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Rampal in ashram, aides spreading rumours: Admn
Sant’s case a ‘tricky situation’ for state govt
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Birender, Prabhu among RS probables
Khattar picks 4 OSDs, banks on young team
Activists: Reconstitute environment council
Appointments under review, primary teachers to launch stir
After two deaths, Karnal to get traffic lights on NH-1
Villagers block road over death in mishap
HC wants report on sadhus’ castration
Expressway contract may be revoked: Gurjar
Govt nod to panels under ICDS
Shiksha yatra reaches K’shetra
Sonepat’s PM Engg College’s website hacked
Arya College win bronze in women’s hockey
Gohana heist
Rs 46 cr okayed for better water supply
Man killed in brawl
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Rampal in ashram, aides spreading rumours: Admn
Barwala (Hisar), November 17 Tension escalated by the evening as thousands of followers refused to be bogged down by the heavy reinforcement. A “self-immolation squad” of about four to five youths poured diesel on them while daring the police to act. Some of them lied down in front of cranes that were towing the cars of Rampal’s followers away from the spot. The police retreated by 50 metres to ease the frayed tempers. Deputy Commissioner (DC) ML Kaushik said, “The administration is sure that Rampal is still hiding in the ashram. His aides are spreading rumours to misguide the authorities. Every exit point was sealed last night. None of the barricades has been removed.” Ashram spokesperson Raj Kapoor said in the morning that Sant Rampal was shifted to a private hospital at an undisclosed location in view of his critical health last night when the police eased the police
nakas. The DC said the safety of women and children, camping outside the ashram, was prime concern of the police. “The authorities are prepared to implement the High Court order to arrest
Rampal,” he said, adding that the administration had frozen all his bank accounts and attached his property under Section 145 of the
CrPC. Meanwhile, contingents of the police marched to the ashram. Hisar Superintendent of Police (SP) Satyender Gupta and Bhiwani SP Ashvin Sainvi led the march past and reached up to the close aides of Rampal in front of ashram. Gupta said the police had made arrangements for the followers to leave the place in Haryana Roadways buses. The Hisar SP urged the followers to board the
buses. Rampal’s aides warned police officials against the use of force and said the police would be responsible for the consequences. The police, however, removed buses of the ashram and private vehicles of the followers parked on both sides of the highway in 200-meters radius of the ashram. They uprooted a tent erected in front of the ashram. The followers did not oppose the police. 2 held for violating prohibitory orders
Barwala (Hisar): The police arrested two persons reportedly followers of Sant Rampal from the Satlok Ashram on Sunday night. The police booked them for violating the prohibitory orders under section 144 of the
CrPC. They were remanded in judicial custody on Monday. The accused were identified as Sumit of Jhajjar district and Mahavir of
Hisar. The police recovered illegal arms from them. — TNS UAVs sought to keep tabs on Rampal
New Delhi: The Haryana Government has sought from the Union Home Ministry a few Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to monitor the activities of Satlok Ashram head Sant Rampal in his Hisar campus after he failed to appear in court in a contempt case. The state government is planning to deploy the UAVs to monitor Rampal's movement, activities within his campus, the number of people gathered there and whether they are carrying arms and explosives, a Home Ministry official said.
