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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Wednesday, November 24, 1999 |
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All-out efforts by Cong
for Nov 29 protest Ball set in motion for Congress
party poll |
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Punjabi
leaders back Hooda Theft of vehicles lower police
credibility 8 lakh take dip on Kartik Purnima Prof Hoshiar Singh KU Pro-VC Vikas Board reconstituted NTPC's gas-based units on stream Liquor smuggling alleged Brown sugar seized, three arrested Police accused of forcible
collections |
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All-out efforts by Cong for GURGAON, NOV 23 — The Haryana unit of the Congress has intensified mobilisation for the November 29 protest demonstration of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) in Delhi against the Atal Behari Vajpayee government in connection with the inclusion of former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi’s name in the charge sheet in the Bofors case. The Chairman of the Beopar cell of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, Mr Vasudeo Saluja, said here yesterday that Haryana would ensure maximum representation from among the northern states. Response of the people for the said demonstration was good, he added. According to him, the President of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC), Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has almost completed his statewide tour for enlisting wideranging participation from the state. Mr Saluja, a senior Punjabi leader of the Congress from south Haryana, said that the members from all sections of the society in the state had shown enthusiasm towards the proposed demonstration against the Vajpayee government in the state. The state leadership had taken it as a challenge to make Haryana visible on the occasion, he added. The HPCC had also formally raised the issue at a recent meeting attended by the state office-bearers and district presidents. A memorandum was also submitted by the party to the Governor urging upon the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, to withdraw the name of Rajiv Gandhi from the case. Mr Saluja said the name of Rajiv Gandhi was included in the charge sheet on political grounds. The Vajpayee government had not been able to reconcile to the fact that Mrs Sonia Gandhi, President of the Congress and wife of Rajiv Gandhi, had become the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) which was set up to probe into the case had given clean chit to Rajiv Gandhi. Also, Rajiv Gandhi had also stated in Parliament that he had nothing to do with the possible commission that might have changed hands in the purchase of the Bofors guns. Referring to the BJP-supported INLD government in Haryana, Mr Saluja said so far, it had not been able to meet expectations of the people. He said the INLD-BJP performed well in the last Lok Sabha election by default. If the response of the masses to the Congress programmes after the Lok Sabha elections were any indication, the party was poised to do well in the next Assembly election in the state. When pointed out about the infighting in the Haryana unit of the Congress, he agreed that it also contributed to the bad showing of the party in the Lok Sabha election. He expressed concern on the lobbyings by some senior leaders in the party for a change in the leadership. The party had organised "historic" public meeting in the name of "kranti rally" under the leadership of Mr Hooda. He wondered why there was a move for a change in the leadership. Answering the poser himself, he said the move was guided by self interests to which there could be no end. To a specific question
he said in the present circumstances, the leadership of
Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda was the best bet for the party
in Haryana. He has support of all communities, including
the Punjabis. If Mr Hooda lost once in the Last Lok Sabha
elections, his detractors should not forget that the same
person had also defeated former Deputy Prime Minister
Devi Lal three times consecutively in Rohtak
Parliamentary constituency falling in the Jat heartland.
The party President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, was aware of each
detail of the party in Haryana. Hence, the factional
leaders in Haryana should leave the issue of leadership
to her, he added. |
Ball set in motion for
Congress CHANDIGARH, Nov 23 — The process of Congress organisational elections, which was suspended in June following the announcement of the Lok Sabha poll, has been resumed by the Central Election Authority (CEA) of the All-India Congress Committee. A press note issued by the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee says according to the revised schedule, the enrolment of membership for the organisational elections has commenced forthwith and December 31 has been fixed as the last date for the purpose. As per the time-table issued by the CEA, the filled in primary as well as active membership forms along with their lists and the membership subscription should be deposited by individuals with their respective District Congress Committee or the membership received by them in the office of the Haryana PCC by January 17. The publication of the primary lists of members will take place at all district headquarters on January 24, 2000, for inviting objections and claims. Objections about names will be filed on or before February 1 before the District Scrutiny Committee. These committees will dispose of all objections by February 8. Appeals against decisions of the committees could be filed by February 18 before the Pradesh Election Committee. The deadline for the clearance of all appeals by the pradesh election authority is February 25 while appeals against the decision of the authority before the CEA can be preferred on or before March 6. The CEA will clear all appeals by March 16. The final publication of rolls of primary and active members by the DCC will be done by March 23. Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, President, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, has asked all the party units and party men on the job of enrolment to adhere to the schedule. They have also been
