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Thursday,
November 1, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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HOUSE TAX CM’s plan to scuttle Cong
bandh ISI behind fake
currency? MLA justifies move against
encroachers Yamunanagar MLA
dead |
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Haryana pilgrims’ quota unchanged
4 arrested so far in bio-fertiliser case CBI files reply in Ruchika case ‘Bawri’ needs upkeep Jind college wins
trophy MDS course
at Rohtak Rs 1 lakh for weightlifter’s family 6 nominated to
House panel
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HOUSE TAX Chandigarh, October 31 The “shehar bandh” call given by the Congress for November 2 has put the government in a difficult situation. Besides the Opposition, the government is under pressure from its own MLAs for making drastic changes in the house tax policy to reduce the tax burden on common people living in the urban areas. About 35 per cent of the state’s population lives in such areas. The Urban Development Minister, Mr Subhash Goyal, is believed to have left Chandigarh for a meeting with the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, who was in Uttar Pradesh today. Mr Goyal is believed to have taken along with him a set of proposals prepared in the light of the sentiments expressed by the MLAs supporting the government at a meeting held here yesterday. The proposals aim at lowering the tax burden, while keeping the formula to assess house tax uniform and transparent. If the Chief Minister okays these proposals, the government will face a dilemma on the timing of the announcement. If the concessions are announced before November 2, the Congress will claim credit by arguing that the government was forced to backtrack on the controversial issue under pressure generated by its bandh call. The main Opposition party in the state will give the same argument to claim the credit if the government waits to make the announcement on the eve of the Assembly session commencing from November 8. Or the government can make the announcement on the floor of the House itself to take the sting out of the Opposition attack. Thinking in official circles indicates that the concessions or relaxation of the house tax policy is now a certainty, with even those who formulated it in the first place being convinced that the tax burden is too high and some relief must be given. Official sources have already started saying that the Chief Minister always had an open mind on the issue and that he had assured the House that after the survey of the house tax under the new policy, the government would be open to make suitable amendments to lessen the tax burden. Incidentally, the new policy was introduced in the state on the pattern of the one introduced by the Faridabad Municipal Corporation when Mr Bansi Lal was the Chief Minister and Dr Kamala Verma of the BJP was the Local Bodies Minister. The Faridabad unit of the INLD at that time had protested against the new house tax assessment formula. |
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CM’s plan to scuttle Cong
bandh Gurgaon, October 31 The BJP, alliance partner of the INLD in Haryana,is keeping its stand on the issue under wraps. However, there are reports that some of its leaders are working secretly for the success of the bandh to embarrass the government. Meanwhile, Congress leaders have reached their districts to make the bandh a success. The President of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC), Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda,is reportedly on a hectic tour of the state for the purpose. The HPCC has given the bandh call to protest mainly against the government’s restructuring of house tax,levying professional tax,replacement of electricity meters with electronic ones and levy of entry tax on the raw goods entering the state to be used by factories and manufacturers for finished products. The Congress has taken the stand that the restructured house tax will increase the levy tenfold. According to well-placed sources,Mr Chautala met his ministers, party MLAs,district unit presidents and chiefs of the Zila Parishads last weekend. As per the invitation for district-level meetings of his party leaders, including the ministers and MLAs, the issue of scuttling the bandh was not on the agenda. Reports received here from the districts of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Rewari and Mahendragarh and other parts of the state say that the ministers, MLAs and other INLD bigwigs have reached their areas of influence to convince people of the “political motive” of the Congress for giving the bandh call.
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ISI behind fake
currency? Rohtak, October 31 Highly informed sources do not rule out the possibility of the involvement of the ISI in these nefarious activities. These sources believe that the ISI has established its roots in Haryana, particularly in the towns strategically close to the union Capital of Delhi. They said the sudden growth in the population figures of a particular community in Sonepat and Panipat confirmed their claims. The interrogation by the Rohtak police of persons recently arrested on charges of printing fake currency notes and their circulation has revealed that a member of the gang, Satbir Singh of Kharkhauda village, has links with a Nepal-based ISI agent, Subhash, manager of Everest Hotel, Kathmandu. Navin, son of Inder Singh of Bar-Khalsa village in Sonepat, who is believed to be an expert in the printing of fake currency notes, told the police that a Bihar native Vivekanand, had taken over Rs 1.50 crore of currency notes to his native state. Navin, born in 1976 at Bhalaut village in this district, went to the USA at the age of five and obtained a degree in computer science information systems and satellite there. He belongs to a highly educated and respected family and many members of the family are on key posts in the USA. Eight years ago, he told the police he had picked up a quarrel with a woman police officer while taking liquor with his friends in a hotel. He was arrested and released on parole after 63 days. He then absconded and reached India and lived at Bhalaut for nearly four months before returning to the USA. Although the American police issued a warrant against him, he did not appear before the police and got employment in a big commercial establishment. While serving, he continued his studies. When working as an engineer, he was arrested by the police. He was sentenced to six year’s imprisonment for picking up a quarrel with the woman police officer. Later, a USA court expelled him from the USA for 20 years. The district police and the state intelligence agencies are engaged in verifying the information provided by Navin during interrogation. The intelligence sources said the bomb blasts at Rohtak, Sonepat and Panipat a few years ago had left none in doubt about the presence of the now banned Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed in this belt of Haryana. The ring leader of Lashkar-e-Toiba, Abdul Karim Tunda, had been residing at Panipat where he was employed in a dyeing unit. He was considered an expert in manufacturing chemical bombs. Suddenly, he went underground but the police was able to arrest his accompalices a couple of years ago. Following the ban on SIMI, the intelligence sources said, smugglers of weapons and narcotics in the sleepy town of Kariana in Muzaffarnagar district bordering Panipat district had become very active. Tunda also belonged to the Kariana area and this small town had been raided several times to arrest notorious smugglers.
