Palwal, May 30
Four-year-old Tannu, who last evening fell into a borewell at her maternal grandfather's house in Balai village, about 10 km from here, was rescued late at night. Her condition was said to be stable.

She was admitted to a private hospital as she showed signs of stress when she was taken out of the borewell. Palwal Deputy Commissioner Atul Kumar Diwedi and the hospital staff said she would be discharged soon.

She was taken out of the 25-foot-deep and 4-foot-wide borewell by an Army team. A tunnel was dug parallel to the borewell to enable the team to reach her.

The district authorities had reportedly almost completed the rescue before the Army team arrived. A large number of persons present during the operation were joyous on seeing the girl been carried out.

"Mummy, mujhe paani do (mummy, give me water)" were her first words when she was taken out after the seven-hour ordeal.

She had come to her grandfather's house with her mother in connection with a function. Her grandfather was getting a tunnel dug to take out the motor which had developed a snag.

The Deputy Commissioner said action would taken against Tannu's grandfather for not covering the borewell. He warned of action against others in the district who failed to cover borewells.

Palwal Subdivisional Magistrate Maneesha Sharma said action would taken against those who had raised anti-government slogans during the rescue operation. Those instigating the crowd would be identified from video footage, she added.

Ambala, May 30
The internal strife between the Congress stalwarts seems to be denting the winning prospects of the candidates supported by the party in the MC elections, as the presence of more than one Congress candidate in many wards is likely to result in bifurcation of votes, benefiting the Opposition.

While, several Congress candidates are in the fray for the MC elections from various wards, there are wards where those supported by Union Minister for Tourism and local MP Kumari Selja and MLA Venod Sharma are contesting the elections against each other. Former minister and senior Congress leader Nirmal Singh has also lent his support to the candidates in some of the wards in the cantonment area.

The differences among the Congress leaders are clearly visible in the banners put by the candidates, which carry the pictures of either Kumari Selja or Venod Kumar instead of combined Congress leadership.

In ward no. 1, two candidates supported by the Congress, including Bharti Sasan and Jasbir Kaur, are engaged in a battle against each other besides putting up a brave front against the other independent candidates and those supported by the BJP and the INLD.

In ward no. 2, Selja supported Parvesh Sasan and the MLA supported Darshna Mehta have put up banners carrying their pictures respectively, sending out a clear message that the differences between the senior leaders are far from over. While, the party has not extended support to any of the candidates in ward no. 3, in ward no. 5 MLA Rupam Guglani and Selja supported Meena Dhingra are going all out to secure the elections in their own favours.

In ward no. 6, Congressmen Pawan Aggarwal and Sunny Mokha, who are believed to be supported by Venod Sharma, are fighting it out against each other and also against other political opponents to secure the mandate.

According to the political observers, there is going to an interesting contest between Selja supported Vinod Dhiman and Venod Sharma supported Arjun Dhiman in ward no. 8.

National secretary of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) Himmat Singh and MLA supported Rano Devi are contesting against each other from ward no. 9. The situation is ward no. 10 is also no different where MLA supported Vinod Bala and Selja supported Hardeep Kaur are also contesting the elections.

According to the insiders, this has caused uncertainties among the Congress vote bank, which is now facing a dilemma as to which candidate they should vote for. 

Yamunanagar, May 30
The district administration has served notices on 37 candidates under the Prevention of Defacement of Property Act,1989.

Deputy Commissioner KM Pandurang said the notices had been issued for the registration of an FIR against the candidates for defacing public or private property.

He said the violators included Devinder Singh, Dalmira Ram Saini (ward no. 5), A Bhatia, Gurmit Kaur, Pushpa Bhardwaj, Santosh (ward no. 6), Kusum Tyagi, Naveeta Sharma, Prem Kumari (all from ward no. 7), Sona Devi, Gainwanti, Sarla, Kiran Devi, (ward no. 12), Govind Gopal, Navneet Kumar (ward no. 13), Ashok Kumar, Rajinder Kaur (ward no. 14), Gulshan Kumar, Raj Rani, Durga Parsad, Jadish Chander, Durga Devi (ward no. 15), Kiran Bala, Trilochan Singh, Kashmiri Lal, Jasbir Singh, Ragubir Singh, Rama Shankar (ward no. 16), Menaka, Sant Lal, Karmbir Singh, Harvinder Singh (ward no. 17), Tara Singh (ward no. 19) and Seema Kalyan (ward no. 20) have been issued the notices.

