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Kidwai urges judiciary to ensure speedy justice
No headway in month-old kidnapping case
White Paper on canal water sought
Dr Borlaug for better cultural practices
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Complex heart surgery at PGIMS
PGIMS Dean not yet appointed
Temporary relief for MDU teachers
Workshop for principals
Gram sahayaks sans salary for 3 months
Three Navodya students drowned in Andhra
Break police-criminal nexus: CM
Check power theft: minister
Row over
construction
of shops
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Kidwai urges judiciary to ensure speedy justice
Chandigarh, March 19 Addressing the gathering at the commencement function of the year-long golden jubilee celebrations of the Punjab and Haryana High Court complex here, Mr Kidwai remarked that the initiative to deliver justice expeditiously could come from the court itself. "The legislature can amend the law to ensure quick delivery of justice," he added. The High Court complex was inaugurated on March 19, 1955, by India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. In his speech, the Governor also stressed upon the need to bring justice within the reach of the common man. Lauding the judicial system of the country for enjoying the complete confidence of the common man, Mr Kidwai said the same was reflected in the continuous increase in the number of cases. Chief guest on the occasion, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda talked of his government's commitment to strengthen the judicial system. He said Panchkula, Rewari, Kaithal and Fatehabad were being declared as Session Divisions, adding that 16 of the 19 district judicial complexes had been completed. Incidentally, Mr Hooda has been a member of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association for many years. Observing that the Punjab and Haryana High Court has produced many legal luminaries, both at the Bench and the Bar, Mr Hooda said it was a matter of pride that the High Court enjoyed a high reputation and had delivered several historic and landmark judgements. Referring to the demand for financial assistance made by High Court Bar Association president Anmol Rattan Sidhu, the Chief Minister assured that it would be considered by his government. High Court Chief Justice Mr Justice D.K. Jain, in his address, urged the judges, lawyers and High Court employees to "re-dedicate" themselves to make this year a year of judicial excellence and provide an efficient and effective justice delivery system to the seekers of justice. "If I am permitted to say, in all humility, the Chief Justice is supposed to be the captain of the team. The Chief Justice as the leader of the team must behave in the best manner and set examples and standards so that the members of his team are inspired in the right direction. He has to inculcate in his team a sense of joint responsibility and joint endeavours so that the entire team shines together," he remarked. Chief Justice Jain also traced the history of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He noted that the building of the High Court was not just a super-structure made of bricks, steel and mortar, but was an organic living institution too. "Therefore, it is an appropriate occasion for all of us to introspect and evaluate whether we have come up to the expectations of all those for whom this institution was meant for," he added. Former and serving judges, advocate-generals of Punjab and Haryana, senior advocates and other lawyers were present in full strength to celebrate the day. Later, talking to the media, Mr Hooda denied that he was facing any pressure to change the portfolios of his ministerial colleagues. To a question, he said so far there was no move to increase the number of law officers in Haryana. |
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No headway in month-old kidnapping case
Sithana (Panipat), March 19 The 14-yr-old girl was allegedly kidnapped by Dilbagh, a permanent resident of Gohana village in Sonepat district, on February 17 when she had gone to a nearby village, Hasanpur, to appear in a middle examination. The girl was a student of the government school of the village and had been taking tuition classes from Dilbagh for over a month. Dilbagh was teaching in a private school of the village. The mother of the girl told The Tribune that her daughter had called up her grandmother in Asandh on March 12. In a muffled voice, the girl said she would call her up later, but never did, she added. The mother alleged that the police was not making enough efforts to trace the girl and nab the prime suspect. The family members of the girl also staged several dharnas outside the offices of SP and DC in an attempt to draw their attention to the issue. Some non-governmental organisations were also supporting the family over the issue. The mother said following their dharnas, the police arrested Rajesh, a youth of the village, a couple of days earlier. Rajesh is accused of sending the girl near Dilbagh’s car on the pretext that her classmates wanted to see her. When contacted, DSP O.P. Narwal claimed that the police was making all possible efforts to arrest the prime suspect and recover the girl. Narwal further said a police officer had been sent to Karnal telephone exchange to trace the number from which the girl had made a call to her grandmother. The DSP said the police had raided several places, including Dilbagh’s residence in Gohana village. |
