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Monday,
December 24, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Decisive ‘win over terrorism’ soon Farmers threaten to intensify agitation HVP condemns firing on agitating farmers Villagers to gherao DC Cops ‘target’ youths from J&K Withdrawal of orders by KU cheers students |
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Contests mark Kurukshetra Utsav Gang of vehicle thieves busted
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Decisive ‘win over terrorism’ soon Hisar, December 23 Deviating from his prepared speech while addressing the convocation of Haryana Agricultural University here he said India’s neighbour had been sponsoring terrorism in the country for the past two decades. Thus far India had been hoping that it would realise the futility of such tactics and end terrorist operations. However, this had not happened. It was, therefore, time for the country now to take stern measures to score a final and decisive win over terrorism. He said while the country’s security forces were fully prepared for this, other sections of the society too should brace themselves up for steps leading to such a victory. Mr Advani said September 11 and December 13 of the current year were two important dates in world history as the events that took place on these days made the entire world realise that terrorism had challenged the entire world community. Even during the two world wars there were no attacks on the USA. However, terrorists used unconventional means to strike at the USA and it had to declare war on terrorism. He said for several years India had been trying to seek global cooperation for fighting terrorism. But not many realised what it meant. The WTC attacks and the attack on Parliament House had made it clear to the world that terrorism must end now. The Home Minister dismissed Pakistan’s description of terrorism in Kashmir as a freedom struggle. He said Kashmir had suffered from terrorism sponsored by Pakistan. The Pak terrorists had no aim but to strike terror by killing innocent women and children. Pakistan was merely trying to hoodwink the world but the international community now knew better than that. He said Pak designs in Kashmir would never succeed and assured the nation that India would score a decisive victory over terror. Mr Advani made it clear that all decisions were being taken purely on the basis of national interest and security. There was no question of the country bowing to outside pressures. He dismissed reports that the Vajpayee government was under pressure from the USA and other countries with regard to the steps it wanted to take against Pakistan and terrorism. He requested that his prepared text be treated as read because he said there had already been many speeches and the audience did not want to go through the rigmarole of another long speech. He added that he had been offered conferment of an honorary degree by the university but had politely refused. He said he did not like the practice of conferring such degrees on people in power. He hoped that the university community would forgive him for this. In his prepared speech he paid tributes to former Prime Minister Charan Singh after whom the university is named. He described him as not only a farmer leader but also an authority on agriculture. He said he remembered Charan Singh as a “self respecting son of the soil who never lost contact with the masses and one who boldly raised farmers’ issues and contributed greatly to saving democracy during the emergency”. He drew the attention of the farm scientists to a report prepared jointly by the World Food Programme and the Dr M. S. Swaminathan Research Centre which pointed out that despite increased food production people in several areas, especially the rural areas, were still suffering from acute malnutrition. He said one sentiment expressed in the report — One’s hunger is everyone’s shame — should serve as the theme for all those connected with agriculture and economics. The Governor Babu Parmanand, Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, Finance Minister Sampat Singh and Agriculture Minister Jaswinder Singh were among those present on the occasion. The Vice-Chancellor, Mr Vinay Kumar, read out the annual report. A total of 1260 persons received their degrees. As many as 27 gold medals were awarded for various achievements. |