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MLA justifies move against
encroachers Gurgaon, October 31 The restive residents of the unauthorised colonies, who are on a war path with the administration against the ongoing demolitions, had been anxiously awaiting the return of Mr Gehlot. Mr Gehlot returned yesterday from his trip abroad. However, in the first public statement following his return he sided with the HUDA in its move to secure its land from illegal possessions. Incidentally, the demolitions started in Surya Vihar Colony and on the Basai road immediately after Mr Gehlot left for his foreign tour. To a question he replied that on account of the urbanisation of some of the villages in the district, the move to expand the ‘lal dora’, the boundary limits of the villages for construction of houses, had lost sanctity. The only solution lay in exempting such constructions from government acquisition. |
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Yamunanagar MLA
dead Chandigarh, October 31 Dr Sharma (63) entered the Haryana Assembly for the first time in 2000. He was a popular medical practitioner of Yamunanagar. He had been active in the Indian Medical Association. His wife as well as his two sons are also doctors. As soon as the news of Dr Sharma’s death spread in the town, people started gathering at his residence. Dr Sharma was liked by all, irrespective of party affiliation. The funeral procession will start at 3 p.m. tomorrow. The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, expressed shock and grief over Dr Sharma’s death. The Haryana Congress president, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said in Dr Sharma’s death, the party had lost a staunch supporter and worker, while the state had lost a committed legislator. |
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Haryana pilgrims’ quota unchanged Chandigarh, October 31 A Central Government directive received by the Haryana Government recently reportedly informed the state that the number of pilgrims should not exceed 200. Consequently, the state government has reportedly rejected the names of more than 40 aspirants who wanted to make the pilgrimage to Pakistan on the occasion. Official sources said that while 232 Sikh pilgrims from various districts of Haryana had applied to their respective Deputy Commissioners for visiting Pakistan, the state government had decided to allow 191 out of them. Apart from the 191 pilgrims, there would be jatha leaders as well as officials who would constitute the 200-member delegation from Haryana, an official told TNS. Officials sources said that while districts from which the number of aspirants was small had not been touched, the axe had fallen on those districts from which a large number of persons had applied. They said that Faridabad, Karnal, Panipat, Sirsa and Mahendragarh were five districts from where the maximum number of persons had applied. While 40 persons had applied from Faridabad, 32 had applied from Karnal, 22 from Panipat, 64 from Sirsa and 30 from Mahendragarh. The state government had decided to allow 35 persons from Faridabad, 22 from Karnal, 18 from Panipat, 51 from Sirsa and 21 from Mahendragarh to join the proposed jatha. While three persons had applied from Fatehabad, two had applied from Jind, seven from Gurgaon, 11 persons from Kaithal, nine from Kurukshetra, nine from Rohtak and three from Panchkula. The number of applicants from these districts was not touched, the sources said. |
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4 arrested so far in bio-fertiliser case Chandigarh, October 31 Trying to justify the bureau’s failure to investigate the purchase of bio-fertiliser by the Forest Department even after the exit of Mr Dalal as the minister in-charge and when the department was held by Mr Jagdish Yadav, Mr Ram Bhaj and Mr Om Prakash Chautala, a spokesman for the bureau said Mr Dalal was the main accused in the case. The case against him was registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act and various provisions of the IPC on the basis of the inquiry report of the then SP, Vigilance, Rohtak, after a complaint was made by a journalist against Mr Dalal. The complaint was in regard to the purchase of bio-fertiliser worth Rs 25 lakh at the rate of Rs 50 per kg whereas it was available at Rs 17 per kg in Hisar and Ghaziabad. Moreover, the spokesman said the fertiliser was purchased through bogus firms and unauthorised sources. It may be recalled that according to the record produced by the bureau before the Punjab and Haryana High Court during the hearing on the anticipatory bail application filed by Mr Dalal, the total purchase of the fertiliser during his tenure stood at a little over Rs 7 lakh. The spokesman said the bureau also interrogated Mr Yadav and Mr Ram Bhaj, who had headed the Forest Department when Mr Bansi Lal was the Chief Minister. However, he did not reveal if the bureau had also interrogated Mr Chautala, under whose tenure also the department had purchased the fertiliser. The spokesman said it had come in the evidence collected so far that the entire purchase of bio-fertiliser since 1996 was made by officers of the Forest Department allegedly at the instance of Mr Dalal who was a powerful minister in the Bansi Lal ministry. |
