 |
| Monday,
November 6, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
|
Alarming
drop in watertable Goods worth
Rs 12 lakh stolen from HSIDC complex Plan to
raise hydel power production Bus
passengers robbed Sushma for
welfare corpus fund |
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Hooda’s
plea on support to Sonia Kit for
detecting EHV-1 developed Freedom fighter’s daughter fights for recognition 22
ticketless passengers freed Farmer
strangled
|
|
Alarming
drop in watertable CHANDIGARH, Nov 5 — Gurgaon is facing an acute water shortage and
if the situation is ignored the fast-developing city will lose all
ground water reserves within the next 10 years. The watertable, which is
going down at the rate of 1 metre per year, has already dropped to 160
metres and even lower in certain areas.
Owing to a sharp drop in the watertable, the tubewells of many
farmers have failed. This has resulted in their suffering financial
losses.
These are the conclusions of scientists at the Central Ground Water
Board, Northern Region, after working on a project, “Ground water
resource potential and management in Gurgaon district.”
According to Mr A.K. Bhatia, a scientist at the board, the present
scenario is the outcome of the exploitation of ground water. The city is
already using its static reserves of underground water and the situation
may worsen.
In Gurgaon district ground water is extensively used for irrigation
apart from drinking and industrial purposes. An area of 55 sq km (77.5
per cent of the total irrigated area) is irrigated through 33,040
shallow tubewells. Owing to this excessive dependence on ground water,
its level has gone down alarmingly.
Gurgaon city and the surrounding areas, being one of the major urban
and industrial aglomerations in the state, requires 2,100 cusec metres
of water for domestic purposes per day out of which 70 per cent is
supplied through tubewells. A good number of industries in and around
the city meet their requirements from the ground water.
Besides, the unregulated discharge of effluents from certain
industries has polluted the ground water at many places, thereby
affecting the potability of water. The prolonged overexploitation of
water has led to the formation of a ground water trough.
Mr Bhatia says there is an urgent need for conserving ground water
and augmenting the resource by implementing artificial recharge schemes
on a large scale. He says: “In places like Farukhanagar, Gurgaon,
Pataudi and Taru the only solution is the implementation of a recharge
scheme.”
Mr Bhatia further says that in various blocks, including Ferozepore,
Jhirka, Nagina, Nuh, Punhana and Sohana, waterlogging conditions have
arisen. Reducing the canal allowance by 25 per cent and sinking shallow
tubewells can help deal with the problem. |
|
Goods
worth Rs 12 lakh stolen from HSIDC complex SONEPAT, Nov 5 — At least six armed persons are reported to have
entered into an industrial unit in the complex of the Haryana State
Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) about 25 km from here last
night and decamped with 12 tonnes of aluminium worth about Rs 12 lakh
and other goods.
According to a report, the ‘robbers’ came in a vehicle and one of
them asked the gatekeeper to open the gate as he wanted to give some
medicines to a worker who was having fever. When the gatekeeper opened
the gate armed intruders overpowered him and the other security guards.
All the security guards were later pushed into a room.
The robbers then loaded the aluminium and other goods into the
vehicle and escaped immediately.
A report to this effect was lodged by the owner of the factory and
the police has launched a massive hunt to apprehend the culprits.
However, no arrest has been made in this connection.
This is the second incident of theft in the past two weeks and this
has caused panic among industrialists of the region.
Meanwhile, the representatives of various industrial organisations
today expressed concern over the incidents of theft in the industrial
sector and appealed to the district and police administration to take
immediate and effective steps to safeguard the property of the
industrialists in the region. |
|
Plan to
raise hydel power production FARIDABAD, Nov 5 — The Union Government will continue to give top
priority to the development of hydroelectric power so that the imbalance
between this and other sources of electricity could be removed and the
full potential of hydroelectric power could be tapped.
Stating this, the Union Minister of State for Power, Ms Jayawanti
Mehta, said here today that the Central Government would try to achieve
its aim of raising the ratio of hydroelectric power in the total power
generation to at least 40 per cent from the present 24 per cent in about
15 years.