asked to deposit immediately with the PCC office the
membership forms of new workers enrolled as members till
May 31, 1999, the last date originally fixed for
enrolment. |
Death deprived him of
daughter's 'kanyadaan' ROHTAK: Brig O.P. Deswal, an awardee of the Shaurya Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Sena Medal, might have not imagined that he would be deprived of conducting the "kanyadaan" of his younger daughter, Kavita whose marriage was slated for November 23. Brigadier Deswal died in Delhi on November 13. His body was brought to his Baliana village, the next day where he was given the last farewell with full military honours. The villagers could not stop tears rolling down their cheeks when Mr Naval Singh Deswal, father of the deceased and a former Sarpanch of the village, lit the pyre. Born on December 4, 1948, at Baliana village 12 km from here, Brigadier Deswal got his primary education at Government High School in the village. It was a dream come true for him when he joined the NDA in 1966. He got commissioned in 9 Bihar Regiment in 1969. During the 1971 Indo-Pak war he showed exemplary courage fighting the enemy in the Khemkaran sector. In 1982 he was sent on a special mission to suppress terrorism in the Manipur-Nagaland sector in the capacity of Company Commander. He was awarded the Shaurya Chakra by the President for eliminating a gang of terrorists there. On attaining the rank of a Colonel, he was sent to Punjab to deal with the terrorists in 1990. The company led by him killed several terrorists of the Khalistan Commando Force and the Zafarwal group in different encounters and seized their arms cache. Major Rakesh Rana in the company was awarded the Kirti Chakra, while two soldiers were awarded the Shaurya Chakra posthumously. The unit was honoured with Sena medal for showing exceptional bravery in these operations. After completing the higher command course, Brigadier Deswal was appointed as Commander of 78 Infantry Brigade and send to Doda sector to establish peace by crushing terrorism. Brigadier Deswal is survived by his wife, Krishna (50), and two daughters, Kalpana (23) and Kavita (21). Among others Lt Gen
A.R.K. Reddy GOC Bihar Regiment, Major Gen Chhibber, GOC
29 Infantry Regiment, Lt Gen O.P. Kaushik (retd),
Vice-Chancellor of Maharshi Dayanand University attended
the funeral ceremony. |
Punjabi leaders back Hooda SONEPAT, Nov 23 — Leaders of the Punjabi community today expressed their solidarity with Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, President of Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee and urged the Congress High Command not to change the party leadership in Haryana. Three prominent Punjabi leaders — Mr Dev Raj Diwan, MLA (Sonepat), Mr Dharamvir Gauba, MLA (Gurgaon) and Mr Lachhman Dass Arora, former minister — in a joint press statement issued here, said that any attempt to remove the HPCC president Mr Hooda at this stage, would mean strengthening of the hands of INLD supremo and Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala. Mr Hooda, they said, was the only leader of the party who could face the challenge of the growing popularity of Mr Chautala as well as the BJP. The Punjabi leaders claimed that Mr Hooda was acceptable to all the 36 ‘biradaris’ including Punjabis, who would stand by the Congress party, under the leadership of Mr Hooda. Mr Hooda had successfully activated the party and due to his efforts the party’s vote percentage had risen from 26 per cent to 35 per cent in the recent Lok Sabha elections he said and attributed the defeat of the party in the Lok Sabha elections to the Kargil conflict and infighting among the leaders of the party in the state. They claimed Mr Chautala was indirectly supporting those demanding the removal of Mr Hooda. Without naming Mr Bhajan
Lal, they said a former Chief Minister, was trying to
create a gulf between the Jats and non-Jats in order to
grab power once again. |
Theft of vehicles lower police
credibility ROHTAK, Nov 23 — Thefts of vehicles and robbery of cars on gunpoint are on the rise in the region. This has left the common man scared and is indicative of the lowering of the credibility of the police to check such a crime. According to figure of such incidents in Rohtak and Jhajjar districts as many as 30 cases have been reported in the past two and a half months. Besides this there are many cases which are not reported or registered by the police. In Rohtak district alone 16 such incidents were reported in the past about two months. Of these nine vehicles were stolen and in other cases the vehicles were robbed on gun point. It is learnt that most of the vehicles robbed are used by criminals for other such crime. According to police sources, there were several gangs involved in stealing and robbing the vehicles so as they could carry on their work smoothly and keep the police busy tracing similar incidents. Recently the police claimed to have arrested six persons of two gangs involved in looting vehicles at gun point or stealing the cars. The police had recovered two vehicles, including one car and one van and some arms used by them in their work. In the last month the police had arrested four youths in connection with such incidents and recovered three pistols. In another case one car was recovered by the Sector 1 police, which was stolen from a nearby village. A few days later the police arrested two youths and had seized a stolen Maruti car from them. Stealing of vehicles from crowded areas in the town, including Mansarovar park which is located opposite the residence of the district police chief, has also become common. Several two-wheelers and cars have been reportedly stolen from the place. Incidents of hiring and then robbing the car on gunpoint have also risen in the past several months. According to information, in a recent incident a youth, who had been running his car on hire basis, found himself in jail when some people hired his car and beat up another person and used his car in this operation. The victim who did note down the car number lodged a complaint with the police and was arrested along with the youths involved in this incidents. In the latest such
incident a Tata Sumo jeep was robbed allegedly in broad
daylight near Bahuakbarpur village on the National
Highway No. 10 just 13 km from here by four armed youths.
