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Rain hits cotton growers hard
Balbir back as Karnal DC
Man held for bid on daughter’s life
India’s first double-decker goods train ready
Semester System in KU |
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Develop website on RTI Act: CS
Man kills wife
Sonepat-Jind rail line to have 13 stations
Woman robbed at gunpoint
Gujjars to hold mahapanchayat in Delhi
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Rain hits cotton growers hard
Fatehabad, June 2 Money and hard work of many farmers, who sowed their fields twice and even thrice by incurring heavy costs, have gone waste because of unseasonal rains. The agriculture authorities are anticipating a considerable decrease in the area under cultivation of cotton this year. “I sowed my fields thrice, but every time it rained within a day or two of the sowing and the whole exercise went in vain,” said Vijay Mehta, a progressive farmer from Alika village near Ratia in the district. “The inputs are too costly these days. Bt cotton seed costs Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,900 per acre depending upon the quality and by adding the cost of other inputs like diesel and labour to it, it crosses Rs 3,000 per acre. For a farmer like me, who was contemplating growing cotton on 20 acres, it is very difficult, almost prohibitive, to spend Rs 1.80 lakh instead of Rs 60,000 on sowing. K.C. Mehta, another farmer, too echoed the views of Vijay Mehta and said many farmers like him had decided to go for some other crop now. A local trader, Krishan Kumar, who deals in buying and selling of Bt cotton in the town, confirmed that farmers had been purchasing seeds twice or thrice these days. “I do not know a single farmer, who has not purchased seeds of Bt cotton less than twice,” he added. Deputy director, agriculture, R.S. Punia points out that when it rains immediately after sowing, a plain hard layer of earth is formed, which is difficult for the sprouts to pierce through. “For the sprouts to come out, the soil has to be properly ploughed so that they could come out with ease,” he added. Those farmers, whose seeds had sprouted before the rain, were lucky. They had rather saved money that they otherwise would have spent on irrigation, he said. Meanwhile, farmers have complained that some unscrupulous elements have been selling fake Bt cotton seed in the name of original. These dealers bring the seeds from Gujarat and sell here after repacking it in smaller packs. Punia has advised the farmers to purchase good quality seeds as the fake will decrease their yield considerably. He admitted that the area under cultivation would decrease this time due to rain at the time of sowing of cotton. Last year, cotton was sown on 86,000 hectares, but this time it would be less than 80,000 acres. |
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Balbir back as Karnal DC
Chandigarh, June 2 Balbir Singh was transferred from Karnal on the polling day of the Indri assembly byelection by the Election Commission of India. He was earlier shifted by the commission as DC, Hisar, during the elections in 2005 on a complaint of the Congress. When Balbir Singh was shifted from Karnal, the commission had clarified that according to its norms, an officer, who is removed from election duty once, can never be put on a similar duty throughout his service. Since the Lok Sabha elections are less than a year away, the government will have to post a new DC in Karnal before that. Otherwise the Election Commission would have to intervene again. Rajeev Sharma, special secretary and director, archives, and commissioner, Gurgaon division, special commissioner, health and nutrition, Mewat area, Gurgaon, and chairman, Haryana Minerals, Delhi, and chairman, Mewat Development Agency, has been posted as special secretary and director, Archives, and commissioner, municipal corporation, Gurgaon, against a newly created post. D.P.S. Nagal, deputy commissioner, Sonepat, has been posted as on promotion as commissioner, Gurgaon division, special commissioner, Health and Nutrition, Mewat area, Gurgaon, and chairman, Haryana Minerals, Delhi, and chairman, Mewat Development Agency, vice Rajeev Sharma. Mohinder Kumar, deputy commissioner, Panipat, goes on promotion as commissioner, Ambala division, and principal, Revenue Training Institute, Ambala, vice Mahavir Singh, who has proceeded on leave. Ajit Balaji Joshi, who had replaced Balbir Singh as DC, Karnal, goes as DC, Sonepat, replacing Nagal. Jitender Kumar, general manager, Haryana Roadways, Rohtak, has been posted as SDM, Samalkha, relieving Shakti Singh. The government has also extended the tenure of K.C. Sharma as vice-chairman of the Haryana Kala Parishad, for another one year up to April 17 next.