She was the Chief Guest at the silver jubilee celebrations of the
National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) here today. The
Headquarters of the NHPC is located in Sector 33 here.
Emphasising that priority would be given to removing the power
generation imbalance, she said adequate availability of power was linked
to every aspect of development.
Complimenting the employees of the corporation, Ms Mehta said that
the NHPC was not only a major profit-making organisation, but was
supplying power to 19 states and union territories in the country at
present.
She said with the completion of projects like Chamera in Chamba
district of Himachal Pradesh, the corporation would be able to generate
about 300 mw more power in the next four years.
Mr Yogendra Prasad, Chairman and Managing Director of the NHPC,
welcomed the chief guest.
He said that total generation by the NHPC was 2175 mw at present and
about 12,000 employees had been serving in the corporation. He claimed
that the NHPC Mahila Samiti was contributing to social welfare
activities at the local and national level. He congratulated the samiti
for its contribution towards the Kargil martyrs fund and said that the
Samiti had been regularly engaged in providing medical and other social
services free of cost in and around the region.
Several women were also honoured by the Minister. A cultural show was
put by school children and a fair was organised in the NHPC complex. |
|
Bus
passengers robbed ROHTAK, Nov 5 — At least eight armed assailants snatched cash and
valuables at gunpoint from the passengers of a Haryana Roadways (HR) bus
near Ismaila village last evening.
The passengers claimed that the cash and valuables looted amounted to
nearly Rs 4 lakh, while the police estimated their worth at Rs 1 lakh.
According to police sources, the roadways bus from Rohtak depot was
on its way from Delhi to Ganganagar on NH-10. When the bus reached near
the overbridge at Ismaila village, eight assailants travelling in the
bus forced the driver to stop the vehicle. The driver was pushed out and
one of the assailants took control of the steering wheel. Later, they
took away cash and other valuables.
The Sampla police has registered a case under Section 395 of the IPC
and Sections 25/54/59 of the Arms Act. |
|
Sushma
for welfare corpus fund SURAJKUND, Nov 5 — The Minister of Informaiton and Broadcasting, Ms
Sushma Swaraj, has proposed a welfare corpus fund for journalists killed
or injured while discharging their duty in trying circumstances like war
and incidents of terrorism.
Addressing the 12th national convention of National Union of
Journalists at Surajkund today, Ms Swaraj said newspaper owners could be
persuaded into keeping a percentage of their advertisement revenue for
the fund.
She said a beginning in this regard could be made from funds from the
DAVP. Ms Swaraj asked the NUJ to prepare a detailed proposal in this
regard so that a decision to this effect was taken after considering
views of all sections.
Referring to the media debate on FDI in the print media, Ms Swaraj
said the government had not made any decision in this regard. She
reiterated that the government would be extra cautious while taking any
decision in the current conditions created by the latest developments in
the field of technology.
She said the views of all sections would be duly considered before
any final view is taken by the government. She also requested the NUJ to
give detailed views on the subject.
Allaying fears, she said due care would be taken to ensure that
cross-media monopolies were not established. This had been done while
opening the DTH also by restricitng cross-media investment to only 20
per cent, she added. |
|
Kit for
detecting EHV-1 developed
HISAR, Nov 5 (PTI) —The National Research Centre on Equines (NRCE),
Hisar, has developed a field-oriented kit for the detection of equine
herpes virus-1 (ehv-1).
Ehv-1 can cause abortions, paralysis, mortality and respiratory
diseases, among others.
The kit has been released by the Secretary, Department of
Agricultural Research and Education and Director-General, Indian Council
of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Dr R.S. Paroda, at an ICAR directors’
meeting held recently at New Delhi.
Dr S.K. Srivastava, Director, nrce, informed here today that the
equine industry’s long-felt need was for a reliable and sensitive
field-oriented test for ehv-1.
Keeping this in view, the nrce had developed this kit, which could be
used for detection of antibodies to ehv-1.