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Farmers threaten to intensify agitation Kandela (Jind), December 23 The unprovoked firing on December 21, they allege, has strengthened their will to fight against what they call the “jungle raj” of the ruling INLD. The BKU has taken a clear stand on the issue and its state general secretary Ramphal Kandela told The Tribune that the ‘gherabandi’ of Kandela would continue until and unless the state government accepted their demands restored electricity supply to the three villages of Kandela feeder, took action against those responsibility for the firing incident. The government on the other hand seems to have decided to stay away from the heated scene for a few days before making any fresh move towards a resolution of the conflict. The Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police could not be contacted to comment on the latest situation despite several attempts. As of now the streets of Kandela have turned into a cantonment of angry farmers armed with lathis, jailies, rods and a few of them might have firearms too. The police has completely withdrawn itself from Kandela after the firing incident. Traffic for Kaithal, Chandigarh and Karnal is being diverted to alternative routes. The deadlock between the administration and the agitating farmers continues as the last attempt to remove the blockade failed leaving behind more than 60 farmers and police personnel injured Villagers allege. The BKU members who have gathered here, a stronghold of the organisation, say this time they are here for a fight to finish. If the government fails to respond in a democratic way, said Mr Kandela, the BKU was also ready for a prolonged agitation. More farmers are likely to join them in Kandela and another option being explored is of spreading the agitation throughout Haryana. The mood here in Kandela reflects the farmers’ anger and
disappointment with the state government. The HPCC chief Bhupinder Singh Hooda, along with some of his party functionaries and MLAs, came here yesterday but taking a cue from the mood of the agitating farmers, he preferred to stay away and went back to Jind after assuring all kind of support for the agitation from his party to the BKU activists. Mr Hooda has demanded compensation for those injured in the firing incident and action against the erring police officers and the administration. |
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HVP condemns firing on agitating farmers Fatehabad, December 23 Talking to mediapersons at Bighar village in the district, the HVP leader said during Mr Bansi Lal’s Chief Ministership, Mr Om Prakash Chautala used to mislead the farmers that whenever he came to power in the state, he would provide free power and irrigation water to the farmers. The HVP leader alleged that Mr Chautala even used to instigate the farmers not to pay their power bills, as he would waive all pending arrears whenever he came to power. Taken in by his words the farmers stopped paying their power bills and now huge arrears had mounted against the names of even those farmers who had very small holdings and to clear these was beyond their reach. Mr Bansi Lal had even then warned the farmers no government could ever waive the power bills. Mr Surender Singh criticised the government for using tear gas and firing on the agitating farmers at Kandela. He said the HVP government worked with utmost restraint and the police had resorted to firing only when the farmers had blocked railway traffic for many days. |
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Villagers to gherao DC Rohtak, December 23 Kiloi is among the largest villages in the Kiloi Assembly constituency. The village has nearly 20,000 voters and is considered as a trendsetter in the Haryana politics. The Uttar Haryana Bijlee Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) has regulated the supply of power to this village, which owe over Rs 4.91 crore to the power corporation. The village gets power only for four-and-a-half hours in a day. The villagers, agitated over the cold response of the district authorities to their pleas of restoring power supply today held a meeting under the chairmanship of former minister Krishna Murti Hooda and decided to launch an agitation to get their demands conceded. The agitated villagers, on the suggestion of the former minister have invited the sitting MLA, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, President, Pradesh Congress Committee, and Mr Dharam Pal Makrauli, Chairman Zila Parishad, to guide them in the agitation. The villagers also invited Capt Inder Singh, MP, and former MLA Sri Krishan Hooda to participate in the agitation. Addressing the gathering, Mr Krishna Murti Hooda, said following the disconnection of power supply, the village as a whole had to get their wheat ground in the nearby villages. Farmers had not been able to sow their rabi crop and the worst sufferers were the students who could not even do their home-work and prepare for the annual examinations likely to be held in two months time. It was decided at the meeting that residents of Roorkee, Polangi and Dhamar villages should also be asked to participate in the gherao as these villages were also reeling under severe power cut. The meetings, through a resolution, condemned the police firing on the peaceful agitating farmers at Kandela (Jind) on Friday and demanded a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to those injured seriously in the firing. The resolution supported the demands of the agitating farmers. Another resolution alleged that criminal cases registered against former Revenue Minister Anand Singh Dangi were politically motivated. It was demanded that the cases against him be cancelled.