Karnal, May 30
The focus of campaign for the Municipal Corporation elections has shifted to local issues in the last leg with candidates and political parties promising better civic services and addressing the ward specific issues and demands.

While problems of bad roads, lack of parking facilities, poor sanitation, unregulated traffic, sewerage system, delays and corruption in civic body’s delivery system, hanging overhead electricity wires, erratic water and power supply are common in all wards, residents of different wards have raised some area specific demands.

In ward no. 1, regularisation of the Vasant Vihar Colony accounting for 1,747 votes has emerged as a major demand and villagers merged into the MC are pressing the candidates to give an assurance to fulfil the demands in lieu of their votes. Construction of a road from Baldi village to Indri has been put as a condition for vote in this ward.

Residents of the unauthorised colonies are also pitching for regularisation of their houses in ward no. 2, while the voters are agitated over increase in cases of chain snatching in ward no. 3.

Poor maintenance of parks, security and garbage disposal have emerged as key issues in ward no. 4, while lack of basic civic facilities, chocked drains, stinking streets, overflowing sewerage and street lights are poll issues in wards no. 5, 6 and 7. People in ward no. 11 are fed up with dogs and monkey menace and problem of garbage disposal.

Development of the slum area at the Hansi road and demolition of unauthorised parking is a major demand of residents of the Shakti Colony in ward no. 12 while neglect of Karan Tal and issue of BPL cards to eligible persons are main demands in ward no. 13 with 11,813 voters. The voters in ward no. 14 have also similar demands of security, BPL cards and street lighting while encroachment in the parks and increase in crime have emerged as issues in ward no. 15.

Neglect of the area by politicians and administration and virtual collapse of civic services at the Shastri Colony and the Shiv Colony are major issues in ward no. 17 reserved for SC women. The low line area always gets submerged during the monsoon.

Waterlogging in the low-lying areas and better health facilities are main demands in ward no.19 and ward no. 20, while wards no. 16, 17 and 18 are facing common problems of drainage, street lights, poor sanitary conditions and traffic.

Gurgaon, May 30
A 30-year-old national shooter, Varsha Tomar, has filed a complaint with the city police accusing her husband of barring her from participating in sports disciplines due to non-fulfilment of dowry demands.

Accused Suraj Chowdhary, a Noida-based lawyer, has been arrested and booked along with his mother for criminal intimidation, breach of trust and dowry harassment.

Varsha claimed that her husband and in-laws had agreed at the time of the wedding to her continuing with the sport but had now started barring her from attending practice sessions and forcing her to stay indoors.

“I have been enduring this for almost a year but cannot do it anymore. My position has slipped in tournaments because I am under stress and am not allowed to meditate or practise which is crucial to my game. The stress left me ill in August last and I had to be rushed to hospital. They keep demanding money and gift items. They are forcing me to get money to buy a flat at Noida and the harassment has reached its peak,” she alleged.

In her complaint filed yesterday, Varsha said her husband had threatened her in front of her collegues during a practice session if she did not fulfil their demands.

“They know that my sport is my life and are blackmailing me by disrupting it. I got my parents to talk to them, but my in-laws dubbed the harassment as an immature act of their son. I had no choice but to complain to the police,” she added.

Commissioner Alok Mittal said the police had arrested her husband and was investigating the matter.

Hisar, May 30
The authorities in the Animal Husbandry and Dairying Department are perplexed after a large quantity of Murrah buffalo semen went missing from a semen bank in Hisar.

