Ambala, February 23
The Jaipur police has also sought the arrest of the kidney kingpin, Dr Amit Kumar, in a case registered against him and two other doctors in 1995 at the Sandhola police station on a charge of removing a kidney of a villager.

A fast-track court of Jaipur has issued a production warrant against Dr Amit in this regard and directed the police to produce him in the court on February 25.

A police official of Jaipur presented the production warrant in the CBI court here today. Duty Magistrate Mahavir Singh referred the warrant to the superintendent of jail, Ambala. According to jail sources, the production warrant was received by the jail authorities and Dr Amit will be sent to Jaipur on February 25 as per the direction of the court.

Meanwhile, the CBI produced Manoj Kumar, a lab assistant of Dr Amit, in the CBI court today, who was remanded in judicial custody till March 7.

Amit Gupta, counsel for Manoj, filed a bail application in the court, which will be heard on February 28. Gupta said he had filed one more application in the court on behalf of Dr Amit in which he requested the court to direct the jail authorities to allow his client to call up his family members in Canada.

The CBI had produced Dr Amit in the CBI court here yesterday. The court remanded him in judicial custody till March 7. He is lodged in the Ambala central jail.

Fatehabad, February 23
Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Vijender Jain has emphasised the need for a shift in the mindset of society towards women in order to improve the skewed sex ratio in the state.

Jain was addressing a seminar on ‘Eradication of female foeticide and drug de-addiction’ organised by the Haryana State Legal Services Authority (HSLSA) and the health department at Manohar Memorial College here today.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was the chief guest at the seminar, which was inaugurated by the Chief Justice and a number of judges from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, including Justice Adarsh Kumar Goyal, executive chairman of the HSLSA, Justice A.N. Jindal, administrative judge of the district in the High Court, Justice S.D. Anand, Justice L.N. Mittal, Justice Nawab Singh, Justice Harbans Lal and Justice Rakesh Kumar Garg, attended the seminar.

He said: “It is a strange dichotomy that on one hand we talk of women empowerment, but on the other hand we do not even allow girls to come in this world.” Jain exhorted youths to come forward to end this menace before it was too late.

Admitting the fact that law alone could not end this menace, he suggested a two-pronged strategy involving stringent implementation of laws and a mass awareness on this issue. He also urged youths to shun drugs as drug addiction had been making society hollow.

The Chief Justice made all participants, mostly young girls, take a vow to never indulge in female foeticide.

Lauding the efforts of the HSLSA and the Chief Justice for taking up the cause of female foeticide, Hooda said the government had taken several initiatives to weed out this social evil from society.

He claimed that efforts of the government had succeeded in bringing about some improvement in the gender imbalance in Haryana. The sex ratio had come to 893 from the earlier 820.

Hooda honoured the sarpanch and health workers of Jhalnia village, which with a ratio of 1,227 girls against 1,000 boys in 0 to 6 years of category, has shown a major improvement in the male-female ratio.

Earlier, the Chief Justice and Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of a residential colony for judicial officer and officials to be constructed at a cost of 3.90 crore.

The Chief Justice and Chief Minister also inaugurated the litigant hall at Ratia town and he also announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh for purchase of computer and books for the library. They also laid the foundation stone of new court complex at Ratia to be constructed at a cost of Rs 2.74 crore

Chandigarh, February 23
Drivers and conductors in Haryana’s transport department are in short supply and the ongoing recruitment process is only partially going to meet the shortfall. To tide over the paucity of staff due to which over 300 buses are forced off road, the department has finalised a proposal to outsource drivers and conductors.

Sources in the department said a proposal to recruit contract staff on a part-time basis had been moved to cater to peak-time needs. Though the department is hopeful that most of its buses will become operational after the staff recruited by the Haryana State Selection Board is made available to it by April, the outsourced staff will be pressed into service as per requirements.

