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| Wednesday, September 20, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Helping
labourers give up drugs Cases recommended against 4 officers Suicide by consuming poison on the rise Domination of conventional aircraft to
stay New twist to girl’s death case Jobs for dependents; income ceiling up |
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Haryana to observe War Heroes Day Effluents polluting water in Faridabad KU exams from October 10 70-yr-old man murdered Tension between two villages defused Eateries have a whale of time ‘Impostor’ attempts suicide Jain award
for TBRL Tearful adieu
to brave soldier ‘Inebriated’ cops snatch cash
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Helping labourers give up drugs FATEHABAD, Sept 19 — Ajaib Singh, a landless farm labourer, was barely 15 years old when he first took drugs. He is 45 now. During all these years he does not remember a day when he did not take poppy husk. The landlord on whose fields he worked treated him as a bonded labourer. He was not allowed to visit his family members for days together and was forced to work virtually without any rest. To ensure that he did not feel fatigue and protest against the treatment meted out to him the landlord made him a drug addict. Initially, the dose was less but gradually the requirement went on increasing. Now Ajaib Singh has been taking 200 gm of poppy husk daily. But just the day before yesterday the Sarpanch of his village, Chaniwala, a village on the border of this district, told him about the drug deaddiction efforts being made by Prayaas, a police-public organisation at Fatehabad. Ajaib Singh has not taken an ounce of drugs since then and is convalescing in the medical camp held by Prayaas in the local Raghunath Dharamshala. He has resolved never to take to drugs again which had left him a feeble and debt-ridden man. Though his younger brothers are married and have their families, Ajaib Singh is still a bachelor as no one was willing to give his daughter to a drug addict who could not support a family. Ajaibs Singh’s is not an isolated case of its kind. Cases of people taking to drugs in this part of Haryana and nearby Punjab abound. In most of the cases the landlords are responsible for ruining the lives of their innocent poor labourers just to extract the best of labour out of them. There are others like Kinder (30), a resident of Biranbadi village, or Naresh Kumar (35), a local resident and truck driver who first tasted drugs out of fun, when they took up driving as a profession. But now they have become dependent on those. They take poppy husk or opium or any other form of opium derivative that is easily available. They too are undergoing treatment at the medical camp. In all, more than 50 drug addicts are under treatment in the camp. The camp that started earlier this month will conclude on September 22. A number of local social, religious and business organisations have provided expertise, medicines and eatables free of cost for the camp. The local branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the National Integrated Medical Association (NIMA) has been providing free consultation to the addicts. Four members of the two associations have been visiting the camp every day by rotation and providing medicare facilities to the addicts. The Chemist Association has provided medicine free of cost. The Milkmen Association has been providing free milk to the patients every night. Lunch and dinner, morning and evening tea is being provided by Gurdwara Dukhniwaran, Fatehabad. The vegetable market is donating vegetables to meet the daily requirements of the camp while fruits are being supplied by local philanthropists. Some others are coming with biscuits and other eatables. Prayaas, a brainchild of Mr Shrikant Jadhav, Superintendent of Police, Fatehabad, took the onerous task of drug deaddiction when the young SP launched a vigorous drive against drug trafficking in this district after his transfer here about three months ago. As no drive to check drug trafficking could prove to be a success unless one checked the abuse of drugs, the police with the active cooperation of some local residents launched a drive for the deaddiction of people who had come in the grip of drugs. The drive was named Prayaas. Initially, awareness drives were organised in villages that were worst affected by the menace. According to Mr Jadhav,
more than 3000 persons have given up their addiction by
the efforts of Prayaas. He says the efforts would
continue till the last addict in this district is brought
out of the clutches of the deadly drugs. |
Suicide by consuming poison on the
