 |
|
|
Karnal jail under NHRC scanner
No work, all pay for them
Can’t bank on their schemes
11 officers nominated directors
National Family Health Survey
Drug testing lab for Kurukshetra
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
More villages included in project
Free insurance for SC-owned milch animals
Ajay Chautala meets traders
Five dead in 3 accidents
Armed men loot traders
Pension: New persons to be identified
2 die in road accidents
Rs 175 cr to be spent under sanitation scheme
Man dead under mysterious circumstances
Man hit with iron rod, dies
Repairman electrocuted
Rs 4 cr for rural water schemes
Dalits stage protest
Prisoner dies
|
|
Karnal jail under NHRC scanner
Panipat, November 10 Sonepat jail superintendent Rai Singh Mandiwal has been entrusted the job of looking into the series of allegations of serious nature. He is scheduled to visit the Karnal jail premises on November 12. State convener of Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) P.P. Kapoor had written a letter to the NHRC chairman about the poorly managed Karnal jail. Following Panipat workers' agitation last year, he was lodged in Karnal jail for 60 days and was released on February 7, 2007. He had alleged that due to the autocratic attitude of the jail authorities, the inmates were deprived of even basic facilities including quality food, toilets etc. “Prisoners at the Karnal jail are treated in the most inhuman manner and due to the highly deplorable atmosphere, as many as five of them ended their lives in the last two years,” he alleged. Kapoor informed The Tribune that he had submitted the 23-point complaint letter to the commission early this year. He was asked to join investigations into human rights abuse on Monday morning. He charged the jail authorities with serving unhygienic food to the inmates. He said the low quality of the food forced them to buy eatables sold illegally within the jail premises at much higher prices. In the complaint lodged with the NHRC, Kapoor also alleged that the complaint box remained out of the reach of the inmates thus aggravating the pathetic situation in the jail. He also alleged that the inmates had to bribe the jail staff for quilts, beddings and other sanctioned facilities. He said the overcrowded jail failed to provide hygienic environs to the prisoners. The prisoners were treated like animals and were becoming victims of acute depression, he added. The trade unionist also pleaded with the NHRC to ensure to provide better library and sports facility to turn the prison into a place that reforms inmates. |
|
No work, all pay for them
Rohtak, November 10 These lecturers — Dr
R.S. Sangwan, Dr Inder Jeet and Naresh Malik — were sent back to MDU after the Haryana government decided to take control of the erstwhile University College. They joined the department of geography on April 30, 2007. They maintain that the then head of the department (HOD), Prof Nina Singh, invited them to a departmental committee meeting for the distribution of workload held on July 2. They were also assigned their subjects and periods, etc. However, a little later, Prof
S.H. Ansari joined as the HOD. He refused to accommodate these lecturers on the ground that there was no workload at the department for them. Dr Ansari asserts that the claims being made by these lecturers to substantiate their case were hollow and unfounded. “They have been stating that the total existing workload (including practicals) at the department was 226 hours per week. But this is only a proposal, subject to the availability of adequate laboratory and other teaching facilities and infrastructure,” he maintains. On the other hand, the affected teachers allege that they are being subjected to mental torture and harassment by the HOD. As a result of the ongoing tussle, a tense atmosphere has been prevailing at the department for months. The salaries being paid to the three lecturers have also become wasteful expenditure as their services are not being
utilised. The academic atmosphere has, obviously, been the first casualty. The situation has become so critical that Professor Ansari has accused the lecturers of manhandling and threatening him, while the lecturers have charged him with humiliating them in front of students and using derogatory, abusive and “unparliamentary” language while talking to them. However, the university authorities have failed to take prompt action warranted in view of the seriousness of the matter. MDU vice-chancellor
R.S. Dhankar said the dean, academic affairs, Dr Ishwar Singh, had been asked to look into the issue and appropriate action would be taken after he submitted his report. |
|
|
Firm gets lower returns than promised
Sushil Manav Our Correspondent
