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Thursday, November 8, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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ASSEMBLY SESSION BEGINS
TODAY Cong to move privilege motion against
SP Congress leaders ‘lack popular support’ Move to
recover power bills from govt staff Demolition
of Ambedkar Park flayed |
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DGP sings
at Divali fair Don’t
misguide people on house tax: Sampat Sur
Puraskar for H.C. Verma, Vyas for Sansar Chandra CM honours
writers KALKA DIARY IN FOCUS Hydel
potential must be tapped, says minister Power
staff seek ex gratia bonus Ceiling on
appointments abolished 1
arrested after brief encounter Wife held for ‘forcing’ man to commit suicide
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ASSEMBLY SESSION BEGINS
TODAY Chandigarh, November 7 According to informed sources, senior leaders of the Congress and the HVP have established contact for this purpose. It is the compulsion of the Congress to seek the support of the HVP, if it wants that the House should grant leave to it to move a motion seeking the removal of the Speaker. Under the rules, at least 23 members should stand in support of the notice of motion before it is taken up for discussion and voting. The strength of the Congress has been depleted to 20 following the death of its MLA from Yamunanagar, Dr J.P. Sharma. The party needs the support of at least three other MLAs, if it wants to avoid a repetition of what had happened when the party had moved a no-confidence motion against the Chautala government in the last session. The House did not grant leave to move the motion when only 17 MLAs stood up in their seats in support of the motion, though the Congress had 21 MLAs in the House at that time and Mr Karan Singh Dalal of the RPI and Mr Jagjit Singh Sangwan of the NCP, too, had supported the motion. However, the HVP MLAs, including Mr Bansi Lal, remained seated. Later Mr Bansi Lal said he was not taken into confidence by the Congress. The sources say a senior Congress leader met a senior HVP leader(not Mr Bansi Lal) last week at the residence of Mr R.K. Dhawan, former Man Friday of Indira Gandhi, in Delhi. An agreement was reached between the two on the HVP’s support to the motion seeking the removal of the Speaker, against whom almost every Opposition MLA has a grievance. The sources say so far the House is scheduled to be adjourned
after paying tributes to the leaders who died during the period between the last session and the current session. Some routine official business will also be conducted before the House calls it a day. However, the Treasury Benches may agree to take up the motion against the Speaker if the Opposition insists on it. Otherwise, the motion is likely to be taken up on November 9. The Congress had demanded that a special month-long session should be convened. The ruling party is likely to put the ball in the court of the Congress on the issue of the duration of the session. The duration of the session is rendered meaningless when it becomes obvious(going by the proceedings of the previous sessions) that firebrand MLAs, like Mr Dalal and Mr Jai Prakash Barwala, are not given sufficient time to speak. The main attack of the Opposition against the government will be on the issues of house tax, the law and order situation, installation of electronic meters by the power utilities and implication of political leaders, particularly those belonging to the Opposition, in false cases. The government is expected to snatch the issue of house tax from the Opposition by announcing certain concessions on the floor of the House itself. The sources expect the session to conclude on the eve of Divali which falls on November 14. |
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Cong to
move privilege motion against SP Chandigarh, November 7 Mr Mangeram Gupta, Mr Jai Parkash Barwala and Mr Sher Singh, Congress legislators, went to meet the SP when they reportedly asked him to withdraw cases against the Congress workers who were booked following a complaint made by a shopkeeper. However, the SP allegedly misbehaved with the Congress workers. Talking to TNS after the CLP meeting, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, HPCC chief, said that the party had decided to move a privilege motion against the SP in the Assembly. Another important matter on the agenda of the Congress is the removal motion against the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr Satbir Singh Kadian. While the Assembly Secretariat has been notified already about the motion, the support of 23 legislators will be needed for the motion to be taken up in the House. The strength of the Congress in the House was 21 to begin with, though it has been reduced to 20 now due to the death of Dr J. P. Sharma, party MLA from Yamunanagar. Mr Hooda, however, expressed confidence that the Congress would able to mobilise support from MLAs of other parties so that the removal motion was taken up by the House. He said that the party had issued a whip to ensure the presence of all MLAs in the House during the session. |