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White Paper on canal water sought
Faridabad, March 19 In a statement here yesterday, Mr Vidrohi said the Hooda government should let know the people how much water had come to Haryana in the past 38 years and how various districts had been benefited. Stating that it was the first time when a MLA from the area had been made the Irrigation Minister of the state, since its inception, he said it was the first job and duty of the minister to deal with this problem of inequitable distribution and provide each district its rightful share. For this he said the government should release a White Paper on the subject immediately and take steps to tackle it. Claiming that while it was not sure when Haryana would be getting its due share from the SYL, the issue of proper distribution of the available water was very much in the hands of the state government. He said while the Haryana Government should take up the SYL issue on a top priority with the Centre and the Punjab Government, for its immediate solution. It should also clarify the present state of affairs regarding the total supply of water the state was getting from Punjab through the Bhakra and the Yamuna systems and how and where it was going in the past and at the present. According to Mr
Vidrohi, the southern districts of the state, including Rewari, Jhajjar, Gurgaon, Mahendergarh and even parts of Rohtak districts were not getting their share of water, resulting in acute shortage of water both for drinking and irrigation purposes. He said as the summers were approaching fast, also these parts received minimum rain throughout the year and the water level was low in these districts as well , hence the government should revive the subsidised system of power supply to the farmers from this season. |
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Dr Borlaug for better cultural practices
Hara Farms (Yamunanagar), March 18 Dr Borlaug had come to visit Hara Farms and spend a night with its owners — Mr Surinder Singh Hara and Ms Valerie Hara — last evening. Dr Borlaug was impressed with the Haras’ experiment of combining agriculture, forestry and horticulture in a single farm. Dr Borlaug said more than developing new high-yielding varieties of wheat and other crops, it was important to improve management packages of irrigation, fertilisers, soil fertility and nutrition to increase the yield. He said a high-yielding crop variety was like a child who showed a great potential to grow into a healthy adult. However, if the child was not taken care of properly, the potential would go waste and it would not bloom into its full. Similarly, the potential of a high-yielding crop variety could not be exploited without the support of improved cultural practices. Dr Borlaug, who is in India after nine years, felt that Indian agriculture had shown continuous progress with better cultural practices and quick transfer of information from research institutes to farmers during this period. He was also impressed with the participation of organised private sector in promoting agriculture in the country. He said only if the farmers were able to get remunerative prices for their produce, they would shift from the paddy-wheat rotation. He saw a great potential in agro-forestry as an alternative for farmers. Haras grow Canadian wheat, which is considered good for making cakes and bread, while the Indian wheat is good for making “chapatis”. The moment Dr Borlaug saw Canadian wheat, he narrated its history. He said it used to be like grass. The present-day Canadian wheat was a cross between the Canadian varieties and Maxican varieties. Mr Hara said agro-forestry was started by farmers like him about 25 years ago. Since then it had flourished in parts of Haryana, western UP and Punjab. Today, over 15,000 tonnes of timber logs were marketed daily to feed over 600 wood processing factories in the three states. A majority of these units were in the Yamunanagar area. He said he had been producing 20 tonnes of timber per acre per year on a harvest cycle of 10 years. That had been possible by the integration of all essential elements for plant growth — superior germ plasm, irrigation, plant nutrition and sunlight. Mr Hara, who has been agriculture consultant to the UN and the World Bank, said agro-forestry was initially encouraged by certain private companies like Wimco and ITC, which entered into contracts with individual farmers and provided them with technology and essential inputs. Dr Borlaug was accompanied, among others, by Mr Piare Lal, a former member of the Indian Forest Service. |
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Complex heart surgery at PGIMS
Rohtak, March 19 Patient Surinder Singh (34) was admitted to the PGIMS in a serious condition early on Monday. He had a damaged heart and an important blood vessel, Aorta, too was severely damaged due to a disease of the connective tissue. The condition is technically known as the Marfan syndrome. A team of doctors led by Dr S.S.