Fatehabad, November 10 A local grain market firm has learnt this after losing thousands of rupees. The firm Mal Roop Chand and Sons was approached by a senior functionary of the local HDFC Bank for opening a fixed deposit account with the bank and were offered an interest of 9 per cent per annum for a 91-day deposit. As the rate of interest on offer was slightly higher than what nationalised banks provide, the firm agreed to invest Rs 15 lakh with the bank in a fixed deposit of 91 days and issued a cheque in favour of the bank in the month of April. The owner of the firm was made to sign some application forms. When the firm did not receive the fixed deposit certificate for a few days, the firm owner visited the bank to inquire about it. He was told that the certificates were to be issued from Mumbai and might take some time. Several inquiries by the firm yielded little results and the bank manager continued citing one excuse or the other for the delay. Later, the certificate was issued to the firm 60 days after the date of realisation of the cheque. The certificate, however, mentioned a much later date of issuance than the date of the realising of the cheque. The manager informed the owners of the firm the bank had first opened a current account of the firm and then opened the fixed deposit by debiting money from that account on that later date when the certificate was issued. The firm owner protested that he had never opted for a current account, but the bank manager did not pay heed to his protests. The firm ended up getting about Rs 9,000 as interest instead of the promised Rs 34,000. As if this was not enough, when the firm owners went to the bank later for withdrawing the balance amount from their current account, they were in for another shock. The bank had debited Rs 7,000 from their account on the basis that the firm had failed to maintain a minimum daily balance of Rs 1 lakh in its account. The branch manager of the bank was not available for comments, but Neha Sheoran, deputy manager of the bank said that there may have been some misunderstanding while opening the account and a bank employee had been made to pay the difference of interest to the customer out of his own pocket. Regarding debiting of penal amount from the account of the customer, she said, it was as per the rules of the bank.
|
|
11 officers nominated directors
Chandigarh, November 10 S.P. Sharma, principal secretary, Finance Department, has been nominated as director on the board of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA). Hardeep Kumar, special secretary, has been nominated as a director on the boards of the HVPN, Haryana Warehousing Corporation, Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, Haryana Financial Corporation (as special invitee), Haryana Power Generation Corporation and Haryana Forest Development Corporation. Kulvinder Singh, special secretary, has been nominated as a director on the boards of Haryana Dairy Development Cooperative Federation Limited, Haryana Tourism Corporation Limited, HARCO Bank, Haryana Housing Board, Haryana State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (HARTRON) and Haryana Agro Industries Corporation. Rajiv Ranjan, joint secretary, has been nominated as a director on the boards of Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board (as special invitee), Haryana State Agricultural and Rural Development Bank, Haryana Minerals Limited, Haryana Seeds Development Corporation Limited, Haryana Land Reclamation and Development Corporation and Haryana Police Housing Corporation Limited. Sanjiv Verma, deputy secretary, has been nominated as a director on the boards of Haryana State Khadi Village Industries Board, Haryana State Federation of Cooperative Sugar Mills, Panchkula, Haryana Board of School Education, Bhiwani and Haryana State Federation of Consumer Cooperative Wholesale Stores Limited (CONFED). Des Raj Lamba, deputy secretary, has been nominated as a director on the boards of Haryana State Cooperative Sugar Mills, Sonepat, Haryana Backward Classes Kalyan Nigam and Mewat Development Agency, Nuh. Surinder Mohan, under secretary, has been nominated as a director on the boards of Haryana State Cooperative Sugar Mills, Palwal and Haryana Scheduled Caste Finance and Development Corporation. Des Raj Dhamija, under secretary, has been nominated as a director on the boards of Haryana State Cooperative Sugar Mills at Jind and Bhuna and Chaudhary Devi Lal Cooperative Sugar Mill, Gohana. B.M. Sharma, HSS, under secretary, has been nominated as a director on the boards of Haryana Roadways Engineering Corporation Limited, Cooperative Sugar Mills at Panipat and Kaithal. Chander Bhan Pannu, under secretary, has been nominated as a director on the boards of Haryana Women Development Corporation, and Cooperative Sugar Mills, Meham. Puran Chand Arora, under secretary, has been nominated as a director on the boards of Cooperative Sugar Mills at Rohtak, Shahbad and Karnal. |
|
70 pc pregnant women anaemic
Naveen S. Garewal Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 10 Released with the NFHS report recently, the provisional data suggests that there is little difference between health awareness among the rural and urban population. The extent of vaccination has gone up and infant mortality has dipped. However, there is a disturbing trend that indicates that over 82 per cent children in the age group 6 to 35 months are anaemic, while the percentage of anaemia among pregnant women is as high as 70. Among women between 15 and 49 years, 56.5 per cent were found to be anaemic, while correspondingly only 17.6 per cent of men in the same age group had iron deficiency. Conducted in collaboration with the USAID, UNICEF, the UNFPA and Avahan, India’s AIDS initiative, the three-page provisional findings of the survey reveal that nearly 91 per cent men in the urban areas and 86 per cent in the rural areas had heard of AIDS/HIV. In contrast, lesser number of women were aware of the disease, but in the rural areas the number is significantly higher than the awareness levels of women as indicated by the NFHS-2. With regard to infant mortality, the number of infant deaths per 1,000 live births in the past five years in the rural areas had dropped from 80 during the NFHS-2 to 42 in the NFHS-3. Similarly, the percentage of children between 12-23 months who have received the recommended vaccination in the urban areas went up from 77 as documented by the NFHS-2 to 82 during the NFHS-3. In rural areas the corresponding figures improved only marginally from 63 to 65 per cent as shown by the NFHS-3. However, the survey has also thrown up a disturbing trend showing that many girls were being married close to the age of 18 years and boys on turning 21. About 15.2 per cent women residing in rural areas were pregnant despite being in the age bracket of 15-19 years; the number of women in the same age group in the urban areas was significantly lower at 3.7 per cent. A significant trend that has emerged in family planning indicates that it is women who by and large have to undergo sterilisation. As against 38.2 per cent women opting for sterilisation as a means for family planning only less than 1 per cent men offered to get vasectomy. The provisional results also suggest high awareness levels among both rural and urban population of the state. Statistics that have emerged from the survey suggest that nearly 91 per cent men and 86 per cent women of the state have regular exposure (at least once a week) to various media (television, radio or newspaper) in the urban areas while the figures for the rural areas were 59 and 72 per cent for women and men, respectively. Contrary to the popular belief, the survey has indicated that over 91 per cent of the homes in the state are electrified. Of these 88.7 are in the rural areas. But the situation of piped drinking water is not so rosy with only 56.6 per cent homes in the rural areas having access to piped drinking water, while the percentage in the urban areas is slightly higher at 71 per cent. Again less than 35 per cent of the homes in the rural areas have access to toilet facility. Only 41 per cent of the people living in villages live in a pucca house and there are about 18 per cent of people in the urban areas, too, who do not live in pucca homes. Even though many people are not lucky to live in pucca homes, many of them own televisions. The percentage of people in the rural areas owning televisions is 55.6, which is much higher than the percentage of people having pucca homes. Overall, the survey suggests that life in Haryana villages and towns is decidedly better than in many other states of the country. People in Haryana are better off financially as compared to people in some other states with as many as 48.6 per cent people in villages owning agriculture land and 22.3 per cent in the urban areas being owners of agriculture lands. The NFHS-3 was conducted in Haryana from April to June 2006, by the Chandigarh-based Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID). The NFHS-3 has provided trend data on key indicators and includes information on several topics such as HIV/AIDS-related behaviour and health of slum population. For the first time, the NFHS-3 has also provided information on unmarried women and their status with regard to health. Another interesting finding is that a large number of families in Haryana are now sending girls to schools from an early age. The survey has disclosed that the population of age 6 plus that is literate amount to over 71 per cent in the entire state with the rural areas having 66.8 per cent population over 6 years as literate. In the urban areas, the percentage is much higher at 82.9 per cent. The survey also shows that despite rapid migration to towns and cities, two-thirds of the state’s population still lives in the rural areas.
|
|
Drug testing lab for Kurukshetra
Kurukshetra, November 10 Apart from this, a sum of Rs 34 crore had also been earmarked to promote ayurveda in the state. He was addressing a gathering on the occasion of the state-level Bhagwan Dhanvantri Jayanti after visiting an exhibition of the Ayurvedic Department at Sri Krishna Government Ayurvedic College. He also planted a sapling of Rudaraksha in the premises. The Chief Minister said Bhagwan Dhanvantri was a surgeon and a pioneer of Ayurvedic system in the country. He said it was the oldest system in the world and had the capacity to treat chronic diseases. He said due to contribution of Baba Ramdev, yoga had gained importance throughout the world. Hooda said a sum of Rs 2 crore had been received to make Sri Krishna Ayurvedic Government College a model institute. Besides, a sum of Rs 60 lakh had also been released by the state government for the construction of the hostel in the college. The internship allowance of students of BAMS had been increased from Rs 1,200 to Rs 2,000, he added. Hooda informed that during the current financial year, 15 ayurvedic and homeopathic dispensaries would be set up, out of which 5 were currently under progress. Similarly, 20 herbal parks had been set up, he added.
|
|
More villages included in project
Chandigarh, November 10 This project is being implemented with the assistance of the Japan Bank of International Cooperation to restore forest land and reduce poverty in villages. While stating this here today, a spokesman of the department said 29 villages of Rewari and 36 of Mahendragarh were earlier selected for the project. Villages in Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat, Panipat and Karnal district had also been selected for the project, he said, adding that the project would continue till 2010-11. He said in each selected village three self-help groups (SHGs) and village forest committees were being constituted to increase resources through income generation activities. Also, experts were being engaged to stregthen the self-help groups. He said the department had also invited consultancy services for the project. The consultants would help set up some SHGs exclusively by women from the economically weaker sections.
|
|
Free insurance for SC-owned milch animals
Fatehabad, November 10 The government will pay premium for the insurance. The authorities have already begun implementation of the scheme by allotting the work to six different insurance companies in the state. According to the work allotment letter issued recently by the managing director of the Haryana Livestock Development Board, United India Insurance Company has been allotted the work of insurance at Hisar, Fatehabad, Sirsa and Kurukshetra districts. The other companies, which have been allotted the work of insurance, are Oriental Insurance Company, National Insurance Company, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, Tata AIG General Insurance Company and Reliance General Insurance Company, which have been allotted different districts of the state. Under this scheme, the insurance companies will appoint an insurance agent for every two villages. The agents will be from the village for which they are appointed. The board has set a target of covering all milch animals owned by people belonging to the Scheduled Castes by March 31, 2008. Dr S.K. Bagoria, deputy director, Animal Husbandry, Fatehabad, said the government intended to extend this scheme for sheep, pigs and goats from the next financial year.
|
|
Ajay Chautala meets traders
Bhiwani, November 10 Chautala said that he had close relations with the people of this parliamentary area as they had given a new direction to his political career by electing him for the biggest ‘panchayat’ of the country. When the traders complained of bad power supply and sanitation conditions, he assured them that he will give the city top priority in the field of development. Ajay Chautala started his campaign from his party office at Agarsein Chowk and went to Meham Gate, Hansi Gate, Ghantaghar Chowk, Sarai Chaupta, Mahabir Ghati, Jawahar Chowk and Ghosian Chowk. He inaugurated three new establishments.