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Congress leaders ‘lack popular support’ Chandigarh, November 7 The general secretary of the INLD, Mr Pradeep Chaudhary, said here today that the frustration of the Congress leaders over the lack of popular support was evident when a former Chief Minister, Mr Bhajan Lal, and the state Congress president, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, “pestered” the SP of Jind on November 5 to arrest them and their colleagues without committing any offence. These leaders had gone to the SP’s office to “gherao” him in protest against the alleged misbehaviour of the police officer with two Congress MLAs, Mr Mange Ram Gupta and Mr Sher Singh. Mr Chaudhary said the SP refused to oblige the Congress leaders as neither Section 144, CrPC had been imposed nor had the leaders given any advance notice of their intention to court arrest. The INLD leader said the Congress leaders wanted to be arrested so that they could project themselves as heroes in the public eye in view of the coming Vidhan Sabha session. “This is quite like becoming a martyr by sacrificing a finger,” he remarked. He said the Congress had not been able to come out of hybernation and its vain attempts to hoodwink the people had been further eroding its political base in the state. He said the Congress was a divided lot and had no programme to gain mass support. The issues raised by it, he claimed, were without any substance. Mr Chaudhary said the failure of the November 2 bandh had made the Congress nervous and frustrated. |
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Move to recover power bills from govt
staff Rohtak, November 7 There are over 270 government employees in the district who have not paid their electricity bills for the past many years. They collectively owe Rs 52.05 lakh to the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN). Mr Malik told this correspondent here today that many such employees were posted in other districts also. Therefore, he intended to write to their respective heads of departments for taking appropriate action at their level. Of these over 270 employees, 48 belong to Dhamar village and they jointly owe Rs 23.37 lakh to the UHBVN. Interestingly, 99 per cent consumers of this village are defaulters and they collectively owe over Rs 2.72 crore to the UHBVN. Mr Malik said the government was considering to make provisions in the conduct rules to ensure regular payment of electricity dues from government employees. The matter was discussed at a meeting of Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala on September 22 at Chandigarh. It is reliably learnt that the government has not given development grants under the “Sarkar Aapke Dwar” programme to defaulting villages. The government has also told the district officers to strictly comply with the orders of not issuing various certificates unless the applicant produces no-due certificate from the UHBVN. Though the meeting decided to deal with the defaulters through the police task force, the district police in Rohtak is reportedly hesitant to register the cases of power theft brought to its notice by UHBVN officials. It is learnt that in the Rohtak sub-urban division alone, the police did not register 67 cases reported to it by the SDO concerned of the UHBVN between April and September. |
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Demolition
of Ambedkar Park flayed Sonepat, November 7 According to a report, some JCB machines were pressed into service to remove the encroachments and demolish the unauthorised structures erected by the shopkeepers and owners of taxi stands. The shopkeepers, it is alleged, had grabbed the land in and around the park. It was also surrounded by owners of stalls, rehriwalas, rickshaw pullers and owners of taxi and three-wheelers stand. On seeing the pitiable condition of the park, the district administration decided to give a facelift to the areas by demolishing the park which was not being used. However, the authorities did not demolish the statue of Dr B.R. Ambedkar. The district administration maintained that the road leading to Sectors 14 and 15 would be widened and a divider constructed for smooth flow of the traffic. The iron grills would also be erected on the road divider. The power transformer would also be removed from the site and the crossing widened so that the buses and other vehicles pass through it without any obstruction. Reacting to the demolishing of the park, the senior Congress leader and former Haryana minister, Mr K.R. Punia, condemned the action of the district administration and alleged that the leaders of Dr Ambedkar Smarak Samiti were not taken into confidence on the issue despite the fact the samiti had spent thousands of rupees on the construction of a boundary wall. Talking to mediapersons here today, he said the demolishing of the park was an unfortunate event which had caused widespread resentment among the Dalits and other Backward Classes. Describing the action as unjust and anti-Dalit, he demanded stern action against those involved. He pointed out that a number of statues of Dr Ambedkar were erected on the demand of Dalits by Devi Lal but the same were being demolished during the regime of Mr Chautala. He demanded that the park should be developed again to avoid confrontation with the Dalits. Mr Punia said the general body of the samiti would meet here on November 11 to chalk out the future course of action to be taken against the government on the issue. He declared that the Congress would not extend its support to the agitation but raise the issue in the session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha beginning tomorrow. |