— PTI |
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Sant’s case a ‘tricky situation’ for state govt
Kurukshetra November 17 On one hand the High Court has given a deadline to produce Rampal and the government is committed to follow the court’s order, but on the other hand we are concerned about the number of innocent people standing outside the ashram.” Capt Abhimanyu was talking to the mediapersons at Pipli Parakeet on Monday. He said, “The state government has shown patience in this matter and I am confident that the government will take every possible step to follow the court’s orders. This is an unfortunate situation.” He also criticised former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for the current condition of state exchequer, “Hooda had mortgaged the state government to the central leadership and let them loot the state exchequer. After the elections, even his party didn’t select him as the legislative party leader. It is time for him to introspect and rethink honestly and he will find the reason behind the defeat.” |
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Birender, Prabhu among RS probables
While the election of former Congressman Birender Singh, who resigned the Rajya Sabha seat and was later inducted into the Modi Cabinet, seems to be a certainty, the names of Prabhu and Anil Jain, BJP in charge in Haryana, are being considered as the probable candidates for the other Rajya Sabha seat. The seats fell vacant after Birender Singh quit on August 28 and Ranbir Singh Prajapati (INLD) on November 1. Prajapati vacated his Rajya Sabha seat after being elected to the Haryana Assembly from Nalwa. Sources said a formal notification for the byelections is to be issued by the Haryana Vidhan Sabha on November 18. The last date for filing nominations is November 25 while scrutiny will be held on November 26. The last date of withdrawal is November 28. Polling, if necessary, will be held on December 5 and counting will take place the same evening. The BJP, which has 47 members in the 90-member House, has the support of five more MLAs and both RS seats are expected to go to the saffron party. It would be the first time since 1990 that a BJP government will be able to send its nominees to the Rajya Sabha from the state. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was the lone BJP nominee to reach the Rajya Sabha in 1990 but with the support of the Lok Dal. Later, her husband, Swaraj Kaushal, was also elected on the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) symbol in 1999 during the Bansi Lal-led HVP-BJP government. However, with a divided Opposition, the BJP nominees are set to have a smooth sailing in the elections to the RS. |
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HUDA begins land survey on Metro extension project
Faridabad, November 17 The then Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had laid the foundation stone of the extension project from YMCA to Ballabgarh on June 21. The Metro rail line, 4 km in length, is slated to incur an additional cost of Rs 564 crore to be borne by the state government. The project is likely to be complete by March 2017, sources in the DMRC said. According to initial reports, encroachments on both sides of the NH-2 will be a hurdle in laying the extended track. The Metro track will be laid adjacent to the NH. A team of officials of the Land Acquisition Officer (LAO) and District Town Planner’s (DTP) office will be carrying out the survey and is expected to submit its report within a week. The Ballabgarh extension will have two stations at NCB colony and main Ballabgarh city. “The demand for extending the Metro rail line to Ballabgarh gained momentum after it was backed by leaders and representatives of several parties. The issue was taken up in June perhaps with an eye on the Assembly elections,” said Suresh Bansal, a local resident. Earlier, the main project of Metro Rail from Badarpur to YMCA Chowk here was taken up in October 2012. The state government has contributed around Rs 1,600 crore out of the total cost of Rs 2,500 crore. The trial run of this route was likely to be in March next. The 13.87-km route will have nine stations up to YMCA Chowk. |
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Khattar picks 4 OSDs, banks on young team
Chandigarh, November 17 Besides the criteria of “BJP association”, the Chief Minister seems to be focussing on building a young team with all his OSDs in the age bracket of 35 to 45 years. Sources said the team essentially comprises of people who have worked with the Chief Minister in some capacity or the other. The CM has appointed Amit Kumar Arya, a journalist with the electronic media, as his media adviser. While Arya has been a worker of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad for nearly 10 years, he was also a student leader in Shimla. Settled in Palwal, his family is closely associated to the RSS. Constituting a young team, the CM has inducted 34-year-old Amrendra Singh, a resident of Balia in Uttar Pradesh, as his OSD to manage the camp office at Karnal. An LLB, he began his political career