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Couples return to village
Frost-hit farmers stage protest
Record kharif production
Trade unions
protest against blanket traders
Councillors peeved at construction irregularities
Karamchari sangh serves memo to CM
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Taxi driver shot dead
School student alleges beating
Loans for SC women
Robbery at Ajit Nagar
Fined for overcharging Rs 5
Deputation: names of 2 withdrawn
Faculty get teaching tips
SDM raids office
Supervisor dies in accident
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Couples return to village
Bhiwani, January 21 Both couples returned to the safety of their village accompanied by armed policemen. Thereafter, villagers held a panchayat and accorded social sanction to the marriages. The meeting resolved not to accept the Sheoran 25 khap panchayat’s decision to expel the groom’s family from their village. Sarpanch Hawa Singh, who chaired the panchayat meeting said the khap’s decision was one-sided and irresponsible. He declared that should it be necessary the panchayat would approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Incidentally Sheorans are in minority in Ladawas village. However, this village is surrounded by Sheorans. Residents of Sheoran-dominated villages retaliated by placing branches of trees on the roads leading to Ladawas to prevent residents of this village from moving out of the village. Many collegians missed classes and employees had to go on leave as they remained confined to the village. The Sheorans have already decided to organise another khap panchayat soon at Kakrauli village to enforce the decision of the Sheoran 25. Although the police continues to be present both at Ladawas and Nangla (the village of the brides), it remained a mute spectator to the activities of the pro-Khap elements. Meanwhile, instead of celebrating their wedding nights the two couples who were married around 2 am on Thursday much ahead of their scheduled ‘lagan’ remained on the run for more than 20 hours after their marriages fearing attacks by khap panchayatis. A close relative revealed that they did not stay at any one place for more than hour. Describing their experience as nightmarish honeymoon he said there appeared to be no respite for them in the coming few days because of the tension in the village and fears of attack by supporters of the khap panchayat. He said after fleeing from the village right after completion of mandatory seven phera’s, the two couples were able to eat only on their return to their home last morning. The two brides have been put up in a room of their house together while their husbands and other male members of the family kept a vigil around the house throughout the day. A Khap panchayat had raised objections to their marriage on Wednesday a day before they were scheduled to marry. The panchayat had said that since the brides were from Nangla village and the grooms from Ladawas village were part of Sheoran 25 ‘kanni’ the marriage could not be acceptable socially. Despite this the two families concerned married them off on Thursday morning. Later, khap panchayat ordered expulsion of the two families from their villages. |
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Frost-hit farmers stage protest
Hisar, January 21 Agonised at the delay in conducting a special “girdawari” to assess the extent of damage caused to their crops, farmers from a number of villages in and around the district yesterday staged a protest demonstration and submitted a charter of demands to the local Deputy Commissioner. The farmers, led by former MLA and All-India Kisan Sabha general secretary Harpal Singh, marched in protest from the Krantiman Park to the mini-secretariat, raising slogans in support of their demands. The protesting farmers submitted a charter of demands to the Chief Minister through the local Deputy Commissioner. In the memorandum, the farmers have urged the Chief Minister to order a special “girdawari” of the affected villages and provide adequate compensation to the farmers whose crops had been ruined. The farmers’ organisation has set January 29 as the deadline, asserting that if the government did not announce adequate relief for the frost-hit farmers, they would intensify their agitation from January 30. Meanwhile, officials of the Agriculture Department and Haryana Agricultural University (HAU) maintain that an extensive damage has been caused to mustard, castor, vegetable and fruit crops, with timely sown mustard and vegetables being the worst-hit. Dr R.K. Malik, Director of Research and Extension Education at HAU, observed that the frost and cold wave conditions prevailing in the region had caused a considerable damage to the timely sown mustard crop. “Vegetable crops, including potato, tomato, chilly and peas, have also been harmed by the cold weather,” he added. After conducting a field survey of the villages falling under the Uklana belt in the district today, the Deputy Director (Agriculture), Dr Sultan Singh, stated that besides mustard, potato and guava had also been hit hard by the unfavourable weather. On the other hand, according to official sources in the Department of Agricultural Meteorology at HAU, the temperature may dip further due to north-west winds blowing in a radius of 75 km from the district in the next few days. |
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Record kharif production
Chandigarh, January 21 The previous highest record was 39 lakh
tonnes in 2003. The state also brought an area of 28 lakh hectares under cultivation during 2005, which is also a record. Stating this here today, an official spokesman claimed the record production was the result of earnest efforts at providing quality agricultural inputs and adequate supply of water and power to the farmers. He said paddy was cultivated over an area of 10.72 lakh hectares as against the target of 9.75 lakh hectares. This amply showed the farmers were given adequate power and water to irrigate their fields. The consumption of fertilisers during the kharif 2005 season had been 13.47 per cent more as compared to that in 2004, the spokesman said. |