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DGP sings at Divali
fair Gurgaon, November 7 The occasion was the Grand Divali Mela organised by the
Gurgaon police. It was inaugurated by the DGP. Top police officers, including IGs of various ranges, SSPs of several districts and retired IPS officers, were also present on the occasion. Soon after inaugurating the five-day mela on the Police Lines campus, Mr Malik ascended the dais where a troupe was performing an entertainment programme. The troupe was a mix of male and female artistes. Traditional musical instruments and Rajasthani attire were used for folk songs and dances. The police personnel were surprised to see their chief breaking into a song and dance. Forming a ring around the dais, the constabulary cheered the DGP with claps. Some of the serving and retired personnel looked embarrassed at the proceedings. According to those present on the occasion, it was refreshing to see the top cop present the human face of the police force. The “mela” was organised as part of the “Sadbhavana Maah” currently being celebrated by the Haryana police. A senior personnel of the Haryana police said that although police-public interaction during the month was focussed towards females and weaker sections of society, all were being covered under the programme. The police is organising seminars, symposiums and other means of interaction with the people during November to improve police-public ties. Interestingly, several rickshawpullers, led by their union president, were invited to the “mela” and sweets were distributed among them by the DGP in view of the coming Divali festival. Incidentally, the rickshawpullers also took part in the song-and-dance number performed by the DGP. |
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Don’t misguide
people on house tax: Sampat Hisar, November 7 Addressing mediapersons here, he said the government had sought suggestions from the Opposition many a times before deciding the house tax policy but Congress legislators boycotted Assembly proceedings instead of giving constructive suggestions on the issue. He said the government was ready to reconsider the issue if the Opposition came forward with good suggestions. He said the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, had discussed the issue with INLD, BJP and independent legislators. Mr Chautala also directed the Local Bodies Minister to convene a meeting of all urban MLAs irrespective of their political affiliations before taking any final decision on house tax but Congress legislators boycotted the meeting. He said though the government had taken views of senior citizens, finalising councillors and president of all municipal councils of Haryana before the draft of house tax policy but Opposition leaders were misguiding people by giving call of Haryana bandh. He claimed that the bandh on November 2 was failed as traders did not support it. Commenting on the Congress demand for compensating cotton growers from market committee funds, the minister said the state was not in a position to compensate farmers on its own. He said the state government had demanded Rs 106 crore from the Centre for this purpose and Mr Chautala was pursuing the case. |
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Sur Puraskar for
H.C. Verma, Vyas for Sansar Chandra Chandigarh, November 7 Announcing the awards the vice-chairman of the academy, Mr
P.K. Chaudhary, said that these would be conferred every year as per the announcement of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash
Chautala, on the birth anniversary of Mahakavi Surdas on April 28, 2001, at Faridabad. While giving details of the award winners, he said that Dr Harish Chander Verma of Rohtak would be the first recipient of the Sur Puraskar of Rs 1 lakh. Dr Verma has over 30 books on Hindi literature to his credit besides editing about a dozen other books. A number of his books have been awarded the first prize in book contests conducted by the Haryana Language Department and the academy. The Maharishi Ved Vyas Puraskar of Rs 15,000 has been conferred upon Dr Sansar Chandra for his contribution in the field of Sanskrit. Dr Sansar Chandra has to his credit 15 books written in Sanskrit, 15 in Hindi, five in Punjabi and two in English. He is also a successful ‘Jyotishacharya’ and ‘Tikakar’ in Sanskrit literature. The academy has conferred the Pt Lakhmi Chand Puruskar upon Dr Puran Chand Sharma of Rohtak for his contribution to promoting research work in Haryanavi and compilation of folk literature. A former Editor of Dainik Tribune, Mr Radhey Shyam Sharma, would be awarded the Babu Bal Mukand Puraskar for his outstanding contribution in the field of Hindi journalism. Mr Chaudhary said as no suitable person was found for giving the award on the philosophy of Dr Ram Manohar