Lochab, head, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery operated upon the patient. Other team members were: Dr Vishal
Dheer, Dr Kuldeep Laller and Dr Shashi Kiran. The surgery lasted six hours. This surgical process is known as Cabrol Procedure. It is named after the inventor of the technique. The patient is reported to be progressing rapidly. The Marfan syndrome is a medical condition classified as a heritable disorder of connective tissue. Connective tissue, including the extra-cellular matrix, is the glue and the scaffolding of the body, but is important in many more functions as well, such as development before birth, growth after birth, cushioning of joints and enabling passage of light through the eyes. All organs contain connective tissue and the manifestations of the Marfan syndrome appear in many parts of the body, especially in the bones and ligaments (the skeletal system), the eyes (the ocular system), the heart and blood vessels (the cardiovascular system), the lungs (the pulmonary system), and the fibrous membrane covering the brain and spinal cord (the nervous system). The condition is named after a French
paediatrician, Antoine Marfan, who in 1896 diagnosed a 5-year-old girl whose arms, legs, fingers and toes were disproportionately long and thin, whose muscle development was poor, and whose spine curved abnormally, as suffering from this condition. Subsequently, physicians diagnosed other patients with similar skeletal changes as well as eye problems. By the early part of the 20th century, as a form of medical shorthand, Marfan’s name became commonly used to refer to individuals who seemed to be affected by this condition. The term “syndrome” refers to the fact that a group of physical signs or changes occur together often enough for a pattern to be
recognised. There are over 200 different heritable disorders of connective tissue, including a few which closely resemble the Marfan syndrome. They are termed “heritable” because all have their basis in a change (mutation) in one gene or another and because relatives have genes in common, these conditions may affect more than one person in a family. Not all are inherited in the same pattern as the Marfan syndrome. In the case of Surinder Singh, weakened connective tissue had led to thinning of the blood vessels which in turn damaged the Aorta and the heart valve. The success of the surgery has brought the PGIMS on a par with the top heart hospitals in the country. |
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PGIMS Dean not yet appointed
Rohtak, March 19 The Punjab and Haryana High Court had quashed the appointment of Dr S.S. Sangwan as Dean (Medical) last month. The petitioner, Dr D.R. Yadav, had challenged Dr Sangwan’s appointment to the post on the ground that it had been made on selection basis and not seniority-cum-merit basis as provided for in the Haryana Medical Education Rules, 1988. Dr Yadav, who was senior to Dr Sangwan, had alleged that the government had ignored his claim. The court had held that the procedure adopted for shortlisting Dr Sangwan for appointment by promotion violated the relevant rules. The court also ordered immediate removal of the Dean. It directed that the process for appointment of a new Dean should be completed within one month by following the principle of seniority-cum-merit. The deadline ended on March 9. It is learnt that the state government has sought another two months’ time for completing the appointment process on the plea that it could not be completed within the time period specified by the court because of elections and subsequent change of the government. |
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Temporary relief for MDU teachers
Rohtak, March 19 The meeting was to take up the issue of identifying surplus teachers but the item was withdrawn at the last minute following protests by leaders of the MDU Teachers Association
(MDUTA). They objected to the manner in which the workload of the teachers had been calculated and sought re-assessment of workload. This was accepted and the meeting put off. As a fallout of this decision, the meeting did not take up consideration of self-appraisal reports by teachers. The council, however, approved the report of the Sheoran panel which seeks to take care of many problems faced by teachers under the merit promotion scheme. There were heated exchanges over the agenda. Leaders of the MDUTA demanded that all items seeking approval of actions of the former VC be removed from the agenda. The items were subsequently not taken up. Several members led by Dr Himmat Singh Ratnoo objected to the agenda and demanded that the council should meet more frequently. |
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Workshop for principals
Kurukshetra, March 19 Dr Chawla said besides toning up administrative skills, principals and heads of higher education institutions needed to be innovative and more
resourseful. Dr Ved Parkash highlighted the problems being faced by institutions of higher learning. Dr
S.P. Malhotra presented a special lecture on perspectives of imparting higher education in India as business. |
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Gram sahayaks sans salary for 3 months