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Trade unions
protest against blanket traders
Panipat, January 21 The general secretary of IFTU, Mr P. P. Kapoor, told The Tribune that the authorities had failed to implement the labour laws, including compensation to workers, during the period the units were closed. He announced to initiate a protest march from Monday against the exploitation of workers in the blanket manufacturing industry. Mr Kapoor said as per the provisions of the law, a factory owner had to pay half of the salary to workers if the number of total workers was less than 100. But, he added, if the figure of workforce was more than 100, the factory owner had to pay full salary even if a unit was closed after due permission. He alleged that entrepreneurs were not complying with the provisions of various acts of the labour law. Mr Kapoor said the blanket manufacturers had declared an "unofficial' lockout. He said thousands of workers had come on the road due to the sudden closure of the units. He said the blanket manufacturers had illegally thrown out the workers from their jobs. Condemning the blanket manufacturers, he said that they were treating the workers shabbily and their units as an ordinary store. He alleged that the factory owners had no permission from the authorities to shut down their units. Coming down heavily upon the factory owners and the state authorities, he said no attention had been paid to the safety, minimum wages and other issues of the workers. |
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Councillors peeved at construction irregularities
Ambala, January 21 The municipal councillors pointed out that the shops were being constructed in clear violation of the blueprint which had been submitted in the Municipal Council. They alleged that the irregularities were taking place right under the nose of the Municipal Council authorities since the shops were located close to the Municipal Council colony. When the Municipal Engineer, Mr Rakesh Sharma, said a notice had been sent yesterday in the matter, municipal councillor Suresh Garg demanded to know the reason for the delay in sending the notice. “This issue was taken up in the last meeting which was held about 10 days back and the notice had been sent yesterday. The lackadaisical attitude is unfortunate,” he said. Municipal councillor Narendra Bangali said there was no need to send any notice since the Municipal Council was the owner while the shops were on rent. The Municipal councillors demanded that immediate action should be taken against the
violators. They said that the shop, which was being constructed illegally with a basement, should be demolished without delay. Municipal Engineer Rakesh Sharma left the meeting to stop the construction work at the shop where a basement was being constructed. However, municipal councillor Kamal Kishore Jain expressed unhappiness with the action and he pointed out that simply stopping construction would not solve the problem. The issue of dairies to be shifted out of Ambala Sadar was also discussed. Municipal councillor Hira Lal Yadav said the matter concerned a large of number of people and the livelihood of dairy owners was affected. He said going towards Ugada-Bada would be difficult since the area fell beyond the army area and access was sometimes restricted. The proposed budget for 2006-07 was passed in the meeting. While the earning was Rs 9,85,60,000 the expenditure was at Rs 9,84,75,000. The income included house tax worth Rs 2 crore, rent Rs 1.15 crore, tehbazari Rs 20 lakhs while
miscellaneous Rs 6.50 crore. The expenditure included establishment Rs 4.94 crore, contingency Rs 1.42 crore, development Rs 2.39 crore and
miscellaneous Rs 1.08 crore. |
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Karamchari sangh serves memo to CM
Faridabad, January 21 Mr Subhash Lamba, spokesperson of the sangh, said the present government had asked the employees to give them some time to look into the pending issues and had assured that a favourable move would be taken shortly by April last, but he claimed that despite the time period, the state government had not shown any response or move. This had resulted in resentment among the staff members. He claimed that there had been no difference in the policies of the previous government and the present rule and the matter could turn worse if nothing was done soon. He alleged that the government had only been following the policy that had resulted in suppression of the employees' welfare. |
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Taxi driver shot dead
Ambala, January 21 This is the second incident of shooting in the Ambala Sadar area in less than a week. In an earlier incident on January 15, Ritu, sister of criminal Bobby, was shot at near cross road No.2. She is undergoing treatment at the PGI in Chandigarh. Last night, Rajiv, alias
Beeba, a resident of Kutcha Bazar in Ambala Sadar, was shot dead. He used to work as a taxi driver. At about 10.30 pm, Rajiv was at his home when two of his friends, Pradeep and
Mohni, met him. Rajiv’s friends apparently asked him to come along with them. The three youths then went to a spot on the Ram Bagh road and consumed alcohol. While they were drinking alcohol, three youths came there on a motor cycle. One of the youths was wearing a monkey cap. They said they wanted to meet
Beeba. When Rajiv identified himself, the youths told him that they wanted to talk to
Beeba. The youths took Rajiv a short distance away. It was then that Rajiv’s friends heard sound of two