The accused had intercepted the vehicles by an unnumbered
car. In some of the incidents the robbers even shot at
the drivers who opposed their attempt. In some other
cases the car robbers have also relieved the driver or
the occupants of the car of the cash or valuables with
them. The police officials claim that patrolling and
allround vigil has been stepped up and criminals involved
in some such incidents have been arrested recently. They
claim that unless the people cooperate with the police it
was not possible to check properly. |
8 lakh take dip on Kartik
Purnima YAMUNANAGAR, Nov 23 — More than 7 lakh devotees took a holy dip today on the eve of Kartik Purnima and Guru Nanak's birth anniversary at the 3 sarovars of Kapal Mochan, about 28 kilometres from here today. The mela passed off peacefully and no major untoward incident was reported. One person, Jagrup Singh of police station Joga District Mansa (Punjab) drowned today morning while taking a holy dip. His dead body has been sent to the Civil Hospital, Jagadhri for post mortem. An unidentified person died of cardiac arrest at the Ali-Badri temple. A third man Gurdeep Singh (52) died today afternoon about 5 km from the mela site when he fell of a truck while returning to his village. He was from Roda village in district of Moga (Punjab). SONEPAT: Nearly 1 lakh persons took a dip in the Yamuna river near Sonepat on the occasion of Kartik Purnima today. An endless stream of devotees, mostly women and children started pouring in to the ghats from around 3 a.m. and continued until noon. The devotees reached the Yamuna river, around 20 km from here, by diverse means of transport following Haryana Roadways failure to ply additional buses for them. Private taxis, jeeps, three and four wheeler and buses had a field day and fleeced the devotees. Meanwhile, the birthday of the Sikh Guru Nanak Dev was celebrated here today with gaiety and fervour with Diwans and Kirtans at various gurdwaras. Celebrations of Guru
Nanak Jayanti were also reported from Ganaur, Kharkhauda
and Gohana towns in this district. |
Prof Hoshiar Singh KU Pro-VC KURUKSHETRA, Nov 23 — The Governor of Haryana and Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Mr Mahabir Prasad has appointed Prof Hoshiar Singh of the Public Administration Department of Kurukshetra University as Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University for a period of three years. Prof Singh took up this assignment today. Dr M.L. Ranga, Vice-Chancellor of the University bailed the appointment and expressed his gratitude to the Governor of Haryana and Chief Minister of Haryana for appointing an eminent scholar of Public Administration as a Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University. An educationist of eminence, Prof Hoshiar Singh has a 30-year teaching experience to his credit. During this three decades' span, he produced 20 Ph.D scholars and guided 25 M. Phil students in writing their dissertations. He remained associated with the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, for 14 years where he served as the head of the Department of Public Administration and member of the Academic Council from 1980 to 82. He had also been the Director of administrative service pre-entry coaching Institute of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. He graduated from the
Birla Institute of Science and Technology, Pilani,
Rajasthan, in 1965. He obtained his post-graduation and
doctorate degree in 1967 and 1974 from the University of
Rajasthan, respectively. |
Vikas Board reconstituted AMBALA, Nov 23 — The state government has reconstituted the Kurukshetra Vikas Board. Beside the Chief Minister and Speaker, Haryana Vidhan Sabha, 22 official and non-official members have been inducted in the Board. The Governor of Haryana will be the chairman of the Board. According to official information three ministers Mr Sampat Singh, Dhir Pal, Mr Kailash Chand Sharma and the MLA of Shahbad have also been included in the Board. Besides the Chief
Secretary of Haryana and other six IAS officers the five
non-official members included in the Board are Mr
Satinder Rana (Kurukshetra), Mr Gujral Singh (Karnal), Mr
Kailash Chander (Kaithal), Mr Rameshwar Dass (Ambala),
and Mr Malik Chand Gambhir (Yamunanagar). |
NTPC's gas-based units on
stream FARIDABAD, Nov 23 — The two units, each of 143 mw each of the gas-based power plant of the National Thermal Power Corporation at Mujedi village, near here, are generating electricity round the clock for Haryana at 99.65 per cent load factor. A spokesman of the NTPC said here yesterday that more than 70 lakh units of power was being supplied to the Haryana grid daily. He said the work on the third unit which would produce electricity by steam was going on a war footing. It was expected to generate power by July 2000, six months ahead of the schedule. Faridabad would benefit
directly from the Mujedi Power House after the
commissioning of the Palla sub station expected in
January next year. |