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Cops ‘target’ youths from J&K Faridabad, December 23 About 95 persons, including several children and women, were reportedly rounded up and sent to Rewari district recently. Checking the identity of persons, especially those coming from Jammu and Kashmir has been undertaken in several districts of the state, including Faridabad. This campaign was started in the wake of terrorist attack on Parliament on December 13. The SSP, Mr Ranbir Sharma, admitted that checking was going on but said no youth or dependent of such persons had been sent from here. Hundreds of Kashmiri families fan out in nearly all cities and towns of North India during winter to sell woollen garments, including shawls. While several of them walk on foot to sell on a door-to-door basis, some sell their goods through local retailers and shopkeepers. They even take rented accommodation for their stay in this season. The JD (U) chief of Haryana, Mr Ved Prakash Vidrohi, has condemned the act of the police. |
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Withdrawal of orders by KU cheers students Karnal, December 23 It was at the time of admission for the new academic session of affiliated colleges in July that the university had ordered that candidates with “compartments” should not be given admission to a higher class till they cleared these. After that, admissions of hundreds of students in colleges to higher classes were withheld. Various student bodies, including the SFI launched an agitation and the university had to bow to pressure. Ultimately, these students were allowed admission to higher classes. The earlier order was aimed at promoting education through correspondence courses run by the university. By another order, the university laid down the condition that candidates who were placed in compartment in plus two examination by the Haryana State Education Board would have to clear their compartment in two chances after seeking admission to graduate courses in a college. It was stipulated that those who could not pass the supplementary examination in September would have to appear in March along with the university examinations of B.A./B.Sc. (I). However, the university suddenly changed its decision and said no second chance would be given to students to clear their compartments. This led to agitation in colleges, forcing the university to change its decision. However, according to a circular issued to this effect and sent to various colleges, the “two-chance” order would apply only to the current academic session. |
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Contests mark Kurukshetra Utsav Kurukshetra, December 23 The results of the various competitions are as follows: Rangoli competition, junior wing: Sarita, Government Senior Secondary School, 1; Mani Ram, Government Middle School, 2, and Narinder and Pardeep, Gurukul, Kurukshetra, 3. Primary Section: Reena, Janta Senior Secondary School No 2, 1; Yogesh, New Convent School, 2, and Upasana, Janta Senior Secondary School, 3. Mehndi competition, senior group: Dipti, DAV Public School, 1; Sonia Sharma, Girls Senior Secondary School, 2, and Ripandeep, Gita Girls Senior Secondary School, 3. junior group: Suman, Gita Girls Senior Secondary School, 1; Vidhya, Government Middle School Nath Mandir, 2 and Neha, Government Middle School, 3. Clay
modelling competition, senior group: Vasudev, Senior Secondary
School, 1; Mohit Aggarsain Public School, 2 Ankur, Aggarsain Public
School, Junior group: Vikram Malik, Aggarsain Public School, 1; Dolgy,
Idial Convent School, 2, and Mamta, Government Middle School, 3. Tableau competition: Vishwkarma School, 1; Government Model Gita Vidhya Mandir, 2, and New Convent School, 3. Sanjhi competition: Lajwanti, Government Senior Secondary School, Jyotisar, 1, and Suman, Government Senior Secondary School,Thanesar, 2. Pot decoration competition, senior group: Priyanka Sharma, Aggarsain Public School, 1; Rishi, Aggarsain Public School, 2 and, Usha Rani, Government Senior Secondary School, Thanesar, 3. Junior group: Suman, Government Girls Senior Secondary School, 1, and Mehak, Aggarsain Public School, 2. Burada Rangoli: Vandana, Gita Girls Senior Secondary School, 1; Susmita, 2, and Rekha, 3. Fancy dress competition: Manik Kalra, Aggarsain Public School, 1; Anuradha, 2; Himani, Idial Convent School, 3. Embroidery Competition, senior group: Veena, Government Senior Secondary School, 1; Rajni, Government Senior Secondary, 2, and Seema, Government Senior Secondary School, 3. Junior Group: Sona Devi, Government Senior Secondary School, Jyotisar, 1; Paramjit Kaur, Senior Secondary School, Thanesar, 2 and Mamta, Senior Secondary School, 3. Flower decoration, senior group: Renu Bala, Janta Senior Secondary School, 1; Meenakshi, Senior Girls Secondary School, 2 and Arush Singal, Aggarsain Public School, 3. Junior group: Utsav Taneja, Aggarsain Public School 1, Simit, 2, and Sakshi Goel, 3. Vasudev, Senior Secondary School, 1; Mohit Aggarsain Public School, 2 Ankur, Aggarsain Public School, Junior group: Vikram Malik, Aggarsain Public School, 1; Dolgy, Idial Convent School, 2, and Mamta, Government Middle School, 3.
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Gang of vehicle thieves busted Fatehabad, December 23 The district police chief, Mr Hanif Qureshi, told mediapersons here today that the police nabbed Malkiat Singh, Dalbir Singh and Ranjeet Singh, all residents of the local Guru Nanak Pura in this connection. On interrogation, the accused revealed that they had stolen the above mentioned vehicles after which those were recovered by the police. The value of the recovered vehicles has been estimated to be Rs 6.2 lakh. The SP said all three accused worked as auto mechanics. |
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Explosives seized in Bhiwani Bhiwani, December 23 Mr R.S. Ahlawat, DSP, said the accused, Om Bir, had brought the
explosives from Rajasthan for selling them. The seizure included 576 kg of white aluminium nitrate, 116 ring safety fuse, 50 high grade explosives and 143 detonators, he said adding that the police was investigating the case. PTI |
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Science centre opens today Kurukshetra, December 23 |
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