Sonepat, March 19 The authorities say they have not received directions from the government for releasing the salaries and without government sanction, the payments cannot be made. In order to provide employment to unemployed youths in villages, the Chautala government had created the post of gram sahayak in every village and filled the posts before the model code of conduct was enforced from December 18 prior to the Assembly elections. The appointments were made at the panchayat level and the panchayats were to pay salaries to them. After the announcement of the Assembly elections, the Chautala government reportedly failed to issue directions to the authorities at the district and block levels to release the salaries of the gram sahayaks. With the change of government in the state, panic has gripped the gram sahayaks and they even fear that the new government might abolish these posts on political grounds. A number of gram sahayaks said if they were not paid their salaries and in case there was any move to abolish these posts, they would approach the court for justice. “If the posts are abolished, over 7000 of us come on the road,” they remarked. |
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Three Navodya students drowned in Andhra
Sirsa, March 19 Rajesh, Navjot Singh and Abhishek were the students of Class IX at Navodya Vidyalaya, Nellore, they reportedly drowned after they left the hostel without intimating anybody. The victims were students at Navodya School in Odhan village in the district and were on migration to the Nellore school as a part of exchange programme. Parents of the victims had gone to New Delhi to bring their bodies. Sources in local school said that the three had left the hostel on Thursday along with seven to eight other students. They reportedly did not inform anybody and went to swim in a water body near the school. Unable to swim in deep water, the three got drowned. Seeing them drowning, other students raised an alarm and shouted for help. A few passersby came to their rescue. But when they were taken to the hospital there they were pronounced dead. |
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‘Brij ki Holi’ enthrals visitors at crafts mela
Karnal, March 19 The most amusing item of the day was ‘Brij ki Holi’. Young performers from mathura presented ‘Brij ki Holi’, a folk dance depicting Lord Krishna and his ‘gopis’ enjoying the festival with flowers. The audience too responded to the tunes of traditional music and the beats of drums. Later, the fair venue started echoing with Punjabi folk when Charanjit Kaur presented “Jadon mera lak hilda, sara hilda shehar Ludhiana”. A team of the Punjab police presented folk dances and folk songs. Meena Kumari presented a Rajasthani folk dance. |
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Break police-criminal nexus: CM
Chandigarh, March 19 The Chief Minister, who was presiding over his maiden meeting with the senior police officers of the state, including the Director-General of Police, IGs, DIGs and SPs of districts, here, assured them that certain reforms would be introduced to make the police force more efficient, responsive and result oriented. He asked them to give results within the next three months. He directed them to fix a time schedule to hear grievances of people and make the police force people friendly. He said corruption and inefficiency at any level would not be tolerated among police personnel. |
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Check power theft: minister
Hisar, March 19 Mr Jindal pointed out that at present, as much as 55 per cent electricity was being lost in line losses, the main reason being power theft. This loss could be reduced to 5 to 7 per cent if the theft could be checked, he added. The Power Minister asserted that the thermal plant at Yamunanagar would be commissioned within two years to generate adequate electricity to meet the increasing demand. |
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Row over construction of shops Ambala, March 19 Local residents have alleged that it is an ill-conceived plan to construct shops, which will hinder the proper functioning of the bhavan. However, a Bal Bhavan official said today that they were facing financial crises and the state government’s grant was only a quarter of the expenditure incurred by them. She said to ensure smooth functioning of different projects shops had been constructed in Bal Bhavans of different districts of the state. She said the land, which was going to be utilised for the construction, was located towards the pond and it was considered unsafe for children who play here. The land was low-lying and water accumulates in the area during the rainy season. The official stated that the plan was to construct 11 duplex shops. She said the income from the shops would help in running welfare programmes for children. |
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Naib Tehsildar’s murder: 3 held
Hisar, March 19 The arrested persons include Raj Kumar, alias Raju, a peon who also worked as a cook with the deceased, his son Vikas, alias Vicky, and his brother-in-law’s son Chetan, alias Sonu. All three accused were presented in a local court, which remanded them in police custody. |
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Youth booked for perverse act
Panipat, March 19 An FIR under Section 377 of the IPC has been registered against him. The accused allegedly took the victim with him in the bushes beat him up and sodomised him. The victim was medically examined at the Bhim Sen Sacher Hospital here today. |
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Motor
cycle expedition flagged off Ambala, March 19 The expedition is being carried out by 108 Medium Regt which is also called ‘Drass Saviours’ to commemorate its silver jubilee celebrations. The expedition team comprising two officers, two JCOs and 20 jawans will cover a distance of about 2500 km. An officer said that the motorcyclists would reach out to ex-servicemen of the regiment and look into their welfare. |
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