Undertrial escapes from hospital
ROHTAK, Feb 13 — An undertrial, Mangal, facing charges of murder at Hisar, escaped from the medical college hospital here on Friday night. He was admitted to the hospital (medicine ward) on February 9 and five policemen were deputed to keep an eye on him.

2 youths arrested for robbery
SONEPAT, Feb 13 — The police today claimed to have solved a case of robbery with the arrest of two persons.

North zone CMs to meet on Feb 28
FARIDABAD, Feb 13 — The annual meeting of the Chief Ministers or north zone states will be held at Surajkund, near here, on February 28, according to reliable sources.

49 calves rescued
ROHTAK, Feb 13 — The police has seized two truck carrying calves for slaughter and arrested nine persons.

H. S. Bhadu hurt in assault
HISAR, Feb 13 — Mr H.S. Bhadu, Deputy Director, Sports Department Haryana was injured seriously when four unidentified persons attacked him with lathis near the railway station road here on Thursday night.

Govt keen on resolving water dispute, says Kushabhau
From Our Correspondent

GURGAON, Feb 13 — The president of the BJP, Mr Kushabhau Thakre, said today that the water dispute between Punjab and Haryana would be resolved soon by the Vajpayee government.

He said the present government was not a BJP government but a coalition working under a national agenda and trying to sort out the problems which had "cropped up during the 50 years of Congress rule." The Cauvery water dispute was also resolved under the agenda and the government should be given credit for solving this long-standing dispute in two non-BJP ruled states, he added.

Commenting on the February 21 deadline given by the INLD chief, Mr Om Parkash Chautala to solve the Punjab-Haryana water dispute, Mr Thakre said "let's wait and see."

Highlighting the performance of the Vajpayee government, Mr Thakre said it had taken several steps to improve relations with Pakistan and the situation in Kashmir had also improved because of the efforts of the government.

While addressing a workers' meeting Mr Thakre attacked the Congress for throwing the country in a complete disarray during its 50-year-rule.

The meeting was attended by workers from Faridabad, Rewari and Gurgaon districts and other BJP leaders, including Mr Om Parkash Grover, Mr Ram Bilash Sharma, Mr Sita Ram Singla, Mr Suraj Pal and Mr Ram Chander Benda.

Undertrial escapes from hospital
Tribune News Service

ROHTAK, Feb 13 — An undertrial, Mangal, facing charges of murder at Hisar, escaped from the medical college hospital here on Friday night.

He was admitted to the hospital (medicine ward) on February 9 and five policemen were deputed to keep an eye on him. He managed to escape in spite of a strict police vigil at about 9 p.m. on Friday.

Another undertrial and a notorious criminal, Yogesh, also escaped from the custody of Gurgaon police near the new bus-stand here on Friday. He was facing trial on charges of murder, dacoities, robberies, attempt to murder and thefts.

He was however, rearrested today by Sub-Inspector Ashok Bakshi, SHO, sadar police station, Rohtak.

The SSP, Mr P.K. Aggarwal, said Yogesh was handcuffed, but he somehow managed to free himself and escaped. An alert was sounded immediately and the SI along with constable Raj Kumar and driver Dharamvir Singh, nabbed him on the Hafed Road, near Sukhpura Chowk at about 4 a.m.

14 years' jail for rapist
Tribune News Service

FARIDABAD, Feb 13 — Mr K.C. Gupta, District and Sessions Judge, today sentenced Charan Singh (21) to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment for kidnapping and then raping a 15-year old school girl in July, 1996.

The judge sentenced him to undergo three years' of rigorous imprisonment under Section 363 of the IPC, four years under Section 366-A of the IPC, and seven years' under Section 376 of the IPC. Charan Singh had also been directed to pay a fine of Rs 43,000 under different sections and in case of failure to pay the fine he would spend further five years and two months in jail.

All sentences would run concurrently.

Waterlogging problem ‘acute’
From Vimal Sumbly
Tribune News Service

HISAR, Feb 13 — The parliamentary standing committee on agriculture chairman, Mr Kinjarapu Yerranaidu, feels that the problem of waterlogging in Haryana is of such a magnitude that the state government will not be able to handle it on its own. Mr Yerranaidu, who was leading a 20 member delegation told TNS here that, he was pained to see a huge area turning waste.

The standing committee chairman said he would take up the matter with the Union Agriculture Minister and apprise him of the acuteness of the problem. He said, he had also sought the details of the masterplan prepared by the state government for tackling the problem. The state government has already prepared a masterplan of about Rs 2500 crore to check the menace.

He said, although he had been "very much satisfied over the phenomenal agricultural growth of the state", at the same time he felt concerned over the problem of water logging and soil salinity in Haryana. He pointed out, this might hamper food production in the state.