rise FARIDABAD, Sept 19 — There has been a definite increase in the cases of committing suicide by consuming poison or celphos tablets in the district in the past year. As many as 120 persons have died in this manner during this period. According to the figures available, as many as 300 persons attempted suicide by taking celphos tablets in the period between January 2000 to September 15 last. Of these, about 120 of the victims died in the hospital, as they could not be saved by the doctors. It is calculated that one such case is reported every day in the district. But, according to experts, the rate may be higher as many cases go unreported. In the past week itself, 18 cases of attempt to commit suicide by consuming celphos tablets or poison were reported. While 12 of the victims died, six others were saved by the doctors. The reasons cited behind such incidents include mental tension, family disputes, quarrels between husband and wives and even poor performance by students at school and college. Some of the incidents also take place after “failure” in love or due to illicit relations. According to some social
experts and doctors, easy availability of celphos tablets
at medicine and seeds stores had been helpful in the
occurrence of such incidents. They said many of the cases
could be prevented if the availability of the tablets was
made scarce. Some social organisations have also called
for a proper check on this trend which is
“detrimental” to society. |
New twist to girl’s death
case FATEHABAD, Sept 19 — The death of a teenaged girl at Chinder village in the district on September 17 has thrown some light on the parentage of Shivani, a new-born baby, that was found abandoned on the Badopal-Chinder road a fortnight ago. Though the police has not been able to establish the identity of the child’s mother, prima facie, it appears that the girl might have given birth to the baby and then abandoned it due to fear of social stigma. Family sources said she had committed suicide. The autopsy report stated that the girl had delivered a baby 15 days prior to her death. The viscera had been sent to Karnal for examination. Moreover the above fact was conformed by Dr Nidhi Sanduja, who conducted the autopsy. According to police
sources, when the investigating officers met the deceased
girl’s father at the village, he reluctantly
confessed that his unmarried daughter had delivered the
child. But when the police went to his residence the next
day they were told that the girl had died. They even
countered the allegation that the girl had delivered a
baby and said the police was trying to malign them. |
Cases recommended against 4
officers CHANDIGARH, Sept 19 — The Haryana State Vigilance Bureau today recommended the registration of criminal cases against four gazetted officers, 19 other officials and five others for allegedly committing various irregularities. An official spokesman said the bureau had also recommended departmental action under Rule 7 against four gazetted officers, 25 officials and six others. It also recommended the recovery of over Rs 7.59 lakh. He said the revenue wing of the bureau had detected four cases of leakage of revenue involving over Rs 13.29 lakh. Department action had also been recommended against nine gazetted officers. The Excise and Taxation Officer of Kurukshetra was allegedly nabbed while taking illegal gratification of Rs 2,000. A criminal case had been registered against him at the bureau police station under the Prevention of Corruption Act. A Patwari of Kalanaur halqa in Yamunanagar had been convicted and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year and pay a fine of Rs 8,000. He said special checking
was also carried out by the technical staff of the
bureau. Departmental action under Rule 7 of the
Punishment and Appeal Rules, 1987, had been recommended
against three gazetted officers and one official of the
PWD (B&R). |
Jobs for dependents; income
ceiling up CHANDIGARH, Sept 19 — The Haryana Government today decided to raise the ceiling on monthly income from Rs 2,500 to Rs 6,000 for the purpose of providing employment to dependents of deceased government employees under the ex-gratia scheme with immediate effect. A circular issued by the Chief Secretary to all heads of department said that for the purpose of calculating the monthly income of Rs 6,000, the family pension would be excluded and only regular income from all other sources would be taken into account. The circular added that
for this purpose the income of the family of the deceased
government employees would be taken into account and not
just the income of the dependent who had applied for
appointment on compassionate grounds. |
Haryana to observe War Heroes Day CHANDIGARH, Sept 19 — The Haryana Government today decided to observe Haryana War Heroes and Martyrdom Day which falls on September 23. An official spokesman said a state-level function would be organised which would be presided over by the Town and Country Planning Minister, Mr Dhirpal Singh. He added that a number of programmes would also be organised at all district headquarters on this day as a mark of respect to the martyrs of Haryana who had made the supreme sacrifice while defending the counbry’s frontiers. The other programmes to
be organised in each district included public meetings,
