Haryana

The Regional Passport Office (RPO), Delhi has operationalised two Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) - one each in Delhi and Gurgaon - to provide convenient and quick services to applicants for passports.

An official press release from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the Gurgaon PSK, located in the corporate area of Udyog Vihar, will service applicants in Mahendragarh, Faridabad, Palwal, Gurgaon, Rewari and Nuh in Haryana as well as Dwarka, Mahipalpur and Chhatarpur areas of Delhi.

The one in Delhi, located at Shalimar Place, around 2 km from Madhuban Chowk on the Outer Ring Road near Rohini Jail, will service residents in Outer Delhi, West Delhi, North Delhi, North West Delhi and also the districts of Sonepat, Rohtak and Jhajjhar of Haryana.

A third PSK will be opened soon, the release said.

Various amenities including snacks counter, photocopier facility, air conditioned and modern waiting lounge, baby care facilities and ramp for physically handicapped persons are available at PSKs.

An applicant has to apply online at www.passportindia.gov.in and also obtain an online appointment slot. In urgent cases, applicants can also walk into PSK without prior appointment, but after filing online application.

The PSKs are expected to cut down the processing time considerably and make the application process a pleasant experience, the release added.

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A disgruntled youth yesterday attempted to shoot a civil judge here, who had given an adverse order against him in a case.

The judge, however, escaped unhurt as the pistol of the assailant failed to go off.

Police said assailant Surender Sharma, a resident of Pyont village in the district, barged into the court room of Civil Judge (Senior Division) Hemraj Verma, hurled abuses on him and attempted to fire at him from a .315 bore pistol.

However, being a novice in handling the fire arms, he could not succeed in his designs as the pistol failed to go off. He was promptly nabbed by the police.

Police sources said Surender had reportedly purchased a vehicle in 1999 but despite paying the full amount, the ownership was not transferred in his name and he had filed a case in this regard.

The judgment in the case was pronounced by Judge Hemraj Verma against him after eleven years. His case was also rejected in the Session court in August this year.

Meanwhile, the party from whom he had purchased the vehicle also filed some cases against him, they said.

Dejected and distraught, Surender went to Barreilly and bought a .315 bore pistol and two cartridges. He attempted to shoot the the judge with this pistol, the sources added.

A case was registered against him in the Civil Lines police station, the sources added.

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The much awaited concert by the international rock band Metallica, scheduled for this evening in Gurgaon near here, has been postponed for "technical reasons."

Sources said the organisers decided to postpone the concert after chaos broke at the concert venue with fans breaking through the barricades.

The chaos resulted in the band deciding not to play today.

The concert will be held tomorrow at 1600 hrs at Leisure Valley in Gurgaon.

There has been a tremendous excitement among music lovers for the concert by Metallica band, being held to coincide with the organisation of the F 1 Grand Prix in Greater Noida.

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Car manufacturer BMW India is hosting the BMW Xperience at a specially designed test course in Gurgaon, near here, from October 16-23 at which patrons will have the opportunity to drive the BMW X5, the BMW X6 and the all-new BMW X3, under the expert guidance of international trainers.

The event was kicked off by a performance by Raw BANG - a group of Australian percussionists and tap dancers.

The test course, designed exclusively by international experts, includes 10 simulated obstacles, each of which brings out a unique feature of the BMW X range.

Dr. Andreas Schaaf, President BMW India, said, "BMW Group is a pioneer in creating new vehicle segments. The entire Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) was created by BMW. The BMW xDrive is one of the most advanced examples of a four-wheel drive systems in use today's world. The BMW Xperience is a one of its kind event, being organized at such large scale in India. This is an exciting opportunity to experience the superiority of the BMW X range of SAVs in a stimulating and safe off-road environment."

A press release from BMW India said the BMW xDrive is an intelligent all-wheel drive system that monitors the driving situation constantly and distributes drive power smoothly between the axles.

"BMW xDrive splits drive variably to the front and rear axles to suit the driving situation and the surface. Under normal driving conditions xDrive works with a basic 40/60 torque split front and rear. If there is any sudden change in requirements on account of differences in the friction values between the road surface and the driven wheels or because of the driving situation, the torque split can be varied within a fraction of a second without the driver even becoming aware of the change," the release said.

"In contrast to other manufacturers, who use all-wheel drive principally to make up for the shortfall in traction suffered by front-wheel-drive vehicles, BMW tunes its xDrive system to provide handling typical of rear-wheel drive. Even in normal situations on the road, all-wheel-drive BMW models send the lion's share of drive to the rear wheels," it said.

The release said that, starting from a distribution between front and rear axle of 40:60 as is prevalent in normal driving situations, the power distribution can be altered to continuously variable levels.

"According to the requirements of driving dynamics, the power transmission proportion may vary between 50:50 and 0:100 per cent. Thus, xDrive uniquely enhances directional stability and driving dynamics when taking bends at speed," it said.

"With BMW xDrive reacting within fractions of a second, the system offers enormous advantages in terms of traction. When setting out on slippery or loose ground, for example, the time-lag between the loss of wheel grip on the surface and the re-distribution of drive forces to wheels with grip is only a few milliseconds. And it thinks ahead too. As one drives, the xDrive analyses data from the on-board electronics systems such as speed, steering angle, torque output and other key factors - and calculates whether the vehicle can follow the driver's wish or if it threatens to oversteer or understeer, thereby preventing the vehicle from swerving.