Referring to the issue of implementing the crop insurance scheme uniformly he regretted the indifference of the insurance companies. He said, although crop insurance had been launched in some districts for some crops, it needed to be implemented uniformly throughout the country. He pointed out, this was necessary as crop failures had led to a state of suicides by the farmers. Mr Yerranaidu, who hails from Andhra Pradesh revealed that his state had witnessed a number of suicides by farmers.

He suggested "more and more institutional financing to farmers" on the pattern of industry. He disclosed that banks and other financial institutions were providing loans to only 18 per cent farmers. The rest had to take money from the 'moneylenders' as high rates of interest. "And if things go wrong, farmers are drawn towards desperate and extreme steps like suicides, he pointed out.

Mr Yerranaidu said, although a considerable progress had been achieved on the agricultural front, yet there was a lot of scope for improvement. He regretted that good seeds and good pesticides were not easily available to the farmers. He said, even today, a substantial number of farmers depends on uncertified seeds and substandard insecticides.

Earlier addressing a press conference, Mr Yerranaidu described CCS Haryana Agricultural University, as "an ideal and pioneer" farm university in the country. He pointed out that the post harvest technology and subsurface drainage system devised by the university scientists could be of immense use to farmers, not in Haryana but throughout the country.

He suggested the setting up of Krishi Gyan Kendras in all 560 rural districts of the country. As on now, there were only 261 such kendras. He said, they were proving to be very beneficial to the farmers as "every technical assistance was available to them (the farmers) at their doorsteps".

Meanwhile, a delegation of Haryana Agricultural University Teachers Association (HAUTA) met Mr Yerranaidu and expressed concern over the inordinate delay in notifying the revised pay scales and package of service conditions of scientists and teachers working in agricultural universities and research institutions in the country.

The delegation led by its president Dr Dalel Singh submitted a memorandum to Mr Yerranaidu seeking immediate revision in the pay scales of agricultural university teachers.

2 youths arrested for robbery
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Feb 13 — The police today claimed to have solved a case of robbery with the arrest of two persons.

The SSP, Mr K. Selvraj, told mediapersons here today that those arrested had been identified as Vijay of Kiroli village and Sunil Kumar of Balian village. The accused had been living in the Gopal Nagar area in Najafgarh (Delhi).

The police recovered a car from their possession.

He disclosed that the accused had hired the car from Sonepat bus stand for Sehoti village in the district. On reaching near Rohat village, the driver was asked to stop the car. When it came to a halt, they assaulted him and took the car away.

North zone CMs to meet on Feb 28
Tribune News Service

FARIDABAD, Feb 13 — The annual meeting of the Chief Ministers or north zone states will be held at Surajkund, near here, on February 28, according to reliable sources.

Earlier, it was scheduled to be held on February 20. The Chief Secretaries the north zone states had earlier met at Surajkund on January 28 to finalise the agenda for the Chief Ministers' conference. Mr L. K. Advani, Union Home Minister, would inaugurate the conference.

The Chief Ministers are likely to discuss bilateral issues and finalise strategy to combat crime by inter-state gangs.

49 calves rescued
From Our Correspondent

ROHTAK, Feb 13 — The police has seized two truck carrying calves for slaughter and arrested nine persons.

According to police sources, on a complaint lodged by Jagbir Singh the police intercepted the two trucks loaded with about 49 calves from the Delhi bypass on the national highway on Thursday. The calves brought from Sirsa and Hisar districts were being taken to UP for slaughter. A case under Section 3/4 the Anti-Slaughter act has been registered against.

Meanwhile in another case a youth of Goria village in Jhajjar district was allegedly beaten to death by two other residents of the same village. It is reported that the deceased in his dying statement told the police that the accused identified as Subhash and Ram Avtar had taken him to the fields on some pretext and after tying his hands and legs they beat him up with sticks till he was unconscious. The police has booked a case.

H. S. Bhadu hurt in assault
From Our Sports Reporter

HISAR, Feb 13 — Mr H.S. Bhadu, Deputy Director, Sports Department Haryana was injured seriously when four unidentified persons attacked him with lathis near the railway station road here on Thursday night.

He has been admitted to a private hospital with head injuries and fractures in the left hand.

According to the information, Mr Bhadu, who is also the vice-president of the Amateur Athletic Federation of India and secretary of Haryana State Amateur Athletic Association, was returning to his house after discussion with his lawyer regarding a court case when four persons suddenly attacked him.

The condition of Mr Bhadu is stated to be out of danger.

Though a case has been registered by the police, no arrest has been made so far. A number of sports lovers has condemned the incident and demanded a high-level probe.