H A R Y A N A

Mother, two minor children charred  to death
Hisar, April 22
A woman and her two minor children died in a fire that broke out in their house in Dayanand Colony this morning. One person was also injured.

Raise minimum wages, says JD(U)
Faridabad, April 22
The Haryana unit of the Janata Dal (U) has asked the state government to revise the minimum wages of the labourers.

HR staff warned on proposed strike
Chandigarh, April 22
The Haryana Government today warned employees of Haryana Roadways, going on a day’s token strike on April 24 against the reported privatisation of certain depots, that their absence would cause a break in their service and those who tried try to disrupt the movement of buses would be firmly dealt with.

2 school students drowned
Yamunanagar, April 22
Aakshit Tyagi of Gobindpuri village, Ankur Tyagi, Tarun and Aakshya, all schoolchildren had gone for bathing in the Yamuna canal near here on Sunday. All four boys got trapped in a whirlpool and started shouting for help.

• Hooda observes fast in Gujarat

Mother, two minor children charred  to death
Our Correspondent

Hisar, April 22
A woman and her two minor children died in a fire that broke out in their house in Dayanand Colony this morning. One person was also injured.

The incident occurred around 8 am when one of the rooms suddenly burst into flames. By the time the neighbours rushed for help, Poonam (26) and her three-year-old daughter Shalu and infant son Nishant had been badly burnt. They died a few hours later in a hospital.

Poonam’s father-in-law Prem Kumar Chauhan said he was in the bathroom when the fire occurred. He was injured while trying to save Poonam and her children.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

Raise minimum wages, says JD(U)
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, April 22
The Haryana unit of the Janata Dal (U) has asked the state government to revise the minimum wages of the labourers.

In a statement issued here today, party leader Ved Prakash Vidrohi described the present wage of Rs 2,133 as very low in view of the decreasing purchasing power of the rupee and rising rate of various commodities. He said while the Union and state governments had hiked the DA in January last, the wages of labourers had not been raised.

He said although the Haryana Government had revised the minimum wages to Rs 2,050 in September last and brought a minute revision in March last to Rs 2,133, the amount was still very low. He said the wages should be at least Rs 3,500. He also demanded the reconstitution of the Labour Welfare Board in the state and asked to give a fair representation to labour bodies and trade unions in it.

HR staff warned on proposed strike
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 22
The Haryana Government today warned employees of Haryana Roadways, going on a day’s token strike on April 24 against the reported privatisation of certain depots, that their absence would cause a break in their service and those who tried try to disrupt the movement of buses would be firmly dealt with.

An official spokesman described the strike call, given by a section of the roadways employees, as illegal and unjustified. The spokesman clarified that the state government had no proposal to privatise any of the roadways depots in any manner after having already spent Rs 130 crore on their modernisation and upgradation of the fleet of buses during the past two years.

2 school students drowned
Our Correspondent

Yamunanagar, April 22
Aakshit Tyagi of Gobindpuri village, Ankur Tyagi, Tarun and Aakshya, all schoolchildren had gone for bathing in the Yamuna canal near here on Sunday. All four boys got trapped in a whirlpool and started shouting for help. One passersby who heard their cries jumped into the canal and was able to save Tarun and Aakshya. However, Aakshit and Ankur could not be saved and were drowned. The body of 18-year-old Aakshit was traced. Efforts are on to locate the body of Ankur.

Hooda observes fast in Gujarat
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 22
Haryana Congressmen led by the party chief, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, observed a day-long fast at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad yesterday to demand the ouster of the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi.