Yamunanagar, January 24
Seven persons have been killed and 41 injured in road accidents that took place today morning. The thick fog had reduced the visibility in the area. Thirty-two women were also injured in the accident. Most of them were residents of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

Four pilgrims, who were returning after attending the Aardh Kumbh at Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh in a charted bus, were killed and 39 others injured. The bus fell into a 10-feet deep pit near Gadhouli village on the Jagadhri-Ambala stretch of the National Highway No. 73 at 5 am.

Police sources said the thick fog had reduced the visibility and the bus fell into the pit just before a small bridge over a seasonal rivulet. The bus driver was absconding.

The locals came to rescue of the pilgrims who were trapped inside the bus. Mr Nitin Yadav, Deputy Commissioner, Yamunanagar, and Mr S.S Deshwal, IG (Ambala range), reached the spot. The Red Cross Society, Yamunanagar, has decided to bear the cost of treatment of those injured who were being treated at a private hospital.

About 60 pilgrims, mostly from Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, were travelling in the bus. The roof of the bus was full of luggage. The pilgrims had left their homes about one month ago and had camped at Hardwar yesterday night.

Those who died in the accident have been identified as Rajkumari (60) of Akhnur, Chanchal (55) of Panchtirthi, Jagdhish Chander (60) of Kathua district and Geeta Devi (45).

Those injured (all were above 50) have been identified as Geeta Rani, Sheela Devi, Tara Devi, Shamap, Pushpa, Shashi, Kapru Devi, Kanta Devi, Sita Ram, Vishnu Dutt, Kanto, Suneeta, Channo Devi, K.L Khana (Jammu), Mangli (Nathral), Rampyari (Ram Nagar), Deena Nath (Bharda Kalan), Asha Rani (Satar), Kunti (Himachal Pradesh), Meena, Ayodhay Katoch and Kanta Sharma (all from Inderpur), Radhno Devi (Kahanpur), Suresh Devi (Kangra), Trishna Sharma (Inderpur), Lajwanit (Panchtirthi), Videsho Devi (Devi Patni), Parul Lata (Punjab), Sumitra (Karanpur), Sudesh Gupta (Bakshi Nagar),Nirmala Devi (Kathla), Shankuntla (Nurpur, Kangra), Santosh (Amritsar), Kanta Devi (Verdo Kalan), Om Parkash, Poonam, Krishan Lal, Ravi, and Nirmala.

In another accident, Bharat Sharma, Bharat Bakshi and Gaurav, all residents of the Khezrabad block were killed when their Tata Indica car rammed into a stationary truck on the Jagadhri-Ponta Sahbi highway near Gulabgarh village today. They along with Varinder and Vikas had gone to attend their friend’s marriage at Jagadhri and were returning home when the accident took place. Police sources said the body of Gaurav (20) was found lying in bushes, 20-feet from the accident site. Bharat Sharma was found on the road. The body of Bharat Bakshi was taken out of the car with great difficulty. The police has registered a case against the truck driver.

Yamunanagar, January 24
Nine members of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the 18-member Zila Parishad have threatened to bring in the no-confidence motion against the parishad Chairman if the issues put up by them in the House were not taken up.

The members today boycotted the 50th house meeting when the Chairman put the issues of the last meting for approval. Three of the members were absent.

Chairman Shyam Sunder put the proceedings of the last meeting for approval. The INLD and BSP members refused to grant their approval and walked off under the leadership of Vice-Chairman Khela Ram Narwal. The INLD and BSP members alleged that the Chairman was trying to get grants for proposals without the consent of the members. They also said the meeting of the House was called after four and a half months instead of the routine three months. They said that copies of the grants for the district were not given to all members. They were also demanding that the rest house of the Zila Parishad at present in the occupation of the police department should be taken back.

However, the meeting of the House continued after the boycott by the INLD and BSP members and nine proposals were approved. The proposals, which were approved include issuance of 22.5 per cent funds under the SGR Yojana for purchase of bicycles and sewing machines for BPL families and formulation of a supplementary action plan under the yojana.

Mr Khela Ram Narwal raised objection over the continuance of the meeting after INLD and BSP members had boycotted. He said the conduct of the meeting was unconstitutional. 

Sonepat, January 24
Mr Deepender Singh Hooda, MP from Rohtak today claimed that many parts of the state particularly Rohtak and Sonepat districts had started getting due share of development and canal water for the first time after Haryana became separate state.

He was addressing a meeting at Mahmoodpur village after laying the foundation stone of a sports stadium in the village. He attributed this achievement to the present Congress government.

To promote sports in rural areas, he said, the state government had taken decision to provide sports stadiums in 500 villages at an estimated cost of Rs 40 crore.

Referring to the demands of the villagers, Mr Hooda announced a grant of Rs 10 lakh each from MPLAD fund for the pavement of streets in Mahmoor Chahal and Mahmoodpur Maan localities.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dharambir Singh, DC DPS Nagal, MLA Jitender Malik, Zila Parishad chairperson, Kamla Devi were also present on the occasion.

Later, Mr Hooda laid the foundation stones of a primary health centre at Bidhlan village and a sports stadium at Bhatgaon village.

Chandigarh, January 24
The processing charges for blood in government blood banks in Haryana have been reduced from Rs 500 to Rs 250 per unit and private blood banks will not charge more than Rs 500 per unit as processing charges.

The Haryana State Blood Transfusion Council has also decided to restrict the number of blood banks in the state.

A spokesman of the Haryana State Blood Transfusion Council said here today that the processing charges had been reduced in view of the reduction in the cost of testing kits. The blood banks in the private sector would have to display the processing charges for per unit of blood on their premises. It was decided to encourage private blood banks to set up blood component separation units within five years of the grant of licence to ensure rational and multiple use of blood.

It was also decided that any organisation of any other state could hold blood donation camps in Haryana only with the approval of the council and the consent of the Deputy Commissioner and the Civil Surgeon concerned. A team of a government blood bank or of the Red Cross Society should be invited to the camp and a detailed report about the number of units collected and infection status must be intimated as per rules to the authorities concerned. —TNS