According to the proposal, the transport department will hire the services of the outsourced staff in the vacation months when the number of people goes up substantially or the period when melas are in full swing and dedicated staff are required for the convenience of the public.

Confirming that the department had moved the outsourcing request for peak-time needs, transport commissioner M. Ramshekar said it was a facility they would resort to sparingly. “Since the rush and requirement are not the same all through the year, we don’t want to have permanent staff.

Outsourcing will help us avail ourselves of the services of this additional staff when required. The proposal is in its final stages,” he stated.

Sources added that “temporary recruitment” was not a new phenomenon in the transport department where staff members were taken to meet the requirements through “backdoor entry”. Outsourcing was only an attempt to regularise such temporary recruitment which had been on for nearly three years.

Since all depots would not require additional staff at the same time, the department would identify a panel of contractors by way of tenders to “supply” staff wherever required.

In a statement issued today, the Haryana parliamentary secretary, Rao Dan Singh, said the procedure to recruit 2,000 conductors and 1,000 drivers in the state was under process which would be completed in the next two months.

The results of the exams conducted for the recruitment of conductors had already been declared and soon the interviews would be conducted.

He said after the recruitment of drivers and conductors 700 buses would be added to the fleet of Haryana Roadways.

The matter relating to the giving of advertisements on roadways buses and at bus stands to advertisement companies on a BOT basis was also under consideration of the government.

Regarding plans to increase the frequency of bus services between Delhi and Gurgaon, he said 15 additional low-floor buses would be put into service for the convenience of commuters. Three bus stands would be constructed at Gurgaon in sector 29 near the metro railway station, Rajiv Chowk and Panchgava village . 

Rohtak, February 23
Hundreds of members and supporters of the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) staged a protest at Bapu Park adjacent to the local residence of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda here today.

The protesters, led by suspended Bhiwani MP Kuldeep Bishnoi, also observed a day-long fast near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Bapu Park.

Scores of HJC activists, including party leaders Subhash Batra, Krishan Murti Hooda, Dharampal Malik and Jai Bhagwan Sharma, were detained by the police. The police personnel also resorted to a mild lathi-charge to control the protesters.

Some police personnel, including a DSP-level officer, threatened media photographers trying to capture the scene.

On being contacted, deputy commissioner R.S.Doon said the protesters, who were going towards the Chief Minister’s local residence, were detained under section 107/151 of the IPC to maintain law and order. “The detained persons were released in the evening,” he added.

Later, talking to the press, Bishnoi criticised the government machinery for rounding up party activists. He demanded that compensation of Rs 15,000 per acre should be given to the frost-affected farmers of the state.

“The Chief Minister has not sought any relief package for the farmers from the Centre; nor is the state government taking any steps to compensate them on its own,” he said.

Rohtak, February 23
Hundreds of alumni of the Pt Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) from various parts of the country and abroad assembled on the occasion of the first-ever alumni meet of the institute which began here today.

Nostalgic fervour, coupled with the happiness of meeting old friends and batch-mates, marked the occasion.

The PGIMS director, Prof S.S. Sangwan, said the underlying idea behind organising the event was to involve the alumni of the institute in its progress and betterment.

The seniormost alumnus of the PGIMS, Dr V.P. Bansal, released the institute’s souvenir. The PGIMS dean, Dr V.K. Jain, and a number of present and former faculty members of the institute were present.

A cultural programme was also organised on the opening day of the event. 

Faridabad, February 23
The police hopes to solve a number of criminal cases following the arrest of two accomplices of dreaded criminal Aditya, alias Katia, following his surrender a few days ago.

The police confirmed the arrest of the gangster’s two accomplices, Ramender and Monu, residents of Ballabgarh. Arms and ammunition were seized from the two arrested today.

The police said Katia, a resident of this district, was a member of the well-known Jatin Siroi gang of Uttar Pradesh. According to the police, the gangster was wanted in several cases, including murder, in Faridabad, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.