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State govt reacts sharply
to Badal’s threat
Badal flayed on water-sharing clause
Saalwan remains peaceful
Teachers to be covered under Minimum Wages Act
Women to get training, loan for
dairy farming
Drive to deworm schoolchildren
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Newly wed dies, in-laws booked
3 crushed to death
Woman beaten to death
Tyres, lubricants worth 45 lakh stolen
Shortage of LPG cylinders
Tension after Holi clash Tenders for CCTV atrailway station soon
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State govt reacts sharply
to Badal’s threat
Chandigarh, March 5 Section 5 maintains the existing level of river water supply to Haryana and Punjab, though the main Act has scrapped all inter-state river water agreements. Haryana irrigation minister Ajay Singh Yadav today described Mr Badal's statement "as unfortunate, unconstitutional and a political stunt". Mr Yadav said Punjab had taken the plea of being a riparian state and Mr Badal was of the view that no state, except Punjab, had a right over the waters flowing through the territory of that state. He said the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004, was itself unconstitutional and an encroachment upon the powers vested by the Constitution in the judiciary. The Act, passed without any legislative competence, was inconsistent with the statutory order of March 24, 1976, the statutory agreements of December 31, 1981, Section 78 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, and Section 14 of the Inter-State River Water Dispute Act, 1956. The Haryana minister said Punjab always repeated its old contention that Haryana and Rajasthan were not entitled to the surplus Ravi-Beas waters because of being non-riparian states. He said the doctrine of riparian rights had been discussed and was rejected internationally while determining the rights of states over inter-state rivers. Various river water dispute tribunals set up by the Union Government had also rejected the riparian principle. Mr Yadav reminded Mr Badal that the surplus Ravi-Beas waters had been exchanged in lieu of Chenab and Jhelum waters with Pakistan by the Union Government by paying Rs 110 crore under the Indus Water Treaty in 1960. He said Haryana, being a part of the then Punjab, had full rights with regard to the Indus river waters on the basis of equity. Also, Haryana was part of the Indus basin. He said former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, who had actively participated in the recent Punjab elections in favour of Mr Badal, owed an apology to the people of Haryana. Haryana Congress spokesman Ved Prakash Vidrohi said his party would oppose any action to scrap Section 5 of the Punjab Act. |
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Badal flayed on water-sharing clause
Rewari, March 5 Recalling that the Presidential reference made under Article 143 of the Constitution in regard to the act was still under consideration of the apex court, he pointed out that if section 5 of the act was scrapped in such circumstances, it would not only be unconstitutional but an affront to the apex court as well. Holding the Badal as well as Chautala families responsible for the long-pending SYL tangle, Vidrohi cautioned the people of Haryana against the self-centred politics of these two families. |
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Saalwan remains peaceful Karnal, March 5 Today the family members and relatives of the deceased farmer, Mahipal Singh Rana, had observed a condolence meeting at the village. The ceremony was held amidst tight police security. An official spokesman for the administration today informed The Tribune that the process to shape the “effective peace committees” were on by the administration to maintain the atmosphere of harmony in the village. The proposed committee would have 11 members each from both communities. Meanwhile, the Rajput community leader today stated that several names from their community were falsely included in the case and demanded to exclude such names. It is learnt that the administration had ensured to conduct a fair investigation. Top police and district officers were present on the occasion to ensure peaceful atmosphere in the village. Though the Dalit mahapanchayat had announced to observe a Haryana bandh but the call failed to show any impact in the district. The district administration had made elaborated police arrangements and no untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the district. Meanwhile, the body of a Dalit youth, Sonu, was cremated peacefully in the village yesterday. He had reportedly died after falling in a drain in a drunken stage.