seminars and conferences. |
Effluents polluting water in Faridabad FARIDABAD, Sept 19 — Residents of this town are facing a scarcity of drinking water. The underground water has been contaminated by effluents. As a result, the residents have to depend on private mineral water suppliers, who are reported to be having a “roaring” business here. Faridabad has a water demand for about 50 million gallon per day. This requirement is being met from underground water. The present water supply system with a network of more than 300 tubewells with an average yield of 300 to 1,200 litre per minute (per tubewell) meets about 50 per cent of the demand. Although the municipal corporation and the Haryana Urban Development Authority has launched a new water augmentation scheme, but the work is going at a slow pace. A large number of residents have installed water purifiers but they still suspect the suitability of the water for drinking. A family residing in Sector 15 here said they had been depending upon the supply of mineral water from a private company. The water supplied by
the municipal corporation is used mainly for bathing and
washing purposes. Hundreds of gallons of water is being
supplied daily by these private suppliers to various
industrial and commercial concerns. |
KU exams from October 10 KURUKSHETRA, Sept 19 — Various undergraduate (supplementary) examinations of Kurukshetra University will start from October 10. These examinations will be held in morning and evening shifts for three days. This was stated by the Controller of Examinations, Mr Ramesh Sharma, here today. The examinations of B.A., B.Sc, B.Com, Shastri part-I, B.A (B.Sc, B.Com, Shastri part-III) will be held in morning from October 10 to October 12 and the examinations of B.A, B.Sc, B.Com, Shastri part-II and O.T, M.I.L., D.S.P etc. will be held from October 10 to October 12 in the evening. Candidates would receive
their roll numbers shortly. Those who did not receive the
roll numbers till October 5 could contact the examination
branch of the university for the issuance of duplicate
roll number. |
70-yr-old man murdered SIRSA, Sept 19 — A 70-year-old man was killed with a “kirpan” by three persons, including a woman, at Kariwala village of this district. According to information received today, Bhagwan Dass was allegedly attacked by Charanjeet, her husband Jaswant and his brother Surjeet when he objected to Charanjeet including in power theft from the cable outside his house. The old man died on the spot. The Rania police has registered a case against the three. In a separate incident,
police arrested Major Singh, the driver of a Haryana
Roadways bus who had been missing after two persons died
and several others were injured in different accidents on
September 15. |
Tension between two villages defused KAITHAL, Sept 19 — The tension between residents of Kheri Lamba and Kurar villages of Kalayat sub-tehsil for the past one week was defused after a mahapanchayat of 24 villages at Kalayat police station yesterday. The SDM, Ashok Bishnoi and the DSP, Mr Amir Singh, who held long parleys with representatives of warring factions, succeeded in resolving the matter amicably and requested the villagers not to stand on prestige and complicate matters. Today, another meeting was called to resolve the dispute between two villages which arose when youths of Kurar allegedly pelted stones at youths of Kheri Lamba travelling in a bus as the latter allegedly teased girls belonging to their village. For the past many days the authorities were trying to find an amicable solution, but both sides accused each other of committing excesses. A clash seemed inevitable yesterday as the panchayat of Kurar village did not join the negotiations. However, 1,000 villagers
of 24 villages gathered at the Kalayat police station and
constituted a committee of senior citizens on the advice
of the SDM and the DSP. |
Eateries have a whale of time SONEPAT, Sept 19 — A large number of hotels, restaurants and dhabas on the National Highway (No. 1), particularly near the Murthal Chowk, are doing roaring business. They sell eatables at exorbitant rates to customers, mostly truck operators and passengers. But owners of these establishments have not been paying sales tax or income tax. According to informed sources, owners of these establishments serve liquor to customers on demand though they do not have any licence for it. Both Excise and police officials allegedly get monthly commission from them. Samples of foodstuff of certain establishments have been found adulterated, but none of the owners has been prosecuted. Most of these owners
have enchroached upon land in front of the
establishments. The PWD (B&R) has failed to implement
the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in
this regard. |
‘Impostor’
attempts