|
|
Five dead in 3 accidents
Fatehabad, November 10 Three persons died when a Maruti car rammed into a tree near Bhattu Kalan. The occupants of the car had started from village Pilimandori and were going towards village Dhingsara to see a fair when the car driver Devi Lal lost control of the vehicle due to a heap of stones lying by the road leading to the collision. One of the occupants Sohan Lal (50) died on the spot, while his wife Leela Wanti, driver Devi Lal, Maya Devi and Dalip were seriously injured. Leela Wanti and Dalip succumbed to their injuries in the hospital. In another accident, a motorcyclist Atma Ram died when a tractor trolley hit his bike near village Bharpoor near Ratia today. Rajesh and Vinod, who were riding pillion, were injured. In a third incident, Krishan Kumar of village Jandli Kalan died when he fell from his bicycle on the banks of Jandli minor canal. The victim's head hit against the bank and he fell into the water. |
|
Armed men loot traders
Yamunanagar, November 10 As per police sources, the traders and the exporter were staying at Kaveri hotel located near Jagadhri railway station. The four had come here in connection with a business project. Exporter Kuntal Seth from Kolkata said two armed persons entered their room and asked them to hand over cash and valuables. The duo reportedly took away Rs 35,000, a gold chain and a bangle with them. Earlier, they tied the hands of a hotel staffer, Meghraj, who was sitting in the reception area. Meghraj later told the police that the two persons had come to the hotel on the pretext of hiring a room. Superintendent of police Dr C.S. Rao visited the hotel in the morning. In another incident, some armed persons entered into the house of Kirpal Singh in Jardoa village and allegedly attacked him, his wife Salochna, his son Sanjeev and daughter-in-law Ritu. They also took with them Rs 2,000, 20 grams of gold and a brief case. The brief case was, however, later found in the nearby fields. The police has started its investigations. |
|
Pension: New persons to be identified
Chandigarh, November 10 An official spokesman said all those who were above 60 years would have to fill new forms
to take the benefit of the scheme for which survey committees had been formed in rural
and urban areas in the state. The committees would identity the beneficiaries. He said those who
were already getting the benefit should present themselves before their respective committees for verification.
|
|
|
2 die in road accidents
Rewari, November 10 An Army jawan, Som Prakash (28), of Punsika village was crushed to death by an oil tanker which hit his motorcycle on the circular road. The mishap occurred when Som Prakash was returning to his village. The police has arrested the driver, Gulab Hussain, and registered a case of rash and negligent driving against him. In another incident, Dev Raj, a resident of Alawalpur village, died after his motorcycle was hit by an unknown vehicle on the NH-8, near Dharuhera, last evening. |
|
Rs 175 cr to be spent under sanitation scheme
Chandigarh, November 10 Chief parliamentary secretary (CPS) Dharmbir Singh said that under the total sanitation campaign
(TSC), sanitary complexes for women, school toilets, anganwari toilets, rural sanitary marts and and solid liquid waste management centres were being
constructed. Dharmbir Singh said Rs 175.39 crore had been provided under the TSC .The fund was being shared by the centre, the state government and the beneficiaries. The CPS said under the programme, a total of 2,09,866 individual household latrines
(IHHLs) for people below the poverty line had already been constructed.
|
|
|
Man dead under mysterious circumstances
Bhiwani, November 10 Some persons along with his son and brother-in-law had taken the body for cremation. Hospital authorities referred the body to PGI Rohtak for post-mortem examination. The investigations are on.
|
|
Man hit with iron rod, dies
Sonepat, November 10 The incident occurred when Prakash, who was reportedly under the influence of liquor, picked up a fight with Raj. The police arrested Raj. In another incident, Dinesh (25), was run over by a speeding train, while he was crossing the track near Bandepur last evening. He was residing in Govind Nagar. |
|
Repairman electrocuted
Bhiwani, November 10 Sandeep of Atela village, working under a private contractor, was carrying out the repairs after the power had been cut. The contractor had taken permission for switching off power. |
|
Rs 4 cr for rural water schemes
Rewari, November 10 About Rs 4 crore will be spent on the three schemes, which are sponsored and funded by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. The schemes will provide the drinking water facility to the residents of about 18 villages. |
|
Dalits stage protest
Sirsa, November 10 They demanded that unscrupulous elements who had damaged the statue should be arrested at the earliest. Later, the police registered a case against unknown persons in this regard. However, no arrests have been made so far. |
|
Prisoner dies
Bhiwani, November 10 Sources said Balwan of Balkar village, who was in the prison in connection with a case of embezzlement, died of unknown reasons. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