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Teachers to be covered under Minimum Wages Act
Chandigarh, February 5 Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had recently announced an over Rs 1,000 increase in the minimum wages of various categories of workers. The state government is issuing a notification, according the status of employee to teachers under Section 2(i) of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, so that teachers can also benefit from the raise. Official sources said the step had been initiated to prevent the exploitation of teachers at the hands of owners of private educational institutions. The sources said about one lakh teachers working in 22,000 private schools of Haryana would benefit from the step. As of now, the government does not have the power to prosecute any school management for not giving a teacher the pay scale fixed by the state government. Bringing teachers within the ambit of the 1948 Act will enable the government to initiate legal action against an institution for not paying the minimum salary to a teacher. Such teachers will also have to be covered under the Employees Provident Fund and Employees State Insurance schemes. According to the new minimum wage structure of Haryana, which is expected to become effective from April 1, a highly skilled worker will get a pay of Rs 4,160 per month, a skilled worker Rs 3,900, a semi-skilled worker Rs 3,640 and an unskilled worker Rs 3,510 .Trained and untrained teachers will be adjusted in these categories to be given the minimum wages accordingly. Importantly, private educational institutions do figure in the schedule of outfits covered under the Minimum Wages Act. While watchmen, clerks and other workers of these institutions enjoy the status of employee, teachers have been denied that status. The Supreme Court, in an order in 1996, had also turned down a plea for considering teachers as employees since they apparently did not fit in the definition of employee given in the Minimum Wages Act. However, the Act does say that a person declared an employee by the appropriate government will come under the definition of employee under the Act.
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Women to get training, loan for
dairy farming
Sirsa, March 5 Stating this here today, Deputy Commissioner V.Umashankar said the state government had okayed the scheme for Sirsa, Ambala, Rohtak, Kurukshetra, Jind and Faridabad districts. "The Department of Animal Husbandry is organising women-awakening camps to create awareness about the handsome gains of dairy farming," he said, adding that the department had provided loans amounting to Rs 1.82 crore to 244 persons of the district under the mini-dairy scheme during the current financial year. The Deputy Commissioner said with a view to providing better health and medical facilities to animals, a veterinary polyclinic would be established at Kanganpur village under the Rashtriya Sam Vikas Yojna. The polyclinic, to be set up at an estimated cost of Rs 2 crore, would provide all lab tests, ultrasound and surgical facilities for the animals. Umashankar further stated that under another welfare scheme of the government, uneducated persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes could get loans up to Rs 5,000 for rearing sheep. "As many as 40 applicants of the district have been granted this loan through banks, on which the department concerned has also given a subsidy of Rs 2 lakh," he added. |
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Drive to deworm schoolchildren
Fatehabad, March 5 Civil surgeon
J.K. Bishnoi launched the campaign by administering doses of Albendazole to children in the local government girls primary school. Talking to
mediapersons, Bishnoi said the authorities had given 68,000 deworming tablets to the education department for 66,112 children studying 392 primary schools of the district. He said the authorities would also provide iron tablets to children every week with the mid-day meal so that those suffering from anaemia could be cured. |
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Newly wed dies, in-laws booked
Rewari, March 5 Thus suspecting foul play, Ravi Yadav, a brother of the deceased, made a complaint to the Rampura police here alleging that she had been done to death by her dowry-esurient in-laws. Consequently, the police has now registered a case of dowry death under sections 498-A and 304-B of the IPC against her husband Manjeet Yadav, father-in-law Shubh Ram Yadav, mother-in-law Krishna Yadav, brother-in-law Manoj Yadav and sister-in-law Asha Yadav. Sushma Yadav, a daughter of Suraj Bhan Yadav of Motla Khurd village, near Jatusana, was married to Manjeet on June 30, 2006. |
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3 crushed to death
Jhajjar, March 5 According to the information, four youths, Rattan Singh (30), Mainpal (22), Sunder (23) and Samunder (22), were in a conversation and walking on the road when a Mahindra Pick-Up jeep lost its control and ran over them. Three of them, Rattan Singh, Main Pal and Sunder, died in the incident, while fourth received serious injuries and was rushed to hospital. The driver of the jeep escaped from the spot after, in his bid to speed away, the vehicle rammed into a roadside tree. |
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Woman beaten to death
Yamunanagar, March 5 Police sources said the suspect,Phool Kumar, asked his wife,Mamta (35),to bring him a glass of water.On Mamta’s refusal to do so,Phool Kumar started beating her.The victim ran out of the house,but was caught by the suspect who again started hitting her with a stick.She later died. Phool Kumar's neighbours reported the matter to the police this morning.Ms Nirmala, sister of the deceased,said Mamta was married about 10 years ago.She alleged Phool Kumar was an alcoholic.Senior police officials,including S.P K.V Ramana,reached the spot. The body was sent for a post mortem. Meanwhile,Phool Kumar has refuted the allegation levelled against him and maintained that his wife died after falling from the roof of their house.