Though the authorities have treated over 500 semen straws as “stolen” from the Production Semen Bank of the department situated on the Barwala road in Hisar and started the process of the recovery of the product’s value from the agency providing them the security, the authorities are baffled as to how could such a large quantity could be taken away by anyone.

A Murrah, a buffalo breed from Haryana, costs almost Rs 2 lakh per animal and is known for producing 32 litres of milk in a single day. Murrah is so popular that in the past, efforts were made to export Murrah buffalo’s semen straw to Egypt by an officer's kin. However, the attempt did not succeed due to some reasons. The bank has put the figure of missing semen straws at 500, but insiders revealed that more than 1,000 straws have been taken away by someone.

“We reported the matter to the police, but they have refused to register a case so far, citing it as a handiwork of an insider,” said Dr VK Munjal, Semen Bank Officer, Hisar.

He said the matter came to notice during counting of stock some days back and as a routine procedure, the authorities approached the police. “Normally, it is difficult to steal semen straws, which are stored in a frozen condition in liquid nitrogen. Only, an expert of the subject can take this away and that too in heavy storage containers,” Dr Munjal added.

He said the shortage of semen straws detected during the counting exercise could be due to some reasons other than theft too, but the authorities had no option but to approach the police to claim the loss from the agency providing security to the semen bank. The Production Semen Bank in Hisar is the biggest in Haryana.

Karnal, May 30
A science teacher at a government middle school in Rasulpur Kalan village was today thrashed by villagers for allegedly indulging in obscene acts with girl students.

Accused teacher Sukram Palwas arrested. The villagers tried to smash windowpanes of the police Jeep in which he was being taken to the Kunjpura police station.

The villagers said the teacher had been indulging in obscene acts and showing vulgar pictures to girl students on his mobile phone for the last two months.

They said he allegedly indulged in same act with a girl student who informed her parents after which villagers went to the school and thrashed the teacher.

A large number of women reached the school and demanded immediate action against the teacher. Girls said they had complained to another teacher who had remained indifferent.

The villagers alleged that the headmaster of the school had been in the news three months back for allegedly barging into the house of a woman when she was alone at home and was beaten up.

Senior officers with Education Department had reached the spot and started an inquiry while the school had been closed for the day.

District Education Officer Udhay Pratap Singh said a report seeking the science teacher's suspension would be sent to the Director. He said no complaint had been received against the headmaster.

Repeated incidents of teachers misbehaving with girl students have been causing concern among parents who are wary of sending daughters to school. This does not augur well for ambitious programmes launched to promote education for girls to empower them, said a village elder.

EARLIER CASES May 24, 2013: Ramesh Alhawat, economics professor at Pt Chiranjee Lal Government College, attempts to outrage modesty of 22-year-old former student in Ram Nagar area. He was on bail after being booked and arrested on May 30, 2012, on molestation charge on the complaint of the girl who was then his student. May 20, 2013: Physical Education teacher at a senior secondary school comes to school in an inebriated state and creates a ruckus. Villagers reached the school and lodge a complaint in writing. September 17, 2012: Teacher at the Government Primary School at Gharaunda takes seven or eight girls into a room on the pretext of a medical check-up. He allegedly misbehaves with and molests them. He is beaten up by victims' parents later.

Karnal, May 30
Students of prominent schools in Karnal have done exceedingly well in CBSE Class X examination with a large number of students securing 10 grade as Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA).

As many as 28 students of Pratap Public School, Jarnail Colony and 66 students of SD Vidya Mandir, Panipat, secured 10 CGPA in all subjects. About 18 students each of Doon International School, Karnal, and The Millennium School, Panipat, also earned the distinction of securing 10 CGPA.

Chandigarh, May 30
The state government will set up a site museum and interpretation centre on six acres at Rakhigarhi village in Hisar district where remains of the largest city of the Harappan civilisation had been found during excavation.

This decision was taken during a meeting of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Indian Trust for Rural Heritage and Development Chairman SK Misra here today.

Minister for Archaeology, Museums and Archives Geeta Bhukkal and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Chhatar Singh were present.