"On unsurfaced tracks, the BMW xDrive provides maximum traction as well as safe and fast acceleration. Individual wheel spin is suppressed with fast and variable alteration of the power distribution between front and rear axle. BMW xDrive always distributes drive power where it is required. With its outstanding versatility, it not only enhances traction in difficult road conditions but also improves driving dynamics on the road. In a car equipped with xDrive, the driver has the assurance that even under adverse road-surface conditions the torque split is always instantly optimised to provide the best possible traction and stability," it said.

In India, the BMW xDrive all-wheel drive system is standard in the all-new BMW X3 (X3 xDrive20d, X3 xDrive30d), BMW X5 (X5 xDrive50i, X5 xDrive30d) and BMW X6 (X6 xDrive50i, X6 xDrive30d), the release added.

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Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi today won the Hisar Lok Sabha bye-election, defeating his nearest rival Ajay Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) by a margin of 6323 votes.

In the results declared this afternoon after counting of votes in the October 13 bye-election was taken up this morning, Mr Bishnoi, who was the candidate of the HJC-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine, polled 355941 votes against Mr Chautala's 349618 votes.

Congress candidate Jai Parkash, a former Union Minister who has represented the constituency thrice in the past, finished a distant third with 149785 votes.

Bishnoi is the son of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal , whose death in June necessitated the bye-election.

Counting of votes began at 0800 hours today amidst tight security arrangements. The district administration had imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in the radius of 100 metres around the mini-Secretariat where the counting of votes was held.

Mr Chautala is the son of former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. In all, there were 40 candidates in the fray.

The Anna Hazare factor had become a significant feature in the run-up to the bye-election as Team Anna, led by Mr Arvind Kejriwal, appealed to the electorate not to vote for the Congress as it has so far failed to deliver on the Jan Lokpal Bill. Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi also addressed public meetings in the constituency.

Interestingly, Team Anna urged the electorate to vote for any candidate except the Congress nominee.

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Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi was leading by more than 29,700 votes against his nearest rival Ajay Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) as counting of votes cast in the October 13 bye-election to the Hisar Lok Sabha seat progressed today.

Bishnoi is the candidate of the HJC-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine and son of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal , whose death in June necessitated the bye-election.

The Congress candidate Jai Parkash, a former Union Minister who has represented the constituency thrice in the past, was trailing way behind in third place, having polled only 82,569 votes against 226,854 garnered by Bishnoi and 197127 by Chautala, according to counting trends available at 1215 hours.

Counting of votes began at 0800 hours amidst tight security arrangements and the result is expected to be declared by 1400 hours. The district administration had imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in the radius of 100 metres around the mini-Secretariat where the counting of votes is being conducted.

Mr Chautala is the son of former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. In all, there are 40 candidates in the fray.

The Anna Hazare factor had become a significant feature in the run-up to the bye-election as Team Anna, led by Mr Arvind Kejriwal, appealed to the electorate not to vote for the Congress as it had so far failed to deliver on the Jan Lokpal Bill. Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi also addressed public meetings in the constituency.

Interestingly, Team Anna urged the electorate to vote for any candidate except the Congress nominee.

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Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi was leading by more than 21,500 votes against his nearest rival Ajay Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) as counting of votes cast in the October 13 bye-election to the Hisar Lok Sabha seat progressed today.

Bishnoi is the candidate of the HJC-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine and son of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal , whose death in June necessitated the bye-election.

The Congress candidate Jai Parkash, a former Union Minister who has represented the constituency thrice in the past, was trailing way behind in third place, according to counting trends available around noon.

Counting of votes began at 0800 hours amidst tight security arrangements and the result is expected to be declared later this afternoon. The district administration had imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in the radius of 100 metres around the mini-Secretariat where the counting of votes is being conducted.

Mr Chautala is the son of former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. In all, there are 40 candidates in the fray.

The Anna Hazare factor had become a significant feature in the run-up to the bye-election as Team Anna, led by Mr Arvind Kejriwal, appealed to the electorate not to vote for the Congress as it had so far failed to deliver on the Jan Lokpal Bill. Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi also addressed public meetings in the constituency.

Interestingly, Team Anna urged the electorate to vote for any candidate except the Congress nominee.

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Counting for the prestigious Hisar Lok Sabha bye-election, polling for which was held on October 13, began here today amid tight security arrangements.

Counting began at 0800 hrs and the result is expected to be declared by 1400 hrs.

The district administration had imposed Section 144 in the radius of 100 metres around the mini-Secretariat where the counting of votes is being conducted.

The bye-election was necessitated by the death of Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) MP and former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal in June this year.

Engineering major Escorts Limited, a leading manufacturer of critical railway components, has signed an exclusive agreement with Ingeteam Traction of Spain to provide world class traction systems to Indian Railways.

The product has large scale application on Electric Locomotives, Diesel-Electric Locomotives, Diesel Electrical Multiple Units (DEMU) and Electric MultipleUnits (EMU) of Indian Railways, a press release from Escorts said. The product can also be used on metro rail coaches, it said.

The agreement marks Escorts' entry in the niche domain of rail traffic systems. To begin with, Escorts will supply Traction Control Converter (TCC) and Locomotive Control Converter (LCC) with accessories for DEMU application on Indian Railways.