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| Thursday,
April 19, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Wheat
yield to fall by 15 per cent 465 polluting units issued
notices Proposal for fast
track courts moved Ruchika molestation case adjourned Man gets 10-yr RI
for smuggling opium IT collection
in Rohtak up |
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Kin of 2 martyrs get compensation Railway Week awards
presented ‘Reintroduce
food-for-work scheme’ Hooliganism at exam centre Students resume agitation New education board Secy assumes
office Missing girl commits
suicide 1 injured in LPG cylinder blast 5 killed in road
mishaps
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Wheat yield to fall by 15 per cent Pehowa, April 18 Makhan Singh of Sainsa village, a small landholder, said with teary eyes that his entire wheat stock had been damaged. As his wheat crop had matured early, he brought it to the grain market a day before the rain started. His entire stock lying in the market was damaged and he could not cover it in time. Similar was the fate of Iqbal Singh, another farmer of Arunai village who had brought his wheat for sale to the grain market. At Pehowa mandi, the SDM, Mr Gurmeet Singh Panjeta, admitted that there had been a loss up to 10 per cent because of the rain. So far, 20,000 quintals of wheat had arrived and the administration tried to buy maximum stocks and save them from the rain. However, some stocks which were lying in the open were damaged. The farmers could not get a chance to save the stocks as it rained for five days. There are no takers for the damaged wheat be it arhtiyas’ or government procurement agencies. In a large number of cases, harvested wheat lying in the fields had been damaged. As the fields are still full of water, the farmers cannot retrieve it. Harvesting is also likely to be delayed. Mr Ved Singla, president of the Grain Merchants Association, Ladwa, said the harvesting might be further delayed by at least 10 days. He said the moisture content in the harvested wheat had increased. Procurement agencies had given directions that if the moisture content was over 1 per cent, deduction of Rs 6.5 per quintal would be made from the minimum support price. If such instructions were implemented, the farmers would suffer even more. The harvested wheat which was lying in the fields would acquire more moisture and it would be difficult for the farmers to dry it completely. The tendency among the farmers to bring the wheat immediately after thrashing to the markets has also been adversely affected. Mr Singh said in the first week itself, seven lakh quintals of wheat was received at the Ladwa market which was considered as one of the biggest markets of Asia. He said about 25 per cent of the wheat which lay harvested in the fields had been damaged. Nishan Singh of Baragaon village said the yield was likely to be 10 per cent less as the fields where the crop was standing unharvested had been flooded with rain water. Farm labourers had also enhanced their rates for harvesting wheat. At Kaithal grain market, wheat worth crores of rupees lying in the fields and in the market is likely to be damaged. Thousands of quintals of wheat have reached the mandis but the agencies could not buy the stocks. In the Kurukshetra areas, not only the harvested wheat but also vegetables and green fodder has been destroyed. The farmers will not be able to harvest their crops for another week. In the Guhla and Cheeka areas, the farmers are panicky as water has accumulated in the grain market and wheat at the Cheeka mandi has been affected. In the Assandh and Nissing areas, which are the main producers of wheat in Karnal district, the farmers are upset that the wheat was not bought in time. |
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Exempt farmers from
diesel surcharge: HVP Kurukshetra, April 18 While addressing a press conference at the local Neelkanthi Yaatri Niwas today, Mr Khurdban said the surcharge had been imposed for the past over one year and was meant for spending on the maintenance and construction of roads in the state. By now, about Rs 2,500 crore had been collected by the Centre as surcharge on the sale of diesel in the state, he said. It should be transferred by the Centre to the Haryana Government so that the latter could spend the same on the repair of roads, he demanded. Mr Khurdban said farmers should be exempted from paying surcharge because the diesel purchased by them was used for ploughing the fields and running tubewells. Criticising the state government’s “anti-farmer” policy, Mr Khurdban said that although the maximum 10 per cent sales tax was being charged on the goods sold in Haryana, 12 per cent sales tax was being charged on the sale of farmers’ produce. |
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Evolve ‘pest-resistant’ varieties of
cotton Hisar, April 18 Cotton experts who attended the two-day meeting which concluded here at Haryana Agricultural University yesterday underlined the need for assessing cotton research programmes under the All India Coordinated Research Project. They discussed steps to save cotton crop from pests and diseases. Besides cotton experts from various ICAR centres and agricultural universities, the participants included representatives of private seed companies engaged in production of cotton seed and the Agriculture Development Officers (ADOs) from the cotton growing states. According to Dr B. P. S. Lather, chairman of the organising committee, the meeting finalised location specific package of practices for newly released cotton varieties for the northern, central and southern cotton growing zones. The experts recommended deep ploughing of the soil up to 25-30 cm at least once in two years. This, they said, resulted in significantly higher yield. They also recommended the use of farmyard manure or compost alongwith recommended doses of chemical fertilizers for sustaining higher yields and better returns. Besides, they advised foliar application of nutrients (like urea), DAP, zinc and magnesium Sulphate. The experts said crop canopy management through detopping in desi cotton at peak vegetative growth was found beneficial especially in the north zone. However, at Surat (Gujarat) and Dharwad (Karnataka), drip irrigation system led to significantly higher yield of cotton. It also saved irrigation water by 25 per cent. At Dharwad, potato intercropping in cotton gave higher profits, while at Guntur soyabean, green gram and maize were found profitable as strip intercropping in cotton. With regard to disease management, the Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur was asked to prepare a disease map.