Dr B. Rattan, senior scientist responsible for developing this kit,
informed that the kit had successfully undergone field trials under
different agro-climatic conditions of the country.
The kit could be used by the side of the horse as no laboratory,
laboratory equipment or electricity was required for using the kit. Even
tap water could be used in the kit. Above all, no technical know-how was
required for using the kit and the results were available within four
hours, he said.
Dr Rattan said a patent for both methodology for preparing the kit
and the kit itself had been filed in the patent office, Delhi, in the
name of icar. |
|
Freedom fighter’s daughter fights for recognition AMBALA Ajmer Singh laid down his life during the freedom struggle movement in Delhi. He was arrested by the british government in 1944, as he was a close associate of Subhash Chandra Bose and worked for The Indian National Army. He was detained in the Red Fort in Delhi where he was tortured a lot. He died on November 5, 1944. Mr Mohinder Kaur is the only daughter of
Ajmer Singh. After the death of Ajmer Singh, she was awarded the forfeited pay and other allowances of her father from Puna through Army Headquarters. She is married to an army personnel, Mr Bharpur Singh, and is presently residing in Ambala City along with her husband and children. She has written a letter to the Union Home Minister that her father should be given the recognition of a freedom fighter and the facilities available to the kith and kin of freedom fighters should also be extended to her. She has also written a letter to the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Mr Suraj Bhan, to help her in this matter as he also belongs to Ambala. The Ministry of Home Affairs in its reply stated that as per the Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme only an unmarried daughter of a deceased freedom fighter was eligible for grant of family pension. Since she is married, she is not eligible for this facility. Mr Mohinder Kaur stated that she had never demanded pension from the government. She is only insisting that her father should be recognised as a freedom fighter. |
|
22
ticketless passengers freed SONEPAT, Nov 5 — Passengers travelling in a Haryana Roadways bus
got as many as 22 ticketless travellers released from the custody of
checking staff near Hullaheri village, about 5 km from here, today.
The passengers also beat up the inspectorate staff as well as the
driver and the conductor of the bus. They also smashed windowpanes of
the bus carrying the checking staff.
The bus (No. HR-10-A-1673) was on its way from the general bus stand
here to Bohla village. When it reached near Hullaheri village, the
checking staff stopped it for inspection. They found 22 passengers
travelling without ticket and asked them to get down and board the other
bus.
The ticketless passengers boarded the bus of the checking staff. In
the meantime, the passengers roughed up the inspectorate staff as well
as the driver and conductor of the bus and got the defaulters released. |
|
Hooda’s
plea on support to Sonia CHANDIGARH, Nov 5 — The Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, today expressed confidence that all party delegates from Haryana would vote for Ms Sonia Gandhi as AICC President. In a statement here, Mr Hooda said after Ms Gandhi took over as
Congress President she had given the maximum attention to the building
up of the party from the grassroots level.  |
|
Farmer
strangled JHAJJAR, Nov 5 — A 45-year-old farmer, Rameshwar, was strangled by
some miscreants in Rohad village, about 20 km from here, today.
According to the police, the deceased had gone to his fields last
evening to sleep and was found dead this morning outside the village,
with a noose around his neck. An empty wine bottle and two pairs of
slipers were also found near his body.
A case has been registered under Section 302 of the IPC by the
Bahadurgarh police.
In another incident, Balwan Singh, an ex-serviceman, was shot dead by
three youths in Mohammadpur Majra village in the district yesterday. The
police has registered a case under Sections 302 and 34 of the IPC.
In yet another incident, the police has recovered two mutilated
bodies from the Akehari minor canal. The bodies have been sent to
Medical College, Rohtak, for post-mortem. |
|
Seven-year
RI for minor’s rape KAITHAL, Nov 5 — Mr R.C. Gupta, Additional District Sessions Judge
here has sentenced Major Singh a local resident to seven years rigorous
imprisonment and fined him Rs 5000 after convicting him under Sections
363/366 and 376 of the IPC on the charge of kidnapping and rape of a
minor girl.
According to prosecution the accused had a minor girl in September
1996 and by raped her for 10 days. |
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