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CBI files reply in Ruchika case Ambala, October 31 The main contention of the CBI in its reply filed through counsel C.S. Sharma is that no special case under Section 438 is made out. Special Judge for CBI cases in Haryana, Dr B.B. Prasoon, fixed November 3 as the next date of hearing and summoned the case file. Mr S.P.S. Rathore had filed an anticipatory bail application on October 24 following the allowing of Ms Madhu Prakash’s application by the Special Magistrate for CBI cases, Mr J.S. Dhanjal. He has stated in the application that a private party, Ms Madhu Prakash, had moved a “false and frivolous application” seeking the addition of charge under Section 306 of the IPC to the chargesheet filed by the CBI. |
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‘Bawri’ needs upkeep Narnaul Rain water used to be stored in the “bawris”. The old “bawris”, however, are in a dilapidated state. The historic Mirza Ali Jan’s “bawri”, located on the eastern side of the town, needs proper upkeep. The “bawri” was got built by Mirza Ali Jan, though the date of its construction is still not certain. There is a throne-like structure on the “bawri” and it is also known as the Takht Wali Bawri. There is a deep well near the “bawri” which has gone dry with the passage of time. The water table has gone down in this area to more than 1,000 ft. This well was used for irrigating gardens with the help of connecting drains. There are stairs going into the “bawri”. The “bawri” has been taken over by the Archaeological Department, but it seems it has failed to keep it in its original state. In 1993 the then Deputy Commissioner of Mahendragarh got the “bawri” partly repaired at a cost of Rs 50,000. There is a mosque, a historical monument, on the eastern side of the “bawri” which is now in ruins. There are also a few graves which, too are in a state of neglect. Residents say the Archaeological Department should take effective measures to preserve the “bawri” as well as the historical buildings in Narnaul. |
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Jind college wins
trophy Kurukshetra, October 31 Speaking on he occasion, the Chief Minister called upon the students to shoulder the responsibility of building a new India. The Chief Minister said the work of setting up a cultural academy at Kurukshetra would start soon. The Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Mr R.S. Chaudhary, said more than 1,000 students from all over the state participated in the function. Competitions were held in various categories, including Haryana Dance, lok geet, bhajan, folk instrument solo, solo dance, group song, skit, orchestra, group dance, one-act play, on-the-spot painting and declaration. Ram Pal of DAV College, Cheeka, was adjudged the best actor while Nirmal of FC College, Hisar, was declared best actress. Mr Ashok Arora and Mr Subhash Goyal, both Haryana ministers, and Mr L.M. Goyal, Chief Secretary, Haryana, were among those present on the occasion. |
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MDS course
at Rohtak Chandigarh, October 31 While stating this here today, a spokesman of the Health Department said that the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, had approved the proposal. The introduction of these courses was likely to cost the government Rs 45 lakh per annum. |
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Rs 1 lakh for weightlifter’s family Ambala, October 31 Dalbir Singh a student of GMN College, had died in a water body at Kurukshetra. On October 29, the Haryana Olympic Association president, Mr Abhey Singh Chautala, had met the family members of Dalbir Singh. He had then promised Rs 1 lakh to the family members and a job to Dalbir Singh’s sister. |
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6 nominated to
House panel Sangrur, October 31 While the Speaker,
Mr Satbir Singh Kadian, will himself be the ex-officio Chairperson, the nominated members are the Chief Minister,
Mr Om Prakash Chautala, the Finance Minister, Prof Sampat Singh, the Town and Country Planning Minister, Mr Dhirpal Singh, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bhajan Lal, Mr Krishan Pal Gujar and Mr Ram Bhagat. The Deputy Speaker, Mr Gopi Chand Gahlot, will be the special invitee. |
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162 leprosy patients cured Rohtak, October 31 Dr R.K. Wadhwa, District Leprosy Officer also spoke. |
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Student stabbed to death Panipat, October 31 |
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Operation Sadbhavna
from today Chandigarh, October 31 |
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