in 1996 as Yuva Morcha Mandal Adyaksh. In 2002, Amrendra came into contact with the CM, who was then associated with the organisation. Having managed elections in various states, he planned and strategised the Chief Minister’s election campaign in Karnal during the recent Vidhan Sabha elections. A resident of Hisar settled in Gurgaon, Captain Bhupinder, a pilot by profession, has also been appointed OSD to CM. Sources said while his father has been with the RSS, he himself managed and coordinated VIP visits of BJP leaders during the recent Vidhan Sabha elections. Sonepat-resident Bhupeshwar Dayal (38) has been appointed as OSD, grievances, in the CM cell. Sources said Dayal will monitor the grievances reported at the CM windows to be set up in all districts of the state. He is a member of the national RTI cell of the BJP. The government has also appointed Raj Kumar Bhardwaj as OSD to Chief Minister (media) at Delhi. From the vernacular press, Bhardwaj managed the media during the Vidhan Sabha election for the Chief Minister. He has been rewarded for his work. Khattar had appointed 44-year-old Jawahar Yadav as his OSD immediately after taking over. With this, there are five OSDs in the government. |
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IAF copter makes emergency landing in Yamunanagar village
Yamunanagar, November 17 Wing Commander Vikram Singh said the helicopter-ZD 4130 took off from the Air Force’s Sarsawa air base in Uttar Pradesh. It was being flown to Nahan in Himachal Pradesh by pilot SK Sharma and co-pilot Jaswant Yadav. He said the pilots detected a smell of burning of wire, following which they decided to land it in Leda Khadar village. Soon after the landing, three more helicopters reached the spot with officers and a team of technical staff. “Technical help was provided to the two pilots by the IAF’s Sarsawa control room soon after it was informed about the emergency landing,” said Wing Commander Vikram Singh. Bilaspur Sub Divisional Magistrate Pooja Chawaria said she spoke to Wing Commander Vikram Singh and provided required help. “We sent several local administration officers, including the SDO HVPN, tehsildar and police officers, and stationed an ambulance and a fire engine at the spot,” she said. As soon as news of a helicopter landing spread in Leda Khadar and surrounding villages, huge crowds gathered to see the helicopter. Narrow escape for occupants
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Villagers demand martyr’s status for ITBP jawan
Kaithal, November 17 Kapil, who was posted in Chhattisgarh, died on October 23. The protesters, including women and children, led by sarpanch Surinder Kumar, demanded justice for the family of the deceased. Earlier, hundreds of protesters assembled at the Jawahar Park and marched to the Shaheed samarak here. Surinder said the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) authorities had informed his family that Kapil had died after a hand grenade exploded in his hand. His body was flown to Delhi and brought to his native village for funeral. However, the villagers were shocked to see that Kapil’s body was neither wrapped in the Tricolour nor was accorded a guard of honour before the last rites. The matter took a new turn when reports appeared in the media about another Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) jawan, Madan Lal, from Jhajjar who had committed suicide and in his note had mentioned about the ill-treatment at the hands of senior officials. Madan Lal had also mentioned in his note that his colleague, Kapil, was also victimised by senior officers. Following these revelations, Kapil’s family and natives of his village came to the conclusion that they were kept in the dark about the circumstances leading to his death. They had demonstrated in Kaithal last month and had submitted a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister, Governor and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) officials to Deputy Commissioner (DC) NK Solanki. They had demanded martyr’s status for Kapil and a probe into the case. Alleged victimisation
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BJP govt must implement Swaminathan report: INLD
Sirsa, November 17 Abhay started his village tour from Bakrianwali village and met people in over a dozen villages of the Ellenabad Assembly segment on the state’s border with Rajasthan. In most of the villages, people complained that they had to purchase drinking water, as there was no supply of piped water by the Public Health Engineering Department. Villagers also complained of low prices for their paddy and cotton crop. Chautala assured them that he would take up their issues with the state government. Speaking to the mediapersons, Abhay said the BJP government must immediately implement the Swaminathan report, as it was a part of its election manifesto. He said he had suggested in the Vidhan Sabha that the government should give 50% profit to farmers on their costs while producing a crop. District INLD president Padam Jain, Rania MLA Ram Chander Kamboj, Sirsa MLA Makhan Lal Singla, Kalanwali MLA Balbaur Singh former MLA Bhagi Ram and INLD leader Tarsem Midha accompanied Abhay Singh Chautala during his tour. Naina Singh Chautala began her village tour from the Dabwali segment by paying obeisance at Chormar Sahib gurdwara in Chormar village of Sirsa. Thanking the people for electing her, Naina said she would stand by them during thick and thin. Speaking to the mediapersons, Naina said improvement in the living style of women was her top most priority as this issue was close to her heart. Naina Singh’s son Digvijay Chautala accompanied her during the tour. |