Breach in minor damages wheat crop Hisar, April 18 According to information, cracks in the minor developed after midnight and it caused considerable loss to the wheat crop in the nearby fields of the village. Irrigation Department officials have reduced the flow of water in the minor and started plugging operations. The affected farmers have demanded compensation. Farmers told not to set fields on fire Fatehabad, April 18 The orders also prohibit the farmers from threshing their crops under power lines passing through the fields. The orders would remain in force till May 21. The orders said action under Section 188 of the IPC would be taken against the erring farmers. |
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465 polluting units issued
notices Panipat, April 18 According to the Regional Officer of the Board, Mr
O. P. Dahiya, so far about 40 owners have responded to the notices. The board is holding meetings with representatives of the Dyeing Units Association and it has been proposed that Sector 29 part II and 30 be developed as alternative site for the shifting these units, he said. Mr Dahiya also disclosed that during the survey as many as 465 dyeing units were identified for shifting as part of ground water pollution control drive. Those units which could not be identified during the survey could also apply for allotment of land by furnishing the required details, he said. He said those dyeing units which had installed effluent treatment plants (ETP) and discharging the treated water in sewage pipelines were not required to be shifted in the new sites. The units with ETPs but not releasing treated water in sewerage lines would also be shifted, he said, adding that all other units located anywhere in and around Panipat town but outside industrial sector would have to be shifted. Mr Dahiya held a meeting with president of Dye House Association and discussed various issues releasing to allotment of land and other issues. |
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Proposal for fast
track courts moved Sirsa, April 18 Mr Justice Jain said the courts proposed by the Centre would be provided all necessary infrastructural facility by the state government. These would reduce stress on the
overcrowded jails by providing speedy justice to undertrials whose cases had been lying pending in the Sessions Courts. Regarding the condition of jails, he said due to excessive strength of inmates, the jail authorities were not able to provide their adequate facilities. He said to counter the problem of insufficient number of district jails, the judiciary had already taken up the issue with authorities concerned for filling the gap. Mr Justice Jain said efforts were being made to guide the convicted prisoners to utilise their time constructively so that they become responsible citizens after completion of their sentence. He said non-government social organisations could play a vital role in this direction. |
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Ruchika molestation case adjourned Ambala, April 18 Former Director General of Haryana Police, Mr SPS Rathore, was not present in the court. The counsel for Mr Rathore moved an application in the court today, seeking absence for the former DGP on medical grounds. Madhu Prakash and Anand Prakash were present in the court today. The CBI counsel opposed the application moved by Rathore’s counsel. The medical certificate had been issued by a doctor of Haryana Bhawan in Delhi. Mr Tyagi observed whether the CBI counsel had any material to disbelieve the doctor. “Is anybody prepared to file an affidavit against the doctor,” Mr Tyagi asked. He said the case would taken up on April 30 for hearing on notice of accusation, subject to any order passed by the High Court. The CBI had filed a charge sheet in the Ruchika molestation case against Mr Rathore in this court in November last. The CBI had also filed an application with the court for condoning the delay in filing the challan in the court. On
December 5, the court condoned the delay in the chargesheeting and took cognisance of the charges against the then DGP. |
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Man gets 10-yr RI
for smuggling opium Kaithal, April 18 Giving this information, Mr
A. S. Chawla, SP, told mediapersons here today that Parmod Kumar, son of Krishan Avtar of
Bijhore, was caught on a tip-off by a police party headed by the ASI, Mr Kedar Singh, near Kharkan village under Guhla police station in 1997. Parmod was found carrying 1.5 kg of opium and booked under the NDPS Act. The court ordered that in case the accused failed to pay the fine, he would have to undergo imprisonment for one more year. In another case, Mr Bansal sentenced Krishan to 5 years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on him for stabbing Rajesh Kumar of Karara village in July, 1995, Rajesh was booked under Sections 324 and 307 of the
IPC. |
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IT collection
in Rohtak up Rohtak, April 18 Talking to The Tribune here yesterday, Mr Shiv Nandan Prasad, Commissioner, Income Tax, Rohtak circle, said against the target of recovering Rs 392 crore as income tax in 2000-2001, the department had recorded an increase of Rs 13
crore. He said nearly 35,000 new income tax payers were registered last year, while their number rose to about 70,000 this year.