Liquor smuggling alleged FARIDABAD, Nov 23 — Smuggling of liquor country-made and IMFL from neighbouring states into Faridabad has been going on a large scale, according to reports. It is stated that the mafia which used to supply liquor during the days of prohibition is bringing cheap liquor from UP, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh for sale in Haryana. They reportedly also replace the labels on bottles to give the impression that tax had been paid in Haryana. Later it is sold to the people at rates lower than prevalent in the state. It is also mixed with water and other cheaper brands. Evidence of smuggling of
liquor came to light recently when a truckload of whisky
being brought from Rajasthan was seized by the police
near Taoro. |
Brown sugar seized, three
arrested FARIDABAD, Nov 23 — The police today arrested three persons and found 900 grams of brown sugar from their possession. The arrested are Rohit, Jaswant and Bijendra. While 400 grams of brown sugar was seized from the possession of Bijendra, 500 grams of contraband was recovered from Rohit. Jaswant who was driving the car in which the smugglers were travelling was also arrested. The estimated cost of seized brown sugar in the international market is stated to be Rs 90 lakh. Surendra, Rajesh and
Devendra, whom the brown sugar was to be delivered, are
yet to be arrested. |
2 absconders held KAITHAL, Nov 23 — The police has arrested two accused for their alleged involvement in the shooting of their relative at Naina village recently. According to police sources, Karam Singh of Naina and Krishan Kumar of Bhana, who were absconding after the shooting, were arrested. The accused Karam Singh along with his maternal uncle had killed his step-brother in order to avenge the killing of his mother over a property dispute. In another case, the driver of a canter, transporting buffaloes of Sanjeev Kumar of Hauri village to Delhi, is reported to have absconded. He is also reported to have taken away three buffaloes. The police has
registered a case against driver Krishan Lal. |
SGPC opposes clemency to
Nalini AMBALA, Nov 23 — Bibi Jagir Kaur, President, Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee today opposed Congress President Sonia Gandhi plea that the life of Nalini, one of those sentenced to death in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case be spared. Talking to mediapersons after addressing a 'diwan' at Gurdwara Manji Sahib here on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti. She said Nalini had committed a heinous crime and should be punished for it irrespective of the fact that she was a woman and mother. Recently Mrs Gandhi had urged the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan to spare Nalini life as she was the mother of a young child. Replying a question, Mrs Kaur said she had ordered an enquiry into the embezzlement of SGPC fund during Mr Tohra's tenure as president. She alleged that Mr Tohra had functioned as a dictator while SGPC chief and no one dared speak against him. She was of the view that
women be given 33 per cent reservation in parliament and
assemblies. |
Police accused of forcible
collections ROHTAK, Nov 23 — A former Minister of Haryana Mr Krishan Murti Hooda, has alleged that the police had been making forcible collection of funds for Red Cross on the national highway No. 10, near Bahadurgarh town. Seeking a probe, he has demanded action against the police and the officials concerned. In a statement here
yesterday Mr Hooda said, he came to know about this
collection when the police stopped his vehicle near
Jakhoda village and asked him to donate and get a slip
from the Red Cross officials sitting there. He said when
he denied the policemen there threatened him with serious
consequences. Mr Hooda claimed that the police stopped a
large number of vehicles passing from there and forced
the travellers to donate the amount fixed by the
authorities. He said the incident happened on the day
when the Union Home Minister L.K. Advani visited Rohtak
on Sunday November 21. |
Sacha Sauda dera celebrates
birthday SIRSA, Nov 23 — 'Love for the humans is the essence of all religions', according to Sant Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh today. He was addressing a mammoth gathering of his followers at his dera at Sacha Sauda. The function was organised to celebrate the 109th birth anniversary of the founder of Sacha Sauda sect. Thousands of followers
from neighbouring Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi and UP
attended the celebration. The roads leading to the dera
were tastefully decorated with colourful banners and
welcome gates. |
Lineman electrocuted FARIDABAD, Nov 23 — Som Dutt, a lineman of the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam, was electrocuted near Sarai Khwaja on the Delhi-Mathura National Highway today. According to reports,
Som Dutt had climbed a pole outside a factory to repair a
fault after switching off the power supply. But he came
in contact with a live wire as the factory had also been
given connection from another sub-station. |
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