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Activists: Reconstitute environment council
Kurukshetra, November 17 The council was last reconstituted in April 2011, to review the work related to the environment in the state by the government and the NGOs, to advise the state government on environmental issues and also to identify areas requiring investigation, research and restoration in regards to the betterment of environment. But the environment activists feel that the council was nothing but eye wash. Naresh Bhardwaj, member Green Earth NGO, said, “As per the information gathered under the RTI Act from the Environment Department, it was observed that even the basic criteria for the selection of the non-official members (NOM) have not been formulated. There is no transparency or procedure in the selection for these members of the council as they get nominated by the Chief Minister only.” He said, “As per the terms of the council, the meeting of members should be observed two or three times a year but even the same were not held accordingly. Also it has not been re-constituted after completion of term of the council. For a fact it was reconstituted in 2011 for a period of two years and nothing was done after the completion of that tenure.” |
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NSS volunteers visit Khizar Tomb
Sonepat, November 17 They were welcomed by the office-bearers of the Society for the Development and Beautification of Sonepat, prominent citizens of Jatwara village and representatives of other voluntary organisations of the town. Rajesh Khatri and Jasbir Khatri, office-bearers of the society, briefed the visitors on the historical and religious importance of Sonepat town and the steps being taken by the society to bring such places on the tourist map of the country. Led by HK Sharma, NSS coordinator of the Government of India, the volunteers praised the efforts of the society to develop the tomb as a tourist spot and for taking initiative for the development and beautification of other religious and historical monuments in the district.
— OC |
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SC/ST panel to take action against officials
Kaithal, November 17 Taking a serious view of the matter, he said the commission would take action against the officials who had failed to act on the instructions of the commission during his last visit. He took a round of Ward no. 3 last evening and said he would visit again. He said he wanted to ensure that the public health and power board officials rectified the defects in water pipelines and electric wires were installed in the affected area. Ishwar said on November 8, he had visited the area and after taking stock of the prevailing situation, he had instructed the administration to provide relief to the affected families. He said the officials were not serious and had a casual approach towards the problem. — OC
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Appointments under review, primary teachers to launch stir
Mahendragarh, November 17 The teachers have also decided to stage a day-long dharna at the Mini Secretariat here on Tuesday to register their protest against the state government’s decision to review these appointments. The teachers said they were duly selected by the previous government and the present government should allow them to join without further delay to meet staff shortage in government schools. “The Hooda government announced the result for 9,870 posts of primary teachers on August 14, but could not issue joining letters due to imposition of the model code of conduct ahead of the Assembly polls,” said Vipin Sharma, district president of Nav Chaynit Adhyapak Sangh. We expected the BJP to release our joining letters soon after forming the government, but it put the teachers’ future in jeopardy by ordering review of the appointments, he said. “Acute resentment prevails among teachers over the state government decision. Hence, we have decided to launch an indefinite dharna outside the Education Department office in Panchkula from November 23 if the government does not release our joining letters by then,” Sharma added. Kalpana, a selected primary teacher, said it was the state government’s moral responsibility to release their joining letters as they were selected through set procedure. “It will be injustice to the 9,870 teachers and their kin if the government takes a decision against them,” she said. Rajesh, another selected teacher, slammed the decision and said they were ready to fight a battle for justice if the government did not change its decision. Selection process