suicide SONEPAT, Sept 19 — Anasaheb Vishal, alias Santosh Misra, a resident of Dadar, Mumbai, and said to be the President of the Shiv Sena (Dadar unit), who was arrested on September 17 for posing as the brother and personal secretary to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Chandra Babu Naidu, reportedly tried to commit suicide in custody yesterday. The accused was taken to
the Civil Hospital here and is stated to be out of
danger. He has reportedly started an indefinite fast in
protest against allegedly being beaten up by police
officials and the implicating on him in a case. He has
also sent a letter to the Shiv Sena chief, Mr Bal
Thackeray, giving details of the theft of his belongings
in a train running between Delhi and Chandigarh and the
police “atrocities” committed on him. |
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Domination of conventional aircraft to
stay AMBALA, Sept 19 — During the next two decades, the already indistinct separation between atmospheric and space domains would fade substantially for all practical purposes. Technology would allow experimental vehicles to operate in both dimensions, even though warfare during these two decade would still be largely earthbound, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal A.Y. Tipnis said here today. Delivering the 11th Gian Chand Jain memorial lecture on Aerospace power in the 21st century, Air Chief Marshal Tipnis said, “While conventional aircraft will dominate warfare, surveillance capability will largely shift to space based sensors.” The Chief of Air Staff said regarding aerodynamics, aviation research had thrown up a large number of aerodynamic shapes of wings. “The shape of conventional aircraft as we see today is not likely to undergo a major transformation in the next two decades. However, the aerodynamic optimisation of design and control system would be very pronounced,” he said. “We already have aircraft such as Su-30, which seem to defy the accepted norms and laws of flight. I see a greater proliferation of such features in the designs now on the drawing board. The design optimisation will allow better accommodation of many conflicting requirements such as vertical/short take-off/handing capability at one end with high performance in the supersonic regime at the other,” he added. Air Chief Marshal Tipnis pointed out “any growth in the instantaneous manoeuvring capability in terms of ‘g’ load and its rate of onset is not likely to be attempted since most of the new generation combat aircraft are already capable of exceeding the physiological limits of the pilot.” “Therefore, emphasis will not be on better environmental protection of the aircrew that will allow them to perform their functions more efficiently under increasingly severe physical stress and mental overload. At the same time, lateral and vertical growth in the flight envelope in the terms of speed spectrum (near zero to mach 3+) and maximum altitude for sustained cruise would take place. Major improvements would occur in manoeuvring potential at increasingly higher AOA and ‘g’ sustenance at supersonic speeds. Dynamic interaction between multiple control surfaces and thrust vectoring would enable this capability,” he stated. Speaking on control system, the Air Chief said that fly-by-wire (FBW) technology had already allowed aircraft configurations to incorporate reduced stability resulting in better performance without additional thrust. “With further improvements in digital technology and reliability of FBW controls, the designers are now confident of handling increasing negative stability,” he said. He observed that a revolutionary change in the basic method of propulsion from turbojet/turbofan to other means is not likely in the next 20 years. “The quest for better and more fuel-efficient engines with higher performance will continue,” he said. On stealth technology, the Air Chief said that it was put to test both in the Gulf War and Kosovo with the introduction into combat and its impact on the conduct of air warfare was significant. “Its wider application not only in new designs but on older aircraft as well, by use of radar absorbent materials will be seen in the next two decades,” he said. Touching upon airframe construction material, Air Chief Marshal Tipnis observed that the emphasis was on shifting towards use of composites, even in primary structures. It was in the area of composites and thermo-plastics that research is being concentrated upon using carbon and graphite fibers. “But this area remains a closely guarded secret,” he added. Moving on to the scenario in the next 50 years, the air chief said warfare would largely be conducted and dominated from space. “Conventional aircraft and weapons will however, still be used in limited local conflicts, though forecasting the shape of aerospace power during these decades is indeed difficult,” he stated. The accent in this era would be on unmanned airborne vehicles, which could carry a suite of multi-spectral sensors as well as stand-off precision guided weapons. “An interesting development is the mini-UAV of which the prototype versions are already flying. Referred to