gunshots. Rajiv’s friends became suspicious and they called up the police. After a brief search, Rajiv’s body was found near a “gugga madhi” with two bullet wounds. While one shot had hit him near the chest, the second shot had grazed past his neck. Rajiv was rushed to the Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantt, where the doctors declared him dead. The SP, Ambala, Mr Rajbir Deswal, said teams had been formed to nab the culprits. “We are looking into different aspects of the case. We are also looking into the suspicion cast by the victim’s mother on Rajiv’s two friends,” he said. Mr Deswal said personal enmity could not be ruled out. Apparently it does not seem to be a case of gang war, he added. |
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School student alleges beating
Ambala, January 21 The student’s father, Mr Devinder Gulati, in a letter addressed to the National Human Rights Commission, has stated that his son was returning home after attending his tuition when he was went towards Race Course to relieve himself. “On the way back, he was intercepted by 2-3 Air Force officials. They demanded his scooter key which he gave. Then he was told to wait. After a few minutes, a jeep of Air Force came and he was bundled into the jeep and taken to Air Force base,” the letter states. Mr Devinder Gulati said that his son was detained for over two hours in which he was beaten up badly. “On seeing his condition, we were shocked as his clothes were torn and he was having red marks on his entire body. We were threatened and shown rifles by the security guards,” he said. The Air Force official said that the person concerned was caught in Race Course and he was reportedly involved in eve-teasing. “We have lodged a formal complaint with the police in this regard,” he said. |
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Loans for SC women
Chandigarh, January 21 A spokesman of the Haryana Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation said the scheme was being implemented in collaboration with the National Scheduled Tribes Financial and Development Corporation (NSFDC). He said Rs 60,000 would be sanctioned for setting up a beauty parlour while Rs 1 lakh would be given as loan for starting it. He said the loan would be recovered in monthly instalments spread over a period of five years at an interest of six per cent per annum. He said the applicant must be a bona fide resident of the state. She should be between 18-45 years of age and must be at least middle pass. |
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Robbery at Ajit Nagar
Ambala, January 21 The robbery took place at the residence of Mr Sunil Arora at about 4 am. Mr Arora and his son, Gaurav, were sleeping in a room. The robber, who had a torch and a pistol, woke up Mr Arora. He asked Mr Arora to hand over gold jewellery and cash. Mr Arora handed over a gold chain, a ring and some cash. Thereafter, Mr Arora and his son were locked in the bathroom. He put the latches within the bathroom. Mr Arora raised his voice and said he had informed the police. On hearing Mr Arora' statement, the robber fired at the bathroom's door. The bullet passed through the door and pierced the wall. However, Mr Arora and his son were unhurt. The robber left, thereafter, Mr Arora informed the police. |
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Fined for overcharging Rs 5
Rewari, January 21 The forum has also directed the company to pay Rs 1100 by way of litigation charges to the complainant Mr Shyam Sunder. It is reported that the petitioner had purchased an MRF tyre tube for his motor cycle from the above dealer, who charged Rs 5 in excess of the marked retail price of Rs 135 and also issued a receipt. This irked the purchaser, who filed a petition in the forum, seeking justice and relief. During the hearing of the petition, the dealer contended that he had taken the excess amount of Rs 5 by way of labour charges. However, the forum turned down his plea and issued the above order. |
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Deputation: names of 2 withdrawn
Chandigarh, January 21 The names of the two officers had figured in a list of more than 15 IAS officers sent by the state government to Delhi for deputation with the Centre. Certain officers are not interested in assignments with the Central Government at this juncture. |
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Faculty get teaching tips
Ambala, January 21 It was focused on equipping the teachers with teaching techniques to cope with the rapidly changing education scenario. Internationally certified trainers Sarabjit Singh Kwatra and Raman Nayyar, from Ways and Means Learning Systems, conducted the workshop. Earlier, a survey had been conducted among more than 500 students and parents to know their expectations from teachers and from teaching institutes. This workshop was designed on the feedback taken in this survey. Principal of the school Santosh Sharma and Administrator P.K. Keshyap inaugurated the workshop. Ms Hardeep Kaur and Ms Rohini co-ordinated the workshop.
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SDM raids office
Ambala, January 21 Mr Ahuja was tipped off that some clerks and agents had gone to the SDM office and they were perusing certain records. Mr Ahuja immediately reached his office and found two clerks and two agents present in the office. While the clerks claimed that they had come to finish pending work, the agents said they had come to take their registration certificates. Mr Ahuja asked why the office had been opened on a holiday.
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Supervisor dies in accident
Karnal, January 21 The driver of the trailer (bearing number HR 47 4462) claimed that he could not control the vehicle as its brakes had failed. Meanwhile, an FIR was lodged at the Nissing police station against driver Pritam Singh of Gondhar village on a complaint of Sahib Singh of Rajaund, an employee of the mill. |
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