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After two deaths, Karnal to get traffic lights on NH-1
Karnal, November 17 Most crossings in the 55-km stretch in Karnal district on National Highway-1 are without traffic lights and pose a danger to commuters. Sunday’s accident could have been prevented by traffic lights at the crossing as both vehicles were at high speed when the mishap took place, eyewitnesses said. Deputy Commissioner Balraj Singh said he had directed officials of the Municipal Corporation, police and SOMA – the construction company working on the project to six-lane the Panipat-Jalandhar highway, to install traffic signals and construct speed breakers at crossings on NH-1. To begin with, speed breakers and lights would be installed at three main crossing — Nirmal Kutiya, Government College Chowk and ITI Chowk. Speed breakers at Nirmal Kutiya and Government College chowks were built today while the process to install traffic lights has started. Keeping in mind the arrival of winter and fog, the administration has directed the Municipal Corporation to install lights at the earliest. Residents have welcomed the decision. Gulshan Mongia of Sector 6 said the administration should have taken this step before opening the crossings on NH-1, but hailed the step. |
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Villagers block road over death in mishap
Rewari, November 17 While one of the boys died on the spot, the other one suffered serious injuries. The police had to resort to a mild cane-charge for getting the road cleared. The police have booked the villagers for blocking the highway and damaging public property. The incident took place around 8 pm when Pankaj (10) and his friend, Ankit ,were riding bicycles near the main road of the village. A truck coming from the Kosli side hit the boys. While Pankaj died on the spot, Ankit was rushed to a private hospital. The truck driver managed to flee the spot, leaving the vehicle there. A large number of villagers gathered at the spot after some time and disrupted vehicular traffic on the Kosli-Rewari Road. The villagers said they had been demanding the construction of speed-breakers in the village as heavy vehicles passed through the village but the authorities had not done anything. Rewari SDM Yaspal Singh reached the spot and tried to persuade the protesters to lift the blockade but the protesters remained adamant on their demands for immediate arrest of the truck driver and construction of speed-breakers. In the meantime, a group of the protesters reportedly smashed windowpanes of two buses and several other vehicles stuck in the blockade. The police resorted to a mild cane-charge to disperse the protesters. |
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HC wants report on sadhus’ castration
Chandigarh, November 17 The petitioner had earlier furnished a list of sadhus allegedly castrated and had alleged that two accused in the murder of Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatarpati were also castrated in the dera. Chauhan has already been medically examined. He is seeking a CBI probe into the alleged castration of around 400 sadhus at Dera Sacha Sauda headed by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. His medical examination was ordered on his application for a medical examination. In his petition filed through counsel Navkiran Singh, Chauhan also sought compensation for himself and “such like sadhus, who have been rendered impotent and unable to procreate”. Directions were also sought for providing adequate security to the petitioner and his parents. Navkiran Singh said the petitioner faced hormonal imbalance due to castration. He lost body hair and developed breasts. “The petitioner has become incapable of having children and he has to face humiliation at the
hands of the general public, who treat him as a eunuch,” he said, adding 100 out of 400 castrated sadhus were being used to protect Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s family. The petitioner added: “Dera Sacha Sauda plays an important role in power politics, as his supporters can make a weak candidate win and a strong candidate lose, so no political party can afford his animosity. Gurmeet Ram Rahim has become a law into himself.” |
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Expressway contract may be revoked: Gurjar
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh and Gurjar visited Gurgaon on July 25 to examine the Delhi-Jaipur and Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) expressway. After the survey, Inderjit Singh and Gurjar said the central government was ready to take charge of building the KMP expressway. “We had demanded cancellation of the contract of KMP Expressway. Now that we have our party’s government in the state too, we will take appropriate steps soon,” Gurjar said. “Though the matter is in the apex court, we are sure we will reach a conclusion in public interest.” The construction of the 135.6-km expressway (official name Western Peripheral expressway) started in 2007. It was to become operational by July 29, 2009. But work has been tardy. The contractor, Darshan Singh Construction Company (DSC),had promised the Haryana Government in October, 2010, that the 53-km Manesar-Palwal stretch would be ready by March, 2011. However, work had een completed only on a 48-km section by August, 2012. Sub-contractors had complained of non-payment. Thieves had reportedly stolen steel, sand and other building material from several sections of the KMP expressway. — IANS