as micro tactical expendable UAV, these weigh 65 gms and fly at 10 metres per second and can be used at platoon levels,” he said. The air chief said it seemed reasonable to deduce that hypersonic transatmospheric vehicles would be operating in near space in the next 20-30 years. “Its main mission will be to operate as sensors and weapons platform besides satellite deployment and operate anti-satellite weapons,” he said. Pointing out that the main role of air power was to deliver weapons, he said the era of directed energy weapons would dawn on us sooner than later. “High energy laser and kinetic energy weapons, also referred to as beam weapons are likely to reach deployment stage. One such system called Kali-5000 is under development at BARC,” he said. Treading into “areas totally uncharted except in science fiction”, the air chief said in the era beyond 50 years, the space dimension would most emphatically dominate human lives. Warfare as we know today would be essentially fought, controlled and dominated from space, far away from a terrestrial perch. He said it was logical to presume that limited space travel at affordable cost would become possible and with this capability the traditional human urge to conquer and occupy new frontiers would result in colonisation of space. The air chief was of the opinion
that it was a prudent security postulate to assume that
no dramatic change in human nature will take place in the
next 50 - 70 years, and therefore national security
concerns would run largely along present lines though new
re-alignments would evolve. “Against this backdrop,
relevance of standing defence forces would only get
stronger when issues of energy, food and environment
security come into sharper focus in the next two or three
decades due to depleting fossil fuel reserves, increasing
population and heightening aspirations of every
nation-state,” he remarked. |
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Jain award
for TBRL ambala, Sept 19 —Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL), Chandigarh, was here today conferred the prestigious Gian Chand Jain Memorial Foundation Award for Excellence in Scientific Research for 2000. The award was received by TBRL Director V. S. Sethi from the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal A. Y. Tipnis at a function organised at SD College. The air chief also visited the laboratory in the morning. The laboratory, under the Defence Research and Development Organisation, was established in 1962 and its main activities include study of various aspects of phenomena related with ground shock, blast, damage, fragmentation, detonics and the lethality of various armament stores. Major studies have been conducted on armour defeating projectiles, detonics and ballistics for which the lab is equipped with sophisticated instrumentation systems for recording high speed events. The lab has been recognised for its work in the area of experimental and theoretical shock wave propagation. The
laboratory also made significant contributions in the
nuclear tests conducted in Pokhran in 1974 and 1998,
besides developing a baffle range for small arms firing
and non-lethal plastic bullets for riot control.
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Tearful adieu
to brave soldier AMBALA, Sept 19 — The body of martyr Naresh Saini who laid down his life in the Kupwara sector in J&K fighting militants in September 17 was consigned to flame with full state and military honour at his native village of Patrehri, 25 km from here, today. Hundred of people participated in the funeral procession of the brave soldier to pay their last respects. The brother of the martyr lit the pyre. Senior military and civil officials
laid wreath on the body of the martyr. The Commissioner,
Ambala range, Mr Chander Singh, laid wreath on behalf of
Governor of Haryana while the Social Welfare Minister, Mr
Rasal Singh, laid wreath on behalf of Chief Minister. The
officiating Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, Mr Mohinder
Kumar, also laid a wreath on behalf of the District
administration. The Inspector General, Ambala range, Mr
Hari Singh Ahalawat, MLAs from the Naraingarh and Naggal
constituencies Mr Pawan Diwan and Jasbir Malor also paid
tribute to the martyr. |
‘Inebriated’
cops
snatch cash SONEPAT, Sept 19 — At least six policemen, allegedly in an inebriated state, roughed up car-borne persons and snatched cash from them on the G.T. Road near Bahalgarh, about 10 km from here, last evening. The trouble arose when the car-borne persons declined to give Rs 400 as demanded by the policemen. They were on their way to Basodi village in the district and had stopped for purchasing petrol. the car reportedly belonged to Mr Suresh Kumar of Mahavati village under the Samalkha police station area in Panipat district. The travellers alleged
that Mr Jagrup Singh Rathi, ASP, declined to take any
action against the “erring policemen”. |
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