutionary step among the entire Asian and the Latin American countries. Mr Ranga lamented that the scheme of starting women cells at the university and in the colleges had not be implemented. The scheme was proposed with the specific aim of providing guidance to female students. He said the university proposed to make drastic changes in the pattern of examination in the next academic session. The objective-type pattern of questions needed to be revised. The university would focus on popularising vocational and technical courses. A paper on computer education would be made compulsory in all courses of the university. Also, the priority of the university would be to update the syllabi for professional and technical courses, like the MBA, BCA and MCA. Referring to the
National Service Scheme (NSS), on which huge funds were
being continuously spent, he lamented that it was not
being implemented in the right spirit. The university
would now closely monitor the implementation of the
scheme and lay emphasis on checking the college drop out
rate in the rural areas of the state through it. |
Protest march by KUTA members KURUKSHETRA, Dec 9 — The Kurukshetra University Teachers Association (KUTA) here today marched in procession against the in-action by the police for not arresting the culprits involved in an assault on Dr V.K. Sharma, Reader in Mathematics of University College, Kurukshetra. Dr Sharma was assaulted by two unidentified motorcycle riders about 10 days back. The attack has led to resentment amongst the teaching community at the campus. Today's protest march was led by Dr Anil Vashishth, President, Kurukshetra University Teachers Association and Dr R.S. Yadav, Secretary of the KUTA. Marchers alleged that steps had not been taken for an improvement of security conditions on the campus. Dr Vashishth wanted that stringent action should be taken in the matter. He warned the university authorities that if the culprits were not arrested and security of teachers ensured at the campus, the teachers would be forced to intensify the agitation. The marchers submitted a memorandum to the university authorities in the absence of the Vice-Chancellor, Dr M.L. Ranga, who was away for a meeting of the Board of Directors of Regional Engineering College at Chandigarh. The agitating teachers faxed their memorandum to the Haryana Governor, Mr Mahabir Prasad. The memorandum stated that the teachers were upset over the attitude of the administration. It was demanded that KUTA members should be apprised of steps taken by the administration for security at the campus. It was also demanded that it should be ensured that such incidents were not repeated. Meanwhile, it is learnt that the Vice-Chancellor had already written to the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police of Kurukshetra demanding security measures for the life and property of the residents on the campus. The Vice-Chancellor has also taken up the matter at personal level with the authorities. It has been decided to beef up university security set up on the campus. Steps were also being taken to check the entry of undesirable elements on the campus. Dr Ranga had impressed upon the police administration to convert the police chowki at third gate of the university into a full-fledged police station. The university
authorities are also taking steps to improve the liaison
between university security staff and the police. |
Irate women clash with
policemen SONEPAT, Dec 9 — Several irate women clashed with a group of policemen, led by Mr Ram Avtar, sub-inspector in the Garhi Ghasita area here yesterday. However, no one was hurt and the women police succeeded in bringing the situation under control. The trouble started when employees of the Public Health Department tried to connect the water pipeline with another pipeline leading to the Sham Nagar area. As soon as the residents of the Garhi Ghasita area came to know about it, a large number of women assembled at the site and prevented the employees from connecting the water pipeline. This led to a confrontation and the contractor called the police for intervention. A police party arrived on the scene and they tried to remove the women forcibly from the site. This led to a clash and the women grappled with the policemen. They also raised slogans against the police. Many people of the area
told this correspondent that they had got the water
pipeline laid by spending Rs 15,000 and the Public Health
Department had no right to connect it with another area.
They said they were facing water crisis and if this line
was connected with another area then they would face more
problems. |
Sonepat district Y2K compliant SONEPAT, Dec 9 — Sonepat has achieved the distinction of being the first district in Haryana to be Y2K compliant. The Deputy Commissioner,
Mr Sudhir Rajpal, said this here today. He said all
computers in the district which were more than 150 had
been tested for compliance to the Y2K bug. He said Mr
Rajesh Dhankar, Chief Executive Officer, Group Computer
System, had rectified the bug. |
30 polio cases detected ROHTAK, Dec 9 — As many as 30 cases of polio have been detected in Haryana. It was disclosed by the Regional Director (Advertising and Publicity), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Mr Ashok Kumar, at a seminar organised by the regional office of the ministry here yesterday. Mr Kumar said of the total cases of polio detected in the State so far Faridabad district had 12, the highest followed by Gurgaon nine and Panipat five cases, respectively. He stated that Rohtak had only one polio case. The topic of the seminar was the eradication of polio from the country by year 2000. Several persons, including sarpanches, panches and members of non-government organisations took part in this seminar. He said two phases of the pulse polio programme were over the remaining two phases would also be completed. The next part of the programme would start on December 19 and January 2000. The Director, AIR, Rohtak, Mr R.D. Kapila, said panchayats could take up a scheme for motivating challenged children. The Civil Surgeon, Dr
B.D. Kalra asked panchayats to take adequate measures
regarding cleanliness. |
Villagers resist eviction GURGAON, Dec 9 — A police team led by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Sonepat, Mr Dharam Pal, met with resistance when it went to Nangla Behlolpur village to evict people from panchayat land yesterday. The Deputy Commissioner, Sonepat, Mr Sudhir Rajpal, denied resistance from the people. The police opened fire at the residents, according to reports. However, the Deputy Commissioner said those in the "illegal possession" of the panchayat land may have opened fire. He said he was still verifying details of the incident. He further said on
complaints from the authorities concerned, the team was
sent to evict certain residents of Nangla Behlolpur from
a piece of land belonging to the panchayat of Khurampur
village. |
Two injured in scuffle SIRSA, Dec 9 — Two persons were injured in a scuffle with villagers at Balasar village in the district. According to an information received today, the trouble started when a man beat a child over matter which took a serious turn as the quarrel brewed between two groups and started throwing stones. One of the group also fired in the air. The injured were admitted to the local Civil Hospital. The police is investigating the case. In another incident,
Sanjay, a local resident, suffered 90 per cent burns
while working on a stove. He was admitted to the local
Civil Hospital and his condition is stated to be serious. |
SUCI plans demonstrations ROHTAK, Dec 9 — The Haryana unit of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) will hold demonstrations in the state on January 7 to highlight various issues including deteriorating law and order situation and unemployment. The Secretary of state
unit, Mr Satyawan, said in a press note that the state
government had 'failed' to bring any relief for poor. He
also criticised the government for hike in diesel price
and shortage of power and water. |
Army recruitment CHANDIGARH, Dec 9 — Army recruitment for the youth belonging to Ambala, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Panchkula and Chandigarh will be held at Kharga Stadium, Ambala Cantonment, from December 14 to 17. A statement issued by the Zonal Recruiting Office, Ambala, said Mazhabi Sikh, Gorkha, Ahir and Muslim candidates would be screened on December 14, while Jats and Rajputs would be screened on December 15. Similarly, candidates
belonging to the Brahmin and Gujjar communities would be
considered on December 16, while wards of serving Army
personnel, ex-servicemen and war widows would be screened
on December 17. |
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