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Govt nod to panels under ICDS
Chandigarh, November 17 The districts — Ambala, Jind, Hisar, Karnal, Fatehabad, Panchkula, Jhajjar, Palwal, Mewat, Sonepat, Sirsa and Kurukshetra — will be covered under the third phase of the scheme for 2014-15, a government spokesman said today. In the first phase, the scheme is being implemented in Faridabad, Kaithal, Gurgaon, Panipat and Yamunanagar districts. Mahendragarh, Bhiwani, Rohtak and Rewari districts have been taken up in the second phase. In all, 8.83 lakh beneficiaries, including 6.64 children between the age of six and 72 months, 26,498 severely underweight children and 1.93 lakh pregnant women and nursing mothers, have been covered. The spokesperson said annual additional financial liability would be more than Rs 67.6 crore for 2014-15, out of which more than Rs 37.25 crore will be the Centre’s share and more than Rs 30.34 crore will be state’s share. He said the government has revised norms per beneficiary per day. Now, the children between six and 72 months of age would get supplementary nutrition of Rs 6 per day instead of Rs 4 earlier. Similarly, severely underweight children in the same age group will get supplementary nutrition of Rs 9 per day instead of Rs 6. Pregnant women and nursing mothers will get supplementary nutrition of Rs 7 per day instead of Rs 5 given
earlier. The plan
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Shiksha yatra reaches K’shetra
Kurukshetra, November 17 Social activist Narbhinder Singh, who has come from Punjab, said, “The nationwide campaign aims at spreading awareness on the Right to Education and protesting commercialisation of education.” Kavita Vidrohi, convener, Students Organisation for Socialist Democracy, said, “The campaign is against commercialisation and communalisation of education and for establishment of an entirely free common school system from ‘KG to PG’. The campaign will conclude in Bhopal on December 4. |
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Sonepat’s PM Engg College’s website hacked
Sonepat, November 17 Objectionable photos of the Tricolour were also uploaded. After receiving a complaint from the college management, the cyber crime cell of the police blocked the website and after providing technical security, the website was restored. The in-charge of the cyber cell said had the website remained functional for more time, there was a danger for hacking of the server. Vijay Pal Nain, chairman of the college management committee, lodged a complaint in the cyber cell of the police today.
— OC |
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Arya College win bronze in women’s hockey
Panipat, November 17 The Arya College management welcomed the team on Sunday after its achievement and the sports in charge Naresh Saini said the the team had participated for the first time in the inter-college women hockey competition held from November 13 to 15. |
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Permission granted for lie detector test
Sonepat, November 17 Sonepat SP Arun Singh said the persons include Satish, Surender and Balraj of Katwal village, Satish’s wife Pinki, Kamlesh and Raj Kumar- widow and son of the mastermind Mahipal Singh , who had committed suicide. “We have sent the court’s permission to the laboratory at Madhuban so that the lie detector tests of the suspected persons can be conducted,” he said. Meanwhile, Satish, Surender and Balraj were produced in court today at Gohana and on the plea of the police, they were again sent to five-day police custody by the court. — TNS
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Rs 46 cr okayed for better water supply
Chandigarh, November 17 An official spokesman said here today that Rs.29.52 crore would be spent for augmenting water supply in Ateli mandi and Rs 5.68 crore for pondage of treated effluent of 15 MLD STP and storm water zone A at Jind.
— TNS |
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Man killed in brawl
Karnal, November 17 Sub-inspector (SI) Som Parkash said Subhash had an altercation with the accused. During the brawl, he was killed with a weapon, he said, adding that Subhash’s relative Rakesh saw the body and informed the police. SP Abhishek Garg and DSP Satish Kumar, along with forensic experts, examined the crime scene. “A case has been registered against Radhu, Anish and Sadhu of Narukehri village under Section 302 and other relevant sections of the IPC. The accused are at large,” Parkash added.
— TNS |
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Chandigarh, November 17
Gurgaon, November 17