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Tyres, lubricants worth 45 lakh stolen
Yamunanagar, March 5 Surinder Gaur and Manish, joint owners of the shop, told the police that they had closed the shop at around 8.30 pm on Saturday. On Sunday morning they were informed that shutters of the shop were open. A case has been registered. In another incident, three motor cycle-borne youths looted a shopkeeper of cash and mobile phone at gunpoint on Saturday evening. Shopkeeper Shyam Sunder told the police that two persons carrying a countrymade gun entered his shop (Prem Communcation,) near Pyara Chowk here and asked him to hand over all the cash and other valuables, while the third person kept standing outside. The youth took away Rs 12,000, several mobile phone sets and mobile phone recharge coupons.
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Shortage of LPG cylinders
Yamunanagar, March 5 Failure of the district administration to check unauthorised use of LPG cylinders is said to be one of the major reasons behind the shortage. A high sale of LPG based geysers has also contributed towards the shortage. As per information collected by The Tribune only 80,000 cylinders were released through different gas agencies in the district during the last month and there are 1.53 lakh LPG connections in the district.
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Tension after Holi clash Ambala, March 5 Local shopkeepers sat on dharna outside the Barara police station, demanding that those who had beaten up a local youth should be arrested.The dharna caused a traffic jam on the main Barara road. The police had to resort to a mild lathi charge to clear the blockade. Inspector-general of police (Ambala range) SS Deswal said the situation was under control. "Things are peaceful now. There has been no damage to life or property." About a week back, a few youths of Barara thrashed a youth from Thambad village. Apparently, in retaliation, a group of youths from Thambad village beat up Kanwar, who hails from Barara, during Holi celebrations yesterday. The Police nabbed two of the four youths involved in the incident. However, the local shopkeepers last night had warned that if all persons involved were not held, the Barara market would be closed following day. This morning, a meeting of the shopkeepers was held at the Community Centre at which it was decided that a dharna be held outside the Barara police station. The dharna began at 10 am. At about 12.30 pm, a posse of police led by superintendent of police Amitabh Dhillon used a mild lathi charge to clear the dharna, following which the road was cleared. At least 24 persons were rounded up. The shops in the town remained closed throughout the day.
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Tenders for CCTV atrailway station soon Rahul Das Tribune News Service Ambala, March 5 Divisional railway manager H.K. Jaggi said tenders would be invited soon. He said specifications of CCTV requirements were being studied and those would be installed soon. Security agencies were keen that CCTV should be installed at the earliest. The process should be hastened, especially after the Samjhauta Express incident, an official said. He said different security agencies were on alert after the Samjhauta Express incident took place. The CCTV would help them in continous monitoring of the railway station, which would go a long way towards heightened security, he said. After the Samjhauta Express incident, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) had requisitioned hand-held metal detectors and loudspeakers. Sixteen hand-held metal detectors were expected to be with the RPF personnel in the next couple of days while two door metal detectors would be set up soon. It had also sought two more dog squads. While one dog squad was proposed to be stationed at Bathinda, the second was proposed to be stationed at Saharanpur. An RPF official said they had been working round-the-clock to prevent any untoward incident. They had been carrying out checking of suspicious luggage and educating passengers. The loudspeakers would be used to reach the target audience and awareness generation would go a long way towards better safety, he said. A train passenger on the 1UP from Ambala to Patiala alerted RPF personnel about unclaimed baggage this morning, he said. On checking, nothing incriminating was found, but being alert was beneficial, he added.
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