Kin of 2 martyrs get compensation Faridabad, April 18 According to Zila Sainik Board officials, parents of jawan Devender Singh Bhati of Korali were handed over the compensation money. Board officials also handed over cheques to the widow and parents of Sanjay Kumar of Bichpuri village. |
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Railway Week awards
presented Ambala, April 18 A cultural performance was organised at the Railway auditorium on the occasion of the 46th Railway Week awards here today. The Divisional Railway Manager, Mr Deepak Krishan, and the Additional DRM, Mr Ashwini Kapoor, were present. The General Manager’s running shields won by the Ambala Division are Civil Engineering shield for track, civil engineering shield for bridge, best maintained running room shield, C&W efficiency shield for performance in coaching and freight stock maintenance, station cleanliness award, loco efficiency shield for most efficient operations of diesel locomotives and improvement in cost of traffic and economy shield for most economical functioning of the division. The officers awarded by the General Manager include Mr
R. K. Sangar, Sr DME, Mr Prem Prakash, Stn Manager, and Mr Jasbir Singh, APO and the employees awarded by the GM include Mr Kirpa Ram, Safaiwala, Mr Jaspal Singh, Gangman, Mr Karnail Singh, Tech-III, Mr
V. K. Tyagi, Inspector, and Mr Naresh Kalra SSE/Signal. The three officers who have been awarded at the DRM level include Mr B.K. Sharma, Mr Avinash Gupta and Dr Ateek Ahmad. A total of 247 employees have been awarded, which includes. 185 III employees and 62 Class IV employees. While 18 group awards were given away today, 20 DRM shields were awarded. The employees who were awarded by the DRM include Mr Rakesh Kumar, Mr Harinder Singh, Mr R.K. Rana, Mr Jeet Singh and Mr
A. K. Dixit. |
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‘Reintroduce
food-for-work scheme’ Chandigarh, April 18 Mr Chautala directed the officers of the Food and Supplies Department to ensure that farmers did not face any difficulty in selling their produce and the procurement operations were smooth. He urged the Central Government to speed up the process of lifting of foodgrains from the state so that more space could be made available to store the fresh arrivals of wheat. He also urged it to reintroduce the food-for-work scheme. He claimed that about five lakh tonnes of wheat had arrived in the mandis till yesterday as against 4.43 lakh tonnes during the corresponding period last year. |
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Hooliganism at exam centre Faridabad, April 18 The centre suprintendent has reportedly recommended the ‘cancellation’ of the paper. The Maharshi Dayanand University authorities are learnt to be contemplating strict action in this regard. According to reports reaching here several students appearing in the examination went on a near ‘rampage’ yesterday. Several answersheets were torn up and taken outside of examination hall in protest when some of invigilators took away ‘answer sheets’ of some candidates ‘indulging’ in mass copying. Some of teachers deputed as invigilators were ‘manhandled’ and even threatened with dire consequences by some candidates and their supporters. A woman teacher was ‘abused’ and threatened with dire consequences, in front of everyone. The police had to be called to control the ‘rowdy’ students. One of the students, identified as Omvir was arrested, after he was booked by the police for threatening and abusing a woman teacher. The student reportedly got ‘furious’ after he was stopped by the invigilator from cheating and his answersheet was taken away. As a result several other students stood up and tore up their answersheets and raised ‘slogans’ against the staff posted on duty. These students said they would indulge in ‘copying’ and if anyone took their answersheet, they would create disturbance. A clerk of the college received some minor injuries and another teacher was ‘manhandled’ by some candidates. Some anti-social elements went to the house of one of the teacher on the campus and reportedly threatened her again. The teacher and her husband then asked the Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM), Palwal, for help, who sent police force to provide security to the complainant. The teacher has expressed her inability to perform examination duty. The college staff has sought proper security arrangements in the college during the examinations. The university authorities had ‘cancelled’ certain papers held at one of centres at the college a few days ago after complaints of ‘mass copying’ and ‘outside disturbance’ were reported.