Lohia, it was decided to confer another Babu Bal Mukand Gupt Puraskar of Rs 15,000 for Hindi literature and award it to Dr Naresh for his contribution to Hindi
ghazal. He said that in view of the year 2000 being observed as Women Empowernment Year, it had been decided to give three Women Empowerment Awards of Rs 11,000 each to encourage women in the field of literature. They winners were Dr Sudha Jain of Panchkula, Dr Meera Gautam of Kurukshetra and Mrs Shakuntala Brijmohan of Chandigarh. |
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CM honours writers Yamunanagar, November 7 A cash award of Rs 51,000 each and citations were given to Harbhan Singh Renu, Surender Kamboj, Dr Sukhdev Singh for their books in Punjabi. For story writing, Surender Singh Oberoi, Indra Bansal and Manjeet Ambalavi bagged the first, second and third prizes, respectively. Mr Chautala announced that the Annual Bhai Santokh Singh prize money would be raised from Rs 5,100 to Rs 21,000 so as to encourage Punjabi writers. Among the winners of essay-writing and poetry competitions were Anuradha, Rajni, Karnprit Kaur, Surinder Kaur, Rajinder Singh and Sumanjeet Kaur. Earlier, the director of the Academy, Major Umrao Singh Shergil, in his annual report highlighted the achievements of the academy. Later, the Chief Minister also released a book written by the college Principal, Mr Ramesh Kumar. |
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KALKA
DIARY KALKA: This town and its adjoining areas have always been menaced by beggars. The main reason for beggars swarming this town in such large numbers is that trains on the broad gauge and the narrow gauge lines terminate at Kalka. Itinerant beggars who travel in trains have to get down at Kalka. Many of them, instead of boarding another train, prefer to stay on. Thus there is a constant increase in the beggar population of this town. Very often, beggars are seen sleeping in compartments of trains which stop here for long hours before starting their backward journeys. When railway safai karamcharis force them out of the compartments, they move into the streets and bazaars of the town. Householders complain that beggars keep knocking at their doors throughout the day. There is a demand from the residents that the local administration and the police should launch a special campaign to clear the town of the beggar menace. * * * The local administration is gearing up to claim 55 acres of land belonging to Haryana which has been occupied by Himachal Pradesh near the inter-state barrier. The Chief Minister’s office is reported to have given the green signal for action in this regard and the Revenue Department has started demarcation of the land. This fact came to the notice of the administration when Mrs Jyoti Arora, Deputy Commissioner of Panchkula, visited Kalka to select a site for a statue of the late Mr Devi Lal. It was discovered that the octroi post, the Circuit House and the rest house of Himachal Pradesh near the barier, were built on land belonging to Haryana Forest Department. The local administration and the Revenue Department are collecting facts to file a claim for this land with the Himachal Pradesh Government. * * * Senior citizens who have invested in Kisan Vikas Patras are facing difficulties in getting the patras
encashed. According to the Secretary of the Senior Citizens’ Association, Mr
C.L. Mehta, several members of the association, have invested in Kisan Vikas
Patras, but the postal authorities refuse to conduct transactions worth more than Rs 20,000 in a day. Thus if the maturity value of the vikas patras of a member is Rs 1,00,000, he has to visit the post on five days to get his money. * * * An piece of iron girder stuck in the middle of a street in Ward No. 9 can prove disastrous to vehicles, as well as pedestrians, especially during the night. This girder has been planted to tie the support wire of an electricity pole. Residents of the ward fear that this can endanger the lives of scooterists or cyclists. The situation has been brought to the notice of the administration but nothing has been done in this regard. * * * An inter school group song competition held at DAV Senior Secondary School, Surajpur, attracted 22 teams from 18 schools of Ambala Zone. The competition was inaugurated by Mr P.L. Chauhan, Regional Director, Ambala Zone, by lighting a lamp. Mr D.V. Sehgal, Vice-President, DAV Managing Committee, Delhi, was the chief guest. The well-known dancer, Shobha Kosar was a special invitee. The overall trophy in the junior section went to DAV Secondary School, Ambala City, whereas Chaman Lal DAV School, Panchkula, won the runners-up trophy. In the senior section, the overall trophy was won by Dev Samaj Girls School, Chandigarh, and DAV Senior Secondary School, Ambala City, got the runners-up trophy. In the junior section dance competition, Shivangi (Chaman Lal DAV School, Panchkula) secured the first position while Aditya (Hans Raj Public School, Panchkula) and Sukhjeet (DAV Senior Secondary School, Ambala City) won the second and third positions respectively. In the senior section dance competition, Neha of Dev Samaj Girls School, Chandigarh, Nidhi Dhiman of DAV School, Ambala City, and Megha Tandon of DAV Senior Secondary School, Ambala City, secured the first, second and third positions respectively. |