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Man held for bid on daughter’s life
Jind, June 2 The victim, who was admitted to the PGIMS, Rohtak, with severe injuries in her neck was operated upon by doctors last night. The accused, who was arrested this morning from the local railway station, has reportedly admitted before the police that he tried to kill his daughter after he failed to rape her. The accused had allegedly thrown the girl on the railway track after slashing her neck. The victim hails from Bitani village in Sonepat district and had come to her relative’s house along with her father, who runs a tea stall in Assandh town. The police had earlier rounded up two persons, including the brother of the girl, while her father was at large. The statement of the victim is awaited. It is learnt that a police party is camping at the PGIMS to record her version. The girl was reportedly unable to speak after the injuries on her neck, though she survived the attack. A panel of doctors has been set up to give a report on the issue. According to a statement given by a woman relative of the victim, at whose house the father-girl duo had stayed, the girl was allegedly taken away by her father and thrown on the railway track to make it look like a case of suicide. The duo had stayed at the house of the sister of the girl’s father at Ajmer Basti on Bhiwani Road here after. |
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India’s first double-decker goods train ready
Jagadhri, June 2 In charge of the double-decker goods train project Manish Pande said the train, which had 45 double-level wagons, was flagged off here yesterday for Mudra Port in Gurgaon. The train, fashioned out of the old goods train at the cost of Rs 3.7 crore, would be able to carry 270 cars at a time, he added. The special feature of the train was that there would be no need for crane to lift the cars and vehicles would be driven up and down the bogies on an adjustable platform, he said. To ensure the safety of the double-decker, specialists from the Lucknow-based Research Design Standard Organisation were roped in to develop the train. The train was developed on the request of Maruti Udyog to cut down the financial costs and time in delivery of cars and the train would begin ferrying goods as soon as modalities like fare were worked out, he said. Pande said the Railways was confident about the success of its double-decker train venture and had decided to build new bogies for the train at eastern Railway’s Jamalpur railway workshop in Bihar. — UNI
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Teachers at loggerheads with authorities
Vishal Joshi Tribune News Service
Kurukshetra, June 2 Terming it as a “breach of academic autonomy of the universities”, various teachers’ associations have alleged that top functionaries of Kurukshetra University are “sacrificing” the interests of institutes to please the ruling political party. Talking to The Tribune, leaders of various teachers’ associations said it was unfortunate that the state government was not allowing the universities to decide their independent decisions on the academic front. The associations said the state should learn a lesson from the recent MD/MS entrance exam row of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, and focus on improving the examination system. They clarified that the associations were in favour of updating and improving the quality of education, but things should be planned in a logical and democratic manner. Prof Pawan Sharma, zonal secretary of the All-India Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation (AIFUCTO), said the examination branch of the KU was short of 200 employees. He said even as the MDU had shown its inability in introducing the semester system, certain top officials of the KU were adamant to implement it here for their vested interest. He said the vice-chancellor of the KU was scheduled to participate in a high-level meeting on June 11 to discuss the semester system whereas the varsity had not even prepared any updated mechanism of the syllabi. He said the KU had a Board of Studies (BoS), which had the sole prerogative for any change in the syllabus, but the eminent body had been completely overlooked by the institute in deciding the semester system. Prof O.P. Ghelawat of the Kurukshetra University Teachers Association (KUTA) said the “overzealous” KU authorities had so far not even called a meeting of the Academic Council, the only legitimate body to discuss and decide the academic affairs of the KU, to discuss the semester issue. Rajbir Parashar, general secretary of the Haryana College Teachers Association (HCTA), said no other university in the country had implemented the semester system at the UG level and KU was not geared up for the cause.
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Develop website on RTI Act: CS
Chandigarh, June 2 Dharam Vir was addressing senior officers of the state government at a workshop on the Right to Information Act jointly organised by HIPA and NIC at the Civil Secretariat here today. He said the application form would also be made available on the site for getting information under the Act so that people could easily download it. HIPA and NIC should also develop a system to regularly examine all applications received under the Act and methodically review the action taken on these applications. Dharam Vir said the state government had decided to establish about 1,300 common service centres, both in rural and urban areas, which would ensure delivery of services with efficiency, effectiveness and transparency. Besides providing various other services, these centres would also be utilised for providing information to the people. He appealed to the people to ask only for necessary and relevant information so that the time of the government was not wasted on providing unnecessary information.
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Man kills wife
Rewari, June 2 Vijay reportedly locked the room and absconded soon after committing the crime. The crime was committed when his eight-year-old daughter Gori had gone to participate in a social function organised by his landlord Om Prakash Yadav at his new house in the village. However, when Om Prakash Yadav’s mother Kalawati returned from the function to the old house in the evening, she saw blood oozing out from the locked room. She informed her son, who informed the police, which broke open the door. Vijay, a resident of Boodwal village in the Nangal Chaudhary area of Mahendragarh district, had hired a portion of Yadav’s old house recently. Sources said marital discord had apparently led Vijay to eliminate his wife. The police has registered a case. |
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Sonepat-Jind rail line to have 13 stations
Sonepat, June 2 Chief engineer (construction), Northern Railway, disclosed this after performing “bhoomi pujan” at Gohana railway station yesterday. As many as 18 bridges would be constructed on this 88.876 km long railway line at different places and the total cost of the entire project was estimated at Rs 234 crore , he said, adding that the cost might go up to Rs 300 crore. |
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Woman robbed at gunpoint
Yamunanagar, June 2 The woman could come out of the bathroom only when her husband returned home. Sonu Walia told the police that at around 1 pm, when she answered the door bell, a man wearing a blue turban pointed a pistol at her and in the meanwhile four other men joined him. The five thrashed her and locked her up in the bathroom after snatching her earrings. They took away Rs 70,000 and other valuables, including gold jewellery from the house. |
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Gujjars to hold mahapanchayat in Delhi
Faridabad, June 2 Chief of the morcha Ranbir Singh Chandella said representatives of the community from Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh among other states would take part in the proposed mahapanchayat. Meanwhile, members of Gujjar community today launched an indefinite sit-in outside the mini-secretariat to express solidarity with the Gujjars of Rajasthan. |
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Firing Incident Probe on June 11
Chandigarh, June 2 |
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2 die in mishap
Bhiwani, June 2 |
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