The Chief Minister said he would visit Rakhigarhi on June 12. He said a meeting would be held with Union Culture Minister Chandresh Kumari so that the excavation could be carried out soon in consultation with the Archaeological Survey of India.

Hooda said there would be no shortage of funds for this project and the state government would develop Rakhigarhi as a magnificent site to attract national and international tourists. He directed Principal Secretary for Archives, Archaeology and Museum Department Vijai Vardhan to expedite the project.

Chandigarh, May 30
In view of the rise in cases of cow smuggling, special police squads have been created in every district to prevent the smuggling.

Stating this here today, a police spokesman said each squad would be headed by an inspector and would include one sub-inspector, one assistant sub-inspector, two head constables and 12 constables.

The squads would exclusively work for stopping the activities of cow smugglers, he said. He added that two vehicles would be provided to each squad.

He said the vehicle drivers would be trained in offensive and defensive driving. Adequate communication equipment would be provided to the squads, he added.

As some instances of firing by cow smugglers have been reported in the past, the squad members would be trained to tackle such an eventuality, he said.

He said names and cell phone numbers of the squad in charge would be publicised and the public would be made aware of reporting incidents of cow smuggling on the phone number 100 or to the inspector in charge.

He said the squads would report directly to the Superintendent of Police, Deputy Commissioner of Police or Commissioner of Police concerned.

He said Inspectors-General of Police or Commissioners of Police would monitor the performance of the squads and submit to the police headquarters consolidated fortnightly reports of all districts under their jurisdiction.

Hisar, May 30
Three members of the gang that reportedly choked electronic electricity meters with the use of remote controls are in the police net.

The accused, two from Ding in Sirsa and one from Dhani Moth in Hisar, were produced in a local court today which sent them to police custody for three days.

The accused reportedly supplied special remote control devices to electricity consumers that helped stop the reading of meters for a period of one’s choice.

One could stop the movement of the meter without interruption in electricity supply merely by pressing a button of the device in front of the meter.

During interrogation, the accused revealed that they had brought the remote control devices from Delhi and sold those to consumers for between Rs 5,000 and Rs 25,000 per piece.

The accused revealed that they assessed monthly consumption of prospective buyers first and then sold it at a cost proportionate to likely savings.

A member of Vigilance team of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam had contacted one of the accused as a decoy customer.

When the accused were to deliver the device at Hansi in Hisar on Wednesday, the Vigilance team cornered the three accused.

Ambala, May 30
Following detection of irregularities in the working of three ultrasound centres in the district, the health authorities have suspended their licenses for a limited period of time.

The decision in this regard was taken during a meeting of the district advisory board constituted under the PNDT Act in which district nodal officer Dr BB Bala brought to the fore several discrepancies, which had been detected at the three centres during recent inspections. He said gross irregularities had been spotted in the working of these centres.

The official said during the inspection of Loomba Nursing Home, the team found that the required documentation did not carry the signatures of doctors and the patient. Similarly, discrepancies were detected at Dashmesh Ultrasound Centre, while Leelawati Hospital was conducting scans in absence of authorised doctor.

Civil Surgeon Dr Vinod Gupta said after deliberating over the evidences put forth by the health officials, it was decided that the licences of Loomba Nursing Home and Dashmesh Ultrasound Centre be suspended for seven days, while that of Leelawati Hospital be suspended for 30 days.

A notice was served upon Mittal Nursing Home.

Bhiwani, May 30
Ten members of a family were taken ill after consuming 'lassi' at Bawani Khera in Bhiwani today. Kamla (60) brought 'lassi' from a family staying near her house.

Shortly after drinking it her family members started complaining diarrhoea and vomitting. They were rushed to the General Hospital from where three of the seriously ill were shifted to Bhiwani.

Pradeep Kumar, a member of the family from whom the woman brought the 'lassi', said his son consumed it and fell ill. Doctors said it could be due to food poisoning or some object falling into the 'lassi'. —TNS