Students resume agitation Hisar, April 18 The students had postponed the agitation in view of death of a college student, Purav Rao, who had died in a road accident on April 7. The students have been agitating in support of their demand for introduction of agriculture as a subject at the plus two level. Addressing the striking students, their leader demanded that the state government should implement recommendations of a high-power committee on education, which had suggested that agriculture be introduced as a subject at school-level. They also demanded that the government should fill all vacant posts of Agriculture Development Officers (ADOs) at the earliest. They said if their demands were not met soon, they would be forced to launch a state-level agitation against the government.
New education board Secy assumes
office Bhiwani, April 18 Prior to his appointment, Mr Mor worked as Principal of Samaj Kalyan Senior Secondary School, Gohana
(Sonepat). Mr Mor was also a member of the Board of Directors of the education board. |
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Missing girl commits
suicide Ambala, April 18 Thirteen-year-old Ritu, the daughter of an employee, Suman, working in the working women’s hostel, along with her younger brother, six-year-old Amandeep, had been missing for the last two days. They were, however, found at the residence of their aunt, who lived in Mubarkpur. The case took a fresh twist this morning, when Ritu took some poisonous substance and committed suicide. The suicide attempt by the girl unfolded at the time when this correspondent was talking to Ritu’s mother in the guard room in the working women’s hostel. Since this correspondent wanted to talk to Ritu, a woman went to call her and the suicide attempt by Ritu came to light. “Usne goliyan kha li,” a woman shouted and there was commotion, with Ritu’s mother and a few others sprinting towards her residence in the hostel complex. Within a brief span of time, a youth rushed out, carrying a young girl who looked pale. Quickly a scooter was brought and the youth carried Ritu, who was unable to stand, to the Civil Hospital in Ambala City. By afternoon, Ritu was dead. Earlier in the day, recalling the sequence of events when the children had disappeared, Suman said she had gone to fetch the rations and when she returned she found Ritu and Amandeep missing. “I first thought that they must have gone somewhere. Later on we conducted a search, but we could not find them,” she said. She said a youth who used to frequently call up, indicated that a search should be carried out at some hotel. The police was informed and this information sent them on a tizzy. Raids were conducted at a hotel, without any result. The police also questioned some youth regarding this case. In the meantime, the family members kept on trying to find out the whereabouts of the children. Yesterday they received information that the children were with Suman’s sister in Mubarakpur. The children were brought back from their aunt’s place late last night. 1 injured in LPG cylinder blast Rohtak, April 18 The residents of the area, awakened following the explosion, ran helter-skelter believeing that the town had been hit by an earthquake. They, however, soon realised that the explosion had occurred in the house of the late Mr Krishan Lal Budhiraja, a prominent dairy owner of the town. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Rajesh Khullar, said the explosion was the result of leakage of gas from an LPG cylinder in the house of the Budhirajas. A team of FSL experts from Madhuban also visited the site and took samples. The explosion was so powerful that the two-storeyed house was totally damaged. Kanika Budhiraja (14) sustained fracture in her feet after a wall of the house fell on her legs. She has been admitted to the local PGIMS. The doors and windowpanes of many houses in the neighbourhood were also damaged because of the explosion. The Deputy Commissioner has appealed to the people to thoroughly check their LPG cylinders before going to sleep. |
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5 killed in road
mishaps Rohtak, April 18 According to information, the driver of a speeding Jeep lost control over the vehicle which rammed into a pole on the roadside near Ismaila village on NH 10 at about 10 p.m. yesterday. Four persons were killed and eight others injured in the accident. The deceased have been identified as Seema (25) and Dhanpati (50) of Bahadurgarh, Ram Niwas of Rohtak and Angad (driver) of Bahu Akbarpur village. Surprisingly, a one-year-old female infant in the ill-fated jeep escaped unhurt. She got entangled in the branches of a tree and was taken down by her relatives after a few hours. In a separate incident, a youth was crushed to death by a Haryana Roadways bus near Kharawar village on NH 10 last night. The deceased has been identified as Ram Chander of Jind. The driver of the bus drove away after the accident. A case has been registered.
Car looted
at gunpoint Faridabad, April 18 According to information, the victim Jatinder Singh, an advocate, was returning to his house after some work at about 5.50 a.m. on Tuesday when three youths, in a Santro car, intercepted him at dividing road of Sector 14 and Sector 17. Two of them came out of the car and at gunpoint asked Jatinder to get out of his car and hand over the car keys. The youths fled away after the crime. A case under Section 392 of the IPC has been registered.
2 more cars found Jhajjar, April 18 The district police spokesman said today that five members of the gang had been arrested so far. |
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‘Kanyadan’ scheme Chandigarh, April 18 |
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