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IN
FOCUS AMBALA: Ambala district is one of the biggest paddy procurement areas in Haryana. About three lakh tonnes of paddy arrives in different grain markets of Ambala district every year. But this year the arrivals of paddy are about 30 per cent below last year’s arrivals. Dealers in the grain markets who look forward to this period to recover amounts advanced to farmers, are a disheartened lot. Paddy from about two dozen villages of Punjab adjoining Haryana comes to the grain market in Ambala City but this year these farmers have preferred mandis in Punjab. Even some farmers of the Ambala area have taken their produce to the nearby mandis in Punjab. According to Mr Bharat Bhushan Aggarwal, a grain dealer of Ambala City, the main reason for this is the announcement of the Punjab Congress to pay bonus on paddy if it comes to power. Farmers of areas close to Punjab who used to come to Ambala, have gone to mandis in Punjab, thinking that they may get the incentive if the Congress comes to power in that state. Another reason is that in view of the ensuing elections in Punjab, the procurement agencies have become liberal in procurement. Paddy rejected in Ambala is readily accepted in the mandis of Punjab. Mr Tej Prakash, a grain dealer, said that a number of grain dealers had temporarily moved to mandis in Punjab. The district administration had made elaborate arrangements for the procurement of paddy in view of the problems faced during the wheat season. Additional ground was prepared to accommodate excess arrivals but that situation has not arisen. Grain dealers in Ambala are worried that the farmers who took their paddy to mandis in Punjab may even take their wheat there which will harm the Ambala grain market. Mr Duni Chand
Danipur, a former president of the Ambala Grain Market Association, said that the Haryana Government should take steps to ensure that this biggest grain market of the district does not suffer. |
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Hydel potential
must be tapped, says minister Faridabad, November 7 Speaking at a foundation day function of the NHPC here today, she said the share of hydel power should be at least 40 per cent of the total potential. The NHPC officials said the corporation had completed work on big projects with a production capacity of 2,175 MW so far and work on five other projects with a capacity of 1,570 MW was on. |
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Power staff seek
ex gratia bonus Faridabad, November 7 Stating this in a press note issued here today, the spokesman of the union, Mr Subhash Lamba, said the bonus, which was Rs 5,000 per year, had not been released for the past three years, Mr Lamba said Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala had promised to give the bonus and other allowances to employees if there was an increase in recoveries of the corporation. |
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Ceiling on
appointments abolished Chandigarh, November 7 In a letter issued here today by the Haryana Chief Secretary, Mr
L.M. Goyal, this decision of the government was intimated to various departments. |
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1 arrested after
brief encounter Sonepat, November 7 Babli, who belongs to Girdharpur village under the Dadri police station of Gautam Budh Nagar district, Uttar Pradesh, is allegedly involved in as many as 40 cases of loots, dacoity, murder, kidnapping, arson and other crimes in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. The Superintendent of Police, Mr Paramjit Singh Ahlawat, told mediapersons here today that during routine checking of the vehicles on the Sonepat-Rathdhana road, Babli arrived on a motor cycle from the side of Rathdhanna village and was asked to stop. He defied the signal and fled by breaking the naka. |
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Wife held for ‘forcing’ man to commit suicide Sirsa, November 7 According to information given by the district police chief here today, Om Parkash had committed suicide allegedly by hanging himself from a tree at Farwain Kalan village in the district. In his complaint to the police Satish Kumar, brother of the deceased, had alleged that Om Parkash’s wife Krishna wanted him to sell his property at Bhuna and settle down at Farwain Kalan village. On his refusal she allegedly tortured him with the help of his brother and other relatives. Om Parkash had tried to commit suicide earlier also. |
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